Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 22, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Smear Audio collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when you use our website, create an account, purchase products, receive license keys, use license verification, or contact us.

We aim to collect as little personal data as reasonably possible.

1. Controller

The data controller is:

Matkala Studios
Business ID: 3628345-2
Finland
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://smearaudio.com

Smear Audio is a brand of Matkala Studios.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information needed to operate the Smear Audio storefront, deliver digital products, manage licenses, provide support, and comply with legal obligations.

Depending on how you use our services, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Account Data

email address;
account authentication data, such as hashed password data or login credentials;
account creation date;
account status;
password reset records and related security events.

Order and License Data

order history;
purchased products;
product serials, serial numbers, and license keys;
license status, such as active, refunded, revoked, or disabled;
refund and withdrawal records;
download entitlements;
payment status and transaction references.

We do not collect your name, postal address, phone number, or full payment card details through the Smear Audio storefront unless this becomes necessary for a specific feature, legal obligation, support request, or payment process.

License Verification Data

Smear Audio may process license, serial, account entitlement, and purchase records to verify license validity, maintain product access, handle refunds, and prevent misuse.

We do not use license verification data for advertising.

Support Data

If you contact us for support, we may process:

your email address;
your message content;
order or license details needed to help you;
technical information you choose to provide, such as your operating system, DAW, plug-in format, product version, error messages, crash details, screenshots, or logs.

Website and Security Data

When you visit our website or use our services, our hosting infrastructure may automatically process limited technical data, such as:

We use this data to operate the website, maintain security, diagnose problems, prevent abuse, and ensure service reliability.

3. Data We Do Not Collect

We do not collect or store full payment card numbers.

We do not sell personal data.

We do not use your personal data for third-party advertising.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive categories of personal data, such as health information, political opinions, religious beliefs, biometric data, or similar sensitive information.

4. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to create and manage user accounts;
to authenticate logins;
to process purchases;
to deliver product serial numbers and license keys;
to provide access to purchased products and downloads;
to maintain your purchase history;
to verify license validity;
to prevent license abuse, fraud, unauthorized sharing, chargeback abuse, or use of refunded licenses;
to process refunds, withdrawals, and customer support requests;
to send transactional emails, such as order confirmations, password resets, license emails, refund confirmations, and important account notices;
to maintain website and backend security;
to comply with accounting, tax, consumer protection, and other legal obligations;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a legal basis under applicable data protection law.

The main legal bases are:

Contract

We process account, order, license, download, and support data where processing is necessary to provide the products and services you requested, deliver license keys, manage your account, and perform our agreement with you.

Legal Obligation

We process and retain certain order, transaction, refund, accounting, tax, and consumer protection records where required by law.

Legitimate Interests

We may process limited technical, security, fraud prevention, and service reliability data based on our legitimate interests in operating a secure storefront, protecting our products, preventing abuse, enforcing license terms, and ensuring that refunded or revoked licenses are not used.

Consent

Where required, we will ask for your consent before using cookies, analytics, marketing, or other processing that legally requires consent. You may withdraw consent at any time.

At this time, Smear Audio does not use personal data for advertising or sell personal data to third parties.

6. Payment Processing

Payments are processed by Paytrail and/or other payment providers shown at checkout.

We do not store your full payment card details. Payment providers may process payment details, transaction identifiers, payment status, payer information, fraud prevention data, and other information necessary to complete the payment.

Paytrail and other payment providers process payment data according to their own legal obligations and privacy notices. Smear Audio receives only the payment and transaction information needed to confirm the order, deliver the product, maintain records, and handle refunds or disputes.

7. Transactional Emails

We may send transactional emails related to your account, orders, licenses, refunds, password resets, support requests, security notices, or important service changes.

These emails are necessary to provide the service and are not marketing emails.

If we send marketing emails in the future, we will only do so where we have a valid legal basis and will provide a way to unsubscribe.

8. Cookies and Analytics

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies that are necessary for the website, checkout, account login, security, or storefront functionality.

If we use optional analytics, marketing, or tracking cookies, we will request consent where required by law and provide information about those cookies.

At this time, Smear Audio does not use your personal data for advertising.

We share personal data only where necessary to operate the service, comply with law, protect our rights, or provide products and support.

The categories of recipients may include:

payment processors, such as Paytrail;
email service providers for transactional emails;
hosting, database, backend, and infrastructure providers;
customer support tools, if used;
accounting, tax, legal, or professional advisors where necessary;
authorities, courts, or regulators where required by law.

These providers may process personal data only as needed to provide their services to us, unless they act as independent controllers under applicable law.

10. International Transfers

We aim to use service providers located in the European Union or European Economic Area where reasonably possible.

If personal data is transferred outside the EU or EEA, we will use appropriate safeguards required by applicable data protection law, such as European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses or another valid transfer mechanism.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

In general:

account data is retained while your account remains active;
order, product, and license data is retained while needed to provide access to purchased products, handle support, process refunds, prevent abuse, and maintain purchase records;
support messages are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to handle the request and maintain appropriate support history;
server, security, and error logs are retained for a limited period unless a longer period is needed to investigate abuse, security incidents, technical problems, or legal claims;
accounting, tax, payment, refund, and transaction records may be retained for the period required by Finnish accounting, tax, and other applicable laws.

You may request deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time. We will delete or anonymize data where we are not required or permitted to retain it for legal, accounting, tax, security, contractual, fraud prevention, dispute, or legitimate business reasons.

12. Your Rights

If you are in the EU, EEA, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with similar data protection rights, you may have the right to:

request access to your personal data;
request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
request deletion of your personal data;
request restriction of processing;
object to processing based on legitimate interests;
request data portability;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.

To exercise your rights, contact us at:

[email protected]

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

Some rights are subject to legal limitations. For example, we may need to retain certain order, payment, refund, accounting, tax, security, or legal records even after an account deletion request.

13. Complaints

If you believe that we have not handled your personal data properly, you may contact us at [email protected].

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. In Finland, the supervisory authority is the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.

14. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

However, no website, software, server, email system, or internet transmission is completely secure. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials and license keys confidential.

15. Children

Smear Audio products and services are not directed to children.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so that we can take appropriate action.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify users where required or appropriate. The updated version will be posted on our website with a new "Last updated" date.

17. Contact

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints, contact:

Smear Audio
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://smearaudio.com