Privacy

Last updated 9 October 2026. The rules for using UnMute are in the Terms of use.

1. Who runs UnMute.

   UnMute is run from Canada by its founder. You can reach us at admin@unmute.you. This page says what UnMute keeps, where, for how long, and how to remove it. UnMute is for people 13 and older.

2. Your own Home needs an account.

   Without an account you can look around the Home with Example data (fictional creators; changes reset when you leave), open public creator pages and use My links. Keeping a Home of your own needs a free UnMute account: your own list of creators, adding or importing creators, saving videos, groups and choices.

3. What stays in this browser.

   Your Home list (creators, choices, saved videos, viewing memory, reactions, connections), My links, and the last list of creator videos, which is kept so a return is quick, stay in this browser on this device. Having an account does not change that: your list is copied to UnMute’s server only if you choose to save it to your account (see below). Clearing browser storage removes them; the Home backup file and the Pick list export give you copies.

4. My links stays on this device.

   My links profiles, saved links, chosen interests and memory notes stay in this browser on this device. Clearing browser storage can remove them; a private export gives you a backup. Your public profile export contains only the name, bio, topics and links shown on your link card. It excludes private memories, saved people and viewing history. A private pick list backup contains more information and is intended for you. Cloud AI and public profile hosting are not connected: choosing GPT, Grok, Claude or Automatic saves a preference and sends nothing, and the cloud request preview only shows the interests and notes you would choose to include.

5. Your account.

   There are two ways to join. With “Continue with Google”, Google tells UnMute your name, your email address, the link to your profile picture and an identifier for your Google account, and UnMute stores those. Google has already confirmed the address, so the account is active at once. UnMute asks Google only for your basic profile (openid, email, profile). It does not keep the access, refresh or ID tokens Google issues, and it never sees your Google password. With an email address and a password, UnMute stores the name and email address you give and a scrypt hash of your password, never the password itself. That account opens once you click the confirmation link UnMute emails to the address; until then you cannot sign in. For every account UnMute also keeps whether the address is confirmed, when the account was made, and a sign-in session for each browser you sign in on: a random session code and its expiry, held in a secure, HttpOnly cookie that lasts up to 30 days after your last visit or until you sign out. It does not store your IP address or browser details with the session.

6. Your username.

   Every account has a unique @username, chosen when you join with an email address or on the welcome page after joining with Google. You can change it under Your data. Your username and name are public on UnMute: they say who you are, for example on your pick list card when you share it. Your email address is never shown to other people.

7. Your profile.

   Your profile at unmute.you/@your-username shows your name, username, picture (if you joined with Google), a Creator badge if you have proved you run a creator page, your bio, the people you follow and how many people follow you. Following someone is public, and they can see it. The creators you follow stay private unless you choose “Show on my profile”: while they are shown, a copy of that list (each creator’s name and link, and your group names) is kept on UnMute’s server and kept in step with your Home; “Make private” deletes that copy. Creators brought in from YouTube appear there only once you keep them in your Home.

8. Pick lists.

   A pick list is something you publish: its name, your note, and the picks in it (each one’s title, link, creator and, except for YouTube videos, picture, copied when you add it; a YouTube video’s picture is not kept, it is shown from YouTube each time). While you build one, your picks are kept in this browser; when you save it, it is saved to your account. Pick lists marked “On my profile” can be seen by anyone with the link and are listed on your profile; “Only me” pick lists are shown to you alone. You can change or delete a pick list at any time, and deleting your account deletes them all.

9. Watching, previews and alerts in your Home.

   Videos play in YouTube’s own player, and YouTube receives that playback activity. When you rest the pointer on a video, a short preview plays in YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie.com), which loads only while you hover and is removed when you move away; you can mute previews or turn them off under View. Your likes, dislikes and saves stay in your Home and are never sent to YouTube. When you turn on alerts for a creator, that choice is kept with your Home, and your browser shows a notification when UnMute, open in a tab, finds something new from them; nothing is sent to anyone else, and what was already announced is remembered only in this browser. To show each creator’s own picture (their channel icon or avatar), UnMute’s server reads it from the creator’s public page and keeps it in memory for a day; it is not saved in your list, and your browser keeps it only until you close the tab.

10. Sharing a pick list, and how far it travels.

    Each time someone shares a pick list, UnMute makes a short link for that share (and notes the account that made it, if they were signed in). When a person opens a pick list, UnMute counts the visit, once a day per person and link, with no cookies and no outside trackers: to tell one visitor from another for that day it keeps a scrambled code made from a random daily secret, the connection’s address and the browser’s name. The secret is deleted after a day and the codes after two, so a visit can never be traced back to anyone. UnMute also keeps the name of the site a visit came from (for example “X”), never the full address. Link-preview robots are not counted. The person who forged the pick list, and creators whose claimed pages are in it, see the totals and the map of shares, never who visited. When a pick list includes your claimed page, you get a notice.

11. Claiming a creator page.

    If you run a channel, account, show or website, you can claim its UnMute page. UnMute gives you a short code; you put it on your public page, and UnMute’s server reads that public page once to find it (the same way it reads creator pages). UnMute then keeps which page you claimed, where the code was found and when. The page shows that you run it and your profile lists it. You can remove the code afterwards, and remove the claim at any time.

12. Who at UnMute can see your account.

    UnMute’s administrator can see the list of members (name, username, email address, when you joined, whether the address is confirmed, how you sign in, when you last signed in, and whether you chose announcements or saving your list) on a private page that only administrator accounts can open. It is used only to run UnMute: to answer you, to keep the service safe, and to send announcements to members who asked for them. Your saved list is not shown there.

13. Passwords.

    A password must be 10 to 128 characters. Passwords that have appeared in known data breaches are refused, because they are easy to guess. To check, UnMute’s server makes a SHA-1 fingerprint of the new password and sends only the first 5 characters of that fingerprint to the Pwned Passwords service of Have I Been Pwned, which answers with every breached fingerprint that starts the same way; the server looks for a match itself. Your password and its full fingerprint never leave the server, and the password is never stored in plain text or written to a log. If you forget it, “Forgot your password?” emails you a reset link that works for 1 hour, once; setting a new password signs out every other session.

14. Saving your list to your account.

    After you sign in, UnMute asks whether to save your list to your account. Nothing is uploaded until you choose “Save my list”; if your account already holds a saved list from before, saving simply continues on this device. When it is on, a copy of your Home list is saved in UnMute’s database on the server so it can follow you to your other devices. That copy holds the same things as the Home backup file: your creators (including any imported from YouTube), your choices, saved videos, viewing memory (including any Takeout watch history you imported), private likes and dislikes, connections, and how you organised your creators in the Home (groups, pins, topics, seen marks and view choices). Likes and dislikes are only used inside UnMute; nothing is sent to YouTube. The copy is not end-to-end encrypted. Example data and My links are never saved there. Under Your data you can turn saving off, which stops new saving and keeps the copy already there until you delete it. “Delete my account and server data”, also under Your data, removes your account and everything saved to it: your account record (with your password hash or the link to your Google account), your sessions, your email choice and the saved list. It also ends this browser’s YouTube connection and signs you out. The list on your device is not deleted.

15. Emails from UnMute.

    There are two kinds. Account emails are sent only because of something done on the site, so they have no unsubscribe link: the link that confirms the address of a new email account (it works for 24 hours), a password reset link when one is asked for (1 hour, once), and, if someone tries to join with an address that already has an account, a note to that address saying so. The join page answers the same way either way, so it does not show who has an account. Announcements are sent only if you ask for them. After you join, a separate box that is never ticked for you offers UnMute announcements and important changes, about once a month; you can also turn them on or off under Your data. Nothing is sent until you confirm with the link in a first email (double opt-in); that link works for 7 days. As Canada’s anti-spam law requires, UnMute keeps a record of your consent with your account: your email address, when you agreed, the exact words you were shown and their version, and the page you agreed on. No IP address is kept. The record stays while your account exists, also after you unsubscribe, so we can show what you agreed to; deleting your account deletes it. Every announcement names UnMute, gives our mailing address and has a one-click unsubscribe link that works without signing in, and unsubscribing takes effect at once. All of these emails are sent through Spacemail, the email service of Spaceship, Inc., UnMute’s host.

16. The YouTube permission is separate.

    Importing the creators you subscribe to needs you to be signed in to UnMute and its own read-only permission from Google, which is asked for only if you choose “Connect YouTube” (for example from “Import from YouTube” on your Home). The permission is https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.readonly: it lets UnMute read your own list of subscriptions and nothing else. UnMute cannot change your subscriptions or anything else on YouTube. The access token lives only in an encrypted, HttpOnly cookie in your browser for up to one hour. It is not stored in a database, and no long-lived refresh token is requested, so you reconnect to import again.

17. The YouTube data UnMute keeps.

    From your YouTube account UnMute keeps only the channel ID and the name of each channel you subscribe to (up to 5,000 channels per import) and the order YouTube lists them in, which is used only to order your own list, as creators in your list marked as imported. They are kept in this browser, and on UnMute’s server only if you chose to save your list to your account. Imported creators are refreshed or deleted within 30 days: each import is dated, and once it is more than 30 days old the creators it brought in are removed, from this device and from the copy on the server, unless you made them your own by pinning them, putting them in a group, giving them a topic or adding a link to them. From day 25 the YouTube card reminds you to refresh the import. Choosing “Disconnect” on that card revokes UnMute’s access at Google straight away if it is still active, and removes the imported creators you have not made your own; if your list is saved to your account, the copy there is updated on the next save. You can also remove UnMute’s access at any time on Google’s security settings page; UnMute then cannot read your subscriptions again, and the creators it already imported are removed by the 30-day rule or when you choose Disconnect.

18. YouTube API Services and Google user data.

    UnMute uses YouTube API Services. When you choose “Import from YouTube” and then “Connect YouTube”, UnMute reads the list of channels you subscribe to (read-only; every page of that list, once per import) so it can show them to you and load their public videos. It does not post, change, delete or like anything on YouTube, and it does not read your watch history, comments or private videos. That list is used only to give you your own creator list and feed. It is not sold, not used for advertising, not shared with other companies, and not used to train AI models. Nobody at UnMute reads it, except where needed for security, to follow the law, or with your permission. UnMute’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Google’s own handling of your data is described in the Google Privacy Policy, and by using YouTube features you also agree to the YouTube Terms of Service. UnMute does not transfer Google user data to any other party. The one exception is yours to choose: creators you keep as your own and then choose to show on your public profile are shown to other people at your request (see “Your profile”). If you ask UnMute to delete data it holds about you, it is deleted within 7 days (and most of it at once, under Your data); deleting UnMute’s copy does not change anything on YouTube, and the data you received from YouTube is removed from this device when you press “Disconnect”, from your saved copy on the server the next time it saves (or when you delete your account), and in every case after 30 days at the latest. Encrypted backups are kept 30 days at most (see “How long things are kept”).

19. Watch history from Google Takeout.

    If you import a watch-history file you downloaded from Google Takeout, your browser reads it on your device; the file itself is not uploaded. Its entries become part of your viewing memory, kept on this device until you remove them or clear browser storage, and saved to your account only if you chose to save your list. Takeout history does not come through the YouTube permission.

20. Where your data lives.

    UnMute’s server is a virtual private server from Spaceship, Inc. in the United States. The database (accounts, sign-in sessions, email choices and saved lists) and the server logs are kept there, so data saved to your account is stored in the United States. Encrypted backups are kept there too, and copies of them on the administrator’s own computers in Canada. Email you send to admin@unmute.you is handled by Spacemail, Spaceship’s email service.

21. How long things are kept.

    Your account: until you delete it. Sign-in sessions: up to 30 days after your last visit, or until you sign out. Confirmation links: 24 hours; password reset links: 1 hour, once. The YouTube access token: up to one hour, in your browser only. Your saved list: until you delete it (YouTube imports in it follow the 30-day rule above). Backups are encrypted: 7 days on the server and 30 days on the administrator’s own computers in Canada, so something you delete can remain in a backup for up to 30 days. Backups are used only to recover from a failure. Web server logs (IP address, time and page requested): 14 days. The days an account was used: 13 months, or until you delete the account.

22. Cookies.

    UnMute sets only the cookies it needs to work, none for advertising or tracking: the sign-in session described above, with a signed copy of it that lasts 5 minutes so pages can check your sign-in quickly; while you sign in with Google or connect YouTube, a short cookie (5 to 10 minutes) that ties Google’s answer to your visit; and the YouTube access cookie (up to one hour). While UnMute is in early access, the page that asks for the phrase sets two more: unmute_fog_ticket, which lasts 2 minutes and is used up by the next page load, and unmute_fog_pass, which ends when you close the browser and lasts at most 12 hours. If you tick “Remember this device” when you enter the phrase, a third cookie, unmute_fog_device, keeps the early-access page away on that device for 30 days; without it the phrase is asked again on every visit. Your list and choices are kept in the browser’s storage, not in cookies.

23. Other services your browser talks to.

    To load creator feeds, UnMute’s server fetches the public videos of the channels in your list from YouTube; it keeps those public results in memory for a few minutes, shared by everyone, without noting who asked. Playing videos connects to YouTube. Opening a saved social link takes you to that platform, whose own privacy and account rules apply. Pick list does not verify ownership simply because a link was saved. Creator thumbnails come from YouTube’s image servers, your profile picture (if you joined with Google) comes from Google’s, and the page’s typefaces are loaded from Google Fonts; those services see your IP address the way any website you visit does.

24. Installing UnMute as an app is optional.

    To open faster and keep working offline, your browser stores copies of UnMute’s own pages, scripts, images and fonts on this device; they never include your list or your account details, and nothing in them tracks you.

25. Counts of how UnMute is used.

    UnMute counts, in its own database and without cookies or outside analytics, how many people open the early-access page, how many sign up, which days an account was used (kept with your account and removed when you delete it), whether reads of YouTube worked, and how many creator pages are claimed and pick lists made. These counts are shown only to the owner. They say how many, never what: they hold no creator, list, video, search or address of yours. They are used to see whether UnMute is useful and where it breaks.

26. Reports, and what the owner can do.

    The Report button sends the page it was pressed on, what you said was wrong and, if you wrote one, a way to reach you, to UnMute’s owner. Reports are kept until the owner has dealt with them. The owner can hide a member, a pick list or a creator page, suspend an account, release a claim, and put a line across the site; each action is written to a private log with the owner’s account, the date and the reason. Hidden things are not deleted, and a hold can be lifted.

27. Abuse protection.

    To keep the site usable for everyone, the server briefly counts requests per IP address in its memory. These counts are not written to the database. The web server logs described above are used only for security and troubleshooting.

28. Nothing is sold or shared.

    UnMute does not sell your data, shows no ads, and does not share your account details with anyone. The parties involved are the ones named above: Spaceship, which hosts the server and handles email; Google for “Continue with Google”, fonts and your picture; Have I Been Pwned, which receives only the first 5 characters of a new password’s fingerprint; and YouTube for subscriptions, feeds, thumbnails and players. UnMute’s server also reads the public pages and feeds of the creators people add (Bluesky, Mastodon, podcast hosts and any website or feed) and creator pictures from where they are hosted; those sites see UnMute’s server, not you.

29. Your rights.

    You can see your data at any time: your list is in the app, and the Home backup file gives you a full copy to keep or take elsewhere. You can correct it in the app. You can delete it under Your data (your account and the copy on the server) and by clearing this browser’s storage (the copy on this device). For anything else, such as a copy of what the server holds about you or a question about this page, write to admin@unmute.you. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.