Privacy Policy
Last updated 10 August 2026
The short version. Backline is software a band runs on its own server, and your band's data lives in your own database. We do not sell it, share it, or use it to train anything. But "self-hosted" does not mean "nothing ever leaves the machine": with the built-in AI, the text being drafted passes through our gateway to a model provider; the one-click Google and Instagram connections pass sign-in tokens through our broker; and a licensed install checks its license with us once a day. Every one of those is listed below: what it carries, when it happens, and how to turn it off. Run everything with your own keys and the license check is the only thing we ever see.
Who this covers
Backline is a band-management assistant. It is distributed two ways, and the difference matters for your privacy:
- Self-hosted. You run Backline on hardware you control. Every piece of band data (emails, comments, shows, songs, finances) is stored only there. The operator of that install is the data controller.
- Managed. We run the instance for you. The same data is stored on our servers on your behalf, and we act as processor for it.
What leaves a self-hosted install
On a self-hosted install, these are the only things that reach us or anyone else. Each is listed with what it carries and how to switch it off:
- AI drafting (on by default on paid installs). When someone asks for a draft, the text needed to write it (the message being replied to, the comment, your voice-profile instructions, relevant band context) is sent through our inference gateway to our AI provider, OpenRouter. That is the default because it means zero setup; it also means draft content transits infrastructure we operate. We do not store or read it in the normal course of running the service, but it does pass through. Opt out: configure your own provider under Agent → Advanced, and drafting goes directly from your server to your provider. We are not in the path at all.
- One-click Google / Instagram connect (default). The sign-in handshake runs through our OAuth broker so you never have to register your own developer apps. Authorization codes and tokens pass through the broker during connect and refresh; the credentials that grant ongoing access are stored encrypted on your install, not with us. Opt out: register your own Google/Meta OAuth apps and set your own credentials. The broker is never contacted.
- License check (paid installs). Once a day the install sends its activation key, an instance identifier and the app version, and gets a signed license back. No band data. Free-tier installs with no key send nothing.
- Feedback you send. The in-app feedback form goes to us. Only when you use it.
- Direct platform calls. Gmail, Instagram and Spotify requests go from your server to those platforms, not through us.
A free-tier install with no connections configured sends nothing anywhere.
What Backline stores
- Account details: name, email address, hashed password. Nobody, including us, can read the password.
- Band operations data: shows, songs, setlists, stage plots, gear, merch, ledger entries, contacts, wiki pages. Whatever you type in.
- Connected-account data, only for accounts you connect
yourself:
- Instagram: your own posts (id, caption, permalink, timestamp, comment counts) and the comments left on them, so the app can draft replies for you to approve.
- Gmail: messages in the connected mailbox, so the app can categorise them and draft replies.
- Google Calendar: the events Backline writes for your own shows.
- Access tokens for those connections, encrypted at rest.
How the data is used
Stored content is used to generate suggested text (replies, captions, emails), which is saved as a draft. Sending, posting or publishing a draft requires an action by a signed-in user; the software performs no outbound action on its own.
Generating a draft transmits the relevant content to an AI model provider. By default (self-hosted or managed), that request is routed through our inference gateway to OpenRouter under our account, as described above. If you configure your own provider, the request goes directly from your server under your own key, and we are not involved. We never use your content to train models. OpenRouter's published policy states it does not train on your prompts; it forwards each request to the model's host under that host's API terms. That commitment is theirs, not ours to make.
Disclosure
Personal data is not sold or rented. It is not used for advertising or shared with advertisers, and it is not combined across installations. Each installation holds one band's data only.
Data is disclosed only to the sub-processors listed below, and where disclosure is required by law.
Instagram and Meta
Backline uses the Instagram API with Instagram Login to read your own posts and their comments, and to publish posts you have approved. It only ever touches the account you connected, and only that account's own content. If someone comments on your post, Backline stores that comment so you can reply to it. It is the same information you already see in the Instagram app.
Removing Backline from your Instagram account revokes its access immediately. Backline also receives Meta's deauthorization notice and clears the stored credentials on its side.
Deleting your data
You can delete anything in the app at any time, and disconnecting an integration removes its stored credentials.
- Self-hosted: your operator controls the database. Deleting the install deletes everything; there is no copy elsewhere.
- Managed: email us and we will delete your instance and its data within 30 days.
- Via Instagram: requesting deletion through Meta reaches our data-deletion endpoint, which disconnects the account and returns a confirmation code you can check.
How long we keep it
For as long as you keep the install. We impose no retention period on your own data. Deleting it is your call, not a timer.
Sub-processors
- Cloudflare: runs our licensing, inference-gateway and OAuth-broker worker, and the DNS/TLS in front of it. Draft prompts and OAuth handshakes that use our defaults pass through it.
- OpenRouter (currently our AI provider): receives draft prompts when you use the built-in AI (the default), and routes them to the model's host. Not involved if you configure your own provider. If we switch providers we will update this page.
- Stripe: subscription payments. Stripe sees your name, email and card; card details go to Stripe directly and we never see or store them.
A self-hosted install that brings its own AI provider and its own OAuth apps touches none of these except the daily license check. On the free tier, not even that.
Security
Passwords are hashed. Integration tokens are encrypted at rest. Sessions use HttpOnly cookies, and logging out invalidates the session server-side. Everything travels over HTTPS.
Children
Backline is a tool for working bands and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
If this policy changes materially we will update the date above and, for managed customers, say so by email.
Contact
Questions, or a deletion request: privacy@backlineagent.com.