ShowsTracksFeaturedPlaylists
Also

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 26, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Big Thief, LLC ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares personal information when you use archive.bigthief.net (the "Archive"). We are the controller of your personal information for the purposes of the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"). Capitalized or defined terms not explained here have the meaning given in our Terms of Use.

1. What we collect

We collect the following information:

  • Account information: your email address, username, and password (which we store in encrypted form), and any profile details you choose to add.
  • User content: playlists, artwork, and anything else you submit to the Archive.
  • Usage information: the recordings you play, the pages you visit, and when; your device type, browser, and operating system; and your IP address and the approximate location it indicates.
  • Cookies and similar technologies: see section 3.
  • Communications: the content of emails or messages you send us, including copyright notices and counter-notices.

The Archive is free, so we don't collect payment information. We don't ask for, and you shouldn't submit, sensitive information such as health information or government ID numbers.

2. How we use it

We use personal information to:

  • Create and run your account and provide the Archive's features, such as playlists (necessary to perform our contract with you).
  • Host, store, and display your user content, make content you choose to share visible to other users, and feature it when promoting the Archive as our Terms of Use allow (necessary to perform our contract with you, or our legitimate interests).
  • Keep the Archive secure, prevent abuse, and enforce our Terms of Use (our legitimate interest in protecting the Archive and its users).
  • Understand how the Archive is used and improve it (our legitimate interests, or your consent where the law requires it for cookies).
  • Send you service messages, such as notices about your account or changes to our terms (necessary to perform our contract, or our legitimate interests).
  • Send you news or updates about Big Thief, but only if you opt in; you can unsubscribe at any time (your consent).
  • Handle copyright notices, respond to legal requests, and comply with the law (legal obligation, or our legitimate interest in establishing or defending legal claims).

We don't use your personal information for targeted advertising, and we don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.

3. Cookies

We use cookies that are strictly necessary to keep you signed in and to make the Archive work. With your consent where required (including in the EEA and UK), we also use analytics cookies [provided by [analytics provider]] to understand how the Archive is used. You can accept or reject non-essential cookies through our cookie banner and change your choice at any time in [cookie settings]. You can also block cookies in your browser, though parts of the Archive may not work without essential cookies.

4. Who we share it with

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share it only as follows:

  • Service providers who host the Archive, send email, and provide analytics and security for us [such as [hosting provider] and [email provider]]. They may use it only to provide services to us.
  • Rights holders, such as the record labels and music publishers whose material appears on the Archive, but only as aggregated, de-identified statistics (such as play counts) that don't identify you, or where needed to handle a copyright notice or legal claim.
  • People involved in a copyright dispute: if you send a notice or counter-notice, we may share it, including your contact details, with the other party, as the law contemplates.
  • Other users, for content you choose to make visible, such as a shared playlist.
  • Authorities or others where we believe the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of us, our users, or others.
  • A successor, if the Archive or Big Thief, LLC is involved in a merger, sale, or transfer, subject to this Privacy Policy.

5. How long we keep it

We keep account information and user content for as long as your account is open. When you close your account, we delete or de-identify your personal information within a reasonable period, normally within [30] days, except for copies in backups (which are overwritten in the ordinary course, normally within [90] days) and information we need to keep to comply with the law, resolve disputes, or enforce our terms, such as records of copyright notices. Usage information is kept for no more than [24] months unless it has been de-identified. If you shared user content with other users before closing your account (for example, a playlist another user has saved), it may remain available to them, as our Terms of Use describe[, but we'll remove your username and other details that identify you from it].

6. International transfers

We're based in the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. If you're in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we transfer your personal information outside those regions only with appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or to recipients certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions. You can ask us for details of these safeguards.

7. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information, including encryption in transit and encrypted password storage. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a unique password for your account and tell us promptly if you think it has been compromised.

8. Your rights and choices

Wherever you are, you can update your account details in your account settings, opt out of marketing emails using the unsubscribe link, and ask us to delete your account by contacting us.

EEA and UK users: you have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information; to restrict or object to our use of it; to receive it in a portable format; and to withdraw consent at any time (without affecting earlier processing). You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner's Office.

California and other U.S. state residents: depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use and share it, to access, correct, or delete it, and to opt out of its sale, sharing for targeted advertising, or profiling. We don't sell or share personal information for those purposes. You may use an authorized agent to make a request, and we won't discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

To make a request, email us at the address below. We'll need to verify your identity before responding, and we'll respond within the time the law requires. If we deny your request, you may be able to appeal by replying to our decision.

9. Children

The Archive isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. Where local law sets a higher age for consenting to data processing (up to 16 in parts of the EEA), users under that age need a parent or guardian's consent. If you believe a child has given us personal information without the required consent, contact us and we'll delete it.

10. Links to other sites

The Archive may link to other sites and services, such as streaming services or ticketing sites. Their own privacy policies apply, and we aren't responsible for them.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we'll change the date at the top, and we'll announce material changes on the site or by email to account holders.

12. Contact us

Big Thief, LLC, c/o Davis Shapiro Lewit Grabel Leven Granderson & Blake, LLP, 414 West 14th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10014. Email: bigthiefarchive@gmail.com.