Harlow
Privacy policy
In short
- Harlow connects only to the Jellyfin server whose address you enter. We (the developer) receive no data from the app: no analytics, no crash reports, no advertising, no account with us.
- Your library, your sign-in and your playback position are stored in the app's private storage in the car.
- What Harlow sends to your Jellyfin server (sign-in, playback reports, favorites) is processed there under the responsibility of whoever runs that server.
- This website sets no cookies, uses no tracking and loads nothing from other servers.
1. Controller
Anton Dietrich
Hochwaldstr. 13
44265 Dortmund, Germany
Email: harlow@hwld.eu
No data protection officer has been appointed, as there is no legal obligation to do so.
2. The Harlow app
2.1 No data is sent to us
Harlow has no server of its own. The app contains no analytics, advertising, crash-reporting or tracking components and does not transmit any data to the developer or to other third parties. The only network connections the app makes go to the Jellyfin server you enter when signing in.
2.2 Data stored in the car
To work, Harlow stores the following data in its private app storage, which other apps cannot access. It is excluded from Android backups and device-to-device transfer, so it does not leave the car.
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Server address, server name, Jellyfin user ID, access token (encrypted with a key in the Android Keystore) | Staying signed in. Your password is sent to your server once at sign-in and is not stored. |
| Username and server address as an Android account | Shows your Jellyfin user in the car's account settings, where you can remove it. |
| Library metadata: albums, artists, genres, songs, playlists, favorites, play counts, “last played” dates | Fast, offline-capable browsing and search in the media center. |
| Cover art (image cache) and streaming cache | Showing covers and playing smoothly without reloading. |
| Last queue and playback position | Restoring your music after the car restarts (paused). |
| Playback reports not yet delivered (song, position, time) | Sending them to your server once it is reachable again. |
| A random device ID, created by the app (not a hardware identifier) | Your Jellyfin server lists the car as one device “Harlow”. A new ID is created after signing out. |
| Settings (auto-sync interval, offline mode) | Your choices in Harlow's settings. |
2.3 Communication with your Jellyfin server
Harlow connects to your Jellyfin server exclusively over HTTPS (encrypted) and only accepts certificates the vehicle's system trusts; there is no option to turn this check off. The access token is sent in the request header, never as part of a web address, so it doesn't appear in server or proxy logs. The following is sent:
- At sign-in: username and password.
- With every request: the access token, the client name “Harlow”, the app version, the device name “Harlow” and the app's random device ID. No hardware identifiers (such as VIN, IMEI or serial number) are used.
- Library sync and playback: requests for metadata, cover art and audio streams.
- Playback reports: which song is playing, when playback starts, pauses and stops, and the position. Jellyfin uses these for play counts, “recently played” and resume points.
- Favorites you set or remove.
- When signing out: a request that ends the session, which invalidates the access token on the server.
The Jellyfin server is operated by you or by someone who gave you access, not by us. That operator is responsible for processing on the server (for example server logs, the list of devices and the playback history). Please refer to that operator for information about this processing.
2.4 The vehicle's system
Harlow is a media app: the car's media center shows Harlow's content. For this, the title, artist, album, cover art and playback state of the current song are passed to the vehicle's system (media center, notifications, possibly instrument cluster). Voice commands are recognized by the vehicle's voice assistant; Harlow receives only the recognized text (for example “Album X by artist Y”), never audio. How the vehicle manufacturer or the provider of the voice assistant processes data is governed by their own privacy policies.
2.5 Permissions
Harlow requests only: internet access and network state (connection to your server), foreground services for media playback and data sync (playback and library sync in the background) and preventing standby during playback (wake lock). Harlow does not access location, microphone, contacts, camera or vehicle data.
2.6 Retention and deletion
- Sign out (in Harlow's settings, or by removing the account in the car's account settings) deletes all of the data listed in 2.2: the library, the access token and its key, the queue, settings, cover art, streamed audio and downloads. Harlow also tells your server to end the session, which invalidates the access token there. Signing in with a different server or user does the same for the previous session.
- Offline: if the server can't be reached while signing out, the data in the car is deleted anyway, but the token stays valid on the server. Remove the device “Harlow” in your Jellyfin server's dashboard (Devices) to invalidate it.
- Uninstalling Harlow or “Clear storage” in the car's app settings also deletes everything in the car.
- The streaming cache is limited to 256 MB; the oldest entries are removed first. Android may also clear the cover art cache when storage runs low.
2.7 Third-party libraries
Harlow is built with open-source libraries that run entirely inside the app and do not send data to their authors: AndroidX (including Jetpack Compose, Room, DataStore, WorkManager, Media3/ExoPlayer), Hilt/Dagger, Kotlin and kotlinx libraries, OkHttp and the Jellyfin SDK for Kotlin. The full list with licenses is in Harlow's settings under “Open-source licenses”.
2.8 Legal basis
The processing described in section 2 takes place on your device and with the server you have chosen, to provide the functions you use (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The storage of and access to information in the vehicle is strictly necessary for this (Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG).
3. This website
3.1 Hosting and server logs
This website is operated on our own server rented from Hetzner GmbH, data center in Germany. When you visit the site, the web server automatically logs: IP address, date and time, requested page, HTTP status, amount of data transferred, referrer URL and browser identification (user agent). This is necessary to deliver the website and to ensure its security (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is the secure and stable operation of the website). Logs are deleted after 7 days, unless they are needed to investigate a specific security incident.
3.2 No cookies, no tracking, no external content
This website does not set cookies, does not use local storage, analytics or tracking, and does not load fonts, scripts or images from other servers.
3.3 Contact by email
If you write to us, we process your email address and the content of your message to answer your request (Art. 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR). We delete the correspondence when it is no longer needed, unless statutory retention periods apply.
4. Your rights
You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and to object to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) (Art. 21). Please note that we do not hold any app data about you: it is stored in your car and on your Jellyfin server. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, for example the one responsible for your place of residence or for our registered address.
5. Children
Harlow is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from children.
6. Changes
We update this policy when the app or the website changes. The current version is always available at this address.