TideView is self-hosted software. Local viewing, guide, profile, and device information is primarily processed by the TideView server selected and controlled by the server owner. TideView also operates online services for server license accounts, Google Sign-in, activation, subscription verification, and supported metadata requests, as described below.
1. Scope
This policy explains how TideView software and the tideview.tv informational website handle information. It applies to the TideView Android mobile and Android TV applications, the TideView Roku application, TideView Control, and related server components. It does not replace the privacy policies of services you connect, including Android and Roku platform services, guide providers, metadata providers, or source providers.
This policy also covers TideView's online server licensing and account services at backend.tideview.tv.
2. Information TideView may process
Server and account information
TideView may process server addresses, connection credentials or tokens for services deliberately configured by the server owner, subscription entitlement status, TideView user profiles, permissions, and configuration choices needed to connect its apps to the server.
Viewing and recommendation information
TideView may process live TV activity, movie and show watch history, favorites, playback progress, recent channels, and recommendation signals. This information supports playback, history, personalization, shared tuner use, and troubleshooting.
Device, tuner, and diagnostic information
TideView may process Android or Roku device identifiers and capabilities, tuner and source status, guide mappings, stream format, resolution, transcoding state, errors, network quality, CPU or GPU activity, and similar technical diagnostics.
Beta applications
When you request beta access, TideView receives the name and reply email you provide, your Windows PC details, playback devices, intended media uses, Live TV source types, testing availability, and answers about feedback, working with the team, and promotion. We store these answers with application status, review notes, relevant access records, and notification status to review your request and respond manually. The questionnaire is also sent to TideView's support team. This form does not upload your media files, library catalog, or watch history and does not give our team remote access to browse your library.
Support reports you choose to send
When you choose to send a support report, TideView receives a diagnostic ZIP with your support contact information, installation and server version details, configuration, and recent event, startup, and diagnostic logs. These reports may contain activity and media identifiers, titles, filenames, local file paths, and device or network information. The generated support bundle does not package your media files or full library database.
The report generator masks recognized password, token, secret, authorization, cookie, and sensitive URL parameter patterns. This does not guarantee that every sensitive detail is removed or that a report is anonymous. Titles, paths, and other context may remain. You can create a local bundle to review before sharing it; avoid including passwords or provider credentials in your description. Creating a local bundle alone does not send it to TideView.
Android photos and videos
On Android mobile, you may allow TideView to access your device's photos and videos for its gallery and optional automatic backup. You choose whether to enable backup, whether to include photos or videos, and which albums to include. When backup is enabled, the app scans permitted media, encrypts selected files and their backup metadata on the phone, and transfers the encrypted backup to the TideView server selected by the server owner. The app may continue a user-enabled backup in the background and show a status notification. You can turn backup off in the app and manage backed-up items on the server.
Google Sign-in, server licenses, and household access
When you choose Google Sign-in for a server license account or accept a household invitation, Google provides a stable account identifier, your email address, and confirmation that the address is verified. TideView uses the stable identifier to recognize your account and the email address as your account username. We associate that account with applicable server licenses, registered computers, or the TideView profile a server owner invited you to use. A household invitation does not grant billing or server-administrator access. If Google returns an updated email address during a later sign-in, we update the account username.
When an invited household user starts Watch on tideview.tv, TideView creates a short-lived sign-in request, confirms the linked server and profile, and issues a single-use credential to that server. The website does not become a public media catalog and does not receive the home server's library or playback history through this sign-in flow.
This sign-in requests only the openid and email permissions. It does not request Gmail inbox access or receive your Google password. TideView verifies Google's sign-in response and creates its own session for your server installation.
License and computer information
TideView processes installation public keys and their hashes, a hash derived from the Windows installation identifier, computer names, license identifiers and status, plan and subscription information, activation and check-in times, and security and administrative records. We use this information to register computers, enforce license limits, issue and verify signed license responses, prevent unauthorized use, and provide support. These identifiers remain linkable to your license account; hashing does not make the records anonymous.
Metadata service usage
The licensing service records recent metadata request counts by registered computer and metadata provider, with timestamps, for usage limits and diagnostics. Those count records do not store movie titles or library file paths. Actual metadata requests can contain search titles, years, and provider identifiers and pass through TideView's backend to the relevant provider, as described in Section 5.
A metadata lookup identifies or describes media; it is not proof that you watched that title. Where community ratings are used, TideView processes the canonical media identifier, rating choices, and an account- or profile-linked voter identifier to provide shared totals and your own rating. This does not send your local library paths or full viewing history.
3. Where information is stored
TideView configuration and activity data is primarily stored on the server owner's TideView system. The Android app also keeps connection, profile, playback, and backup settings on the device. A server owner may enable remote access or backups that move data through infrastructure they select. The server owner is responsible for securing that system, controlling user access, and setting an appropriate retention policy.
Online account, licensing, session, activation, billing-reference, usage-count, and audit records are stored in TideView's backend on Cloudflare infrastructure, including its D1 database. The Windows server stores its TideView account session, account username, and licensing state locally using Windows Data Protection (DPAPI) with restricted file permissions. The backend stores a hash of the TideView session token associated with the account and installation.
Beta applications, review and admission records, and notification status are also stored in TideView's backend. Support case details are stored in its database, and diagnostic ZIPs you send are stored in TideView's Cloudflare object storage for support review.
Signing in for a server license does not upload your local media files, watch history, or electronic program guide (EPG) to the license account. Existing local media and guide handling, and separately configured metadata and other service connections, continue as described elsewhere in this policy.
4. The tideview.tv website
The tideview.tv website provides information about TideView and links to this policy. Server license account sign-in and related online services are provided through backend.tideview.tv. TideView does not sell personal information. Cloudflare may process standard network request data, such as IP addresses, user agents, timestamps, and security events, to deliver and protect the website and backend. The licensing backend also uses a salted hash of the connecting IP address for request-rate limits. Cloudflare's own privacy terms apply to its processing.
5. Sharing and third parties
TideView does not sell personal information. When a metadata provider is configured, TideView may send a media title, release year, language, runtime, or provider identifier and receive descriptive metadata or artwork needed to identify and present that title. Information may also be exchanged with Android or Roku platform services, guide providers, tuner hardware, or a remote access provider deliberately connected by the server owner or user.
Google processes sign-in under its own policies. Cloudflare provides infrastructure used to process and store the online account and licensing information described above. TideView uses Google-derived identity information for the account and licensing functions described in this policy.
Where paid subscriptions are offered, Stripe handles checkout and billing using payment and billing information you provide to Stripe. TideView sends Stripe a license reference and plan information and receives customer, subscription, and checkout identifiers and subscription/payment status needed to manage access. The current checkout integration does not send your Google account identifier or Google-derived email address to Stripe, and TideView's licensing database does not store your full payment-card details. Stripe's own privacy terms apply to its processing.
TideView may disclose information when required by law or needed to protect users, the service, or legal rights.
6. Retention and deletion
Retention is controlled primarily by the TideView server owner. Credentials or tokens for configured services remain on the owner's TideView server until the connection is replaced, removed, or revoked. Users should contact their server owner to request access, correction, export, or deletion of locally stored TideView information, including Android photo or video backups. Removing an Android or Roku app does not automatically erase information stored on a TideView server.
For information held in TideView's online license account, beta application, or support reports, contact support@tideview.tv to request access, correction, export, or deletion. Signing out ends the current TideView account session on that server; it does not delete the online account, licensing history, or billing records. Removing an app or server installation also does not delete those online records.
Online account, licensing, security, and billing records have separate retention needs from locally stored media information. Some records may need to be retained for account administration, transaction reconciliation, security, dispute handling, or applicable legal obligations. Contact support to discuss a deletion request and any records that must remain. This policy does not promise automatic account deletion or a fixed deletion deadline.
See Request account deletion for the steps to request deletion of a local server profile, an online account, or particular data.
7. Security
TideView uses reasonable technical safeguards, but no system or network is completely secure. Server owners should install updates, use strong credentials, restrict administrative access, and use HTTPS for remote connections.
8. Children
TideView is not directed to children under 13. A household administrator is responsible for managing child profiles, content access, and connected services.
9. Changes
This policy may change as TideView develops. Material revisions will be posted here with a new effective date.
10. Contact
Privacy questions may be sent to support@tideview.tv.