Is Your Audacity App Spyware?

Audacy vs Audacity.. Audacity is a free audio editing software with 100 million users worldwide, according to the BBC. Recently, they were purchased by a company called Muse, headquartered in Cyprus. A future software update will have users connect to the web, and as a result, they've had to put out a statement confirming to European and other privacy laws. They are going to collect your IP address, but it's unclear what else. No don't freak out - almost every site you visit collects your IP address. But the agreement also states some of your information can be shared with Muse's infrastructure...in Russia. Now I'm not going to get political - but with the 2016 election interference and recent ransomware attacks, the Russia part is a little concerning.

I've got several articles linked in today's show notes about this, including a FANTASTIC video from Jeni Wren Strottup of Gritty Birds podcasting. Here are the key takeaways. The current version of Audacity, up to 3.0.2 does NOT connect to the web, and you can download it and use it as always, just never updating it as long as it works on your computer. You can also switch to another editing program. Most share your data as well - but if the Russia thing freaks you out, and you're willing to climb the learning curve of different software, you can do that too. Or, you can just shrug and hit yes to all the new terms of service. But bottom line, Jeni says, the new Audacity is NOT spyware. It's not sneaking onto your computer and stealing your data. It's being upfront about what it's doing. And no, it can't listen in on your audio files.

Bottom line, from where I sit. I've never liked Audacity as an app, but everyone likes their own flavor of audio editing programs. If you swear by Audacity, you've got options. But I still think you might like something else better.

Audacity spyware articles:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57721967

https://github.com/audacity/audacity/discussions/1225

https://www.audacityteam.org/about/desktop-privacy-notice/

And a great video from Jeni Wren Strottup of Gritty Birds Podcasting:
https://youtu.be/HQ7NfZKVWxM

Other Podcasting News This Week:

Apple, Google, and Spotify now all display show notes uniformly, with links and more. James Cridland of PodNews says this is true for the first time, but keep your show notes to Apple's limit of 4,000 characters.

Nothing free is really free. Podcast One is offering free hosting for podcasters. But the catch is they can put ads in your show and keep the profits. The one benefit - they can market your show to a new audience. However, I still think it's better to use a paid host like Simplecast, Blubrry, LibSyn, or RSS.com. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/8/22568221/podcastone-launchpadone-hosting-service-free-podcast-monetize

Twitter thread on how much podcast editors and producers should be paid - the numbers are eye-popping. https://twitter.com/meuceph/status/1412224182687911940

Two new podcasts centering around big celebrity news stories.

Audible's "Chasing Ghilane" is out today. That's a profile on Jeffrey Epstein's partner Ghilane Maxwell.

Stitcher is now three episodes deep into "Toxic: The Britney Spears" story, exploring her conservatorship and more. From my days as a radio DJ, I can tell you that Britney is an icon to an entire generation. With the volume of the "Free Britney" movement, this could be a huge show.

Podthon is virtual this weekend, and geared toward Podcasters of Color: https://podthon.com/

Finally, I'm really looking forward to Podcast Movement, in person, in Nashville. It's the first weekend in August - and if you want more info, you can visit https://podcastmovement.com/

For help with your podcast - find me online at https://jagindetroit.com/

Find jag on social media @JAGPodcastProductions or online at JAGPodcastProductions.com

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