Privacy Policy
How GrooveSteps handles accounts, practice data, optional services and the information you send us.
Last updated: 18 October 2026
Who operates the site
GrooveSteps is maintained by Joseph Anady through ThatDeveloperGuy. For privacy questions, account requests or corrections, use the contact page.
Playing without an account
The drum and music tools can be used without signing up. Sound synthesis and beat editing run in your browser. Patterns, custom songs and practice preferences may be stored on your device. Clearing browser storage can remove this local work. Sharing a beat link shares the pattern encoded in that link.
Optional accounts and saved progress
If you create an account, the account service processes the information requested during registration, including your email address, username and password credentials. Account features can save practice results and progress to the server. Public profile and leaderboard features may display a username and game or practice statistics. Do not put private information into a public username.
Authentication and security cookies are essential for signed-in features. Child accounts follow the site's parent-consent flow. When a session is marked as a child session, GrooveSteps does not load optional advertising or analytics tags. Account, sign-in, password and parent-consent pages also exclude those tags.
Electronic drums and scored attempts
Electronic drum input uses Web MIDI without SysEx access. Device selection, pad mappings and calibration preferences stay in this browser. During a signed-in scored lesson, relative hit timings and sound names are sent to the account service to calculate accuracy and XP. Raw hit events are processed transiently and are not retained after scoring. Completed attempt summaries remain associated with your account; the account page shows the most recent 20. Incomplete attempts are eligible for removal after one day, and free-play retry receipts after 30 days. Public rankings require an eligible account and an opted-in public profile; email addresses, birthdates and session tokens are never ranking fields.
Your optional-service choices
Use in the footer to manage optional services on this device. Optional Google tags start only after you allow the corresponding service. Choosing Essential only leaves the music tools available. Choices are stored locally for up to six months. A withdrawal reloads the page to stop previously loaded optional code and removes accessible Google Analytics cookies.
If your browser sends Global Privacy Control, GrooveSteps keeps optional advertising and analytics off. Browser settings and extensions can also block third-party services.
Google Analytics
When you allow usage analytics, Google Analytics measures page visits and selected tool interactions, such as opening a lesson or a donation link. Google may process device, connection and usage information. GrooveSteps omits query strings from configured page addresses and does not intentionally send music files, form answers, account names, email addresses or password data as analytics events. We do not enable Google signals or advertising personalization for this analytics integration.
Google AdSense and advertising choices
GrooveSteps uses Google AdSense to support its free learning content. Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve ads based on visits to this or other websites. Enabling the advertising service here allows Google's consent service to load; it does not replace Google's advertising-consent message.
Where applicable, Google's certified consent message presents advertising choices for visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland. Ad requests remain paused until Google's consent interface reports a resolved consent state or that the framework does not apply. Google then applies the relevant advertising permissions. If that interface is unavailable, the music tools continue to work without requesting ads.
You can disable the advertising service using Privacy choices. When available, Review Google advertising consent reopens Google's consent message. You can also manage personalization at Google My Ad Center and read how Google uses information from partner sites.
Optional Square support
When you choose Continue to Square, GrooveSteps sends the selected amount and a random retry identifier to its server to create a one-time checkout. The server sends the amount and a general support description to Square. It does not send your GrooveSteps account, email, practice results or card details. A retry identifier and amount may remain in this tab’s session storage for up to 30 minutes or until checkout opens. Temporary abuse-prevention counters use a keyed daily hash of your connection address and are discarded on the next checkout request after 24 hours. Square processes the payment information you provide on its checkout and supplies the receipt. Creating or opening a checkout does not confirm a completed payment.
Messages and third-party content
Contact and booking forms transmit the information you enter to the form's named recipient through FormSubmit. Do not include passwords or sensitive personal information. Donation links open Square, Cash App or Venmo, whose own terms and privacy choices apply. GrooveSteps does not process card payments itself.
Song Mode can load YouTube videos. When you choose to load a video, YouTube receives connection and usage information under its own policies. The site's advertising and analytics switches do not control an external service you open separately.
Server logs and offline files
Server logs can contain IP addresses, request paths, browser information and timestamps for operation and security. The drum app's service worker stores public app files for offline use; account API responses and private account pages are excluded from that cache. Local browser storage is separate from server-side account records.
Requests and corrections
Contact GrooveSteps to ask about information associated with your account or to report an incorrect statement in this policy. Include enough context to identify the request, but never send your password.