Privacy Policy

Kinode Media Server · last updated 3 August 2026

Kinode Media Server is self-hosted software. You run the server on your own computer, your media stays on your own drives, and the apps talk to your server directly. This policy explains the small amount of information that reaches us and what we do with it.

What stays on your own server

All of the following is stored by the server software running on your hardware. It is not sent to us and we have no access to it:

• Your media files, artwork, and library metadata
• Watch history, resume positions, ratings, and watchlists
• Profiles, PINs, and local account credentials
• Playlists, comments, requests, and playback statistics

Information we do receive

Two optional features involve our hub service at usekinode.app:

• A Kinode account, if you create one. We store your username, email address, and a cryptographic hash of your password. The email address is used for password recovery and server-offline notices, and for nothing else.
• Server registration, if your server checks in with the hub so apps can find it from outside your home. We store a machine identifier, the friendly name you chose, the network addresses your server reports, and the public IP address the check-in arrives from. This is what lets the mobile and TV apps locate your server when you are away.

Both are optional. A server that never registers with the hub, used by apps that connect to it directly on your network, sends us nothing at all.

Microphone

The TV app can search your library by voice. The microphone is used only while you are actively pressing the search button. Speech is converted to text by the speech recognition service built into your device, and only the resulting search text is sent to your own server. We do not record, store, or transmit audio.

Media playback

Video and audio stream directly between your device and your own server. The hub never proxies, stores, or inspects any media. Playback works even when the hub is unreachable.

Third parties

The apps use Google Cast to send video to Chromecast devices, and Google Play Services for app delivery and crash reporting where you have enabled it; those are governed by Google's own privacy policy. Your server may fetch artwork and descriptions from metadata providers on your behalf. We do not use advertising networks or analytics SDKs.

Children

Kinode Media Server is a tool for playing media you already own. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Retention and deletion

Hub account information is kept until you delete your account. Server registration records are kept while your server continues checking in, and can be removed at any time from your account page. To delete your account and everything associated with it, use your account page at usekinode.app or email the address below and we will remove it.

Security

Traffic to the hub is encrypted with TLS. Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes and are never recoverable in plain text. Access tokens for your server are signed with your own server's secret, so playback authorization does not depend on us.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or requests to delete your data: privacy@usekinode.app