Privacy

Minute/Year is structured around a daily audio layering process, which includes automated recording and online publishing. As such, it retains and archives data, in the form of audio. The work is constructed to be privacy-focused, GDPR-compliant, and anonymous.

This page outlines how this data complies with privacy regulations and related obligations.

Main points:

  • The recordings undertaken by Minute/Year occur for one minute each day. Outside of this time, the work is not active and it does not record. This can be verified in our code base.
  • During the daily recording process, the red recording light is illuminated, to make the status of the work clear.
  • The work does not archive any personally-identifiable information, or any other data, other than the sound occurring in the space during the one minute per day that it runs.

As a general rule, the average smartphone is a far more direct and persistent method through which data privacy can be breached than Minute/Year is.

Technical information and details:

The physical hardware that runs the installation is as follows: a Raspberry Pi computer, a Behringer soundcard, a pair of Behringer C-2 microphones, two Adam F5 monitor speakers, and the required audio and power cables to connect all the elements together. The design of installing the speakers and microphones, and ‘tuning’ the room, is undertaken by us each year.

The code that runs the work is mostly written in Python and Shellscript. The simpler parts of the code are installed directly on the Raspberrry Pi — this code automatically runs the daily process of playback and recording, and then makes an API call to a remote server (currently provided by OVH). On the server, each day’s recorded audio is converted into a spectrogram image, and both parts are then combined to create a one-minute-long video, with overlaid title card giving the date and time. These parts (video, audio, image) are then posted, via further API calls, to Vimeo, Twitter, and Telegram, and the daily archive of all minutes to date on this website.

Report an infringement:

If you believe you have suffered a privacy infringement as a result of the functioning of Minute/Year, please send us an email with details of the incident. Please be sure to include the date on which the incident occurred.