Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information Pod is Life collects, why, and the choices you have. Pod is Life (“we”, “us”) is run by Pod is Life. Questions or requests: admin@podislife.com.

The short version: we use Google Analytics to understand which pages people use, and we only ask podcasters for what we need to run their accounts. We don’t show ads, we don’t sell personal information, and we don’t share it for advertising.

What we collect

When you browse the site

If analytics is on (see Cookies), Google Analytics records the pages you view, how you got here, your browser and device type, your approximate location (city or region, worked out from your IP address, which Google Analytics doesn’t store), and a few actions such as clicking a “listen” link, copying a share caption or downloading a share card. It uses a random identifier stored in a cookie, not your name or email.

Our hosting provider keeps short-term server logs (IP address, browser, page requested and time) to run the service and protect it from abuse. We also briefly keep IP addresses in memory to limit repeated sign-in attempts.

When you claim a show or sign in as a podcaster

To prove you run a show, we email the owner address listed in its public RSS feed. If you claim a show, we keep:

• your email address (the RSS owner email) and, if you set them up, your username and password. Passwords are stored only as a salted, one-way hash, so nobody at Pod is Life can read them;
• which shows you’ve claimed, the picks and note you add to your show page (these are public), and your rank-alert setting;
• sign-in records: when you last signed in, single-use sign-in links (deleted within two days of expiring), and counts of failed password attempts used to lock out guessing;
• a log of emails we send you (address, subject, time and delivery status).

Websites that show our badge

If a site embeds a Pod is Life rank badge, we record that website’s address and how often the badge is loaded. We don’t record who viewed it.

Podcast information

Our charts and show pages are built from public sources: podcast platform charts, podcast directories and the shows’ own RSS feeds. Feeds can include the name and email of the person who runs a show. We use that email only to verify claims and never publish it. If something about you or your show is wrong, or you want it removed, email us.

How we use it, and our legal bases

• Running the site and podcaster accounts: signing you in, showing your picks, sending the rank alerts you asked for. Legal basis (EU/UK): performing our agreement with you.
• Analytics: understanding which charts and pages are useful so we can improve them. Legal basis (EU/UK): your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• Security and abuse prevention: rate limits, sign-in lockouts, server logs. Legal basis (EU/UK): our legitimate interest in keeping the service and your account safe.
• Publishing charts and show pages from public podcast data. Legal basis (EU/UK): our legitimate interest in publishing podcast rankings, balanced by your right to object.
• Account emails, such as sign-in links and notices when your password changes. We don’t send marketing email unless you’ve asked for it, and every rank alert has a one-click unsubscribe link.

Cookies and similar storage

We use a small number of cookies. Analytics cookies are optional. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland they’re only set if you click Accept. Elsewhere they’re on unless you click Reject or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, which we treat as a rejection. You can change your choice any time with Cookie settings.

We’ve turned off Google Analytics’ advertising features (Google signals and ad personalization), and we use no advertising cookies. Google Search Console, which tells us how our pages appear in Google Search, sets no cookies on this site.

Who we share it with

We use a few service providers that process data on our behalf, under contracts that limit their use of it:

• Google (Google Analytics, Google Search Console): site analytics. See how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• Replit: hosting and database.
• Resend: delivering our emails.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or users’ safety, or as part of a sale or merger of the business (in which case this policy keeps applying). We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

International transfers

Pod is Life and its providers are based in the United States, so your information is processed there. Where EU, UK or Swiss law requires it, transfers rely on the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the provider is certified, or on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

• Podcaster account data: while your account is active. Ask us and we’ll delete it, usually within 30 days.
• Single-use sign-in links: deleted within two days of expiring. Sign-in sessions end after 30 days.
• Google Analytics: event data is kept for the retention period we set in Google Analytics (14 months), then deleted.
• Server logs: kept briefly by our hosting provider for operations and security.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you can ask to see, correct, delete or get a copy of your personal information, object to or restrict how we use it, and withdraw consent (for analytics, use Cookie settings). Email admin@podislife.com. We’ll confirm the request comes from you, usually by replying to the email on your account, and answer within the time the law requires (one month in the EU and UK, 45 days in California). If you’re in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

California residents

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA:

• What we collect, in the last 12 months: identifiers (email address, username, online identifiers such as cookie IDs and IP addresses), internet activity (pages viewed and interactions with the site), and approximate location. Sources and purposes are described above.
• Who receives it: the service providers listed above, for the business purposes described above.
• No sale or sharing. We don’t sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we haven’t in the last 12 months. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. We don’t use sensitive personal information for anything beyond what the law allows. We honor Global Privacy Control signals as an opt-out of analytics cookies.
• Your rights: to know, delete and correct your personal information, and not to be treated differently for using these rights. You can use an authorized agent; we may ask them for proof that you authorized them.

Children

Pod is Life is not aimed at children, and podcaster accounts are for adults who run a show. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you think a child has given us information, email us and we’ll delete it.

Security

We use HTTPS, store passwords only as salted scrypt hashes, sign session cookies, use single-use expiring sign-in links, and limit repeated sign-in attempts. No system is perfectly secure. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we’ll tell you as the law requires.

Changes

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we’ll show a notice on the site or email podcasters with accounts.

Contact

Pod is Life · admin@podislife.com