Privacy Policy

This policy applies to all information collected or submitted on Overcast’s website and our apps for iPhone and any other devices and platforms.

Information we collect

New Overcast accounts are created anonymously, without email addresses or passwords.

You may optionally add an email address and a password to your account, or remove the email address and password from your account, at any time in Overcast’s app. Email addresses are only used for logging in, password resets, responding to emails that you initiate, and sending notifications that you request. We don’t send promotional emails.

We store information about your podcasts, episodes, and listening activity, and we may sync this information between the website and your devices.

We also collect anonymous statistics regarding overall popularity and activity for each podcast to help inform our recommendations and other features.

Technical basics

If you enable notifications, we must store a token to send them.

If you upload files to Overcast, we need to store them until you delete them.

If you subscribe to a password-protected podcast, we need to store the credentials you provide in order to keep it updated.

We use cookies on the site and similar tokens in the app to keep you logged in.

Our server software may also store basic technical information, such as your IP address, in temporary memory or logs.

Overcast uses the following hosting and service providers, which also have access to basic technical information passing through their services and data stored using their resources:

iCloud

Overcast stores some of your data in Apple’s iCloud service, such as login tokens for your account(s), to enable some sync features between all devices signed into your Apple ID.

Ads and analytics

Overcast’s app collects aggregate, anonymous statistics, such as the percentage of users who use particular features, to improve the app.

No personal data is used to target Overcast’s ads except the categories of podcasts that you’re subscribed to, such as “Technology” or “Business”.

Each Overcast ad collects, and shares with its advertiser, only three numbers: total views, total taps, and total subscriptions from the ad.

Information usage

We use the information we collect to operate and improve our website, apps, and customer support.

We do not share personal information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to accomplish Overcast’s functionality. We may share anonymous, aggregate statistics with outside parties, such as how many people listen to a particular podcast with Overcast.

We may disclose your information in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal requirements; to exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud or abuse, violations of our policies; or to protect our rights and property.

In the future, we may sell to, buy, merge with, or partner with other businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets.

Security

We implement a variety of security measures to help keep your information secure. For instance, all communication with the app and website requires HTTPS with certificate pinning. Passwords are hashed, not stored, using industry-standard methods (currently bcrypt).

Accessing, changing, or deleting information

You may access or change your information or delete your account from the Overcast iOS app.

Deleted information may be kept in backups for up to 90 days. Backups are encrypted and are only accessed if needed for disaster recovery.

Overcast may delete your information at any time and for any reason, such as technical needs, legal concerns, abuse prevention, removal of idle accounts, data loss, or any other reason.

Third-party links and content

Overcast displays links and content from third-party podcast feeds and sites, and downloads podcast files directly from each podcast’s third-party servers. These have their own independent privacy policies, and we have no responsibility or liability for their content or activities.

California Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. We therefore will not distribute your personal information to outside parties without your consent.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 13.

Information for European Union Customers

By using Overcast and providing your information, you authorize us to collect, use, and store your information outside of the European Union.

International Transfers of Information

Information may be processed, stored, and used outside of the country in which you are located. Data privacy laws vary across jurisdictions, and different laws may be applicable to your data depending on where it is processed, stored, or used.

Your Consent

By using our site or apps, you consent to our privacy policy.

Contacting Us

If you have questions regarding this privacy policy, you may email privacy@overcast.fm. Please note that account deletion should be done within the Overcast app, not via email requests, for security reasons.

Changes to this policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page. Summary of changes so far: