PodfluentPrivacy Policy
Podfluent is published by Channel 22 ("we", "us"), based in the United States. This policy covers the Podfluent iPhone app and this website.
The short version
- You don't make an account. The app creates a random ID on your iPhone so we can count your free minutes and link your purchases.
- To make captions and translations, podcast audio and text go through our server to AI providers (Groq and OpenAI). We don't keep that content.
- Your words, highlights, favorites and downloads stay on your iPhone.
- No ads, no tracking across apps or websites, and we don't sell or share your data.
- You can delete what we hold at any time, in the app: Settings → Delete my data.
What we collect, and why
| What | Why | Where it goes | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| App user ID: a random ID created on your iPhone (an anonymous Firebase account). It isn't linked to your name, email or Apple ID. It's stored in the iPhone's keychain, so it can come back if you reinstall the app. | Counting free-plan use and linking purchases to this install | Google Firebase, RevenueCat | Until you delete your data in the app |
| Usage counts: minutes of new captions made, word lookups and AI usage per day, when your allowance resets, and whether you have Premium | Enforcing the free plan's limits and unlocking Premium | Google Cloud Firestore | Until you delete your data |
| Purchases: the subscription you bought, trial and renewal status, your App Store country, and your device model and iOS version. Apple handles payment; we never see your card or Apple ID. | Giving you Premium and restoring it on a new iPhone | Apple, RevenueCat | As long as RevenueCat keeps purchase records, or until you delete your data |
| Which upgrade screen you saw: your country, the screen's design variant and where it appeared | Learning which upgrade screen works best | RevenueCat | Until you delete your data |
| Podcast audio: short pieces of the episode you're playing, when it has no published transcript | Making captions | Our server, then Groq | Not kept by us (see AI providers) |
| Caption and lookup text: lines of the transcript, and the word and sentence you tap, with your two languages | Translating captions and explaining words | Our server, then OpenAI | Not kept by us (see AI providers) |
| Technical data: IP address, request times and errors, and an App Attest check that requests come from the real app. Firebase's SDKs also send Google basic diagnostics, such as SDK and iOS versions. | Running the service, security and preventing abuse | Google Cloud, Apple | Server logs: about 30 days |
| Installation ID: a random ID for this install, sent with your device's language, country, time zone, iOS version and app version | Delivering app settings, such as when upgrade offers and rating requests appear, which can differ by country or app version | Google Firebase (Remote Config) | Kept in the iPhone's keychain, so it can outlast deleting the app |
What stays on your iPhone
Your languages and settings, favorite shows, downloads, highlights, looked-up words, quiz progress and XP, and counts of what you've done in the app (used to decide when to show an upgrade offer or ask for a rating). Spoken translations are made by iOS on the device. None of this is sent to us. It is deleted when you delete the app. The app user ID and installation ID are kept in the iPhone's keychain, which iOS can keep after the app is deleted; Delete my data replaces the app user ID.
Podcasts
Searching and browsing shows uses Apple's public podcast directory, which receives your search terms and region. Episodes and show feeds download directly from each podcast's own servers, which see your IP address as with any podcast app. Their own privacy policies apply.
What we don't do
- No advertising, no ad SDKs, and no tracking across other companies' apps or websites.
- No selling or sharing of personal information, as those words are defined in US state privacy laws.
- No analytics SDK in the app. This website has no cookies or analytics.
Who processes data for us
- Google (Firebase and Google Cloud): anonymous accounts, the usage database, our server, app settings and this website. Firebase privacy
- RevenueCat: subscription records. RevenueCat privacy
- Groq: speech-to-text for captions. Groq privacy
- OpenAI: translation and word explanations. OpenAI privacy
- Apple: the App Store, payments, App Attest and the podcast directory. Apple privacy
Our server sends audio and text to Groq and OpenAI without your app user ID, and doesn't store it. These providers process it under their API terms. OpenAI's API terms say it doesn't use API data to train its models by default and may keep it for up to 30 days to monitor abuse. Groq's terms are at the link above.
All of these providers process data in the United States. For people outside the US, transfers rely on the safeguards those providers offer, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your data: in the app, Settings → Delete my data. This deletes your usage record, your RevenueCat purchase record and your anonymous account, and the app starts over as a new user. It doesn't cancel an App Store subscription: cancel that in your Apple Account settings. Deleting the app removes what's on your iPhone.
- Access, correction or deletion by email: write to support email. Include your support ID (in the app: Settings → Copy support ID), since we have no name or email to find you by.
- US state privacy rights (such as California's CCPA/CPRA): you can ask what we hold, ask us to delete or correct it, and appoint an authorized agent. We don't sell or share personal information, so there's nothing to opt out of, and we won't treat you differently for using these rights.
- EEA, UK and Switzerland: Channel 22 is the controller. We rely on contract (to provide the app and your subscription) and legitimate interests (security, preventing abuse of the free plan, and improving the upgrade screen). You can ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or object to processing, and complain to your local data protection authority.
We answer requests within 30 days, or sooner where the law requires it.
Children
Podfluent isn't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has used the app, delete the data in Settings or contact us.
Security
Data in transit is encrypted with HTTPS. Our server only accepts requests from the genuine app, checked with Apple's App Attest, and the AI providers' keys never leave our server. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we hold to the minimum the app needs.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we'll also say so in the app or on this site before it takes effect.
Contact
Channel 22, United States. Email support email.