Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 19, 2026 · Last updated: September 19, 2026

HiddenPod LLC ("HiddenPod," "we," "us," or "our") operates PodSignal, a quality-scoring platform for independent podcasts. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect from visitors, listeners, and creators who use hiddenpod.com and the HiddenPod app for iPhone and iPad (together, the "Service"), and how we use, share, and protect it.

The short version: we collect what the Service needs to work and to personalize your picks. We don't sell your information, we don't show ads, and we don't track you across other companies' apps or websites.

1.Two Different Kinds of Data

PodSignal scores are computed from publicly available podcast data — RSS feeds, episode audio, and metadata that podcasters already publish to the world. Scoring a show does not require or involve any personal information about the show's creator. This policy is about the other kind: information about the people who visit and use the Service.

2.Information We Collect

Depending on how you use the Service, we collect:

• Account information: your email address and password if you create an account. Passwords are stored by our authentication provider in hashed form; we never see them. We also record whether you signed up as a listener or a creator.
• Listening preferences: the answers you give us about your interests, when and how you listen, preferred episode length, and whether you'd like a weekly digest email. The weekly digest isn't being sent yet; we save your choice and will only email you if you said yes.
• Saved shows and listening activity: the shows you save, the episodes you play, and the score cards you open. If you're signed in, this is linked to your account. If you're not, it's recorded with a random session identifier that isn't linked to you.
• Search queries: the text you type into search. See Section 4 for how searches are processed.
• Creator claims: the show you claim, the email address used to claim it, and the verification code you place in your show's RSS feed to prove you control it.
• Pre-Publish uploads: if you're a creator and upload an unreleased episode to be scored, we receive the audio file and store the resulting scores in your account.
• Billing information: creator plans are billed by Stripe. Stripe collects your payment details directly; we never see or store your card number. We keep a Stripe customer ID and your subscription status so we know which plan you're on.
• App and notification information: if you allow notifications in the HiddenPod app, we store your device's push token, your time zone (so the morning notification arrives around 8am your time), the app version, and whether you've turned the morning notification off. If you're signed in, the token is linked to your account so notifications can be about shows you saved.
• Score explanation counter: if you're not signed in, a cookie counts how many score explanations you've opened this month. It holds a random identifier and nothing derived from you or your device.
• Usage analytics: we use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. It uses no cookies and reports only totals, not individual visitors.

Episodes you download in the HiddenPod app are stored on your device only. We don't receive a copy of your downloads.

3.How We Use Information

• To create and maintain your account and let you sign in.
• To personalize the shows and episodes we recommend, using your preferences, saved shows, and listening activity.
• To send the daily notification you allowed, and nothing else by push.
• To verify a creator's ownership of a claimed show, score Pre-Publish uploads, and provide the creator tools you've subscribed to.
• To show creators aggregate audience figures, such as how many HiddenPod listeners follow a category. These are totals, never individuals, and are hidden when fewer than 10 listeners are involved.
• To make search fast and accurate, and to understand how the Service is used so we can improve it.
• To maintain the security and reliability of the Service and to communicate with you about your account when necessary.

4.Third Parties Who Process Data On Our Behalf

We rely on the following services to operate HiddenPod. Each processes data only to provide its service to us:

• Supabase — authentication and database hosting. Stores your account, preferences, saved shows, listening activity, claims, and notification settings.
• Vercel — website hosting, server functions, and cookieless page-view analytics.
• Cloudflare — file storage for Pre-Publish uploads and cached show artwork.
• Anthropic — an AI model that interprets search queries and scores episode content, including Pre-Publish uploads. Search queries are sent without your name, email, or account ID.
• Groq — transcribes episode audio, including Pre-Publish uploads, so it can be scored.
• Stripe — payment processing for creator plans.
• Apple — delivers push notifications to your device through the Apple Push Notification service.
• Google Fonts — serves the typefaces the Service displays in, which means Google receives your device's IP address when a page loads.

When you play or download an episode, the audio comes directly from the podcast's own hosting provider, as it would in any podcast app. That provider receives your device's IP address under its own privacy policy.

We do not sell personal information, share it for advertising, or use it to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

5.Notifications

The HiddenPod app asks before sending notifications: after you've listened to something, or when you turn them on yourself in Preferences. If you allow them, you'll get at most one notification a day, around 8am your time: new episodes from shows you saved, or Today's Signal. You can turn it off in Dashboard → Preferences → Notifications, or for all HiddenPod notifications in your device's Settings.

6.Data Retention and Deleting Your Account

We keep your account information for as long as your account exists. You can delete your account at any time in Dashboard → Preferences → Account, on the website or in the app. Deleting your account permanently removes your account, saved shows, preferences, listening activity, notification registrations, and any Pre-Publish uploads, and releases any show you've claimed. If you have a paid creator plan, it is cancelled immediately as part of the deletion.

• Pre-Publish audio is deleted from storage once it has been scored, normally within minutes and at most within a day. The scores stay in your account until you delete it.
• Search queries are kept in a shared cache, without any account or device identifier, so that repeat searches are fast.
• Billing records held by Stripe are kept as required for tax and accounting purposes.
• Copies in routine database backups expire on our providers' backup schedule.

If you'd rather we delete your data for you, contact us at mail@hiddenpod.com.

7.Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You can change your preferences in the dashboard and delete your account yourself at any time. For anything else, contact us at mail@hiddenpod.com.

8.Children's Privacy

HiddenPod is not directed to children under 13 (or the relevant minimum age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9.Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do, and material changes will be communicated where appropriate.

10.Contact

Questions about this policy can be directed to mail@hiddenpod.com.

Cookie Policy

Effective date: September 19, 2026 · Last updated: September 19, 2026

This Cookie Policy explains how HiddenPod uses cookies and similar technologies (such as your browser's local storage) on hiddenpod.com and in the HiddenPod app.

1. What We Use, and Why

• Staying signed in: our authentication provider (Supabase) stores a session token in local storage. Without it you'd need to sign in again on every page.
• Score explanation counter: if you're not signed in, a cookie named hp_av counts how many score explanations you've opened this month. It holds a random identifier, nothing derived from you or your device, and expires after about 13 months.
• Your settings on this device: local storage remembers things like your text size, layout, and playback position, so the Service looks and behaves the way you left it.

2. What We Don't Use

HiddenPod does not use advertising cookies, third-party ad-tracking pixels, or cross-site behavioral tracking. Our page-view analytics (Vercel Web Analytics) use no cookies at all.

3. Managing Cookies

Most browsers let you block or delete cookies and local storage through their settings. Blocking the sign-in storage will prevent you from staying signed in.

4. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy as the Service evolves. Check back periodically for the current version.

5. Contact

Questions about this policy can be directed to mail@hiddenpod.com.