Version: 1.0 Effective Date: October 21, 2025 Last Updated: October 21, 2025
This Privacy Policy explains how ehkootay (styled as eh•koo•tay) ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal information when you use our service (the "Service").
IMPORTANT ALPHA/PRE-ALPHA NOTICE: ehkootay is currently in alpha/pre-alpha development. During this early phase, our privacy practices may evolve as we build out the service. We will update this policy to reflect any changes and notify you of material changes via email.
By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Service.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. For minor or clarifying changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date above. For material changes that affect how we handle your personal information, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect.
For questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at [email protected].
Our Terms of Service govern your use of the Service.
When you register for and use the Service, we collect:
When you use the Service, we may automatically collect:
Currently, we do not:
If we begin collecting additional types of data in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and notify you.
Important: We do not collect, store, or host the actual podcast audio files or artwork files. We store episode metadata (including titles, descriptions, publication dates, and links to audio files and artwork) for episodes added to your feeds as snapshots at the time they were added. The actual audio and artwork content remains hosted by third-party podcast providers.
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
We will not send you marketing emails without your explicit consent.
Your email address passes through servers controlled by third-party service providers that help us operate the Service:
These service providers have access to your information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated to protect your information and not use it for other purposes.
When you add podcasts to your feeds, our servers make requests to third-party podcast hosting services (such as iTunes, RSS feed hosts, etc.) to retrieve episode information. These services will see requests coming from ehkootay's servers, but they will not see your personal information or identity—they only see that ehkootay's system is making a request.
When you suggest episodes to a friend's feed, that friend will be able to see your recommendation. We do not share your email address or other personal information with other users unless you explicitly choose to do so.
Important Disclosure: During the alpha/pre-alpha phases and for ongoing service support and debugging, our team members (currently just the founder) may access your data, including:
While we make efforts to minimize this access and will work to architect systems that separate personally identifiable information from usage data in the long term, we cannot guarantee anonymity during early operations. In the short term and during early development, a human (currently the founder) may see your data to provide and improve the Service.
We will never sell, rent, or otherwise share your data for marketing purposes.
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court, subpoena, or government agency). See Section 8 for details.
If ehkootay is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
The Service is operated from the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please be aware that information we collect will be transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States.
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we process your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our legal bases for processing your data include:
By using the Service, you acknowledge and consent to the transfer of your data to the United States.
If you are an EEA, UK, or Swiss resident, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. See Section 9 for details.
We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect it against unauthorized access, loss, destruction, or alteration.
Our security measures include:
However, please be aware that:
If you become aware of any security breach or unauthorized access to your account, please contact us immediately at [email protected].
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Service.
When you delete your account (or we terminate your account):
After the backup retention period, your data will be permanently and irrecoverably deleted.
We may retain certain data longer than the standard retention period when:
When retaining data under these exceptions, we will:
We will not share your data with government entities or law enforcement without a valid warrant, subpoena, court order, or other legally binding request, except as described in Section 8.2.
When we receive a legal request for user data, we will:
Notwithstanding Section 8.1, we are required by law—and it is our policy—to report certain illegal activities to appropriate authorities, including but not limited to:
When we identify or become aware of such illegal activity, we will:
We believe in transparency with our users. Except where prohibited by law or where we believe notice could create a risk of harm, we will make reasonable efforts to notify users when their data is requested by government entities.
Regardless of where you are located, you have the following rights:
To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected].
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 45 days.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the GDPR:
To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
The Service is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at [email protected]. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information.
Currently, we do not use cookies for tracking or analytics purposes. We may use essential session cookies necessary for the operation of the Service (e.g., to keep you logged in).
If we begin using cookies or other tracking technologies in the future (for analytics, advertising, or other purposes), we will:
The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services (such as podcast hosting platforms, episode pages, etc.). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties.
We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party websites or services you visit. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by ehkootay.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service features.
Material changes will include an "Effective Date" that is at least 30 days after we notify you. Your continued use of the Service after the Effective Date constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
Email: [email protected]
For questions about our Terms of Service, contact us at [email protected].
For questions about the alpha program, see Alpha Program Information.
For GDPR-related inquiries, you may contact our Data Protection Officer (currently the founder) at [email protected].
We do not currently have an EU representative. If required in the future, we will update this section with contact information.
For your convenience, here is a summary of our key privacy practices:
By using ehkootay, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this Privacy Policy.