General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Privacy Policy
Effective as of: 17 August, 2023
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Acast, along with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, is committed to protecting your privacy and we always aim to achieve a high level of protection for your personal information. Through this Privacy Policy ("Policy") we aim to explain what type of personal data Acast collects and processes, how we collect your personal data and crucially, why we collect it. The information is directed to listeners, podcasters, advertisers, customer support users and newsletter subscribers of Acast ("you" or "your").
1.2 By using Acast as the host of your podcast (and any Acast tool associated with this), by purchasing advertising and/or sponsorship products and services from Acast, by listening to podcasts on Acast's website or through any third party platform or by subscribing to Acast+ content, (together, the "Acast Services"), you do so with the knowledge that your data will be collected and processed as described in this Policy.
1.3 Acast AB (publ), company reg. no. 556946-8498 with a registered office in Kungsgatan 28, 111 35 Stockholm, Sweden or another Acast group company, if specifically indicated in this Policy, (“Acast”, “us”, “we” or “our”) is the data controller responsible for the processing of your personal data according to this Policy. If you are a listener residing outside of the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, please read our Rest of World Privacy Policy.
1.4 It is important for you to understand that by using the Acast Services, you accept the practices described in this Policy. Consequently, if you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, we ask you to not use the Acast Services.
We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of this Policy at any time. When we make material changes to this Policy, we’ll notify you via email or a message within the Acast Services. Any changes to this Policy will become effective as of the date that appears at the very beginning of this document in the section “Effective as of”. Your continued use of the Acast Services following the posting of changes will be deemed an acceptance of those changes.
2. YOUR PERSONAL DATA RIGHTS
As an individual subject to privacy laws applicable in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK, including the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/69 (“GDPR”), you have several rights over your personal data. If you want to exercise any of the rights mentioned below, please contact us at privacy@acast.com.
2.1 Right of access - You have the right, upon request, to be informed of the personal data we collect about you, a copy of which will be provided free of charge. However, we may charge a reasonable fee to comply with requests for further copies of the same information or when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive.
2.2 Right to rectification - You have the right to request that we amend or update your personal data where you have identified that it is inaccurate or incomplete.
2.3 Right to erasure - In some cases, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data. For example, you can request us to delete personal data that we (i) no longer need for the purpose it was collected for, or (ii) process based on your consent and you withdraw your consent. There are situations where Acast is unable to delete your data, for example when the data is still necessary to process for the purpose for which it was collected, Acast’s interest to continue to process the data overrides your interest in having it deleted, or because we have a legal obligation to keep the data.
2.4 Right to restrict processing - If you believe that your personal data is inaccurate, that our processing is unlawful, that we no longer need your information for a specific purpose, or if you object to the processing of your personal data pursuant to Section 2.6 below, you have the right to request that we temporarily or permanently restrict the processing of some or all of your personal data.
2.5 Right to data portability - When we are processing your personal data on the legal basis of consent or performance of contract, you have the right to request a copy of your personal data in an electronically retrievable form and the right to use that data in other services.
2.6 Right to object to processing - You have a right to object to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation when the processing is based on the legal basis of legitimate interest. You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal data when we are using it for direct marketing purposes.
2.7 Right to withdraw consent - When we process your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall however not affect the lawfulness of processing based on your consent before its withdrawal.
- If you have signed up for our newsletters, you can withdraw your consent by using the opt-out feature provided in the email. Otherwise, please contact us at privacy@acast.com.
2.8 Right to lodge a complaint with the Data Supervisory Authority - If you have any concerns or complaints about Acast’s processing of your personal data, you may lodge a complaint with the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection or the relevant data supervisory authority in your jurisdiction. You can reach out to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection here.
3. PERSONAL DATA WE PROCESS AND WHY
3.1 LISTENERS
To provide you with a podcast listening experience and to improve the Acast Services, we collect some data that is personal to you. Below we outline the categories of personal data we process, the reasons why we process your personal data and the legal basis associated with the processing of your personal data.
General
- Explanation - We process your data when you access podcasts on the Acast website (including play.acast.com) or when you listen to podcasts hosted by Acast on (i) an Acast Embed Player placed on a third-party website/app or (ii) a third-party distribution channel, such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
- Legal basis - The processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to provide you a podcast listening experience. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you listen to Acast’s podcasts through any of the mediums mentioned above:
- IP address.
- User Agent.
- X-Session-ID. - Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Make the Acast Services available to you.
- Validate you as a listener.
- Identify the device you are using and to deliver content to your podcast player.
- Deliver advertisements based on your general (non-precise) location.
- Customize frequency and language of marketing and advertising messages.
- Provide aggregated listening reports to our podcasters and/or advertisers.
- Create and publish aggregated podcast audience reports.
- Analyze and measure the effectiveness of podcast advertising campaigns, including ad attribution and brand lift measurement.
- Combine personal data collected from you with data received from other third parties, including data received from data providers, to create audience segments and deliver audience-targeted advertisements.
- Compile anonymized statistics for insights, analytics, marketing, promotion and advertising purposes.
- Evaluate, test and develop new Acast features, technologies, products and/or services.
- Understand, diagnose, troubleshoot and fix issues with the Acast Services.
- Ensure network and information security in Acast’s Services.
- Prevent, detect or block fraudulent behaviour.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have. - Retention period - Your personal data is retained for 30 days after collection.
Acast+ subscribers (in addition to General)
- Explanation - If you are listening to Acast+ content, we collect and process your personal data in order to manage your Acast+ subscription and understand how you interact with the Acast+ services.
- Legal basis - The processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to provide you with Acast+ content. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination. In some cases, the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, for example when you agree to receive email marketing communications from the podcaster.
- Categories of personal data - In addition to the information processed under General, we process the following categories of personal data when you subscribe to Acast+ content:
- Name.
- E-mail address.
- Profile name.
- Gender (optional).
- Date of birth (optional). - Why? - In addition to the processing purposes listed under General, we process the data listed above in order to:
- Manage your Acast+ subscription.
- Ascertain that you have made required payments before accessing Acast+ content.
- Communicate with you and provide support in the event of technical, financial or other issues.
- Allow podcasters to communicate with you in connection your Acast+ subscription.
- Compile statistics or aggregated data reports on audience demographics (based on age and gender) for use by Acast and the podcaster.
- Allow podcasters to send you email marketing communications (with your consent). - Retention period - Your personal data is retained for as long as you don’t cancel your Acast+ subscription. Thereafter, we may retain anonymized data for analysis and information purposes. If you have consented to receiving marketing communications directly from the podcaster, you can withdraw your consent at any time by using the opt-out feature provided in the email. However, please note that the podcaster, not Acast, is solely responsible for fulfilling your opt-out request.
3.2 PODCASTERS
- Explanation - Regardless of whether you are a natural person or a representative of a podcaster who is a legal person, we process your data in order to provide you/the podcaster access to our services in connection with podcasts owned or controlled by you/the podcaster.
- Legal basis - Generally, the processing of your personal data is necessary for the performance of our contract with you/the podcaster. In some cases, the processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest, for example if you are a representative of a podcaster who is a legal person, or where we a pursuing a legitimate business purpose. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing of your data will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to fulfil the contract with the podcaster you represent or provide you/the podcaster with Acast’s podcast hosting, distribution and monetization products and/or services. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you (or in your capacity as a representative of the podcaster) enter into an agreement with Acast:
- Name.
- Email address.
- Telephone number.
- Username and password.
- Invoicing and payment details.
- Purchase order information.
- IP address. - Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Give you/the podcaster access to Acast’s services for uploading, managing, distributing and monetising podcasts.
- Give you/the podcaster access to Acast’s tool for sale and management of advertisements and sponsorships (if applicable).
- Make payments to you/the podcaster in relation to advertisements and sponsorships sold (if applicable) and provide information related to such payments.
- Give you/the podcaster access to anonymized statistics related to the podcasts, such as number of listens and demographic data.
- Give you/the podcaster access to statistics related to the sale of advertisements inserted into the podcasts.
- Create custom audiences to exclude you/the podcaster from our target audience across multiple platforms, such as Facebook and Google.
- Communicate with you/the podcaster.
- Provide support in the event of technical, financial or other issues.
- Compile anonymized statistics for insights, analytics, marketing, promotion and advertising purposes.
- Evaluate, test and develop new Acast features, technologies, products and/or services.
- Understand, diagnose, troubleshoot and fix issues with the Acast Services.
- Ensure network and information security in Acast’s Services.
- Prevent, detect and block fraudulent behaviour.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have. - Retention period - Your personal data is retained for the duration of the agreement and will be kept for a reasonable period thereafter in order to provide new Acast offers/information that might be of interest to you/the podcaster and comply with any legal, accounting or reporting obligation Acast may have.
3.3 ADVERTISERS
Advertisers
- Explanation - Regardless of whether you are a natural person or a representative of an advertiser who is a legal person, we process your data in order to offer you/the advertiser to purchase ad/sponsorship campaigns and administer the contractual relationship with you/the advertiser to the extent an ad/sponsorship campaign has been purchased. The Acast group company that enters into the agreement with you/the advertiser is the data controller for the processing of personal data related to you/the advertiser.
- Legal basis - Generally, the processing of your personal data is necessary for the performance of our contract with you/the advertiser. In some cases, the processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest, for example if you are a representative of an advertiser who is a legal person, or where we are pursuing a legitimate business purpose. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing of your data will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to fulfil the contract with the customer you represent or provide you/the advertiser with Acast’s ads/sponsorship products and/or services. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you (or in your capacity as a representative of the advertiser) enter into an agreement with Acast:
- Name.
- Email address.
- Telephone number.
- Invoicing and payment details.
- Purchase order information. - Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Provide you/the advertiser with offers, information and relevant marketing (e.g. provide offers on future campaigns).
- Manage ongoing customer relationship (to the extent an ad/sponsorship campaign has been purchased).
- Provide assistance and support in connection with matters related to an ongoing or completed campaign.
- Receive and administer invoicing and payments in relation to advertisements sold (if applicable) and provide information related to such payments.
- Give you/the advertiser access to anonymized statistics related to the performance of an ad/sponsorship campaign.
- Communicate with you/the advertiser.
- Provide support in the event of technical, financial or other issues.
- Compile anonymized statistics for insights, analytics, marketing, promotion and advertising purposes.
- Evaluate, test and develop new Acast features, technologies, products and/or services.
- Understand, diagnose, troubleshoot and fix issues with the Acast service.
- Ensure network and information security in Acast’s Services.
- Prevent, detect and block fraudulent behaviour.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have. - Retention period - Your personal data is retained for the duration of the agreement and will be kept for a reasonable period thereafter in order to provide new Acast offers/information that might be of interest to you/the advertiser and comply with any legal, accounting or reporting obligation Acast may have.
Leads
- Explanation - Regardless of whether you are a natural person or a representative of a lead who is a legal person, we process your data in order to evaluate business opportunities with you/the lead to purchase ad/sponsorship campaigns and enter into a contractual relationship with Acast.
- Legal basis - The processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing of your data will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to evaluate possible business opportunities between you/the lead and Acast. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you (or in your capacity as a representative of the lead) engage in business discussions with Acast:
- Name.
- Email address.
- Telephone number. - Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Evaluate possible business opportunities with you/the lead to purchase ad/sponsorship campaigns and enter into a contractual relationship with Acast.
- Communicate with you/the lead and provide assistance in connection with a future campaign.
- Evaluate, test and develop new Acast features, technologies, products and/or services.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have. - Retention period - Your personal data is retained for as long as we are evaluating possible business opportunities with you/the lead and will be kept for a reasonable period thereafter in order to provide new Acast offers/information that might be of interest to you/the lead.
3.4 CUSTOMER SUPPORT USERS
- Explanation - We process your data when you access our user support system on the Acast website or e-mail our support team in order to provide you with podcast-related assistance.
- Legal basis - The processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest. When balancing interests, we have concluded that the processing will have minimal impact to your privacy and that it is necessary to provide you with the support you may require. You can contact us at privacy@acast.com if you want to know more about which legitimate interests are being pursued and how we made that determination.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you access or e-mail Acast support:
- Name.
- Email address.
- Your communication with us, including necessary information regarding your support enquiry.
- Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Confirm your identity as an Acast user.
- Communicate with you.
- Answer your questions and find a solution to the issue.
- Understand, diagnose, troubleshoot and fix issues with the Acast service.
- Ensure network and information security in Acast’s Services.
- Prevent, detect or block fraudulent behavior.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have.
- Retention period - Your personal data is retained for as long as necessary to fulfil your support request. However, we may retain the email and other communication between you and Acast for internal monitoring purposes.
3.5 NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
- Explanation - We process your data when you subscribe to Acast’s newsletters in order to send you relevant information regarding events, news and offerings that might be of interest to you.
- Legal basis - The processing of your personal data is based on your consent.
- Categories of personal data - We process the following categories of personal data when you sign-up to Acast’s newsletters:
- Name.
- E-mail address.
- Why? - We process this data in order to:
- Send you relevant information regarding events, news and offerings that we think you might be interested in.
- Ensure network and information security in Acast’s Services.
- Prevent, detect or block fraudulent behavior.
- Comply with any legal obligation Acast may have.
- Retention period – Your personal data is retained until you choose to unsubscribe from our newsletter by using the opt-out feature provided in the newsletter.
4. SHARING YOUR PERSONAL DATA
4.1 In order to provide you with the Acast Services, we may share or disclose your personal data with our third-party service providers that perform certain services on our behalf and act as Acast’s processors. Such service providers are only allowed to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and may not use your personal data for their own purposes. They are also obliged to protect your personal data. For example, we share your personal data with the following service providers:
- Adswizz who provides audio advertising services.
- Amazon who provides hosting services through AWS.
- Podscribe, Veritonic, Artsai and Podsights who provides ad attribution services.
- Google who provides a mail server for support.
- Intercom who provides a customer support tool.
- Lucid who provides brand lift services.
- Mailchimp who provides email marketing services.
- Netsuite who provides a service to process podcasters/advertisers purchase orders.
- Nielsen who provides audience targeting services.
- Salesforce who provides a customer relationship manager system.
4.2 We may also share your personal data with other companies in the Acast group (including our subsidiaries) in order to carry out our daily business operations and provide you with the Acast Services described in this Policy.
4.3 We will share your personal data with a third-party if we are required to do so by law or if we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation under applicable law or a valid legal process.
5. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS
5.1 Certain service providers who process your personal data on our behalf may be located in a country outside of the EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Where such data transfer occurs, we will make sure that an appropriate data transfer mechanism is put in place to protect your personal data. This includes entering into a contract with the service provider in which the EU Commission's standard contractual clauses (available at the EU Commission’s website) have been incorporated.
5.2 For transfers of your personal data to other Acast group companies based outside of the EEA, Switzerland or the UK we will rely on the data transfer agreement entered between all Acast group companies in which the EU Commission’s standard contractual clauses (available at the EU Commission’s website) have been incorporated.
6. CHILDREN
Our Services are not directed at children under the age of 16 and we therefore do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16 years. If you become aware that Acast has unknowingly collected personal information from a child under the age of 16, we will make reasonable efforts to delete this information from our database as soon as practically possible.
7. INFORMATION ABOUT COOKIES
When you use the Acast Services or visit our website, we and our third party partners may use cookies or other similar technologies to understand how you interact with our Services/website and provide you with a personalized user experience.
For more information about cookies, including which cookies we use and how to opt-out or manage your cookie settings, please visit our Cookie Policy.
8. YOUR OPT-OUT CHOICES
We use data received from Nielsen to deliver audience-targeted advertisements when you listen to Acast-hosted podcasts. If you want Nielsen to stop providing us with your information, please use Nielsen’s opt-out function.
Please note that Nielsen’s opt-out function is unique to each device, browser or IP address that you use to access podcasts. For instance, if you opt-out on your iPad at home but not on your iPhone at home, you may still receive audience-targeted advertisements while listening to podcasts on your iPhone at home. Similarly, if you opt out on your iPad at home but then listen to podcasts from a different location, you may still receive audience-targeted ads. For more information on how to opt out on other types of devices/browsers, please read Nielsen’s Privacy Statement here.
Acast does not make any representations or warranties as to the effectiveness, accuracy or completeness of any third-party opt-out function.
9. HOW TO CONTACT US
If you have any questions or concerns about this Policy please send us an e-mail at privacy@acast.com or reach out to Acast's Data Protection Officer at dpo@acast.com. You may also write to us at the address below.
Acast AB (publ)
Company reg. no. 556946-8498
Kungsgatan 28
Stockholm 111 35
Sweden