Privacy Policy

What we collect, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have — written for users in the global market.

Earcast is preparing its global launch. This document describes the rules that will apply at launch. The effective date and confirmed company details will be announced with the launch.

Effective date: To be announced with the global launch
Version: 0.1 (draft for legal review — global market)

This Privacy Policy explains how Runtime (sole proprietorship, owner: Suheon Park) ("we", "us") handles personal information when you use the audio service "Earcast (이어)" ("Earcast" or the "Service") in the global (English) market — what we collect, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have. It applies to users who chose English as their content language when they signed up.

1. Who we are

Business operator: Runtime (sole proprietorship, owner: Suheon Park), 1804, Bldg. 102, 111 Munjang-ro, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea
Privacy officer: Suheon Park (psuheon818@gmail.com)
General inquiries: runtime364@gmail.com

2. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to run the Service. You sign in with Google or Apple, so we never ask for a password.

Account (required): The account identifier issued by your sign-in provider (Google or Apple) and which provider it is. We do not collect your name or phone number.
Account (only if your provider shares it): Your email address and whether it is verified. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we receive the relay address only. You can use the Service without an email address.
Language and region settings: The content language you choose at sign-up, your device language, region and time zone. We use them to show content in your language and to deliver daily episodes at a sensible local time.
Your choices in the app: Topics you follow and notification settings.
Usage (generated automatically): What you play and where you stopped, completions and other listening signals, items added to your library, your device push token, access logs, device model, OS and app version, and crash reports.
App analytics and ad measurement (generated automatically): App opens, screen views, sign-up and onboarding completion, playback start and progress, device information, and a random identifier assigned by the analytics tools. On Android this includes the device advertising ID (AAID/GAID). On iOS we do not collect the advertising identifier (IDFA) and we do not ask for permission to track you. See section 9 for how to limit this.
Website visits (generated automatically): Pages visited, time on page, referrer, browser and OS type, approximate location and a random cookie identifier. This is not linked to your app account.
Purchases: Your subscription plan and period, purchase and refund history, the transaction identifier issued by the store, the store country and currency. Card details are handled by Apple or Google; we never see or store them.
Consent records: Whether you agreed to these documents and to marketing messages, which version, and when.

Providing account information is necessary to create an account — without it we cannot provide the Service. Everything else marked optional can be left out without losing access.

3. Why we use it and our legal basis

We use your information for the purposes below. Where the law of your country requires a legal basis, the one we rely on is shown in brackets.

Providing the Service — [performance of our contract with you]: Creating and securing your account, choosing and delivering daily episodes based on your topics and listening, remembering where you stopped, applying your plan's daily play limit, and processing subscriptions.
Keeping records the law requires — [legal obligation]: Keeping purchase and subscription records for the period required by law (section 5).
Improving and protecting the Service — [legitimate interests]: Aggregated statistics on which content is played, app analytics to find where people get stuck, crash reports, fraud and abuse prevention. Our interest is a working, safe Service; you can object at any time (section 8).
Notifications and marketing — [consent]: Push notifications (through your device permission) and optional marketing messages. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings; withdrawal does not affect earlier processing.
Ad measurement — [consent where your law requires it, otherwise legitimate interests]: Counting whether people who saw our app-install ads went on to install, sign up and play. We do not use it to target ads at you individually.

4. Who receives your information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers below, who process it on our behalf under contracts that limit its use, and when the law requires us to (for example, a valid court order).

Sign-in: Google LLC, Apple Inc.
In-app purchases: Apple Inc. (App Store), Google LLC (Google Play)
Cloud hosting, storage and email: Amazon Web Services, Inc. — servers in the Seoul region (Republic of Korea)
Push notifications: Expo (650 Industries, Inc.)
Crash and error reports: Functional Software, Inc. (Sentry)
App analytics: Google LLC (Firebase Analytics) — account identifiers are sent only in hashed form; never your name or email.
Website analytics: Google LLC (Google Analytics 4) — website only, not linked to your app account.
Ad measurement: Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Meta SDK) — install, sign-up, onboarding and first-play events, device information and, on Android, the advertising ID. Never your name, email or account identifier.

Content partners receive aggregated statistics only (plays, completion rates, listening time) — nothing that identifies you. Voice synthesis and script tools used to produce episodes never receive your personal information.

5. How long we keep it

When you delete your account — no purchase history: Everything, including consent records, is deleted immediately.
When you delete your account — with purchase history: Your library, topics, listening history and device tokens are deleted immediately. Purchase and subscription records, the email address linked to them and consent records are kept for 5 years in a separate storage area, because Korean consumer-protection law (Enforcement Decree of the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, Art. 6) requires it, and are then deleted.
Analytics data: Up to 14 months, after which only aggregated statistics remain.
Email verification records: Deleted once verification completes or expires.

We do not deactivate or delete accounts just because you have not used them for a while.

6. International transfers

We are based in the Republic of Korea and our servers are in Seoul. If you use Earcast from another country, your information is transferred to Korea, and some providers in section 4 process it in the United States or other countries where they operate. We transfer it only to providers bound by contract to protect it to a standard comparable to the law of your country, and, where your law requires it, with your consent. You can ask us for details of these safeguards at the contact address below.

7. Children

Earcast is for people aged 18 or older, or 16 or older in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea. We ask you to confirm your age when you sign up and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone below the age that applies where they live. If we learn that we have, we delete it and close the account. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you can ask us to:

access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy (portability)
correct inaccurate information
delete your information
restrict or object to processing based on legitimate interests
withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier processing
opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and of targeted advertising (we do not sell; see section 9 on ad measurement)

Most of this you can do yourself in the app — change topics and email in Profile or Settings, turn notifications, marketing and ad measurement off in Settings, and delete your account in Settings › Delete account. For anything else, email runtime364@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days, or sooner if your local law requires and may need to verify your identity first. You may use an authorized agent; we will ask for proof that they act for you.

We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights — no different prices, plans or quality of service.

You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your country. In Korea, you can contact the Personal Information Infringement Report Center (privacy.kisa.or.kr).

9. Analytics, ad measurement and cookies

The app includes Google Firebase Analytics and the Meta SDK. Under some US state laws (including California), sending app events to an advertising platform for ad measurement may count as "sharing" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To limit it:

In the app — turn off Settings › Privacy › Allow ad measurement. The app stops sending events (and, on Android, the advertising ID) to Meta, and it stays off when you restart the app until you turn it back on. Firebase Analytics, which we use to improve the app, is separate.
Android — Settings › Privacy › Ads: delete or reset your advertising ID.
iOS — we do not access the IDFA; you can also turn off Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking › "Allow Apps to Request to Track".
Ask us — email runtime364@gmail.com with "Do Not Sell or Share" and we will stop sending your events to Meta and ask Meta to delete what it received from us.
Delete the app — sending stops immediately.

Our website (https://earcast.co.kr) uses Google Analytics 4 cookies to count visits. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings or install the Google Analytics opt-out add-on (tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout). Blocking them does not affect the website or the Service.

10. Security

Access to personal information is limited to people who need it for their work.
Data is encrypted in transit, and sensitive values such as credentials are stored encrypted or hashed.
Access to systems that hold personal information is logged.
Records we must keep by law are stored separately from the live database.

11. Changes to this policy

We will tell you in the app at least 7 days before a change takes effect, and at least 30 days before a change that significantly affects your rights. Where the law requires, we will ask for your consent again.

12. Contact

Business operator: Runtime (sole proprietorship, owner: Suheon Park)
Business registration no.: 346-16-02865
Address: 1804, Bldg. 102, 111 Munjang-ro, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea
Email: runtime364@gmail.com