Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

VaniCast is a podcast‑hosting and discovery platform operated by AMRIT‑Corp.com (“we”, “our”, “us”). Our service leverages the public Podcast Index API to retrieve podcast metadata, but we also store information that you provide directly to VaniCast (e.g., account details, uploaded episodes, preferences, and analytics). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights with respect to that data.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information

When you create a VaniCast account we collect:

• Full name, email address, and optional display name.
• Hashed password (or third‑party authentication token).
• Billing information (if you purchase a paid plan) – name, billing address, and payment method details (processed only by our PCI‑DSS‑compliant payment provider).
• Profile avatar and bio (if you choose to provide them).

2.2 Podcast & Episode Data

For every podcast you host we store:

• Title, description, category, language and explicit flag.
• Cover art & episode audio files (stored on our CDN).
• Metadata submitted through the Podcast Index (e.g., itunesId).
• Analytics such as play count, average listening duration, and listener‑geolocation (aggregated, never personally identifiable).

2.3 Automatically Collected Information

When you browse VaniCast we automatically receive:

• IP address, browser type, operating system, and device information.
• Pages visited, timestamps, and referral URLs (via server logs).
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5).

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your data for the following purposes:

• Provision, maintenance, and improvement of the VaniCast platform.
• Authentication, account recovery, and customer support.
• Billing, invoicing, and fraud prevention.
• Displaying your podcasts to listeners and enabling podcast distribution through Podcast Index.
• Aggregated analytics to help podcasters understand listener behavior (never shared with third parties in a personally identifiable form).
• Sending transactional emails (e.g., password reset, receipt) and optional marketing communications (only if you opt‑in).

4. Sharing & Third‑Party Services

We may share your information with:

• Our payment processor (to complete purchases).
• Third‑party email‑service providers for transactional notifications.
• The Podcast Index service, which we query to enrich podcast metadata.
• Law‑enforcement or regulatory authorities if required by applicable law.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

VaniCast uses cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your login session.
• Preserve your language & UI preferences.
• Collect anonymized usage statistics (via Plausible or an equivalent privacy‑first analytics provider).

6. Data Retention

We retain:

• Account information for as long as the account remains active.
• Podcast audio files and metadata until you delete them, or until you close your account.
• Log data (IP address, user‑agent) for up to 90 days for security and troubleshooting.

7. International Transfers

VaniCast and its service providers operate worldwide. Your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in jurisdictions outside of your own country, including the United States. We take appropriate safeguards (standard contractual clauses and industry‑standard encryption) to protect your data.

8. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• TLS encryption for all data in transit.
• At‑rest encryption for stored audio files and personal data.
• Regular security audits and vulnerability scans.
• Limited access rights for our staff.

9. Your Rights

Depending on the applicable law, you may have the following rights:

• Access – request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification – ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure – request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal obligations).
• Restriction – limit how we process your data.
• Data portability – receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Objection – object to processing for direct‑marketing or profiling purposes.

10. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. The “Effective date” at the top of this page will be updated to indicate the most recent revision. Continued use of VaniCast after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.