1. Introduction

Clear-Cut Studios Ltd ("Clear-Cut", "we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose and protect your personal information when you:

  • visit our website;
  • create an account;
  • use our podcast recording platform;
  • purchase our podcast production services;
  • communicate with us;
  • upload files or recordings;
  • interact with our applications or APIs.

By using our website or services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy is designed to comply with:

  • UK GDPR
  • EU GDPR
  • UK Data Protection Act 2018
  • California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
  • California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
  • other applicable privacy legislation where required.

2. Who We Are

Clear-Cut Studios Ltd

Registered in England and Wales

Company Number: 16124627

Email:
contact@clearcutpodcasting.com

Throughout this Privacy Policy we act as the Data Controller unless stated otherwise.

3. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to:

  • clearcutpodcasting.com
  • the Clear-Cut Podcast Platform
  • podcast recording sessions
  • customer portals
  • project workspaces
  • production services
  • customer support
  • questionnaires
  • marketing communications
  • future products and services operated by Clear-Cut Studios Ltd.

4. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use our services, we may collect the following information.

Personal Information

  • full name
  • company name
  • email address
  • telephone number
  • billing address
  • VAT information (where applicable)
  • country
  • time zone

Account Information

When you create an account we may collect:

  • username
  • encrypted password
  • authentication information
  • profile settings
  • notification preferences
  • subscription details
  • workspace information

Podcast Information

When using our platform or production services we may collect:

  • podcast title
  • episode titles
  • guest names
  • episode descriptions
  • RSS feeds
  • publishing settings
  • podcast artwork
  • thumbnails
  • transcripts
  • show notes
  • timestamps
  • captions
  • production notes

Uploaded Content

Our platform is designed to process creative media.

Accordingly, users may upload or generate:

  • video recordings
  • audio recordings
  • images
  • graphics
  • logos
  • documents
  • scripts
  • subtitles
  • transcripts
  • music
  • podcast assets
  • production files
  • any other files necessary to provide our services.

These files may contain personal information relating to you or third parties.

You are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary rights and permissions to upload such content.

Communications

We may collect information contained in:

  • emails
  • support requests
  • questionnaires
  • contact forms
  • feedback
  • timestamped comments
  • revision requests
  • customer surveys
  • messages sent through our platform.

Payment Information

Payments are securely processed by third-party payment providers.

We do not store complete payment card numbers.

We may receive information such as:

  • transaction ID
  • subscription status
  • billing address
  • payment confirmation
  • invoice information.

Technical Information

Whenever you use our website or platform we may automatically collect:

  • IP address
  • browser type
  • browser version
  • operating system
  • device information
  • language
  • time zone
  • referring URLs
  • session identifiers
  • log files
  • error reports
  • usage statistics
  • page interactions
  • click events
  • diagnostic information
  • cookies
  • similar technologies.

Analytics

Where enabled, we may collect information relating to:

  • pages visited
  • features used
  • session duration
  • navigation patterns
  • feature adoption
  • performance metrics
  • conversion events.

This information helps improve our products and services.

5. How We Use Your Information

We process personal information to:

  • provide our services;
  • create and manage customer accounts;
  • host podcast projects;
  • facilitate remote podcast recording;
  • process uploaded media;
  • produce podcast content;
  • edit audio and video;
  • generate transcripts;
  • prepare show notes;
  • create thumbnails;
  • publish podcast episodes;
  • provide customer support;
  • improve our products;
  • personalise user experience;
  • process payments;
  • manage subscriptions;
  • detect fraud;
  • maintain security;
  • comply with legal obligations;
  • respond to lawful requests;
  • communicate with customers;
  • send important service notifications.

Where permitted by law, we may also use information to improve future products and services.

6. Legal Bases for Processing

Depending on your location, we rely upon one or more of the following legal bases:

Contract

To provide the services you request.

Legitimate Interests

To improve our platform, secure our systems and operate our business efficiently.

Consent

Where required for marketing communications or optional cookies.

Legal Obligation

Where processing is necessary to comply with applicable laws.

7. Third-Party Service Providers

We use carefully selected third-party providers to help us operate our services.

These providers may process personal information only where necessary to provide services on our behalf.

Current providers may include:

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Google Workspace
  • Google Drive
  • LiveKit
  • Stripe
  • RSS.com API
  • Google Analytics (where enabled)
  • YouTube API (where integrated)
  • Cloudflare (where used)
  • Sentry (where used)
  • PostHog (where used)
  • Mixpanel (where used)

We may introduce additional providers in the future where necessary to improve or operate our services.

Each provider processes information in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable data protection laws.

8. AI Processing

Some features of our services may use artificial intelligence technologies.

These may include:

  • transcription
  • summarisation
  • show notes
  • title generation
  • chapter creation
  • keyword extraction
  • metadata generation
  • content recommendations

Where AI services are used, uploaded content may be processed by trusted third-party AI providers solely for the purpose of providing requested functionality.

We do not intentionally use customer content to train public AI models unless explicitly disclosed and permitted.

9. International Data Transfers

Our services may involve the transfer, storage, or processing of personal information outside the United Kingdom, European Economic Area (EEA), or your country of residence.

Where such transfers occur, we take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information remains adequately protected through appropriate legal and technical safeguards, including where applicable:

  • UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs)
  • European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
  • adequacy decisions
  • contractual obligations with our service providers

By using our services, you acknowledge that your information may be processed in jurisdictions outside your own.

10. Data Security

Protecting your information is extremely important to us.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, misuse, or destruction.

These measures may include:

  • encrypted HTTPS connections
  • encrypted cloud storage
  • access controls
  • multi-factor authentication where applicable
  • secure authentication systems
  • activity logging
  • infrastructure monitoring
  • regular software updates
  • restricted employee access
  • password encryption
  • secure payment processing

Although we take commercially reasonable steps to protect your information, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

  • provide our services;
  • fulfil contractual obligations;
  • maintain customer accounts;
  • comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
  • resolve disputes;
  • enforce our agreements;
  • improve our products and services.

Podcast recordings, uploaded files and project assets may be retained after project completion unless:

  • deletion is requested by the customer;
  • retention periods expire;
  • legal obligations require longer retention.

We may retain anonymised or aggregated information indefinitely where it no longer identifies an individual.

12. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights.

You may request:

  • access to your personal information;
  • correction of inaccurate information;
  • deletion of your information;
  • restriction of processing;
  • objection to certain processing activities;
  • data portability;
  • withdrawal of consent where processing is based on consent.

Where legally required, we will respond within the applicable statutory time limits.

To exercise your rights, please contact contact@clearcutpodcasting.com.

13. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the CCPA and CPRA, including the right to:

  • know what categories of personal information we collect;
  • request access to your personal information;
  • request deletion of your personal information;
  • correct inaccurate personal information;
  • limit the use of sensitive personal information where applicable;
  • opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information.

Clear-Cut Studios Ltd does not sell personal information.

We also do not knowingly share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising as defined under applicable California law.

14. Cookies & Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

  • operate our website;
  • maintain secure login sessions;
  • remember preferences;
  • analyse website performance;
  • improve user experience;
  • measure marketing effectiveness;
  • understand how our services are used.

Cookies may include:

  • essential cookies;
  • security cookies;
  • analytics cookies;
  • functional cookies;
  • performance cookies.

Where required by law, we obtain your consent before placing non-essential cookies.

You may control cookies through your browser settings or any cookie preference tools we provide.

Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our services.

15. Marketing Communications

Where permitted by law, we may send information regarding:

  • product updates;
  • new features;
  • service announcements;
  • educational resources;
  • promotional offers;
  • newsletters;
  • events.

You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time using the unsubscribe link contained within our emails or by contacting us directly.

Service-related communications necessary to provide your account will continue to be sent where required.

16. Customer Content

Customers retain ownership of the content they upload to our platform.

This includes, without limitation:

  • podcast recordings;
  • audio files;
  • video files;
  • graphics;
  • logos;
  • transcripts;
  • documents;
  • thumbnails;
  • production assets.

We process such content solely for the purpose of providing our services unless otherwise agreed with the customer or required by law.

Customers are responsible for ensuring that they have obtained all necessary permissions, licences and consents relating to uploaded content.

17. Third-Party Links

Our website and platform may contain links to third-party websites, services or applications.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party services.

We encourage users to review the privacy policies of any external websites they visit.

18. Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for individuals aged 18 years or older or for businesses and organisations.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16.

If we become aware that personal information relating to a child has been collected without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete such information.

19. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect:

  • legal changes;
  • regulatory requirements;
  • new technologies;
  • additional products or services;
  • improvements to our platform.

When material changes are made, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.

Where required by law, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent before such changes take effect.

20. Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us.

Clear-Cut Studios Ltd

Company Number: 16124627

United Kingdom

Email:
contact@clearcutpodcasting.com

21. Supervisory Authority

If you believe that your personal information has been processed in violation of applicable data protection laws, you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

If you are located in the United Kingdom, you may contact:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Website: https://ico.org.uk