Cast FM ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how OWEGO INKFLOW LIMITED & OWEGO CO., LIMITED, companies registered in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong (which also operate other applications including Cast FM), collect, use, disclose, and safeguard the information you provide through the Cast FM mobile application and related services (the "Platform").
By using Cast FM, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our practices, please discontinue use of the Platform.
1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT
To provide a seamless audio listening experience and maintain your account, we collect the following categories of data:
Account Data: When you register, we may collect your username, email address, age range, gender, and authentication credentials (including identifiers from third-party sign-in providers such as Apple or Google) to personalize content and manage your account.
Device & Technical Data: We automatically collect IP addresses, mobile advertising identifiers (such as GAID on Android and IDFA on iOS), device model, operating system version, language and region settings, network type, and crash diagnostics.
Listening & Usage Information: We collect data related to your use of the Services, including playback history, listening duration, playback progress (chapter and timestamp position), playback speed preferences, bookmarks, favorites, search queries, content recommendations interacted with, and ad engagement data (such as advertisements viewed in exchange for listening credits).
Offline Download Records: For subscribers using the offline download feature, we record metadata regarding which titles have been cached on your device to manage subscription entitlements and content availability.
Transaction Data: For in-app purchases and subscriptions, transactions are processed by third-party providers (Apple App Store, Google Play). We retain records of transaction IDs, subscription status, purchase timestamps, and amounts to credit your account and manage entitlements. We do not store full credit card numbers or banking credentials.
Communications: When you contact customer support, we retain the content of your communications and related metadata to respond to your inquiries.
2. AI-GENERATED CONTENT AND VOICE DATA
Cast FM's audio content is primarily generated using artificial intelligence text-to-speech and voice synthesis technologies. We want to be transparent about how this relates to your personal data:
- No Voice Collection from Users: Cast FM does not collect, record, or process your voice. The App does not require microphone access for its core functionality.
- AI Voice Models: The synthetic voices used in Cast FM's audio catalog are generated from licensed or proprietary AI voice models. These voices do not represent your personal voice data and are not derived from any data you provide.
- Listening Behavior for Recommendations: Your listening data may be processed by automated systems to generate personalized content recommendations. This processing is described in Section 3 below.
3. PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASES FOR DATA USAGE
We use the collected information for the following purposes:
- Service Provision (contractual necessity): To create and manage your account, deliver requested audio content, process subscriptions and in-app purchases, manage offline downloads, track listening progress across devices, and provide customer support.
- Personalization (legitimate interest / consent): To recommend audio content based on your listening history and preferences, and to deliver age-appropriate content.
- Analytics and Service Improvement (legitimate interest): To analyze platform performance, identify bugs, develop new features, and improve AI-generated content quality.
- Fraud Prevention and Security (legitimate interest / legal obligation): To detect and prevent fraudulent activities, particularly relating to ad-supported listening credits, subscription abuse, and automated/bot activity.
- Advertising (consent, where required): To serve relevant advertisements through our advertising partners, including rewarded video advertisements that allow users to earn listening credits, and to measure advertising effectiveness.
- Legal Compliance (legal obligation): To comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, and lawful government requests.
For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions requiring a legal basis for processing, the applicable legal basis is indicated in parentheses above.
4. DATA SHARING AND DISCLOSURE
We do not sell your personal information for monetary consideration. We may share information under the following circumstances:
Service Providers: With trusted third-party partners who assist with app hosting (cloud infrastructure providers), content delivery networks (CDN), analytics, customer support, crash reporting, and authentication. These providers are contractually bound to process data only on our instructions.
Payment Processors: With Apple App Store and Google Play for processing subscription payments and in-app purchases.
Advertising Partners: We share advertising identifiers (GAID/IDFA), IP addresses, and limited engagement data with advertising networks to deliver advertisements, including rewarded video ads. Our advertising partners may include, but are not limited to, Google AdMob, Meta Audience Network, Unity Ads, ironSource, AppLovin, and similar mobile advertising platforms. These partners have their own privacy policies governing their use of such data.
Analytics Providers: With analytics service providers (such as Firebase, Google Analytics, or similar) to understand aggregate usage patterns. Where possible, data shared for analytics is pseudonymized or aggregated.
Legal and Safety Disclosures: When required by applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; to enforce our Terms of Use; to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users, the Company, or others; or to detect and prevent fraud.
Corporate Transactions: In connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or part of our business, personal information may be transferred to the relevant party, subject to applicable confidentiality and legal protections.
5. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS
The Company operates from the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, and your information may be transferred to, processed, and stored in countries other than your country of residence, including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore, and the European Union, depending on the location of our service providers.
For transfers of personal data originating in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.
6. DATA RETENTION
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including:
- Account data: For the duration of your active account and for a reasonable period thereafter to handle reactivation requests or disputes.
- Transaction records: For a period required by applicable tax, accounting, and anti-money-laundering laws (typically 5–7 years).
- Listening and usage data: Pseudonymized and retained for analytics purposes for up to 24 months.
- Customer support communications: For up to 24 months after resolution of your inquiry.
- Fraud-prevention records: For as long as necessary to investigate and prevent fraudulent activity.
When data is no longer needed, we will delete or anonymize it in accordance with our internal data retention policies.
7. DATA SECURITY
We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption of data in transit (TLS/HTTPS), encryption of sensitive data at rest, access controls limiting employee access to personal information on a need-to-know basis, and regular security reviews.
No method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
8. YOUR RIGHTS
Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Deletion: Request that we delete your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
- Restriction: Request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
- Objection: Object to the processing of your personal data, including for direct marketing purposes.
- Data Portability: Request a portable copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used format.
- Withdrawal of Consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
How to Exercise Your Rights:
- In-App: You may trigger account deletion and update certain account information directly within the App settings.
- By Email: Send a request to support@castfmaudio.com. We may require verification of your identity before processing your request.
We will respond to verified requests within the timeframes required by applicable law (typically within 30 days). Certain data may be retained for a limited period if necessary for tax, legal reporting, fraud prevention, or dispute resolution purposes.
9. ADDITIONAL RIGHTS FOR EEA, UK, AND SWISS RESIDENTS (GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent laws:
- The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
- The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you. Cast FM's content recommendation system does not produce such effects.
The data controllers responsible for your personal data are OWEGO INKFLOW LIMITED & OWEGO CO., LIMITED, contactable at support@castfmaudio.com.
10. ADDITIONAL RIGHTS FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS (CCPA/CPRA)
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), provides you with the following additional rights:
- Right to Know: Request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, the sources of collection, the purposes of collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share personal information.
- Right to Delete: Request deletion of personal information we have collected from you.
- Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing: We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration. However, our use of advertising identifiers (GAID/IDFA) shared with advertising partners for cross-context behavioral advertising may be considered "sharing" under CCPA. You may opt out by adjusting your mobile device's advertising settings (e.g., "Limit Ad Tracking" on iOS, "Opt out of Ads Personalization" on Android) or by contacting us at support@castfmaudio.com.
- Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: We do not use sensitive personal information for purposes that would trigger this right.
- Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.
To exercise these rights, contact us at support@castfmaudio.com. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.
11. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
Cast FM is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the EEA, or the equivalent minimum age in other jurisdictions). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@castfmaudio.com, and we will take steps to delete such information.
12. ADVERTISING AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES
Cast FM uses mobile tracking technologies, including advertising identifiers (GAID/IDFA), to analyze trends, manage the Platform, deliver advertisements (including rewarded video advertisements), and measure advertising effectiveness.
Managing Your Preferences:
- iOS Users: Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking, or Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising.
- Android Users: Settings > Google > Ads, where you can reset your advertising ID or opt out of personalized advertising.
Our advertising partners may use their own tracking technologies subject to their respective privacy policies.
13. THIRD-PARTY LINKS AND SERVICES
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, services, or advertisements that are not operated by us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.
14. UPDATES TO THIS POLICY
We may revise this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. Material changes will be communicated through the App or by other reasonable means before they take effect. Non-material updates will be effective immediately upon posting within the App. Your continued use of Cast FM after such updates constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
15. GOVERNING LAW
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the United Kingdom and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including the UK Data Protection Act 2018, the UK GDPR, and the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486, Laws of Hong Kong), without prejudice to any mandatory consumer or data protection rights that may apply to you under the laws of your country of residence.
16. PRIVACY COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
We are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486, Laws of Hong Kong) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. Your information will be collected, processed, and stored securely, and will only be used for purposes directly related to our services. We do not disclose your personal data to third parties except as required by law or with your explicit consent.
17. CONTACT US
The platform is operated by OWEGO INKFLOW LIMITED & OWEGO CO., LIMITED. The operation and technical support services are provided by the following affiliated entities:
UK Office Company Name: OWEGO INKFLOW LIMITED Registration Number: 16346772 Company Address: Suite 302, 4 Station Square, Cambridge CB1 2GE, United Kingdom
Hong Kong Office Company Name: OWEGO CO., LIMITED Company Number: 3116836 Company Address: Unit D18, 3/F, Wong King Industrial Building, 2-4 Tai Yau Street, San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong (this is not a returning address)
Company Name: HONG KONG TENZHUO CO., LIMITED Registration Number: 76583410 Company Address: Workshop 60, 3/F, Block A, East Sun Industrial Centre, No. 16 Shing Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong
If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints regarding your privacy or this Privacy Policy, please contact our Data Protection Officer by email at support@castfmaudio.com.