Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

We keep collection to what the Service needs in order to run:

• Account details: the email address, display name and avatar you give us when you sign up or sign in, plus your password, which we keep only in hashed form.
• Viewing and activity: what you watch, how far you have got in each title (watching or reading), the titles saved in your library, and the comments you write.
• Wallet and purchases: your credit balance, what you have unlocked, and records of what you bought and when. Where you buy determines who processes the payment itself: an authorised payment provider (a third party), Google Play or the Apple App Store (see section 3).
• Device and technical information: a pseudonymous identifier that the app generates for your device, which is a random value and not an advertising ID; the time zone your device is set to, which daily features rely on; and simple view and play events that we use for our own analytics.
• Support messages: anything you send us, for example by email or through an in-app report.

2. How we use it

• To run the Service: streaming content and keeping your library and progress in sync across your devices.
• To look after your account and wallet, the content you unlock, your rewards and your comments.
• To keep the Service safe by preventing fraud and abuse, moderating what users post and enforcing our Terms.
• To answer support requests and send you notices about the Service.
• To comply with the law.

3. Payments and credits

Credits and premium purchases made in the mobile apps are processed by Google Play Billing and Apple In-App Purchase. Those stores deal with your payment method, so your full card details never reach us and are not stored by us. What we do receive is a purchase confirmation, which lets us add the credits to your account.

Website purchases work differently. Online payments are handled by an authorised third-party payment provider. The provider, the payment options and the applicable terms are shown at checkout before you pay. ShortPool does not receive or store your full payment card details. The provider may collect and process the information it needs to finish the transaction, stop fraud, comply with the law and with tax rules, send invoices and answer payment questions. It handles that information under its own privacy terms; you will find a link to them at checkout. After a successful payment, we get a confirmation and add the credits to your account.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information. It is shared only:

• with companies that host and operate the Service for us, such as cloud hosting, database and content-delivery services, which must keep it confidential;
• with Google or Apple for purchases made in the apps, and with authorised payment providers, so that each transaction can go through and be supported;
• where the law or a legal process requires it, or to protect the safety, rights and property of the public, our users or ShortPool.

5. What we stay away from

• There are no third-party SDKs for advertising or analytics in the Service.
• Your precise location is not collected, and neither is anything from your contacts, photos, microphone or camera.
• The date of birth you type in for the age check is kept on your device only; our servers never receive it.

6. Cookies

• Essential cookies are always on, because the site cannot function without them. They keep you signed in, remember your language and protect the site.
• Analytics cookies (Google Analytics) are optional. They are set only once you choose "Accept all" or switch on Analytics in Cookie settings, and they give us anonymous statistics about usage.
• Use "Cookie settings" in the footer whenever you want to change your choice.

7. AI-assisted and synthetic content

Our titles are made in two ways: some conventionally, and some with help from AI tools. When AI plays a role in creating a title or improves it in a material way, the people and events in it are invented and are not meant to portray anyone real who could be identified.

If a product feature passes what you enter to an AI service, we say so, and we identify the AI providers concerned whenever that is required. Your personal data is not used to train AI models run by third parties unless you consent.

8. Children

Children under 13 are not the audience of the Service. An age gate appears the first time the app is launched, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone younger than 13. Tell us if you think a child has given us information, and we will remove it.

9. Security

Your data is protected with industry-standard measures, such as HTTPS/TLS encryption in transit and hashed passwords. We work to keep your information safe, but no way of transmitting or storing data is 100% secure.

10. How long we keep data

We hold on to your information for as long as your account stays open, or for as long as it is needed to run the Service. If you delete your account (see section 11), your personal data is erased or anonymised. The only exception is records we must keep for security, tax or legal reasons, or to prevent fraud.

11. Your rights and choices

• Seeing and correcting your data: your profile can be viewed and edited in your account settings.
• Deleting your account and data: write to [email protected] from the email address registered to your account, using "Delete my account" as the subject line. Once we have checked the request really comes from you, we remove within 30 days your watch history and progress, saved library and comments, your email, display name and avatar, and the wallet records that belong to your account.
• Account deletion neither refunds earlier purchases nor cancels an active Plus subscription. Cancel Plus first, which you can do in ShortPool › Plus or by writing to [email protected].
• Depending on your country, the law may give you further rights, such as access, correction, deletion, objection and portability. Examples include the California CCPA/CPRA and the EU GDPR. Contact us if you want to use them.

12. International use and data transfers

Our team and some of the servers that process your data may be located outside your own country. You understand that, when you use the Service, your data may be moved to and handled in places whose data-protection laws differ.

13. Changes to this Policy

This Policy may be revised now and then. Material changes will appear here, and when a change is significant we will also tell you about it by email or in the app.

14. Contact

Privacy questions can be sent to [email protected]. The data controller is ShortPool.

Who publishes this and how to reach us

This document is issued by ShortPool, which runs shortpool.tv and our mobile apps.

For account matters, refunds, rights complaints or any other question, write to [email protected]. Answers are sent from that same mailbox, and we try to respond in no more than 3 business days.