Privacy Policy

Controller

Thomas Wiebe
Benediktusplatz 22
52076 Aachen
Deutschland
E-Mail: hello@podsink.com

Overview

podsink is a browser-based podcast recording tool. We process as little personal data as we can. No tracking or analytics services are used.

What data is processed?

User account

To create recording sessions, you can register with your email address. We store your email address and an optional display name. Authentication uses passwordless magic links (sent via email) or passkeys (stored on your device). No passwords are stored. When you log in, we record your IP address, the time, and upon success, link it to your browser (user agent) to keep your session secure. You are not obliged to give us any data. Without an email address we cannot run an account for you, though, and without a display name you cannot join a session. You don't have to tell us anything beyond that.

Cookies

podsink uses a single essential cookie (podsink_session) to keep you signed in after authentication. This cookie is strictly necessary for the service to function (Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG), contains only a randomly generated session token, and is automatically deleted when you sign out or after 30 days. No tracking, analytics, or third-party cookies are used.

Display name

When entering a recording session, you give a display name. The field has to be filled in, but what goes in it is up to you: a first name, a nickname, or something else entirely. It does not have to identify you. The name is shown to the other participants in the session and used as the filename in the downloaded archive. It is stored in your browser's localStorage so it is already there next time; see "What we store in your browser" for the detail. On the server it stays with the recording and is deleted along with it at the end of the retention period - including the copy in the archive metadata.

Audio recordings

When a recording is started, each participant's browser records audio locally via the microphone. The recording is continuously uploaded to the server in the background. Until a chunk has arrived there, your browser buffers it locally. If the connection drops, that buffer stays on your device until it has been delivered, until it becomes clear that it is no longer needed, or until a running recording needs the space; in that case we clear out the oldest buffers first. Recording data is retained on the server for your plan's retention period after the session ends (see the retention period section below) and then automatically deleted. The downloadable archive contains the audio files along with markers and chat messages.

Video and screen share recordings

When video recording is enabled, each participant's camera is recorded locally as an MP4 file and uploaded to the server in the background, just like audio. If a participant shares their screen during a recording, the screen content is also recorded as a separate track. Video and screen share data follows the same plan-dependent retention period as audio recordings.

Email communication

We send two kinds of email. Operational messages are part of the service and can't be turned off: sign-in and sign-up links, confirmation of a new email address, identity confirmation before security-relevant changes, the reminder before a recording is deleted at the end of its retention period, and the receipt for a cancellation. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, plus Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR for the cancellation receipt. Product emails only go out with your consent: a check-in after your first recording, plus tips on using podsink and news about new features, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. You give that consent with a box that is not pre-ticked when you sign up, or at any later point using the setting in your account. You can withdraw it just as freely, with effect for the future, using the unsubscribe link in any such email or that same setting. We don't send newsletters or advertising for other companies' products, and we don't pass your address to anyone for that purpose.

Chat messages

Participants can send text messages during a session. Each message is stored on the server together with the sender's display name and a timestamp. Chat messages are included in the downloadable archive as a log file and are automatically deleted together with the recording data at the end of the retention period.

Technical connection data

Each connection to the server logs IP addresses, HTTP requests and technical details of your browser. This data helps us diagnose technical errors. Security and operational events are recorded separately in our event log (see below). Live audio and video runs through our own SFU server, which forwards the streams between participants and does not store them. While that runs, participants send the host which devices they picked and how their recording is set up, so the host can keep an eye on recording quality; the other participants do not receive it, and it is not stored. For each recorded track we also keep technical details that help with fault-finding: the resolution asked for and actually delivered, frame rate, bitrate, latencies, the name of the device used, and your browser, plus a timeline of technical events during the recording - when a camera was reopened, say, or an upload got stuck. None of it is available to the host or part of the download, and it is deleted together with the recording. Only the separate recording upload is stored, under the retention period below. The legal basis for the server log is our legitimate interest in the availability and security of the service (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Live listen

The host can generate a listen link for a session. Anyone with that link receives the session audio as a live stream, mixed on our server. The stream is not recorded or stored. We collect no data from listeners beyond the technical connection data: no account, no cookies, and no persistent identifiers. As with any request, the IP address and the request itself land in the server log, see above.

Security and event log

To keep podsink secure and track important changes, we maintain a dedicated event log. This captures account and login actions, session lifecycles, recording starts and stops, plan changes, and admin actions. For these events, we store the IP address, email, user ID, target ID, and relevant event data. If a login attempt fails, we log the IP address and the reason to detect and prevent abuse; the email address only when the attempt can be matched to a magic link we sent. Submissions of the public cancellation form are also recorded with the entered email address, IP address, and time.

What we store in your browser

Besides the cookie, podsink keeps a few things in your browser's localStorage. They stay on your device and are not used to analyse your behaviour. What you actually use in a session, such as your display name or the devices you picked, is transmitted there as the relevant sections describe.

One is a randomly generated participant ID per session. It contains no information about you and is removed automatically after 7 days, the next time you open a session. Without it we could not match you back to your own track after a page reload, so storing it is strictly necessary to provide the service you asked for (Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG).

The others are the settings you pick yourself, so you do not have to set them again for every session: your choice of microphone, camera and speaker, settings for your own media such as mute, mirroring the preview, where the self-view sits, gain and echo cancellation, and as a host the recording quality and whether video is captured, plus your display name and whether keyboard shortcuts work as single keys. Every one of these follows from a choice you made in the interface; none of it is inferred from your behaviour. There are also a few short-lived notes, such as which plan you were about to buy, so you carry on where you left off after signing in. The legal basis is Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG.

You can remove all of it by clearing the site data for podsink.com in your browser. The service works exactly the same afterwards, you just make your choices once more.

Legal basis

For the person doing the recording, processing is based on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of a contract) - the data is necessary to provide the service you signed up for. For everyone else taking part, with or without an account, processing is based on Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), which you give by joining the session; we say so in the waiting room before you join. You can withdraw consent at any time by leaving the session; the withdrawal applies to future processing, while contributions recorded up to that point remain part of the host's recording. Processing for the event log is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests), allowing us to ensure IT security, prevent abuse, and maintain accountability for administrative actions and plan changes. When a business host records other people with podsink, we process the recording data on that host's behalf under Art. 28 GDPR. The host is then the controller and their privacy information applies; a data processing agreement ready for signature is available at podsink.com/legal/avv.

Retention period

Recording data (audio, video, and chat) is stored on the server for a plan-specific retention period (Free: 3 days, Pro/Max: 7 days after session end), unless we have agreed otherwise, and removed by the next automatic cleanup run after that. The plan a session ends on is the one that counts: moving down later does not shorten the window of sessions already recorded, and moving up extends it. Login sessions expire after 30 days. Server logs are deleted after at most 90 days. Event logs are kept for 12 months for all event types. Certain audit records will survive an account deletion for the remainder of this period, so we can document the legality of the deletion itself. Daily snapshots of our servers are kept on a seven-day rotation. Deleted data can survive in them for up to seven days; they are never analysed and roll out of the rotation on their own. A snapshot holds the state of the database and the recording files that are still on the server at that moment. How long a recording stays there depends on when it was moved into the object storage and how long we keep the local copy after that; that can cover its entire retention period. The object storage itself is not backed up, so a recording deleted there is gone immediately and for good. If you delete a session, only its random ID and the date of deletion are kept, so participants' devices can safely clean up their local copies. That goes when your account does. You can delete your account at any time by contacting us.

Billing data on direct purchase

If you obtain podsink directly from us rather than through our checkout, we issue the invoice ourselves. For that we store your name and address, the contact details of your contact person, the invoice recipient, the service period, the amount, and the payment received. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for handling the contract and Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR for retention. Tax law requires us to keep invoices and accounting records, so they remain stored even if you have your account deleted, and are erased only once those periods expire. During that time we process them solely to meet those obligations. How long depends on the type of record: ten years for books and financial statements, eight years for accounting vouchers and invoices, six years for other business correspondence. The recipients of this data are our tax advisor for bookkeeping, our bank, and, for an electronic invoice, the receiving platform you name plus the access point involved if it is delivered over Peppol. If your company names a contact person or an invoice recipient, we process their contact details for the same purposes; that data then comes from your company. We present the records to the tax authorities on request.

Disclosure to third parties

We work with the following service providers: If you order a paid plan through our checkout, your email address and billing data are shared with Paddle.com Market Limited. Paddle acts as the merchant of record and handles payments, invoicing, and taxes as a controller in its own right, not as our processor; it has no access to recording data. Paddle is based in the United Kingdom; the EU Commission has confirmed an adequate level of data protection for the UK (adequacy decision, Art. 45 GDPR). Our servers run on infrastructure rented from Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany), and email delivery runs there too. Log processing does not: it currently runs on our own hardware in Germany, connected through an encrypted private network. No third party is involved in it. We also use infrastructure from OVH GmbH (OVHcloud, EU), currently as object storage: that is where recordings and their session metadata (session title, host email address, participant display names) sit for the duration of the retention period. Both are administered solely by us, and both locations are in the EU. Beyond that, personal data is not disclosed to third parties, apart from the recipients of billing data on a direct purchase described above. Live audio and video is not handed to any third party - it runs through our own infrastructure, rented from Hetzner.

Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR), and to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR). Where processing is based on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR). To exercise these rights, please contact: hello@podsink.com. Please note that specific event log entries may be exempt from immediate deletion until their retention period expires, where we need them to establish, exercise or defend legal claims (Art. 17(3)(e) GDPR) or where compelling legitimate grounds override an objection (Art. 21(1) GDPR). There is no automated decision-making, including profiling, within the meaning of Art. 22(1) GDPR.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), in particular in the Member State where you live, where you work, or where the alleged infringement took place. The authority responsible for us is the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia (ldi.nrw.de).