Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy covers the treatment of personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) gathered when you are using or accessing the Services. It also covers our treatment of any Personal Information that our business partners or service providers share with us or that we share with them.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that we do not own or control, including but not limited to any third-party podcast platforms, social media services, websites, or applications (“Third-Party Services”) that you elect to access through links from the Services or that we reference in our content. While we attempt to facilitate access only to those Third-Party Services that share our respect for your privacy, we cannot take responsibility for the content or privacy practices of those Third-Party Services. We encourage you to carefully review the privacy policies of any Third-Party Services you access.

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you interact with our Services, you may choose to provide us with certain Personal Information, including:

• Newsletter Subscriptions: If you sign up for our newsletter, we collect your email address and, optionally, your first and last name.
• Contact and Inquiries: If you contact us by email, phone, or through our website contact form, we collect the information you provide in your message, including your name, email address, and the content of your communication.
• Guest Applications: If you apply to be a guest on the podcast, we collect information you provide in the application process, which may include your name, professional background, areas of expertise, and contact information.
• User Content: If you submit comments, questions, feedback, or other content to our Services, we collect and may display that content along with any identifying information you include.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you interact with our Services, we automatically receive and record certain technical information, including:

• Your IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device type and operating system
• The pages you visit on our Site
• The time and duration of your visit
• Referring website URLs
• Cookie information

2.3 Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies (such as web beacons and pixel tags) to recognize your web browser, remember your preferences, measure traffic, and improve our Services. Our cookies do not, by themselves, contain Personal Information, though we may associate cookie data with your account if you have one.

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You may also generally opt out of receiving targeted advertising from third-party ad networks by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance's opt-out page at aboutads.info/choices or the Network Advertising Initiative's opt-out page at networkadvertising.org/choices.

2.4 Analytics

We use third-party analytics tools to help us understand how visitors use our Services. These tools may collect information such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and interactions with the Site. We use this data in aggregate form to analyze and improve our Services and do not use it to identify you personally.

2.5 Information from Podcast Platforms

Our podcast is distributed through third-party platforms including but not limited to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, and rss.com. When you listen to or watch our podcast through these platforms, those platforms may collect information about you (such as listening history, device information, and account data) in accordance with their own privacy policies. We do not control or have access to the personal information these platforms collect about you directly. We may receive aggregate or anonymized listening data from these platforms, such as download counts and geographic distribution.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To provide, operate, maintain, and improve our Services
• To send you our newsletter and other communications you have subscribed to
• To respond to your inquiries, comments, and support requests
• To process guest applications and coordinate podcast recordings
• To analyze usage patterns and trends to improve our content and Services
• To monitor and prevent fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service
• To comply with our legal obligations
• To send you information about our podcast, events, or other offerings we believe may interest you, but only rarely and when we feel such information is important

You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from us by using the unsubscribe link included in each email. We will continue to send you transactional or service-related communications (such as confirmations or account notices) if applicable.

4.1 Service Providers

We may share your Personal Information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as:

• Email and newsletter platforms: To send our newsletter and manage subscriptions
• Podcast hosting and distribution: rss.com and other distribution platforms
• Recording platforms: Riverside.fm for recording podcast episodes
• Analytics providers: To measure and understand our audience
• Payment processors: If you purchase any paid content or services from us

These service providers are authorized to use your Personal Information only as necessary to provide the services we have requested. We do not sell, rent, or lease your Personal Information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

4.2 Legal Disclosures

We may disclose your information when required by law, subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or when we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with applicable law, regulation, or legal process
• Enforce our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of our company, our users, or others

We will attempt to notify you of legal demands for your personal data when appropriate in our judgment, unless prohibited by law or court order.

4.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or other business transaction, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and that any acquirer may continue to use your Personal Information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

4.4 Aggregate Information

We may share aggregate, non-personally-identifiable information about our users (such as overall listener counts, geographic distribution, or usage statistics) with business partners or the public. This information cannot be used to identify you individually.

5.1 California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

• Right to Know: You may request the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you, the source, the purpose for collection, and the third parties to whom it was disclosed.
• Right to Delete: You may request that we delete your Personal Information, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Correct: You may request that we correct inaccurate Personal Information about you.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: We do not sell your Personal Information. You may opt out of the sharing of your Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes at any time.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at producer@internet-pioneers.com. We will verify your identity before processing your request.

5.2 Other State and Regional Rights

If you are located outside of California, you may have additional or different privacy rights under your state or jurisdiction's laws. Please contact us for more information about the rights available to you.

5.3 Do Not Track

Some web browsers offer a “Do Not Track” signal. At this time, we do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals, as there is no universally agreed-upon standard for how to interpret or respond to such signals. However, we do respect your cookie preferences as set through your browser settings and our cookie consent tools where available.

We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for the Services or send any information about yourself to us. If you believe we may have collected information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, please contact us at producer@internet-pioneers.com and we will take steps to delete such information as quickly as possible.

We adopt reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your Personal Information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. We use SSL encryption for data transmission between your browser and our servers. However, 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.

We retain your Personal Information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Services. We may retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When we no longer need your Personal Information, we will delete it or anonymize it in accordance with applicable law.

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Use of the information we collect is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is used. If we make material changes to how we collect or use your information, we will notify you by posting an announcement on the Site or sending you an email. Your continued use of the Services after any such changes constitutes your agreement to the updated Privacy Policy.

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

• Internet Pioneers Podcast
• Email: producer@internet-pioneers.com
• Website: internet-pioneers.com

We will make every effort to respond to and resolve your concerns promptly.