The short version
Almost everything stays on your device. The one exception is optional, anonymous analytics — you choose whether to share these during onboarding, and you can change your mind at any time in Settings.
Who we are
Crest is an independent podcast app developed by Peter Bryant, based in the United Kingdom. If you have any questions about this policy, you can get in touch at hello@crestpodcasts.com.
What data Crest collects
Crest does not collect any personal information. There are no user accounts, no sign-ins, and no registration required to use the app.
The one optional exception is analytics, which you can choose to enable during onboarding or toggle at any time in Settings. Analytics are off by default — we only receive data if you actively opt in.
If you opt in, Crest sends anonymous usage events to PostHog (a third-party analytics platform) to help us understand how the app is being used — for example, which features are most useful or where things might be going wrong. These events do not include your name, email, or any information that identifies you personally. We do not use this data for advertising, and it is never sold or shared with third parties.
Where your data lives
All personal data created by your use of Crest — your podcast subscriptions, queue settings, playback history, and preferences — is stored locally on your device. This data never leaves your device and is not accessible to us.
If you delete the app, this data is deleted with it.
Anonymous analytics data (if you've opted in) is stored on PostHog's EU-based servers, in accordance with their privacy policy. You can withdraw your consent at any time in Settings, which will stop any further data being sent. Because analytics data is fully anonymous, it is not possible to identify or delete previously collected events — but no further data will be sent once you opt out.
Third-party services
PostHog (optional analytics)
If you opt in to analytics, usage data is sent to PostHog, Inc. We use PostHog's EU infrastructure, so data is processed and stored within the European Economic Area. PostHog's privacy policy is available at posthog.com/privacy.
Podcast hosts
When you subscribe to a podcast, Crest fetches that podcast's public RSS feed directly from the podcast's host server. This is a standard network request that may include your device's IP address. We have no involvement in or visibility of these requests — they are between your device and the podcast host.
We do not use any advertising SDKs.
Legal basis for processing (UK GDPR)
For users in the UK and EEA, we process analytics data on the basis of your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw this consent at any time in Settings, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
Children's privacy
Crest does not knowingly collect data from children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the UK). The analytics opt-in is presented to all users equally; if you are a parent and believe your child has opted in to analytics, please contact us and we will arrange deletion of any data collected.
Your rights under UK law
Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access — the right to request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Erasure — the right to request deletion of your data
- Withdrawal of consent — the right to opt out of analytics at any time in Settings → Privacy
- Portability — the right to receive your data in a machine-readable format
- Complaint — the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk
Because Crest stores no personal data on our servers (only anonymous analytics, if you've opted in), most of these rights are satisfied by design. Because analytics data is fully anonymous, we are unable to identify or retrieve data tied to any individual — and therefore cannot action access, erasure, or portability requests against it. If you have any other questions, please contact us directly.
Changes to this policy
If we change how Crest handles data, we will update this policy and revise the date at the top. We won't make changes that affect your privacy without being transparent about them.
Contact
Peter Bryant
hello@crestpodcasts.com
United Kingdom