Effective date: November 11, 2026
SwissCast Network is an English-language podcast network based in Switzerland. This policy explains what personal data we collect through swisscastnetwork.ch and our network activities, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have.
We keep this policy short and specific. If anything is unclear, write to us at hello@swisscast.network.
1. Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is:
Megan J. McCrory, SwissCast Network
Habich-Dietschy-Strasse 9c
4310 Rheinfelden
Switzerland
Email: hello@swisscast.network
SwissCast Network is operated by Megan J. McCrory as a sole individual. It is not registered as a separate legal entity, so Megan J. McCrory is the controller for all processing described here.
2. What this policy covers
This policy covers personal data processed through:
- the website swisscastnetwork.ch
- our newsletter and email communications
- contact forms, member and show applications, guest pitches, and advertiser or sponsor inquiries
- guest registration and release forms
- voicemail messages left for our shows
- comments and community features on the site
- downloadable resources such as press kits and media kits
- audience measurement and aggregate reporting to advertisers
This policy does not cover the individual member shows of the network. Each show runs its own website, podcast feed, and guest arrangements, and each is responsible for its own data. This policy also does not cover third-party platforms you use to listen to podcasts, such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts, which have their own privacy policies.
3. What we collect
Information you give us. When you fill in a form or write to us, we receive what you choose to send. This typically includes your name, email address, and message, and where relevant your company, phone number, show name, or website. Member and show applications, guest pitches, and advertiser inquiries arrive by email.
Guest registrations and releases. Guests complete a registration form before appearing on a show. It collects contact and background information about the guest and, where the guest is featured, includes a release form recording consent to be recorded and published. We do not collect bank or payment details from guests.
Voicemail. Some shows invite listeners to leave a voice message. If you leave one, we receive your recording and whatever you say in it, which may include your name and contact details.
Comments and community submissions. If you comment or submit content through the site, we receive the content and the details attached to it.
Email engagement. Our newsletter provider records whether emails are opened and which links are clicked, so we can tell what is useful. Links we share are sometimes shortened, and click data from those links is recorded in aggregate. We do not use it to build individual profiles of listeners.
Technical and usage data. Like most websites, the site records technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, approximate location derived from your IP address, referring page, and the pages you visit. We collect this through Google Analytics and through cookies and similar technologies described in section 5.
Download and audience statistics. Podcast hosting platforms provide us with download counts and similar aggregate figures. These are not linked to individual listeners.
We do not process payment data on the website, because there are no payment functions on the site.
4. Why we use your data, and on what basis
- To answer your inquiries. When you contact us, apply to join the network, pitch a guest, or ask about advertising, we use your details to reply and to manage the conversation. Basis: steps taken at your request before a possible agreement, and our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us.
- To send the newsletter. Basis: your consent, which you give when you subscribe and can withdraw at any time by using the unsubscribe link in every email or by writing to us.
- To onboard members and record guest consent. Basis: performance of our agreement with members, and consent plus our legitimate interest in documenting that guests agreed to be recorded and published.
- To publish and promote episodes. Basis: our legitimate interest in producing and promoting the shows, and guest consent recorded in the release form.
- To operate voicemail features. Basis: your consent, given by choosing to leave a message.
- To measure and improve the site and newsletter. Basis: your consent where cookies require it, as explained in section 5.
- To report audience figures to advertisers and sponsors. Basis: our legitimate interest in operating the network commercially. We report aggregate figures only, as explained in section 8.
- To keep the site and our systems secure and to prevent abuse. Basis: our legitimate interest in protecting our services.
- To meet legal, accounting, and record-keeping obligations. Basis: compliance with legal obligations.
Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG), this processing is justified by your consent, by the connection with the performance of a contract, and by our overriding private interests, as provided in Article 31 nDSG.
We do not carry out automated decision-making that produces legal effects about you, and we do not build profiles of individual listeners.
5. Cookies and similar technologies
The site uses cookies and similar technologies. Google Analytics helps us understand how visitors find and use the site, so we can improve it. Embedded players from Captivate and embedded YouTube videos let you listen and watch without leaving the page, and these embeds may set their own cookies or read technical information when the page loads. Some of these technologies are not strictly necessary for the site to work.
A cookie consent banner appears when you visit the site, and non-essential cookies are only used with your consent, which you can change or withdraw at any time through the banner. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of the site, including embedded players and videos, behave.
6. Newsletters and email
We send network news, episode updates, and member news to people who subscribe. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect promptly. We may still contact you about a specific request or an active membership even after you unsubscribe from the newsletter.
7. Guests, members, and other podcasters
Guest registration details and release forms are kept as records that a guest agreed to appear and be published. Guest contact details may be shared with other SwissCast Network member shows when a guest seems like a good fit for another show. We only share what the guest entered on the registration form or has made public, and we do not pass on anything further.
Member show details, such as show name, description, artwork, and public contact information, appear in the network directory and promotional material.
8. Advertising and audience reporting
We work with companies and brands that want to reach the English-speaking audience in Switzerland through sponsored episodes, ad placement, and curated content. Advertisers and sponsors receive aggregate figures only, such as total monthly downloads or the size of the audience across the network.
We do not share listener-level data with advertisers or sponsors. That means we do not share listener email addresses, IP addresses, or download-level detail about individual listeners. Dynamic ad insertion through Captivate uses standard download counts and does not involve listener data beyond that.
We do not sell personal data.
9. Who we share data with
We use service providers who process data on our behalf, and we share only what each one needs:
- Podpage for website hosting, site forms, email marketing, and voicemail capture
- Kit (ConvertKit) for newsletter delivery and subscriber management
- Google for Google Analytics, Google Forms, and Google Workspace (Drive and Sheets)
- Captivate for podcast hosting, dynamic ad insertion, and download statistics
- Notion for our CRM, contact records, and internal workspace
- CutMeShort for shortened links and click statistics
These providers act on our instructions and are bound by their own data protection terms. We may also disclose data where the law requires it, where it is necessary to establish or defend legal claims, or as part of a transfer of the network to a successor.
10. International transfers
Several of our providers are based in the United States, and one is based in the United Kingdom. Data may therefore be transferred outside Switzerland and the European Economic Area.
Where data is transferred to a country without an equivalent level of protection, we rely on appropriate safeguards. These are the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, together with the Swiss addendum where applicable, or, for providers certified under it, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. For providers in the United Kingdom, we rely on their contractual safeguards and their own compliance measures. You can ask us for a copy of the relevant safeguards at hello@swisscast.network.
11. How long we keep data
- Newsletter subscribers: until you unsubscribe, or until the show or network you subscribed to no longer exists
- Contact forms and inquiries: five years
- Guest registrations and release forms: as long as the show exists, and generally longer, because published episodes and the consents behind them may remain publicly available
- Member and show applications: two years
- Voicemail recordings: two years
- Google Analytics data: 14 months, the default retention period
- Aggregate download and advertising figures: kept indefinitely, because they contain no personal data about individual listeners
When a retention period ends, we delete the data or anonymise it.
12. Security
The site uses HTTPS, so data sent between your browser and the site is encrypted. Accounts with our providers are protected by passwords and two-factor authentication, and access is limited to Megan J. McCrory. Our providers maintain their own technical and organisational security measures.
No system is completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to put you at risk, we will inform the competent authority and affected individuals as required by law.
13. Your rights
Under the Swiss nDSG, and under the GDPR for visitors in the EU, EEA, and UK, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete
- Delete your data, where we no longer need it or are not required to keep it
- Restrict how we use your data
- Receive data you gave us in a portable format
- Object to processing based on our legitimate interests
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that already happened
To exercise any of these rights, write to hello@swisscast.network. We respond within 30 days. We may ask you to confirm your identity so we do not disclose data to the wrong person, and we may decline a request where the law allows us to, for example where we must keep records or where a guest release must remain verifiable.
If you believe we have handled your data improperly, you can complain to a supervisory authority. In Switzerland that is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), Feldeggweg 1, 3003 Bern. If you are in the EU, EEA, or UK, you can complain to the supervisory authority in your country of residence, work, or where the issue occurred.
14. Children
The site and our shows are not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16, and none of our shows are made for under-16 audiences. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our tools, services, or legal obligations change. The effective date at the top shows when the current version took effect. Material changes will be announced on the site or by email where appropriate.
16. Contact
Questions about this policy, or requests about your data:
Megan J. McCrory
SwissCast Network
Habich-Dietschy-Strasse 9c, 4310 Rheinfelden, Switzerland
hello@swisscast.network