The short version
Castaway TV doesn't have user accounts, doesn't run analytics, doesn't show ads, doesn't use tracking or advertising SDKs, and doesn't use a crash-reporting service. The app doesn't send your watch history, favorites, or settings anywhere, they stay on your device.
You point Castaway TV at content sources you choose yourself (IPTV playlist links, Stremio-protocol add-ons). The app connects to those servers directly from your device. We never see that traffic and we don't operate any of those servers.
The only network calls the app makes on its own are: (1) a version check against our own server, so the app knows an update exists, and (2), once purchases exist, a licence check. Both are described below, in full, because they're the only real data flows there are.
Who we are
Castaway TV is developed by Jones Innovations (castaway.watch). For anything in this policy, or to exercise any of the rights described below, contact:
support@castaway.watch
For the purposes of GDPR, Jones Innovations is the data controller for the limited data flows described in this policy that involve personal data, see "What data actually moves" below for which ones those are.
What data actually moves
Stored only on your device, never sent to us
Watch progress, favorites, hidden-category preferences, playback settings, your list of added IPTV playlists and installed add-ons, and diagnostic files (a rolling crash log and sync diagnostics, which may include nicknames you've given your TVs) all live in local app storage on your device. None of it is transmitted to us. A diagnostic file only leaves your device if you personally attach it to an email or message to support, that's your choice each time, not something the app does automatically.
Content sources you add, direct connections, not through us
When you add an IPTV playlist URL or install a Stremio-protocol add-on, the app fetches from that server directly, from your device. We don't proxy, log, or see any of these requests. What that source sees (your IP address, the titles you request) is between you and whoever runs that server, read their privacy policy, not ours, for that.
Two add-ons are pre-configured for metadata and subtitles: Cinemeta (titles, artwork, descriptions) and OpenSubtitles (subtitle search), both run by their respective projects, not by us. When you browse or search, the app sends only what's needed to look up a match, a title or an identifier, directly from your device to these services. Neither is used to fetch or play video; you can remove or replace either one in Settings at any time.
Update check
On a schedule, the app asks a server we run (a Cloudflare Worker) for the current version number, so it can tell you an update is available. That request necessarily exposes your IP address and standard HTTP request metadata to Cloudflare, our hosting provider, the same as visiting any website. No account identifier, device ID, or usage data is sent. We don't log or retain this beyond Cloudflare's standard, short-lived infrastructure logs, and we don't use it for anything besides serving you the correct version information.
Legal basis (GDPR): legitimate interest, keeping the app functional and up to date (Art. 6(1)(f)).
Household sync (optional, off by default)
If you turn this on, your watch progress, favorites and settings are encrypted on your device and stored as an opaque blob in a cloud storage account you choose and control. The encryption key never leaves your own devices and is never sent to us. We don't run a sync server, we never receive this blob, and even if we did, we have no way to decrypt it. We are not a data controller or processor for this data, it never passes through anything we operate.
Licence purchases (upcoming feature)
Buying a licence works like this:
- The app requests a short, random claim code from our Cloudflare Worker and polls it for a signed licence file. This exchange sends no personal data, no account, and no device identifier, just the claim code itself.
- Payment is handled entirely by Lemon Squeezy, our payment provider and merchant of record. Lemon Squeezy, not us, is the seller of the licence, and they collect and process your payment details (card number, billing address, receipt email) under their own privacy policy: https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/privacy. We do not receive, process, or store your card number or other payment details, and Lemon Squeezy acts as an independent data controller for that transaction, not as our processor.
- Once payment clears, the app receives a signed licence file over the claim-code exchange above and stores it on your device. Afterwards, the app verifies the licence offline, no further network call is needed to keep using it.
Any questions about a charge, refund, or receipt go to Lemon Squeezy directly (their checkout includes support contact details); anything about how licence gating works in the app goes to us.
What we don't do
- No user accounts or sign-in
- No analytics or telemetry, in-house or third-party
- No advertising, and no advertising or attribution SDKs
- No crash-reporting service, crash logs stay in local storage unless you choose to send one yourself
- No sale or sharing of personal information, to anyone, ever
- No device identifiers (advertising ID, IMEI, etc.) collected
Your rights (GDPR)
Because we hold almost nothing, there's rarely anything to look up, but where it applies, you can ask us to:
- Access what we hold about you
- Correct it if it's wrong
- Delete it
- Restrict or object to our processing of it
- Receive a copy in a portable format
In practice this applies to: content of any email you've sent us (including a diagnostic file you chose to attach), and the short-lived Cloudflare request logs described above (ask Cloudflare directly for anything beyond what we can see, see https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/). For anything related to a purchase, Lemon Squeezy is the controller and the right party to ask.
You can also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority at any time.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA)
The CCPA applies to businesses that meet specific size or data-volume thresholds, broadly, over roughly $26.6 million in annual revenue, or buying/selling/sharing the personal information of 100,000+ California consumers or households a year, or getting half or more of revenue from selling personal information. Jones Innovations meets none of these, so the CCPA does not apply to us as a matter of law. Regardless of that, the practical answer is the same one as everywhere else in this policy: we don't sell or share your personal information, we don't collect more than described above, and if you'd like anything described in this policy corrected or deleted, contact us and we'll handle it as if the law required it.
Children's privacy
Castaway TV is not directed at children and we don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone, of any age, there's no account or profile system for the app to attach data to in the first place.
Security
Household sync data is end-to-end encrypted before it leaves your device; we never hold the key. Update checks and licence exchanges run over HTTPS. We don't operate a database of user accounts or payment information, so there's no such database to secure or that could be breached.
Changes to this policy
If what the app does changes, this page will change with it. We'll update the "Last updated" date above; material changes (for example, adding a new data flow) will also be called out in the app's release notes.
Contact
support@castaway.watch
castaway.watch