Privacy Policy

This policy covers The Cutdown, an iOS app published by Jim Thompson. It describes what the app collects, what stays on your device, which third parties receive data, and the controls available to you.

Summary

• The Cutdown has no accounts. There is nothing to log into. If notifications are on, we store a push token, your follows, the shows you turned off and your playlist settings, which is what we need to send that notification. If downloads are on, we store a push token so your phone can fetch the morning's clips before you open the app. If you send us diagnostics, we keep that log for two weeks. Otherwise we hold no record tied to your device.
• Your followed teams and players, listening history, and settings are stored on your device.
• The app collects usage analytics, not tied to you, to help improve the app, which you can turn off in Settings.
• We do not sell personal information, serve advertising, or track you across other apps or websites.
• We do not collect your name, phone number, location, contacts, or advertising identifiers.

Data stored on your device

The following is held in the app's own storage on your device. Followed teams and players are the exception: they are also sent to us when the app requests your playlist, and to our push backend if you enable notifications, as described below. So are the shows you turned off and your playlist settings, to our push backend only, if you enable notifications.

• The teams and players you follow.
• Settings: which shows are enabled, their order, playlist length, how much of each team you hear, playback speed, and theme.
• Clips you have played and when, retained for approximately two weeks and then removed.
• Pinned clips and your playback position within a clip.
• Your answer to how you heard about The Cutdown, if setup asked and you answered.
• Cached playlists and podcast artwork. Podcast audio is not stored on our servers; it streams from the publisher's own hosting server. To keep playback smooth, the app downloads a window of upcoming clips and keeps that audio in local storage, up to 1GB, clearing the oldest clips automatically as space is needed; it is never uploaded anywhere.

• A diagnostics log of what the app did over the last day: playback, downloads, network requests (the address each went to, never its contents), and errors. It stays on your device unless you send it, as described below.

Erase everything and start over, at the bottom of Settings, deletes all of the above, including the analytics identifier described below.

Analytics

The app sends usage events to PostHog, an analytics provider: things like the app was opened, setup was completed, a playlist was played or finished, a clip was shared, and whether a clip started at the right point. When you play, finish, skip, share, or report a clip, the event includes the show, the team the clip was played for, and the player you follow it came in for, if any. Events are tagged with a random identifier created on your device, not your Apple ID or the advertising identifier. Nothing in them identifies you, and we have no way to connect them to you. As with any internet service, PostHog receives the IP address your device connects from.

During setup, the app may ask how you heard about The Cutdown, and the answer is sent with usage events. Events also record when a clip's full episode is opened, when a show is turned off or on, how far into a clip a skip happened, and how many new clips were ready when the app opened.

Analytics can be turned off under Analytics in Settings. Erasing all app data creates a new random identifier.

Updated 9 September 2026: analytics moved from TelemetryDeck to PostHog. What is collected did not change.

Updated 18 October 2026: events about a clip now include the team it was played for, as well as the show.

Updated 19 October 2026: setup may ask how you heard about The Cutdown, and the answer is sent with usage events. Events also record full episodes opened, shows turned off or on, how far into a clip a skip happened, and how many new clips were ready at each open.

Updated 22 October 2026: events about a clip now include the player you follow it came in for, if any, the same way they include the team.

Notifications

If you enable the daily notification, we store the push token issued by Apple for your device, the teams and players you follow, the shows you turned off, your playlist settings (its daily length, The best or Everything, the show order you set, and how much of each team you chose to hear), and the delivery time you selected, so that the notification only mentions clips your app will play, and arrives at the hour you picked. No analytics identifier is stored alongside it. Disabling notifications, erasing all app data, or deleting the app ends this.

If downloads are on, we also store the push token by itself, with nothing else attached, so the app can wake briefly each morning and download that day's clips before you open it. Nothing is shown to you when that happens. Turning downloads off, erasing all app data, or deleting the app ends this too.

Clip reports

When you report a clip, we record the clip, the show it came from, and the reason you selected. No identifier for you or your device is stored with the report, so reports cannot be attributed to an individual. The alternative email option opens a draft in your own mail app; if you send it, we receive your email address as the sender.

Diagnostics

If something goes wrong, you can tap Support in Settings and choose Send diagnostics. The app then uploads the diagnostics log described above, along with the app's version and the random analytics identifier, and shows you a short code to pass on to us. Nothing is sent unless you tap it. We use the log only to work out what went wrong, and we delete it after 14 days.

Next-sport votes

If you vote on which sport we should add next, we store the sports you picked and anything you type in the box. No identifier for you or your device is stored with the vote, so votes cannot be attributed to an individual. Please do not put personal details in the box.

Podcast audio

The Cutdown does not rehost podcast audio. When you play a clip, your device streams that audio directly from the publisher's own servers, as any podcast app does. The publisher therefore receives a request from your device, governed by that publisher's privacy policy rather than this one. To keep playback smooth, the app may keep a window of upcoming clips on the device, up to 1GB, oldest cleared first. That audio stays on the phone and is never uploaded or rehosted by us.

Our servers

The website and the app's backend are hosted on Netlify. A request for your playlist identifies the teams and players being requested, and Netlify records incoming requests, including the IP address your device connects from, as part of operating the service. We do not build user profiles from those records.

Third parties

• Netlify. Hosting for the website and the app's backend.
• PostHog. Usage analytics, as described above.
• Expo. Delivers app updates and receives basic installation and version information when the app checks for one.
• Apple. Delivers push notifications and serves podcast artwork lookups.

The third parties listed here provide the same or equal protection of user data as stated in this policy and required by Apple's App Store Review Guidelines.

The app contains no advertising SDK, no social login, and no attribution or install tracking.

Children's privacy

The Cutdown isn't made for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect anything from them.

Your choices

• Disable analytics in Settings.
• Disable notifications in Settings or in iOS Settings.
• Erase all app data from the bottom of Settings.
• Contact us with any other request concerning your data.

Because the app has no accounts, we cannot look up an individual user. If you want something removed that the controls above do not cover, email us and describe the request.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, we will update the effective date above and describe what changed.

Updated 23 September 2026: added the on-device diagnostics log and the Send diagnostics option under Support.

Updated 4 October 2026: if notifications are on, we also store the shows you turned off, so the notification only mentions clips your app will show.

Updated 7 October 2026: if notifications are on, we also store your playlist settings (its daily length, The best or Everything, and the show order you set), so the notification counts the same clips your daily playlist holds.

Updated 15 October 2026: your playlist settings can include how much of each team you chose to hear. If notifications are on, we store that too, so the notification counts the same clips your daily playlist holds.

Updated 18 October 2026: events about a clip now include the team it was played for, as well as the show.

Updated 19 October 2026: setup may ask how you heard about The Cutdown, and the answer is sent with usage events. Events also record full episodes opened, shows turned off or on, how far into a clip a skip happened, and how many new clips were ready at each open. Analytics are described as not tied to you, rather than anonymous.

Updated 22 October 2026: events about a clip now include the player you follow it came in for, if any, the same way they include the team.

The Cutdown · Published by Jim Thompson