Privacy Policy - The Short Film Show Help Centre

The Short Film Show Limited (“we,” “us,” or “our”) values your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect the information you provide when using our website, APP, and services (collectively, the “Platform”).

1. Data We Collect

1.1 Personal Data

Name, email address, payment details, and other information provided during registration or subscription.
1.2 Usage Data
Details about how you use our Platform, including watch history, preferences, ratings and reviews you submit, and interaction with Content.
1.3 Technical Data
IP address, browser type, device identifiers, and cookies.
1.4 Third-Party Data
Information received from payment processors or social media platforms if you engage with us through these services. If you choose Continue with Google, Google shares your name, email address and a Google account ID with us, which we use only to create your account and sign you in. We never receive your Google password.

2. How We Use Your Data

2.1 To provide and manage our services, including your account, subscription and viewing.
2.2 To communicate with you about updates, promotions, and relevant Content.
2.3 To analyse usage trends and improve the Platform’s performance and offerings.
2.4 To comply with legal obligations and protect against fraud.

2A. Our Lawful Basis for Using Your Data

Under UK data protection law we must have a lawful basis for each way we use your data:

Performance of a contract: running your account, providing playback, taking subscription payments, and administering filmmaker submissions and payouts.
Legitimate interests: keeping the Platform secure, preventing fraud, understanding how the Platform is used so we can improve it, and telling existing customers about our own similar services. You can object to any of this at any time.
Consent: non-essential cookies, personalised advertising, and marketing emails. You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting anything done before you withdrew it.
Legal obligation: tax, accounting and responding to lawful requests.

2B. Advertising

Our free tier is supported by advertising. We use Google AdSense on the website and Google AdMob in our mobile apps. Where you have given consent, these may use cookies or mobile advertising identifiers to show you advertising relevant to your interests and to measure how adverts perform. Where you have not given consent, adverts are served without personalisation.

Every advert on the Platform carries a visible “Advertisement” label. You can change your advertising consent at any time using the privacy options link in the consent tool on our website, or in your device settings for the mobile apps.

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies to:

Remember your preferences.
Track usage statistics.
Improve our marketing efforts.

You can manage cookie preferences through the consent tool on our website and through your browser settings. For more details, see our Cookie Policy.

Watching without an account. If you play a trailer without signing in, and you have accepted analytics cookies (or our consent banner tells us consent is not needed where you are), your browser keeps a random ID for up to six months so we can count returning viewers rather than every visit. We store only a scrambled version of that ID, with the trailer played, how much of it played and whether it was on a phone or a computer; never with an account, your IP address or your full browser details. If you decline analytics cookies, or your browser sends Global Privacy Control, no ID is kept and any existing one is deleted.

How you found us. When you sign up or submit a film, we record how you reached us: the website that sent you (which your browser tells every site it visits), the first page you opened, any campaign tags in the link you followed, whether you used our app or the website, and your answer if you choose to tell us how you heard about us. We keep this with your account and your films to understand which of our pages, emails and partners bring people to us. To do this, your browser keeps it in that browser tab until you close it; we use no cookie for it.

4. Data Sharing

We may share your data with:

Service providers who process data on our behalf: Stripe (payments and subscriptions), Brevo (email), Bunny CDN and Amazon Web Services (video and image hosting and delivery), Google (Analytics, Tag Manager, AdSense and AdMob advertising, and Firebase push notifications), OpenAI (automated subtitle generation from film audio) and Sentry (error monitoring). Each is bound to use your data only as we instruct.
Legal Authorities: If required by law or to protect our rights.
Partners: When promoting filmmaker Content or collaborative events.

5. Ratings, Reviews and Public Display

If you rate or review a film on the Platform:

Star ratings on their own are anonymous. Your rating is stored against your account so you can change or remove it, and it contributes to the film’s overall rating, but it is never displayed publicly with your name.
Written reviews are public. If you write a review, it is shown on the film’s page together with your display name and profile photo as set in your account. A notice reminds you of this at the point of writing.
You stay in control. You can edit or delete your own review, and change or remove your rating, at any time from the film’s page. You can change how your name appears in Edit Profile.
Moderation. We may hide or remove reviews that are abusive, unlawful, spam, or otherwise breach our policies, and viewers can report a review to us.
Deletion. If you delete your account, your ratings and reviews are deleted with it. We do not keep “former member” copies of your words.

We do not attach location, IP address, or device information to individual ratings or reviews.

5A. Messages

We store the messages you send so the recipient can read them. Messages are checked automatically for contact details and links. Staff do not read messages, except when handling a report, when the reported message and the few before it can be viewed. Each such access is logged.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access, correct, or delete your personal data.
Withdraw consent for marketing communications.
Object to processing, or ask us to restrict it.
Receive a copy of the data you gave us in a portable format.
Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk) if you believe your rights have been breached. We would ask you to raise it with us first so we can put it right.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We keep your data only as long as we need it:

Viewer accounts: for as long as your account is open. When you delete your account we sign you out and cancel any subscription immediately, and anonymise your personal details after a 30-day recovery window, during which you can ask us to restore the account.
Filmmaker accounts and submissions: filmmaker records are kept for five years from your last activity on the platform, so we can administer rights, payouts and tax obligations. Films you submitted remain on the platform under the licence you granted, as set out in your submission agreement.
Payment records: kept as long as UK tax and accounting law requires.
Viewing and analytics data: retained in identifiable form only while your account is open, and purged when your account is anonymised.
Messages: kept while your account is open. If you delete your account, the text of the messages you sent is removed after 30 days. Messages in a reported conversation are kept until 12 months after the report is closed.

9. International Transfers

Some of our service providers are based outside the UK and EEA, including in the United States. Where your data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the UK’s adequacy regulations or on standard contractual clauses together with the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, so that your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.

10. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Significant changes will be communicated to you via email or Platform notifications.

11. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or want to exercise any of the rights above, contact us at support@theshortfilmshow.com. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.