Privacy policy

If you only read one section, read this one. The rest of the document expands on what's here.

The shorter the list, the better. We've worked hard to keep it short.

We collect data to do six things — nothing more.

• Run the cinema — stream films, store your watchlist, keep your place in what you're watching.
• Pay people — pay creators their revenue share and tips, pay split-sheet collaborators, file taxes.
• Comply with law — payout identity checks, DMCA, and tax reporting.
• Make recommendations — suggest films you might like, based on what you've watched. Off by default for unauthenticated viewing.
• Improve the product — aggregate analytics on what features get used, what films get watched. Always pseudonymized.
• Email you — receipts, earnings statements, security alerts (always); product news (only if you opt in).

What we use AI for

As these systems roll out, we use machine learning for film recommendations, search ranking, content classification, and abuse moderation. We don't train third-party AI models on your private data, and we don't use the contents of your private messages to train anything.

Cinema is run by a small team and a short list of vendors who help us operate. We share data with them only when necessary, only the minimum, and only under contract.

Payment processing

Card processing for subscriptions, tips, and creator payouts. Our processor receives payment details directly; Cinema never stores full card numbers. Subject to PCI-DSS.

Video processing & delivery

Encoding and streaming of the films creators upload. Receives the video files and delivers the streams you watch.

Cloud hosting, database & sign-in

Runs the site, stores account records, and handles authentication. Receives the account data described above.

Email delivery

Sends transactional email — confirmations, premiere alerts you opted into, receipts. Receives your email address and message content.

Governments

Only with valid legal process. We push back where we can, and disclose only the minimum required.

We do not share data with advertisers, data brokers, or AI training data resellers.

If you create your account with Google or Apple sign-in, we receive only your basic profile from that provider: your name, your email address, and (from Google) your profile photo. We use it to create and identify your Cinema account — nothing else.

Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We do not sell this data, use it for advertising, or share it with anyone except the service providers listed above, and only as needed to run your account.

You can disconnect Cinema at any time from your Google account permissions page (myaccount.google.com → Security → Third-party access) or your Apple ID settings. Deleting your Cinema account deletes the profile data we received.

A short list of things you might worry about, and our standing position on each.

• We will not sell your personal data, watch history, or contact information.
• We will not let advertisers track you across the web. There is no Cinema pixel on third-party sites.
• We will not train AI on your private messages, your support tickets, or content marked private.
• We will not require account creation to watch films.
• We will not build a shadow profile of you if you choose not to log in.
• We will not retain payout verification documents longer than the law requires.
• We will not read your private communications except where required to investigate a specific abuse report.

Different data ages out at different rates. Here's how each category behaves.

Wherever you are, these are available. If you live in California, the EU, the UK, Brazil, or any jurisdiction with a data-rights regime, the same controls apply — we don't run a separate menu by region.

We use the smallest set of cookies the law allows. None are advertising cookies.

Strictly necessary

Session cookies for keeping you signed in. CSRF tokens. These can't be disabled without breaking the site.

Functional

Player quality preference, last position, theme preference. Stored device-local. You can clear at will.

Analytics

Minimal, aggregate, first-party analytics to understand what gets used. Never sold, never shared with advertisers.

Advertising

We don't run cross-site ad-tracking cookies. Film ads on the free tier are delivered without tracking you across other websites.

Cinema is not directed to children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you're a parent and believe we have your child's data, write to us at privacy@cinema.film and we'll delete it.

Account creation requires age 13+. Mature-rated films require a verified 18+ birthdate. Creator payouts require 18+ and tax-form completion.

Cinema is operated from the U.S. If you are outside the U.S., your data is processed in the U.S. We rely on Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers from the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, and on equivalent mechanisms for other jurisdictions.

Watching is global. Creator payout availability varies by country as we roll out.

We encrypt data in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Passwords are stored with industry-standard one-way hashing. We review our security posture regularly. Two-factor authentication is available; we encourage you to enable it.

If we ever experience a breach affecting you, we will notify you within 72 hours of confirming impact, in plain language, with what was exposed and what we're doing about it.

Report vulnerabilities to security@cinema.film. We appreciate and act on responsible disclosure.

Material changes to this policy will be announced by email and a banner in the Service at least 14 days before they take effect. Minor edits (typos, clarifications) are made in place. The full version history is published at the bottom of this page on request.

Privacy questions go to a human, not a bot.

Privacy team

privacy@cinema.film · Replies within 5 business days.

Security reports

security@cinema.film · Responsible disclosure appreciated.