Privacy Policy
Last updated: January 2026
1. Introduction
Shortical ("Shortical," "we," "us," or "our") operates a global streaming platform for premium short-form dramas, delivering cinematic stories told in minutes to viewers in more than 130 languages. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you use our website, mobile applications, and related services (the "Services").
We designed this policy to be readable, not buried in legalese. If you have any questions after reading it, please contact us at [email protected].
2. Information We Collect
Information you provide: when you create an account, subscribe to a plan, or contact support, we collect your email address, display name, password (stored only as a cryptographic hash), payment confirmation data (processed by our payment providers — we never store full card numbers), and the contents of messages you send us.
Viewing and activity information: we collect information about how you interact with our catalog — the series and episodes you watch, watch progress and completion, search queries (for example, "billionaire romance" or "werewolf revenge"), titles you add to favorites, language and subtitle preferences, and watchlists.
Device and technical information: device type and model, operating system and app version, screen resolution, IP address (used in truncated form where possible), approximate region derived from your IP address, mobile network carrier, crash logs, and performance telemetry.
Information collected automatically: cookies and similar technologies described in our Cookie Policy help us keep you signed in, remember your subtitle language, and understand how the catalog is used. See the Cookie Policy for the full list of categories and how to control them.
3. How We Use Your Information
- To deliver the Services: streaming episodes, synchronizing watch progress across your devices, and remembering where you left off mid-episode;
- To personalize your experience: recommending series by genre — romance, revenge, fantasy, suspense, and beyond — in the "Because you watched" rows, ordering your home screen, and defaulting subtitles to your preferred language;
- To operate and improve: diagnosing playback issues, monitoring stream quality by region and network, fixing bugs, and planning which series to license, dub, or subtitle next;
- To communicate with you: service announcements, new-episode alerts for series you follow, and — only with your consent — marketing messages you can opt out of at any time;
- To keep the Services safe: detecting fraud and abuse, preventing credential stuffing, and enforcing our Terms of Service.
We do not sell your personal information. Advertising, where shown, is described in Sections 4 and 5 below.
4. Legal Bases for Processing (EEA/UK)
Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process personal information on the following bases: performance of a contract (providing streaming you signed up for), legitimate interests (service security, improvement, and fraud prevention), consent (marketing emails and, where required, personalized advertising and cookies), and legal obligation (tax and accounting records).
5. Sharing With Third Parties
We share personal information only with service providers who help us run Shortical, under contracts that restrict their use of it:
- Cloud hosting and content delivery networks that store and stream our video catalog worldwide;
- Payment processors that handle subscriptions, subject to their own privacy policies;
- Analytics providers that help us count views and understand feature usage in aggregate;
- Advertising partners that serve ads on ad-supported plans, where you have not opted out of personalized advertising;
- Email and customer-support platforms that deliver our messages to you;
- Professional advisers and authorities: where disclosure is required by law, regulation, or valid legal process, or to protect our rights and the safety of viewers.
6. Data Retention
We keep your information only as long as needed for the purposes above. Account data is retained while your account is active. Viewing history is retained while your account exists, so your "Continue Watching" list survives — and deleted, along with the rest of your account data, within 30 days after you request account deletion (backup copies may persist for up to 90 days before being overwritten). Support conversations are retained for up to 24 months. Aggregated, de-identified statistics (such as "Episode 1 of a hit romance series averaged 2.1 million views in its first week") are not linked to you and may be retained indefinitely.
7. Security
We use encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for stored data, strict access controls, and continuous monitoring to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we work hard to protect the Services and promptly investigate suspected incidents. If a breach is ever likely to affect your rights, we will notify you and the applicable regulators as required by law.
8. Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy;
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- Delete your account and associated personal information;
- Portability: receive your information in a structured, machine-readable format;
- Object to or restrict certain processing, including profiling and, where based on consent, withdraw consent at any time;
- Opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information and of targeted advertising (US state privacy laws provide this right, and where applicable we honor it globally);
- Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.
To exercise any of these rights, contact [email protected] from the email address on your account. We respond within the timeframes required by applicable law, typically within 30 days.
9. International Transfers
Shortical is a global service, and your information may be processed in countries other than your own, including the United States. When we transfer personal information across borders, we use approved safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or another lawful transfer mechanism.
10. Children's Privacy
The Services are intended for viewers aged 13 or older (16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below these ages. If you believe a child has created an account, contact [email protected] and we will remove it.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect product changes or new laws. The current version is always available on this page with the date above. If a change is material, we will also notify you by email or an in-app notice before it takes effect.
12. Contact Us
Our data protection team can be reached at [email protected]. For anything else — subscriptions, playback help, or content questions — see our Contact Us page. For details on cookies, see our Cookie Policy.