Last updated: 9 October 2026
Welcome to Commons Radio ("we", "us", "our"). We run an online radio-listening service where users can create an account and stream radio stations. Protecting your privacy is important to us. This Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and safeguard your personal data, and your rights under applicable EU / Belgian law.
Because we are based in Belgium (and target users in Belgium / EU), we comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Belgian "Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data" (the Belgian Data Protection Act) as well as relevant e-privacy laws.
For the purposes of data protection law, Commons Radio is the data controller. We determine the purposes and means of processing your data.
Contact Information
Email: info@commonsradio.eu
If needed, you may send correspondence to:
Commons Radio
Krugerstraat 232, 2660 Hoboken, Belgium
If in the future you designate a Data Protection Officer (DPO) or representative, you may update this Policy accordingly.
We aim to collect only what is needed to provide and improve our service. Below is a breakdown.
| Category | What we collect | Purpose / Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Account / Identity Data | Email address, username, hashed password, registration date, account preferences | To create and manage your account; to authenticate you; to allow you to access your listening history. Legal basis: performance of contract / legitimate interest. |
| Usage / Listening Data | Which radio station(s) you listen to, when you listen (timestamps), how long you listen, counts / statistics | To provide your personal statistics (e.g. which station you listened most), to analyze usage, to improve the service. Legal basis: legitimate interest (analytics) / performance of service. |
| Technical & Device Data | IP address, browser type, device type, OS version, user agent string, logs of errors or events | To operate and secure the service, for diagnostics and troubleshooting, to prevent abuse. Legal basis: legitimate interest, or necessary for service operation. |
| Log & Analytics Data | Aggregated metrics, error logs, anonymized analytics events via Plausible | To measure and improve performance, user experience, detect errors, maintain uptime. Plausible is privacy-friendly and does not rely on third-party tracking. |
| Cookies / Local Storage | A sign-in cookie, and a few settings in your browser storage (see section 10) | To keep you signed in and to remember your settings. Legal basis: strictly necessary for the service. |
| Contact & Feedback Messages | Your name (optional for feedback), email address, your message, and the page you sent it from | To answer you and to improve the service. Legal basis: legitimate interest. |
| Content Removal Requests | Your name, email address, the station, your reason, and your good-faith statement | To assess and answer notices under the EU Digital Services Act. Legal basis: legal obligation / legitimate interest. |
| Newsletter | Your choice to receive the newsletter, and the date of that choice | To send you the newsletter. Legal basis: consent. You can change your choice on your profile at any time. |
Note: We do not sell or rent your personal data. We do not use third-party advertising trackers or share your personal data with advertisers.
Commons Radio does not host the radio streams. When you play a station, your browser connects directly to the stream server of that station. That server receives your IP address and the technical details that your browser sends (for example the user agent). The station, not us, decides what its server records. Each station has its own privacy policy.
When you use Cast or AirPlay, the receiver that you select (for example a speaker or a TV) connects to the stream server of the station. We do not receive information about your receiver.
Station pages can link to the website or the program schedule of a station. Those sites are not ours, and their own privacy policies apply.
We use the following service providers to run Commons Radio. Each provider processes data only for us and only for the task below.
We use listening data to show you your own statistics, and in aggregated form to improve the service. We do not use advertising, and we do not embed third-party trackers.
Under the GDPR and Belgian law, all processing of your personal data must satisfy one or more legal bases, and must comply with the principles in Article 5 GDPR (lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity/confidentiality, accountability).
We rely primarily on:
We document and maintain records of our processing activities, as required by GDPR and the Belgian framework.
We host the website and the database in the EU: Vercel and Neon both run our service in Frankfurt, Germany.
Some of our providers (Vercel, Resend, and Google) are companies from the United States. When data goes to them outside the EU, the transfer relies on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or on Standard Contractual Clauses.
We will not transfer your data to other third parties outside the EU without your consent, or unless the law permits it and safeguards apply.
We strive to protect your data via appropriate technical and organizational security measures, including:
While we use reasonable measures, no method can guarantee absolute security.
Under GDPR and Belgian law you have the following rights (subject to conditions):
You can change your account details, change your newsletter choice, and delete your account yourself on your profile page. For the other rights, contact us at the email above. We may require identity verification for security.
Belgian law and the EU e-Privacy rules require that non-essential cookies or tracking technologies only be used with prior informed consent. We use only what is strictly necessary:
Plausible, Vercel Web Analytics, and Vercel Speed Insights use no cookies. Because we use no cookies that need consent, we show no cookie banner. You can delete cookies and browser storage in your browser settings; you are then signed out.
Our service is not intended for use by children under the age of 13 (the Belgian law has lowered the age from 16 to 13 for consent in online services). If we become aware that a minor under 13 has provided personal data without parental consent, we will delete it.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time (e.g. to reflect changes in law or our practices). We will post the new version on our site and indicate the "Last updated" date. If the changes are material, we will notify users before they take effect (for example by email or in-app).
Earlier versions