Privacy policy

Actorly is an Irish casting platform. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how long we keep it and the rights you have. We have written it in plain English. If anything is unclear, email us at hello@actorly.ie.

Who we are

This website is operated by Actorly, of Galway, Ireland. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. You can contact us about anything to do with your data at hello@actorly.ie.

Actorly was formerly CastandHire.ie. Member data carried over from CastandHire is covered by this policy.

The law that applies

We process personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 (the ePrivacy Regulations). Our supervisory authority is the Data Protection Commission (DPC), Ireland.

Who uses Actorly

Actorly has four kinds of user, and we hold different data for each:

• Actors create a profile and apply for castings.
• Parents and guardians hold the account for actors aged 16 or under ("young actors") and manage each young actor's profile. Young actors never hold their own account. Actors aged 17 and over hold their own account.
• Casting directors, producers, directors and filmmakers ("casters") post castings, search actor profiles and request self-tapes. Every caster account is checked by us before it can search or contact anyone.
• Agencies receive casting breakdowns by email and can submit their clients to castings through a private link, without an Actorly account.

We also hold data on people who contact us through the Support page or the agency registration form, and on people whose details an agency submits to a casting (see "People who are not members" below).

What we collect and why

Account data (all members)

Your name, email address, password (stored as a hash we cannot read), your role on Actorly, your date of birth, your newsletter choice, and a referral code we generate. We use this to create and secure your account, to check your age (actors must be 17 or over to hold their own account, and parents and guardians 18 or over), to send you the emails the service needs, and to run the platform. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR) and, for the age check, our legal obligation to protect children (Article 6(1)(c)).

If you sign in with Google, Google sends us your name, email address and profile picture. We do not receive your Google password.

Actor profiles

Your profile holds what a caster needs to consider you for a role: headshots and gallery photos, showreel and voice reel, playing age, height, gender, eye colour, hair colour and length, facial hair, body type, credits, training, skills, accents, languages, and whether you are self-represented or have an agent. Your date of birth is never shown on your profile; only your playing age is.

Ethnicity is special category data under Article 9 GDPR. It is optional. If you choose to give it, we process it only with your explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)), so that casters searching for a specific casting brief can find you. You can choose "Prefer not to say", and you can change or remove it at any time in your profile.

Your live profile is visible to approved casters on Actorly. It is not shown to the public and is not indexed by search engines. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.

CV import

If you upload a CV, we send its text to an artificial intelligence service which reads it and suggests credits, training and skills for your profile. You review every suggestion before anything is saved. The CV file itself is read in memory and never written to our storage. The provider processes the text as our processor, does not use it to train its models, and deletes it from its systems within 30 days. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.

Young actors

An actor aged 16 or under is added by a parent or guardian, who holds the account and is the only person we correspond with. We hold the young actor's name, date of birth (used only for playing age and to confirm they are 16 or under), profile details and media. On every caster-facing page, a young actor's surname is shortened so the full name is never shown. Every message and tape request for a young actor goes to the guardian. The digital age of consent in Ireland is 16. A guardian holds the account and gives the consents for every young actor; actors aged 17 and over give their own. Legal basis: performance of our contract with the guardian; explicit consent from the guardian for any optional ethnicity data.

Casters

For casting accounts we hold your name, email address, the professional role you told us, a link that lets us verify you (for example an IMDb or company page), and a note about your current project. We use this to check every casting account by hand before it can search or contact actors. We keep the verification details for as long as the account exists. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you and our legitimate interest in keeping actors, including young actors, safe from people who are not who they say they are (Article 6(1)(f)).

Castings, applications and messages

When a caster posts a casting we store its roles, descriptions, dates and any documents attached. When an actor applies we store the application, cover note and the caster's private rating and notes on it. Messages between casters and actors, and tape requests, are stored so both sides can see them. A caster's private notes on an actor are visible only to that caster. Legal basis: performance of our contract with each party.

Self-tapes (TapeDrop)

When you send a self-tape, the video is uploaded to our video hosting provider and shown to the caster who requested it, and to anyone that caster forwards it to using a private link. Tapes are deleted 90 days after they are sent, and forward links stop working at the same time. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.

Payments

TapeDrop payments are taken by Stripe. We never see or store your card number. We store the amount, date, what it was for, and the Stripe reference, so we can show your payment history, handle refunds and meet our tax and accounting obligations. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you and our legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c)).

Agencies

When an agency registers we hold the agency name, a contact name, an email address, the categories the agency works in, the date and method of consent to receive casting breakdowns, and whether the agency opted in to our newsletter. Legal basis: consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which the agency can withdraw at any time by emailing us.

People who are not members

An agency can submit a client to a casting through a private link, and that client may not have an Actorly account. In that case we hold the name, headshot, CV and showreel link the agency submitted, and the self-tape video if one is uploaded. We hold no contact details for that person by default; tape requests are passed on by the agency. The material is visible only to the caster running that casting and is deleted 90 days after the casting closes. If you have been submitted to a casting and want your details removed, email hello@actorly.ie. Legal basis: our legitimate interest, and the caster's, in running the casting the agency chose to submit to (Article 6(1)(f)).

Support and the contact form

Messages you send us through the Support thread in your account or the Support page form are stored with your name and email address so we can reply. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in answering you.

Newsletter

We send the Actorly newsletter only to people who ticked the box. Every newsletter carries an unsubscribe link, and you can change the setting in your account. Legal basis: consent. Service emails about your account, castings, tapes and payments are not marketing and carry no unsubscribe link; you can turn most of them off in your notification settings.

Technical data

Our website hosting provider records standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested, timestamps) for security and to keep the site running. We do not use these logs to profile you. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in operating a secure service.

Analytics, only if you say yes

If you press Accept on our cookie banner, we use Google Analytics to understand how people find and use Actorly: which pages they visit, where they came from (for example a search engine or social media), and steps such as signing up, posting a casting, applying or buying TapeDrop. We use it to improve the site. Google Analytics does not store your IP address, and we never send it your name, email address, phone number or anything you write on Actorly. Google signals and advertising features are switched off, and we do not run advertising trackers. If you press Reject, or never choose, Google Analytics does not load at all. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of our website pages. Legal basis: consent.

Who we share data with

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with advertisers. We share it only with the people the service is for and with the providers who run it for us under contract.

Other users. Your profile is shown to approved casters. A caster's name and organisation are shown to the actors they contact. An agency's name is shown to casters who send breakdowns to it.

Our providers. The companies that run parts of the service for us act only on our instructions, under a data processing agreement with each. By category:

A full list of our providers is available on request at hello@actorly.ie.

Others. We will disclose data if the law requires it, to a court, regulator or An Garda Síochána, or where it is necessary to protect someone's safety, including a young actor's. If Actorly is ever sold or merged, member data would pass to the new owner under this policy and you would be told.

International transfers

Some of our providers are based in the United States. Where data leaves the European Economic Area we rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, and otherwise on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, with additional safeguards where needed. Our video library is stored in the United Kingdom, which the European Commission recognises as providing adequate protection. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards in place.

How long we keep data

When you delete your account, everything held on you, including photos, reels and tapes, is permanently removed. Payment records are kept only for the legal period above and are not linked to a live profile.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold on you and receive a copy.
• Correct anything that is wrong. You can edit most of it yourself in your account.
• Delete your data. "Delete my account" in your settings does this immediately and permanently.
• Export your data in a machine-readable format.
• Restrict or object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on it, for example for ethnicity or the newsletter. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that happened before.
• Not be subject to automated decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. The CV import only suggests; you decide what is saved. We do not make automated decisions about you.

To use any of these rights, email hello@actorly.ie. We answer within one month. We may ask you to confirm your identity first. A parent or guardian exercises these rights for a young actor.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to the Data Protection Commission, 6 Pembroke Row, Dublin 2, D02 X963, or at dataprotection.ie. We would ask you to contact us first so we can try to put things right.

Security

Passwords are hashed and never stored in a readable form. All traffic to and from Actorly is encrypted. Access to the database and the admin tools is restricted and protected by two-factor authentication. Casters are verified by hand before they can search or contact actors. Young actors' surnames are shortened everywhere a caster can see them, and all contact goes through their guardian.

Cookies

We use only the cookies the service needs to work. Our Cookie notice lists them.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top and, for any change that matters to you, email members or show a notice in the app.