RSS feed security & protection

  • Updated

Patreon’s RSS feature is meant to offer members the ability to listen to a supported creator's audio podcast while using their favorite podcast app. This makes it easier for them to enjoy the content while not having to log in to Patreon through our app or mobile web. That being said, sharing a custom RSS link with other users on purpose (and giving them free access to member-only content) is a violation of our terms of service.

The RSS feed has the user's info built in so that a registered member with an active pledge can use the feed. If their pledge becomes inactive, the feed stops working. But it will become active again when they renew the pledge.

We do not currently support passwords as a second security level on the RSS feed. Many popular podcast apps do not support this feature, and many that do require sharing your account password openly without added encoding. That creates a security risk for the member as well.

Many apps cache the info as a way to make it easier for users to find the same podcast in the future. If a member wants to use one of these apps, they could accidentally share their own RSS feed information.

If you’ve found that one of your members is sharing their custom RSS link, please let us know by Emailing Patreon support. Please include the following details:

  • The member's name, and email (or URL to their Patreon account). If this isn't possible, please supply the RSS link and where it was shared.
  • A link to where you found your shared RSS feed

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