Cynical fatalism plays better when the supposed perpetrator isn't NPR. Speaking of organizations I would trust with my personal info, it's hard to think of any better.
How could you possibly know pocketcasts never tracked anything? I am a pocketcasts user and I'd be surprised if they weren't tracking my usage of the app.
From their privacy policy, they at a minimum track what you subscribe to:
What information do you collect about me?
Your username in the form of an email address, and password;
Your podcast subscriptions, episode data and settings configuration;
Your unique device identifier, device language and licence validation data;
Pocket Casts web service also uses cookies and like technologies to keep you logged in.
Should you choose to generate a support request from within the Service, we may generate an attachment containing additional data to assist in addressing your support request which you’re welcome to view prior to submission.
