hoddy the fashionably social app

hoddy Privacy Policy

Effective: January 26, 2025
 
Welcome to Hoddy Inc.’s Privacy Policy. This Policy explains how we collect and use your data and how you can control your information. Looking for a quick summary on our privacy practices? Check out this page or this video. And if you’re looking for specific product privacy information, for example, how we process your communications, take a look at our Privacy by Product page. In addition to these documents, we also show in-app notices that provide you more information about our products and services.
 

Transparency is one of our core values at Hoddy. We believe there shouldn’t be any surprises about the data we collect and how we use it — that’s why we’re upfront with how we process it. For example, we process your information to provide you a more personalized experience, including to show you content and information that is most relevant to your experience, as well as more relevant advertisements. Understanding your interests and preferences helps us provide a better product experience.

Furthermore, we believe a personalized experience should not come at the expense of your privacy. Just like in real life, there are some moments you want to share privately with your close friends, and others that you want to share publicly. That’s why from day one our philosophy has been to delete content by default and to give Hoddy users control by providing the tools that allow them to decide what happens with their content, like who to share it with or when to save it.

This Policy covers our Hoddy app as well as our other products, services, and features. When you read “Services” in this Policy, we’re talking about all of them. Also, if you see us refer to our “Terms,” we mean the Terms of Service that you agree to when you sign up for our Services. Finally, if you see the term “Hoddy user” we are often using that as shorthand for any user of our Services.
Let’s get started with the controls you have over your information:

Control Over Your Information

Control over your information and settings is a core part of the Hoddy experience. Here, we give you more details on the types of settings that are available, link out to our data download tool, and provide instructions on how to delete data or your account.

We want you to be in control of your information, so we provide you with a range of tools, including:

  • Access and update your information. You can access and edit most of your basic account information right in our Services. Just navigate to your settings and you will see the options available to you.
  • Delete your information. If you want to delete your account, learn how here. You can also delete some information within our Services, like content you’ve saved, messages shared with our AI, and more.
  • Control who can see your content. We’ve built a number of tools that let you choose who you share your content with. In some cases, you may want to share content with your friends, and in other instances, you may want to share it with the public. To learn more, go here.
  • Control who can contact you. Hoddy is intended for close friends and family, that’s why we’ve built controls that help you decide who can contact you. If you receive unwanted communications, you can always block and report that person. Go here to learn more.
  • Change your permissions. In most cases, you can change your permissions at any time. For example, if you provided access to your phone contacts to make friending easier, you can change that later on in your settings. Of course, if you do that, certain features and Services, like finding friends in your contact book, won’t work.
  • Opt out of promotional messages. You have the option to opt out or unsubscribe from promotional emails and messages sent by SMS or other messaging platforms. To do so, just follow the instructions in the message like an unsubscribe link or similar functionality.
  • Download your data. You can use our Download My Data tool to get a copy of information that may not be available in Hoddy in a portable format, so you can move it or store it wherever you want.
  • Object to processing. Depending on where you live and the particular data we are processing, you may have the right to object to our processing of that information. This gets a bit technical, so we’ve explained it in more detail here.
  • Set advertising preferences. We try to show you ads that we think will be relevant to your interests, but if you’d like to have a less personalized experience, you can change your advertising settings in the Hoddy app. Learn more here.
  • Tracking. If you use an iPhone with iOS 14.5 or above, some specific requirements apply, which we’ve specified here.
 
Information We Collect

This section provides you with details on what information we collect. We’ve organized this in a few categories: information you provide to us, information we generate based on your use of our Services, and information we receive from others. Sometimes, we may also collect additional information, with your permission.

When you use our Services, such as Hoddy, we collect information you provide to us, generate information when you use our Services, and in some cases receive data from others. Let’s break these down in more detail.

  • Information You Provide
    • Many of our Services require you to set up an account. To do this, we ask you to provide us with account details (information about you, like your name, username, email address, birthday, and phone number). When you set up your profile, you’ll also provide us with profile details (like your avatar and profile picture). If you use our commerce products to buy something, we may ask you for payment and related information (like your physical address, so we can ship the product to you, payment information, so we can process the payment, and transaction history).
    • Of course, you’ll also provide us with the information you send through or save within our Services. We consider some of this information to be private content and communications (like messages with friends, stories set to Friends, or content that is saved privately). On the other end of the spectrum, some of the information you send through or save within our Services may be public content that is accessible to everyone (such as Public Stories, submissions to features like Spotlight, or Public Profile information). Keep in mind that users who view your messages or content can always screenshot that content, save it, or copy it outside the Hoddy app. So please don’t send messages or share content that you wouldn’t want someone to save or share.
    • Lastly, when you contact Support or communicate with us in any other way, including through our research efforts (like responses to surveys, consumer panels, or other research questions) we’ll collect whatever information you provide or that we need to resolve your question.
  • Information We Generate When You Use Our Services
    • When you use our Services, we collect information about which of those Services you’ve used and how you’ve used them. This helps us better understand the way our community uses our Services so that we can make improvements.
      • Usage information (information about how you interact with our Services — for example, which features you use, stories you watch, and how often you communicate with other users).
      • Content information (information about content you create or provide, your engagement with creative tools, and metadata — for example, information about the content itself like the date and time it was posted and who viewed it).
      • Device information (such as your hardware or software, operating system, device memory, advertising identifiers, apps installed, browser type, information from device sensors, and information about your wireless and mobile connections).
      • Location information (IP address), information collected by cookies and similar technologies, depending on your settings, and log information (such as details about how you’ve used our Services, access times, pages viewed, IP address, and unique identifiers like cookies).
      • If you’ve explicitly granted device-level permissions, device information may also include information about your device phonebook, images, and other information from your device’s camera, photos, and microphone
  • Data We Receive From Others
    • This includes linked third-party service data (information we get when you link your Hoddy account to another service), data from advertisers (information from advertisers, app developers, publishers, to help target or measure the performance of ads), contact info from other users or third parties (if another user uploads their contact list which includes your information), and data relating to potential violations of our Terms.
  • Other Information, With Your Permission
    • Additionally, there may be instances when you interact with our Services that we will ask your permission to collect additional information. For example, before accessing your device’s camera roll or Contact Book
How We Use Information
This section explains how we use the information we collect. Among other things, we use the information we collect to provide you with personalized products and Services that we work hard to build and improve.
  • Keep Things Up & Running (i.e., operate, deliver, and maintain our Services)
    • We use the information we collect to operate, deliver, and maintain our Services. For example, by delivering a message you want to send to a friend or showing suggestions based on your location within our map feature.
  • Personalize Your Experience & Give Context
    • We offer personalized Services to Hoddy users. We use your information to show you relevant content, suggest connections, or even generate content using AI that might interest you based on your activities and preferences within the app.
  • Provide Relevant Ads
    • We use your interests to show you ads that might be relevant. We try to ensure these ads are not only pertinent but also varied to maintain a balanced user experience.
  • Develop & Improve Features, Algorithms & Machine Learning Models
    • We use your data to enhance our features, including through machine learning to predict trends, enhance safety, and improve user interaction with AI features.
  • Analytics
    • We analyze usage patterns to better understand what features to develop or improve upon.
  • Research
    • We conduct research to understand consumer trends and how our Services are used, which helps in developing new features or technologies.
  • Enhance the Safety & Security of Our Services
    • Your information helps us to verify user identity, prevent fraud, and ensure the safety of our platforms.
  • Contacting You
    • We might contact you for promotional purposes or to provide service updates or security alerts.
  • Support
    • Your data is used to resolve support issues quickly.
  • Enforce Our Terms & Policies
    • We use collected data to enforce our Terms, respond to legal requests, and maintain a safe environment.
 
How We Share Information
 
This section explains who we share information with, what that information may include, and the reasons for sharing that information.
  • Recipients & Reasons for Sharing
    • Hoddy Users. To facilitate communication, we share information with users you interact with.
    • Public. Features like public stories or user profiles might make information visible to the public.
    • Third-Party Apps. With your consent, we may share data with third-party services integrated with Hoddy.
    • Service Providers. These partners help us deliver our Services but do not access private communications.
    • Business and Integrated Partners. For services like online reservations, we might share necessary data.
    • Anti-Fraud Partners. To combat fraud, we share relevant activity data.
    • Legal, Safety, and Security Partners. For legal compliance, safety, or to address security issues.
    • Affiliates. Information might be shared within Hoddy Inc.’s subsidiaries.
    • For the purposes of a Merger or Acquisition. In case of business transactions, data might be transferred.
  • International Data Transfers
    • We may transfer data internationally for service provision, with appropriate safeguards.
How Long We Keep Your Information
  • We retain information based on necessity for service provision, legal obligations, or user settings. For instance, messages might be deleted after being read, while profile data is kept as long as your account exists.
  • Specific retention periods can vary by feature, your settings, and legal requirements.
  • We aim to delete automatically where possible but cannot guarantee exact times due to legal holds or investigations.
Region Specific Information
  • Depending on your location, you might have additional rights or considerations:
    • Canada – https://hoddy.com/privacy-policy/canada-privacy-notice/
    • Europe – https://hoddy.com/privacy-policy/eea-uk-privacy-notice/ 
    • United States – https://hoddy.com/privacy-policy/us-state-privacy-notice/
 
  • Our Audience
  • Our services are intended for individuals 13 years and older. We do not target children under 13 and require age verification upon registration. Special provisions apply for users under 18 to protect their data.
Updates to the Privacy Policy
  • We may update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we’ll notify you through updates in the app or on our website. The effective date at the top of the policy will be revised to reflect these changes.
Contact Us
  • If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can reach out to us at [email protected]