Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 3, 2026 · Effective: September 3, 2026

The short version: we collect what the app needs to work, we do not sell it, we do not run ads, and deleting your account genuinely deletes it. The rest of this page is the detail behind those four claims.

1. What we collect

When you create an account

• Email address — identifies your account and receives essential service messages.
• Name — if you sign in with Google, we receive your first and last name to set up your profile. We do not receive your birthday, gender, contacts, or anything else from Google.
• Username — a unique handle. Required, because it is how other people find and recognise you.

What you choose to add

• Profile picture, birthday, gender, interests — all optional. Leave them blank or change them whenever you like.

What you create by using the app

• Postcards and photos — the image, its caption, any decoration, and who you sent it to. Images are stored in our cloud storage, not on a public URL.
• Places — where a postcard or activity is tied to a location, we store that location as part of the item. DashHOOD does not track your location in the background, and there is no continuous location history.
• Messages — direct messages and messages in a HOOD or room, including who sent what and when. These are stored so the conversation exists when you reopen the app.
• Activities and bulletin items — what you created or joined, seat and waitlist position, and attendance.
• Your social graph — HOOD membership, friends, friend requests, and blocks. Blocks are stored so they can be enforced in both directions.

Technical data

• Push notification token — if you allow notifications, your device is issued a token by Apple or Google which we store so we can deliver a notification to that device. It identifies the device, not you, and it is deleted with your account.
• Feedback and bug reports — when you send feedback we collect your message, any screenshot you attach, and basic technical context (app version, device model, OS version, and the screen you were on) so the problem can be reproduced.
• Crash diagnostics — with your permission, crash and performance reports reach us through the operating system’s own reporting. These contain technical details only, never the contents of your messages, postcards, or photos.
• Service logs — ordinary operational records of requests to our backend, kept briefly for security and debugging.

We do not collect your contacts or address book, we do not use advertising identifiers, and there are no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs in the app. This website sets no cookies and runs no analytics.

2. Why we collect it, and on what basis

3. Who can see what

Most privacy questions about a social app are really visibility questions, so:

• Your profile — your username, picture and interests are visible to other users who can find you. Optional fields you leave blank are shown to nobody.
• Postcards and messages — visible to the people you sent them to, or to the members of the HOOD or room you posted in.
• Activities — the roster is visible to members of the HOOD the activity belongs to.
• Blocked people — blocking is mutual and enforced in both directions. Neither of you appears to the other in the surfaces where it matters.

Anything you share with another person can be screenshotted or remembered by them. No app can undo that, and ours does not pretend otherwise.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We have never done so, and doing so would require changing this policy and telling you first.

We use a small number of service providers who process data for us:

• Amazon Web Services — hosting, database, file storage and authentication. Our data is stored in the AWS US East (Ohio) region.
• Apple and Google — to deliver push notifications to your device, and to distribute the app.
• Firebase App Distribution — beta builds only, during testing.

These providers act on our instructions. We may also disclose data if we are legally required to, or where it is necessary to protect someone from harm.

5. Where your data is stored

On servers in the United States. If you are in the UK or EEA, that means your data is transferred outside your home jurisdiction; those transfers rely on the appropriate safeguards our provider offers, including standard contractual clauses.

6. How long we keep it

• Account and content — for as long as your account exists.
• After you delete your account — removed from our live systems promptly. We do not keep long-term copies of deleted account data.
• Service logs — typically 30 days.
• Blocks and safety reports — may be retained after deletion where keeping them is necessary to protect other users, in the minimum form required.

7. Deleting your account

There is a Delete Account button in Settings. It is not a request form and it is not reversible. It removes your profile, postcards, photos, messages, activities and social graph from our systems.

Two honest caveats. A message you sent to someone else may remain in their copy of the conversation. And anything already downloaded or screenshotted by another person is beyond our reach.

If you cannot reach the button — you have lost access to the account, for example — email support@dashhood.app and we will do it for you after verifying that the account is yours.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live you may have the right to access a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, object to or restrict certain processing, receive it in a portable format, and withdraw consent. Residents of California and other US states with similar laws have comparable rights, including the right not to be discriminated against for exercising them — and note that we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of.

Exercise any of these by emailing support@dashhood.app. We respond within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

9. Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access to production systems is limited to the people who need it. We are a small team and we would rather say plainly that no system is perfectly secure than imply otherwise — if a breach affects your data, we will tell you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.

10. Children

DashHOOD is not for children under 13, or under 16 in the UK and EEA. We do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will remove it.

11. Changes to this policy

The “last updated” date above always reflects the current version. If we make a material change — particularly one that widens what we collect or who receives it — we will notify you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

12. Contact

Questions, requests, or a privacy concern: support@dashhood.app. A person reads it.

This policy describes how DashHOOD actually handles data. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer and is not legal advice. It should be checked by counsel, and re-checked against the app’s App Store privacy declarations, before public launch.