Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 1, 2026

Hello is built around a simple idea: help people meet in real life, then get out of the way. That idea shapes how we treat your data — we collect the minimum needed to make the product work, most of it expires quickly by design, and we don't sell any of it.

What we collect

• Account info. Your email, first name, and birthdate (to verify you're 18 or older), collected when you sign in with Apple or Google. We never display your last name or your exact age of birth to other users.
• Profile details you choose to add. A short bio and who you're interested in meeting.
• Check-in data. When you check in, we record the venue, the time, your selected vibe, and the fresh photo you take. Check-ins expire automatically within hours, and check-in photos are deleted from visibility within 24 hours.
• Location. Your location is used to show nearby venues and to check in. We do not track your location in the background, and we never store a movement history — only the venue you explicitly checked in to.
• Messages. Hellos and chat messages you send. Chat threads expire 24 hours after they start.
• Device tokens. A push notification token so we can tell you when someone says hello.

Who can see what

• Your first name, age, bio, vibe, and fresh photo are visible only to people checked in at the same venue at the same time. Nobody can browse you from elsewhere.
• The map shows other users only aggregate counts ("6 people here"), never individual identities.
• When you check out or your check-in expires, your presence disappears immediately.

How we process photos

Every check-in photo is reviewed by an automated safety system before other users can see it. Photos that fail review are never shown. We use Google's Gemini API for this automated review; photos are processed for moderation only and are not used to train models.

Service providers

We use Google Firebase (authentication, database, storage, push notifications), Vercel (hosting), Twilio SendGrid (transactional email), and Google Gemini (photo moderation and icebreaker suggestions). Each receives only the data required to perform its function.

What we never do

• We never sell your personal data.
• We never show your profile to anyone who isn't physically checked in where you are.
• We never track your location in the background.
• We never use your photos for advertising or model training.

Safety and moderation

If you block someone, you become permanently invisible to each other. If you report someone, our team reviews the report; accounts that receive multiple independent reports are suspended pending review. We may retain report records to keep the community safe.

Deleting your data

You can delete your account from the app's settings, or by emailing hello@ilovehello.com. Deletion removes your profile, check-in history, photos, hellos, and messages. Records we're legally required to keep (such as safety reports) may be retained in de-identified form.

Age requirement

Hello is for adults 18 and older. We verify age at sign-up via birthdate and remove accounts we believe belong to minors.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll notify you in the app before the change takes effect.

Contact

Questions? Email hello@ilovehello.com.