Privacy Policy for Hobu
Last Updated: July 21, 2026
Hobu (“we,” “our,” or “us”) provides this Privacy Policy to explain how
we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use the
Hobu mobile application (“the App”). This version is designed to comply
with Google Play and Apple App Store privacy disclosure requirements.
By using the App, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy
Policy.
Table of Contents
- Information We Collect
- How We Use Your Information
- Data Sharing and Disclosure
- Data Retention
- Data Security
- Your Rights and Controls
- Children’s Privacy
- International Users
- Changes to This Privacy Policy
- Contact Us
We collect the following categories of data to operate and improve the
App.
- Account Data: Name, email address, and phone number.
- Household Data: Grocery items, stock levels, shopping lists,
reminders, and household details.
- Conversational Data: Text inputs and voice commands sent to the AI Assistant for processing and execution.
- Device model, operating system version, and unique identifiers.
- App interactions: We track which features you use (e.g., how often you add items to the shopping list) to provide personalized “Smart Tips” and help you discover unused features.
C. Camera Permission
- We request access to your device’s camera solely for the purpose of scanning barcodes and QR codes to identify products. Images captured by the camera are processed locally on your device in real-time and are not stored, recorded, or transmitted to our servers.
D. Photo/Storage Usage
- We access your device’s photo library only to allow you to select and upload images for your profile, household, or receipts. Files are stored locally.
E. Notification Data
- We use local notifications to deliver scheduled tasks and maintenance reminders. No notification data is sent to external servers.
F. Nearby Interaction Data (Hobu Connect)
To facilitate offline synchronization between family members, we collect and share:
- Device Display Name: A name you choose to identify your device to family members (e.g., “Mom’s Phone”).
- Unique Device Identifier: A persistent, randomly generated UUID used only to establish and maintain trusted connections between your family’s devices.
We use collected information to:
- Manage user accounts and household collaboration
- Sync grocery lists and stockroom data across devices
- Send notifications such as low-stock alerts
- Improve performance, stability, and feature quality
- Maintain app security and prevent misuse
- AI Processing: We use machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand your requests, extract relevant data (like quantities and dates), and detect your emotional state (sentiment) to provide empathetic responses.
- Offline Peer-to-Peer Syncing (Hobu Connect): We use the Google Nearby Connections API to discover and sync data with other devices in your home without an internet connection.
We do not sell your personal information.
3. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We may share limited information with:
A. Service Providers
To improve functionality, we use:
- Google Play Services
- YouTube API Services (for tutorial videos)
- Google Sign-In We use Google Sign-In to authenticate users and securely manage account access. We collect your name, email address, and profile picture from your Google account to create your Hobu profile. This data is used solely for identification and personalization within the App.
- Google Drive (Cloud Backups) If you choose to use the Cloud Backup feature, the App generates a secure backup of your local database and images. This backup file is uploaded directly to your own personal Google Drive account.
- User Control: You retain full ownership and control of these files.
- Access: The App only accesses the specific folder created for Hobu backups (Hobu-Backup) and does not read or modify any other files in your Google Drive.
- Storage: Backup files are stored on Google’s servers and are subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
These providers have access only to the data required to perform their
tasks.
B. Legal and Compliance
We may disclose data when required to comply with legal obligations or
governmental requests.
Promotions and Third-Party Links
The app may display promotional content and links to third-party services or affiliate partners (such as external shopping apps). We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Because our promotional engine is built to be “Offline-First”, we do not transmit your Advertising ID (AAID/IDFA), IP address, or behavioral data to fetch these promotions.
We do not share data with advertisers or external marketing
platforms.
4. Data Retention
We retain data only as long as it is necessary for providing App
functionality or as required by law.
All data is permanently removed once you delete your account.
5. Data Security
We protect your data using:
- Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS)
- Secure server storage
- Restricted access controls
Although we use strong security measures, no method of transmission or
storage is completely secure.
6. Your Rights and Controls
A. Account Deletion
You can delete your account at any time from Profile >
Delete Account.
Deleting your account permanently removes:
- Your profile
- Household data
- Grocery and stockroom data
- All synced cloud data
This action cannot be undone.
B. Permissions
You can modify or revoke App permissions through your device settings. Key permissions include:
- Location & Bluetooth: Used exclusively by the Hobu Connect feature to discover and connect to your family members’ devices for offline data synchronization. We do not use these permissions for tracking your movement or for advertising.
- Notifications: Used for low-stock alerts and task reminders.
- Camera: Used for scanning Barcodes and QR codes (Quick Connect).
- Microphone: Used for processing voice commands and by the Stealth Blackbox Mode feature to safely record audio evidence during emergencies. All audio recordings are encrypted and stored strictly locally on your device within the app’s Digital Vault. We do not upload, transmit, listen to, or store your audio recordings on our servers.
- Contacts: Used exclusively by the Emergency Hub feature to allow you to import household members and device contacts for one-touch crisis dialing and pre-saved SOS text messaging. We do not collect, upload, or share your contact data. All contact information is processed entirely offline on your device.
- Location (GPS): Used dynamically by the Emergency Hub to calculate the distance and bearing to nearby emergency services (e.g., Police Stations, Hospitals) for the “Live Safe Haven Radar”, and to automatically embed your exact coordinates into an SOS message sent to your trusted emergency contacts. Your location is never tracked in the background, sold to third parties, or stored on our servers.
- SMS & Messaging: Used by the Emergency Hub to generate pre-filled text messages containing your emergency alert and location. The app passes this message to your default SMS or WhatsApp application. We do not silently send SMS messages in the background, nor do we collect or monitor your text message history.
- Sensors (Accelerometer): Used by the Fall/Crash Detection feature to process motion data locally in real-time to detect sudden impacts or crashes. This sensor data is not stored, recorded, or transmitted off your device at any time.
7. Children’s Privacy
The App is not intended for children under 13.
We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.
If such data is identified, we will delete it promptly.
8. International Users
Your information may be processed and stored on servers located outside
your country.
By using the App, you consent to these international data transfers.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy occasionally.
Changes will be posted on this page, and the “Last Updated” date above
will be revised accordingly.
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact
us:
Email: hobu.team@gmail.com
Website: https://www.hobu.in