Hookt ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and services.
By using Hookt, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Account Information
When you create an account, we collect:
- Email address
- Name and date of birth
- Gender and dating preferences
- Profile photos
- Bio and personal details you choose to share
1.2 Location Information
We collect location data to provide our services:
- Your general location (city, region, country) to show you nearby matches
- Real-time location during date tracking (only when you explicitly start a date journey)
- Approximate location derived from your IP address at sign-in (city-level), determined via third-party IP-geolocation providers (ipapi and ipinfo), used for security, fraud prevention, and understanding where our service is used
1.3 Usage Information
We automatically collect information about how you use the app:
- Swipe history and match preferences
- Messages sent through the app
- App usage patterns and interactions
- Device type and operating system
- Push notification tokens
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Create and manage your account
- Show you potential matches based on your preferences and location
- Facilitate communication between matched users
- Provide safety features like date tracking
- Send push notifications about matches, messages, and dates
- Verify your identity through Stripe Identity (we do not store your ID documents ourselves)
- Improve our services and user experience
- Enforce our Terms of Service and protect user safety
- Respond to your requests and provide customer support
3. Information Sharing
We do NOT sell your personal information. We may share information with:
- Other Users: Your profile information is visible to other users as part of the matching experience
- Service Providers: Third parties that help us operate our services (e.g., cloud hosting, identity verification, and content delivery)
- AI Processing (Anthropic): To generate compatibility insights, conversation and date suggestions, and to automatically screen photos for safety, relevant content is sent to our AI provider, Anthropic (Claude), for processing. This includes your profile and compatibility answers (such as attachment style, love languages, lifestyle, relationship vision, and questionnaire responses), the messages within a conversation when you open insights for it, and photos you upload. Because insights compare two people, a match's corresponding information may be processed at the same time. This content is used only to return results and is not used to train AI models.
- Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or to protect safety
- Emergency Contacts: Your designated contacts during date tracking, only when you choose to share your location
- Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets
4. Data Storage and Security
We take the security of your data seriously:
- Your data is stored securely using industry-standard encryption
- Photos are stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 with encryption
- We use HTTPS for all data transmission
- Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel only
- We regularly review and update our security practices
While we implement safeguards, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
5. Your Rights and Choices
You have control over your personal information:
- Access: You can view your profile information in the app at any time
- Update: You can edit your profile information at any time
- Delete: You can delete your account and all associated data from Settings
- Location: You can disable location services in your device settings
- Notifications: You can manage push notification preferences in the app or device settings
- Data Export: You can request a copy of your data by contacting us
6. Data Retention
We retain your information while your account is active. When you delete your account:
- Your profile and photos are immediately removed from the app
- Your personal data is permanently deleted within 30 days
- Some information may be retained longer if required by law or for legitimate business purposes (e.g., fraud prevention)
- Anonymized or aggregated data may be retained for analytics
7. Age Requirement
Hookt is intended for users 18 years of age and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a user under 18, we will delete that information promptly.
8. Third-Party Services
Our app integrates with the following third-party services:
- Anthropic (Claude AI): For compatibility insights, date suggestions, and automated photo moderation. Your profile and compatibility answers, conversation messages (when you request insights), and uploaded photos are processed by Anthropic to provide these features and are not used to train AI models (Anthropic Privacy Policy)
- Stripe Identity: For identity/age verification (Stripe Privacy Policy)
- Daily.co: For in-app voice and video calls between matched users (Daily Privacy Policy)
- Apple Sign In: For authentication (Apple Privacy Policy)
- Amazon Web Services: For photo storage and hosting
- Google Places: For venue and location search when planning dates
- Yelp & Ticketmaster: For date-venue suggestions and local event listings
- Render: For application hosting
These services have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them.
9. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Keep you logged in
- Remember your preferences
- Understand how you use our services
- Improve our app and website
You can control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling them may affect functionality.
10. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:
- Right to Know: You can request information about the personal data we collect, use, and disclose
- Right to Delete: You can request deletion of your personal data
- Right to Opt-Out: We do not sell personal data, so this right does not apply
- Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights
To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@hookt.io.
11. International Users (GDPR)
If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:
- Access: Request access to your personal data
- Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
- Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
- Portability: Request a copy of your data in a portable format
- Restriction: Request restriction of processing
- Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
Our legal basis for processing your data includes: consent, contract performance, legitimate interests, and legal obligations.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes:
- We will update the "Last Updated" date at the top
- We will notify you through the app or via email
- Your continued use after changes constitutes acceptance
We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: