Privacy Policy

This privacy policy ("Policy") explains how we, HILU Inc. ("HILU" or "we"), makers of the HiLU® audio sharing app (the "HiLU App" or the "App") use and protect the personal information of people who use the App or who visit HILU websites such as www.teamhilu.com (the "HILU Website"). We will refer to the HILU App and HILU Website collectively as the "Service" or "HILU."

HILU is a communication service. To provide HILU, we collect your "Personal Information," which is information that directly or indirectly relates to you. We store the Personal Information that we need to operate our Service so you can communicate and feel close with the people you choose.

This Policy applies to anyone who accesses the Service. By visiting the Website and/or using the App, you acknowledge that the collection, use, and sharing of your information will take place as described in this Policy.

Privacy Principles

We value your privacy. We are committed to giving you control over your content, limiting the information we collect, and providing a place where you and your friends and family can create, store, and revisit positive feedback and verbal appreciation that help you feel close.

We also won't try to profit from your privacy. We have two fundamental principles when it comes to Personal Information:

  • We don't sell your Personal Information.
  • We don't use your Personal Information to show you third-party ads.

What We Collect

To operate the Service, we may collect Personal Information.

Information You Provide

Basic Account Data

HILU uses mobile phone numbers as unique identifiers so that it is easy for you to find and communicate with other people you know. To create a HILU account ("Account"), you provide your mobile number and name. You may choose to provide your photo and email address. 

Only other registered HILU users that:

You have sent a HILU Message or
you invited to HILU

may see your name, initials, and photo, if provided.

Content: HILU Messages

HILU is a cloud service. We may collect and store the content you create, including voice and photo messages (collectively, "HILU Messages" or "HiLUs") and responses to HILU Messages others send you ("Replies"). We store this Personal Information on our servers so that you can access your data anytime from any of your devices that have access to the HILU App without having to rely on third-party backups or use up your phone's memory. Our servers are provided by Amazon Web Services (“AWS”). Depending where you or people you are communicating with are located, data may travel through secure networks outside of the United States.

HILU Messages can be sent one-on-one between users.

Customer Support

If you contact HILU support, any Personal Information you may share with us is used only for the purposes of researching the issue and contacting you about your request. Depending on your request, we may need you to provide information to validate your HILU account.

Information We Collect Automatically

Technical Information

We use some additional technical information, as described below, to analyze usage trends and give us more information about how people use the Service to personalize and better the user experience.

We use third-party analytics Service Providers (as more fully described below, and including Google Analytics and Fathom Analytics) to automatically log information about you and your computer or mobile device, and how you interact with the Service. For example, when you access the Service, we may log your operating system type, browser type and language, the pages you viewed, how long you spent on a page, access times, Internet protocol (IP) address, your mobile device ID, unique user ID, wireless carrier, and information about your use of and actions on the Service.

Cookies. The only cookies we use are those to operate and provide our Service on the web. We do not use cookies for profiling or advertising. The cookies we use are small text files that allow us to provide and customize our Service, and in doing so, provide you with a better user experience.

Web beacons. We may log information using digital images called web beacons on our Service or in our emails. We use web beacons to manage cookies, count visits, and to learn which emails are read and acted on, and which are not.

Adjusting your settings/tracking options. You are welcome to adjust your browser or operating system settings to limit certain tracking or to decline cookies. Doing so will not change your experience in the HILU App, but may affect certain functionality on the Website.

Use of Personal Information

We use and process your Personal Information to operate and provide HILU in accordance with our Terms of Service and to further our legitimate interests in providing an effective and innovative Service to our customers and to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, safety, or security issues.

We may use the Personal Information we collect from and about you to:

  • Operate, maintain, and improve HILU;
  • Let people you are connected with on the App know about your activity on HILU;
  • Analyze usage and trends and personalize and improve HILU and your experience using the Service;
  • Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
  • Send information including confirmations, invoices, technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
  • Send marketing emails that promote the use of HILU from which you can opt-out as described below;
  • Protect, investigate, and deter against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity; and
  • Provide and deliver products and services that you request.

Our marketing emails tell you how to unsubscribe. If you unsubscribe from marketing emails, we may still send you non-marketing emails and notifications, which may include information about your account, our business dealings with you, and updates regarding our policies.

Sharing of Personal Information

We may share the Personal Information we collect from and about you

  • with other App users, according to your account preferences and consistent with our Terms of Service;
  • for legal, protection, and safety purposes;
  • in response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is required by law;
  • to protect the rights and property of HILU Inc., our agents, customers, and others, including by enforcing our agreements, policies, and Terms of Service;
  • with those who need it to do work for us (our Service Providers, as defined below); and
  • if HILU or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party. If we are acquired, that third party will be required to treat Personal Information in a manner consistent with this Policy.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share your personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Other HILU Users

Other users of HILU with whom you choose to communicate on the App will be given some of your Personal Information. These other users may be located anywhere in the world. Note that by entering into the Terms of Service and choosing to communicate with such other users of the App, you are instructing us, as part of our contract with you, to transfer your Personal Information, on your behalf, to those users in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You may also choose to invite people to HILU by sending them a unique link.

Service Providers

We work with third parties to provide some of our Service ("Service Providers"). For example, we use third-party SMS Providers to send a verification code to your phone number when you register on the HILU App and each time you sign in to the App. Service Providers will have access to your Personal Information needed to perform their business functions, but may not use or share that Personal Information for purposes outside the scope of their functions related to the Service.

If you are outside the United States, we share your Personal Information with certain third-party providers in the United States, and such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards.

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy

We do not direct the Service to, nor do we knowingly collect any Personal Information from, children under 13. Children under 13 are not eligible to use the Service. If we learn that a user is under 13 years of age, we will take steps to remove that user's Personal Information from our databases and to prevent that user from utilizing the Service.

Managing Your Information & Notification Choices

You can manage your Personal Information in the Apps' Settings. This includes updating information about you, changing your name and your photo, and deleting your Account.

We may communicate with you via informational, transactional, or marketing emails and/or text messages.

By default, HILU sends you informational, transactional, and marketing emails, if you have provided your email address, including regarding activities on the Service. You may choose to unsubscribe from emails by clicking "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. If you unsubscribe, we may still need to send you non-marketing emails about your account, our business dealings with you, or updates to our policies.

We may also send you text notifications. You may opt out of receiving text messages by replying "stop" to the last message received.

You may also send requests to info@teamhilu.com about your Personal Information and to update your Personal Information.

Links to Other Sites

The Service may contain links to other third-party websites or applications. Any information you provide on those sites is subject to that third party's privacy policy. Our Policy does not apply to such sites, and we are not responsible for the privacy and security practices and policies of those third-party sites or applications.

Security of Your Personal Information

We are committed to protecting the security of your Personal Information. We have taken certain physical, administrative, and technical steps to help safeguard the information we collect from and about you. While we take steps to help ensure the integrity and security of our network and systems, we cannot guarantee our security measures.

Your Data Privacy Rights and How to Exercise Them

Certain privacy laws, like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provide rights to individuals located in certain areas about their Personal Information. We apply these privacy rights to all of our customers, including the following:

  • Right to access: You can access certain personal information associated with your account. You have a right to know what data we have about you and can request a copy of your HILUs in an easily accessible format.
  • Right to deletion: You can request that we delete certain personal information we have about you, including your account information as described further below and your content.
  • Right to correction: You can request that we correct the personal information we have about you if inaccurate.
  • Right to File a Complaint: If you are a resident in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you can lodge a complaint about our practices regarding your personal information with the supervisory authority of your country.
  • Right not to be discriminated against: You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

How to Exercise Your Privacy Rights

If you would like to get more information about access, correction, or deletion of the Personal Information that we have about you, you can do so by contacting us at info@teamhilu.com. You can manage, change, delete, and access certain information through the App. Specifically, you can access your HILUs and individually delete them from your home page. You can also correct Personal Information in Settings. For any requests that you are unable to accomplish in the App, including deletion of all your sent HILUs; deletion of your sent HILUs; erasure of your Personal Information including your content; getting information about, accessing, or deleting your sent HILUs that exist in the App but are no longer available to you; or to exercise any other data rights, please contact our customer support team at info@teamhilu.com. We will need to verify your account before processing your request.

HILU Storage

The amount of time HILUs are accessible in your account and how long we store them depends on whether you are a Subscriber or have an active account. You have the ability to manage your content on the App. For HILUs you have sent, please contact our customer support team at info@teamhilu.com. For HILUs you have received, you have the ability to remove them from your account and to download and forward the link to them to others.

Deletion of Accounts and Personal Information Including Content

We may retain the Personal Information you provide as long as you have an Account as further described here. We may also delete your Account if it is inactive for two years.

If you or we delete your Account, your name, profile picture, email, and any HILU Messages you recorded will be deleted. Since we do not store your contacts on our servers, we do not retain your contacts' information upon account deletion. HILU Messages will remain accessible to other people you shared them with through HILU as described in this Policy and the Terms of Service, and will remain on our servers. We retain your phone number in order to respond to any data requests you might have after your Account has been deleted. Note that if a customer has been reported and verified as deceased, we will not treat their account as inactive.

You may request deletion of the content you have shared on HILU by emailing info@teamhilu.com. Please note that such deletion permanently deletes the content from our servers and from the HILU accounts of whomever you sent it to.

Contact Information

We welcome your comments or questions about this Policy. You may contact us at info@teamhilu.com.

Changes to Privacy Policy

We may modify this Policy from time to time. If we make any changes, we will change the effective date below. We also may provide additional notice, as applicable, depending on the type of change.

Effective date: December 1, 2023.