Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-05-28

This Privacy Policy explains how Hyve (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use the Hyve mobile application and related services (the “Service”). It applies to all users worldwide, with additional sections specific to the European Economic Area (GDPR) and California (CCPA).

1. Who we are

Hyve is a social application that helps expats, remote workers, and travelers meet people and organize in-person activities. The data controller for the purposes of EU/UK data protection law is the operator of Hyve. You can contact us at hello@hyve-app.com.

2. What we collect

2.1 Information you give us

Account data: email address, password (stored only as a salted hash — we never see your plain password), name, birthday, gender, nationality.
Profile data: bio, status message, interests, relationship status, kids, personality, drinking/smoking habits, and your tenure (how long you've been in your current city). You choose what to share; only the fields you fill in are stored.
Photos: images you upload for your profile, hosted by our processor Cloudinary.
User-generated content: direct messages, activities you host or join, verifications, winks, blocks, and reports you file.

2.2 Information we collect automatically

Location: your device's latitude and longitude (with your explicit permission) to power the "nearby people" and "nearby activities" features. We compute your approximate city from these coordinates. You can revoke location permission at any time in your device settings.
Device data: push notification token (Expo Push), and limited technical metadata such as app version and OS version captured by our error-tracking processor (Sentry).
Usage data: the time you were last active, used to power the "Active X ago" pill for Hyve Plus members and to throttle re-engagement notifications.

2.3 Information we do NOT collect

We do not collect contacts, calendar entries, photos outside what you explicitly upload, microphone audio, camera video (except when you take a photo to upload), browsing history, advertising identifiers, or precise location history beyond your most recent point.

3. How we use your information

To create and maintain your account.
To show you people and activities nearby.
To deliver messages, winks, verifications, and notifications you've enabled.
To enforce community safety: reviewing reports, blocking offenders, screening photos via automated moderation.
To send transactional emails (verification, password reset) via our email processor Resend.
To detect bugs and crashes via Sentry so we can fix them.

4. Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are in the EEA or UK, we process your data under one or more of the following lawful bases (GDPR Article 6):

Contract — to provide the Service you've signed up for.
Consent — for optional features such as location access and push notifications. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Legitimate interest — to keep the Service safe (reporting, moderation, rate limiting) and to debug and improve it.
Legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws.

5. Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the following processors, each under a Data Processing Agreement:

Neon — managed PostgreSQL database (EU region).
Railway — application hosting.
Cloudinary — photo storage, with automated NSFW moderation via Amazon Rekognition.
Resend — transactional email delivery (verification, password reset).
Expo — push notification delivery.
Sentry — error tracking and performance monitoring.

We may disclose information when legally required (court order, lawful request from authorities) or when necessary to protect the safety of our users or the public.

6. International transfers

Some of our processors operate in the United States. Where personal data of EEA/UK residents is transferred outside those regions, we rely on European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards.

7. Data retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, we permanently remove your profile, photos (from Cloudinary), and personal data within 30 days. Reports you have filed against other users may be retained in anonymized form to support ongoing moderation decisions.

8. Your rights

8.1 For everyone

Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction — edit your profile directly in the app, or contact us for fields you can't change yourself.
Deletion — delete your account at any time via Settings → Danger zone.
Withdraw consent — disable location, push notifications, or any optional feature at any time.

8.2 Additional rights — EEA / UK (GDPR)

Right to restrict or object to processing.
Right to data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
Right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

8.3 Additional rights — California (CCPA / CPRA)

Right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used.
Right to delete your personal information.
Right to opt out of sale or sharing — we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

To exercise any right, email us at hello@hyve-app.com. We will respond within 30 days (GDPR) or 45 days (CCPA).

9. Children's privacy

Hyve is not intended for users under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. Data security

Passwords are stored as salted hashes. Transport between your device and our servers uses HTTPS/TLS. Database backups are encrypted at rest. No system is perfectly secure — if you become aware of a security issue, please contact us immediately.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes will be announced in the app.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: hello@hyve-app.com.