Privacy Policy

What we collect

• Game profile — your in-game name, character look, level and pickups. Other players and shops see only your in-game name and level.
• Account — a sign-in made by the app. If you choose to save your account, your email address (used to send sign-in codes).
• Sign in with Apple — to play you sign up with your Apple ID. Apple gives us an ID for you that only hUlahoot sees, and an email (your real one, or a private relay address if you choose "Hide My Email"). We use them to keep one account per person and to reach you about your account. We never see your Apple ID password.
• Moving an account — if you lose the Apple ID you played with, you can ask us to move your old account to a new one. We keep what you write in the request (your old player name and the details you give) so our staff can check it, and a record of the move.
• One iPhone, one account (Apple DeviceCheck) — Apple lets us keep a yes/no mark for your iPhone: "this iPhone has a hUlahoot account". It stays with Apple even if you delete the app. We do not receive any number or name of your iPhone, only that mark, and we keep whether your account passed this check.
• Bookings — which shop, the time, your ticket number and pickup code, and whether it was picked up, cancelled or expired.
• Membership — whether you are a member and until when. Payment is handled by Apple; we receive Apple's transaction ID and dates, never your card or Apple ID details.
• Free bookings — every new player gets 5 free bookings, to use within 30 days of signing up, before the membership. We count how many you used. So that a new account does not give a second 5, the count and the start date stay with the ID Apple gives us for you (only that ID, the number used and the date), also after you delete your account.
• Telegraph Mode (optional) — if you link a phone to book by text message, your phone number and the commands you text (SHOPS, BOOK, TICKET).
• Shop accounts — for restaurant owners and managers: email, password (stored only as a secure hash by our sign-in provider), name, phone, shop name and address, and when the Shop Terms were accepted. Staff who use a staff code have no personal account.
• Shop ownership proof — for shop owners who add or claim a shop: the phone's location once, at the shop door (it becomes the shop's place on the map), and two live photos taken in the app (the shop front with a one-time code on paper, and the business permit). Only hUlahoot staff can see the photos, to check that the shop is real and yours; they are kept as the record of who owns the shop, and you can ask us to delete them when your shop leaves hUlahoot. Players never see them.
• Town chat and news board — what you write in TOWN CHAT (kept 24 hours, then deleted), news posts you write with an optional pinned spot on the game map (shown for 24 hours and deleted 2 days later), and your REAL / NOT REAL votes and reports on them.
• Notifications (optional) — if you allow notifications, a push token from Apple so we can send you news that reached TOP (players) or new orders (shops). Turn them off any time in your phone's Settings.
• Nearby radio (optional) — if you turn on NEARBY RADIO, your phone uses Bluetooth to pass short messages to hUlahoot phones nearby, with no internet: town chat lines, messages between customers and shops, and bookings on their way to hUlahoot. Each phone has a radio key; while online it is registered to your account so hUlahoot can check that a booking really came from you. Messages travel through other people's phones on the way and are signed but not secret — anyone along the way can read them, so do not send private information. Phones keep them for at most 2 hours; hUlahoot keeps the answer to a radio booking for 2 days. Turn the radio off any time.
• UFO hunt — when you take a photo in the game's CAMERA, the time and whether it caught the UFO (the "photo" is drawn by the game; your phone's camera is not used), and your UFO tickets.
• Home area — the city and neighbourhood you pick when you start (never an address). It is kept on your phone only, to start you there.
• Places you share in town chat (optional) — when you tap PLACE you choose to put a spot in your chat line: a shop's public location, or WHERE I AM NOW, which is your character's spot on the game map (not your phone's GPS). Everyone in that town chat sees it for 24 hours, like any chat line.
• Error and speed reports — when the app hits an error or runs slowly (a map that takes long to open, a frozen moment), the message, timings, screen size and device type, linked to your account, so we can fix it.
• Feedback (optional) — what you write in SEND FEEDBACK (players) or Feedback (shops), with your in-game name or shop name, the screen size and device type, so we can fix problems.
• In the game now — while the game is open, every few minutes the name of the district you are playing in (for example "Old Town Pasadena", never a location) and the time, so we can see how many players are in the game. Only the latest one is kept for each account.
• Age range from Apple — each time the app opens it asks the App Store for your age range (whether you are 18 or older), as California law requires. hUlahoot is for adults: under 18, the app does not open. The answer is used on your phone only and is not sent to us.
• Shop ad payments — for shops: when you pay for an ad, you type your card into Stripe's payment form shown inside the hUlahoot Shop app; the card goes straight to Stripe (our payment processor) and never reaches hUlahoot. We receive only that the payment is complete, the amount, the date and the email of the shop account. Stripe's privacy policy: stripe.com/privacy.
• Dish reports (optional) — after you pick up a dish, you can tell us it was not this week's campaign or not as shown in the game. We keep which booking it was and your reason, count reports to check shops' menus, and a person at hUlahoot reviews what the check finds. Shops never see who reported.
• Safety map (optional) — when you mark a danger or a safe place: the level (safe / danger / very dangerous / extremely dangerous), the kind (for example FIRE or SHELTER), your few words, the spot on the map, the size of the area, your in-game name and the time. Everyone in that town sees it until it expires (12 hours to 3 days) or is taken down. If you mark it at WHERE I STAND while REAL GPS is on, that spot is your real location at that moment — you choose to share it with the report. When REAL GPS is on, we also receive how many meters you were from the spot you marked or reviewed (not where you are), so reviews from people nearby count more. We keep your reviews (TRUE / NOT TRUE) and a trust score that goes up when your reports are confirmed and down when they are found untrue.
• Real app check (iPhone) — to stop bots and scripts, the app proves to us that it is the real hUlahoot app on a real iPhone (Apple App Attest). We keep a key ID and a public key made for hUlahoot on your phone, a counter, and when you last passed. It does not identify your device or you to anyone else.
• Kind words — what you type (town chat, messages, news, safety map, letters, names, shop menus) is checked for rude words and slurs before it is sent and again on our server. Text that is refused is not stored.
• Safety — reports you make or receive, players you block, shop bans and account strikes, with their reasons.

What we do not collect

• Your real location (GPS). Your character walks freely inside the game; its position is only a game position. If you turn on GPS WALK, your phone uses its location (only while the app is on screen) to move your character on the street map inside the app — the location is used on your phone only and is never sent to us or to anyone; while GPS WALK is on, other players do not see your character. The one exception is a SAFETY MAP report you choose to mark at WHERE I STAND while REAL GPS is on (see Safety map above). The California street map is inside the app, so looking at it sends nothing.
• Chat messages. Town chat lines are kept on our servers for 24 hours so players can read what was said, then deleted automatically. Private chats between two players go live while the app is open and are not saved on our servers.
• Contacts, photos, advertising IDs or tracking across other apps. We do not use ads or analytics trackers.
• Camera images. The hUlahoot game does not use your camera. The hUlahoot Shop app uses the camera to read a pickup QR code on the device (no picture is sent or saved), and, only when an owner adds or claims a shop, for the two ownership photos described above.

How we use it

• To run the game: show shops and today's secret menus, take bookings, check pickup codes, keep your level.
• To apply the rules: daily booking limits, no-shows, bans and strikes.
• To keep players and shops safe: review reports and hide posts readers report.
• To send the notifications you allowed.
• To answer you when you contact us, and to improve the app from your feedback.

Who else handles it

• Supabase — hosts our database and sign-in (United States).
• Apple — App Store payments and subscriptions, and delivery of notifications (Apple Push Notification service), under Apple's own privacy policy.
• Email delivery provider — sends sign-in codes when you save your account.
• Twilio — sends and receives text messages, only if you use Telegraph Mode.
• Shops — see your in-game name, level and ticket when you book with them.

How long we keep it

Your choices and rights

• Delete your account: in the app — tap your character › ACCOUNT › DELETE ACCOUNT. (Cancel an Apple subscription separately in Settings › your name › Subscriptions.)
• Access or correct: tap your character to see your data, or email us.
• California residents have the right to know, delete and correct personal information, and to not be discriminated against for using these rights. We do not sell or share personal information. Email us to make a request.

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