Hearth

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 8, 2026

Hearth is a private, invite-only place for your family to share photos.

We built Hearth so families can keep their memories in one calm, private space — not to build advertising profiles or sell data. This policy explains what information Hearth collects, why we collect it, how it is used and protected, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to the Hearth mobile app and the hearth.photos website (together, the “Service”).

1. Information we collect and why

We collect only what we need to run a private family photo album. That includes:

• Email address — to create and identify your account and to send you sign-in links and important account notices.
• Phone number — used to send a one-time sign-in code by SMS so you can log in securely without a password.
• Display name — the name shown to others in your family circle.
• Photos, videos, and their metadata — the media you choose to upload, along with technical metadata that typically travels with a photo (for example, the capture date and other EXIF details) so we can sort and display your memories correctly.
• Profile avatar — an optional picture you choose to represent yourself.
• Names of people you tag — when you tag a family member in a photo, we store the name you enter. This may be identifying information about people who are not themselves Hearth users. Please only tag people you have a family or personal relationship with, and only within your own circle.
• A device / session identifier — an authentication cookie or token that keeps you signed in on your device.
• IP address — used transiently to protect the Service, for example to rate-limit requests and prevent abuse. We do not use it to build advertising or tracking profiles.
• Crash and diagnostic data — if the app runs into an error, we collect technical diagnostic information through an error-tracking service to help us fix bugs. Personal identifiers are scrubbed from these reports.

We do not ask for, and we do not intentionally collect, more than the items listed above.

2. How we use your information

We use the information above only to operate and improve the Service, specifically to:

• Create your account and sign you in securely;
• Store, organize, and display your photos and videos to the members of your family circle;
• Let family members tag and recognize one another in shared memories;
• Keep the Service reliable and secure, including preventing spam, abuse, and unauthorized access;
• Diagnose and fix crashes and technical problems;
• Send you essential account and security messages.

We do not use your content to serve advertising, and we do not sell or rent your personal information.

3. How your information is shared

Within your family circle. The whole point of Hearth is sharing within a trusted group. Photos, videos, tags, display names, and avatars you add are visible to the other members of your family circle. They are not public and are not shared with other circles.

With service providers. We rely on a small number of trusted vendors to run the Service, and they may process data only on our behalf and only to provide their service. These include:

• Our cloud hosting and storage provider, which stores the app’s data and media files;
• An SMS provider, to deliver your one-time sign-in codes;
• An email provider, to deliver account and sign-in messages;
• An error-tracking provider, to collect scrubbed crash and diagnostic reports.

For legal reasons. We may disclose information if required to comply with applicable law, a lawful request, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users or the public.

Business transfers. If Hearth is ever involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction; we will notify you and any successor will be bound by this policy.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own advertising or cross-app tracking.

4. Data retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active so the Service can work as you expect. When you delete specific photos or your account, we remove the associated personal data from our live systems. Residual copies may persist for a short period in encrypted backups before they are overwritten in the ordinary course, and we may retain limited records where the law requires it.

5. Security

Protecting family memories is central to how Hearth is built. Data is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), and your media files are stored privately — they are not publicly accessible and are served only to authorized members of your circle through short-lived, access-controlled links. We use one-time codes rather than reusable passwords for sign-in, and we apply rate-limiting and abuse prevention to protect accounts. No system can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information using industry-standard safeguards.

6. Account and data deletion

You are in control of your data. You can delete your account directly in the app, which removes your personal data — including your profile, photos and videos you uploaded, and associated tags — from our live systems, subject to the short backup and legal-retention windows described in Section 4. If you need help deleting your account or specific content, contact us at support@hearth.photos.

7. Children’s privacy

Hearth is intended for adults who manage a family album, and accounts are created by invitation. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 as account holders. Note that adults may upload photos of, and tag, children who are their own family members; that content is controlled by the adult family members and stays private to the circle. If you believe a child has created an account or that we hold information we should not, contact us at support@hearth.photos and we will remove it.

8. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. Hearth is designed to support these rights directly:

• Access & export — you can view your content in the app; contact us if you need a copy of your data.
• Correction — you can update your display name, avatar, and tags in the app.
• Deletion — you can delete individual items or your entire account in the app.

To exercise any of these rights, use the in-app controls or email support@hearth.photos. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

9. International users

Hearth may store and process information on servers located in countries other than the one you live in. Data-protection laws in those countries may differ from your own. By using the Service, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in those locations, and we take steps to protect it consistently with this policy wherever it is handled.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by email. Your continued use of the Service after an update means you accept the revised policy.

11. Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or your information, contact us at support@hearth.photos.

The Service is operated by [Legal entity — fill in], governed by the laws of [Jurisdiction / governing law — fill in].