Privacy Policy

This policy applies to visitors and registered users of Hooeychat, including people who use random video chat, friend messaging, profiles, and paid subscriptions.

Hooeychat is intended only for adults 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us using the details at the end of this policy.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy whenever you use Hooeychat so you stay informed about our practices.

"Personal information" means information that identifies you or can reasonably be linked to you. We collect personal information in the following ways:

• When you use the Service
• When you voluntarily provide it (for example, by creating an account or updating your profile)
• When you contact us or submit a report

Categories of information we may collect include:

• Identifiers: email address, username, password (stored in hashed form), birthdate, and account IDs
• Profile information: avatar, tagline, interests, sex, and general location preferences you choose to provide
• Usage and safety data: match preferences, friend relationships, blocks, reports, subscription tier, presence signals, and similar operational data
• Communications: friend messages and related media; ephemeral stranger-chat content is not kept as permanent history after a call ends
• Payment information: billing status and limited payment metadata from Stripe — we do not store full card numbers
• Technical information: browser type, device information, IP address, timestamps, cookies, and similar logs needed to secure and operate the Service

Video and audio: Live stranger video and audio are processed in real time and transmitted peer-to-peer where possible using WebRTC. We do not record or store your webcam video or audio from random matches.

Peer connections: WebRTC may require your IP address to be available to another user's device so a direct connection can be established. Hooeychat does not display your IP address to other users in the interface, but it may be technically available during a peer-to-peer session.

We use information to:

• Provide, maintain, secure, and improve Hooeychat
• Create and authenticate accounts and keep you signed in
• Match you with other users based on your preferences
• Enable friends, messaging, rematch, and video calling features
• Process subscriptions and billing through Stripe
• Enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines
• Review reports, blocks, and safety concerns
• Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Send service-related emails such as account verification or important notices
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that requires a lawful basis, we process personal information on the following grounds:

• Contract: To create and manage your account, provide video chat and messaging, process subscriptions, and deliver features you request
• Legitimate interests: To secure Hooeychat, prevent abuse, improve the Service, enforce our terms, and communicate important service updates — balanced against your rights
• Consent: For optional analytics-style technologies and other non-essential cookies where required (you can withdraw consent through cookie preferences)
• Legal obligation: To comply with law, respond to lawful requests, and meet tax, billing, or safety obligations
• Vital interests and public interest: Where necessary to protect users or others, including reporting serious illegal activity such as child exploitation

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We may share information in these situations:

• Service providers: With vendors that help us operate Hooeychat, such as hosting, authentication, database, and payment providers, subject to contractual protections
• Other users: Information you choose to make visible on your profile, or content you send to another user during chats or messages
• Legal and safety reasons: When required by law, to respond to lawful requests, to protect rights and safety, or to investigate violations of our terms or applicable law — including disclosure to law enforcement or appropriate hotlines where we reasonably suspect child sexual abuse material, child exploitation, or other serious illegal activity
• Peer-to-peer connections: Technical connection data necessary for WebRTC sessions, which may include making your IP address available to another user's device as described above
• Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate notice where required by law

Hooeychat relies on third-party services that may process information according to their own policies, including:

• Supabase for authentication, database, and storage
• Stripe for payments and subscription management
• GIPHY for GIF search and delivery, when enabled

Link previews shown in messages may fetch publicly available metadata from third-party websites. Our Service may also contain links to other websites. We do not control third-party sites and encourage you to review their privacy practices before providing information to them.

Hooeychat may include links to third-party websites, profiles, or content — for example in messages, link previews, or marketing pages. We try to link to reputable destinations, but we are not responsible for the content, security, or practices of third-party sites.

When you leave Hooeychat or interact with a third-party site, any information you provide is governed by that site's policies, not this Privacy Policy.

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, secure the Service, and — only with your consent — understand how the site is used.

• Strictly necessary cookies are required for core functionality such as authentication and security. These are always active.
• Functional cookies help remember preferences and improve your experience
• Analytics-style technologies help us understand product usage patterns. These are disabled until you choose Accept all in our cookie banner or reopen cookie preferences from the site footer.

You can change your choice at any time using Cookie preferences in the site footer. You can also control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling necessary cookies may prevent parts of Hooeychat from working properly. We do not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals in a uniform way across all browsers.

Depending on your account and location, you may be able to:

• Update profile information in account settings
• Control profile discoverability and visible fields in Privacy & sharing settings
• Block or report other users
• End chats at any time
• Manage subscription billing through the Stripe customer portal, where available
• Schedule account deletion in Settings → Account
• Submit privacy or support requests in Settings → Help & support
• Request access, correction, portability, or other data rights by contacting us
• Manage optional analytics cookies through cookie preferences in the site footer

In-app account deletion. Signed-in users can schedule account deletion from Settings → Account. When you confirm deletion, your account is deactivated immediately, removed from matching and public discovery, and scheduled for permanent deletion after 30 days. If you sign in before that date, you may reactivate your account and cancel the scheduled deletion. Active subscriptions are canceled when deletion is scheduled.

During the deactivation period, we retain your account data only as needed to complete deletion or allow reactivation, enforce safety obligations, and comply with law. Some safety, billing, or legal records may be retained after permanent deletion where permitted or required by law.

In-app requests. Signed-in users can submit privacy, security, legal, and support requests from Settings → Help & support. We review these requests in our admin panel and respond as needed.

Email fallback. You may also contact privacy@hooeychat.com for privacy and data-rights requests, or support@hooeychat.com for general support, safety escalations, security reports, and legal inquiries. We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.

We retain information for as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and protect Hooeychat and our users.

• Stranger chat: Ephemeral stranger-chat messages and related live session content are not kept as permanent history after a call ends
• Friend messages: Stored while your account is active and as needed to provide messaging features
• Reports and enforcement: Report details, related metadata, and limited interaction context may be retained longer to investigate abuse, enforce bans, and satisfy legal requirements
• Scheduled account deletion: After you confirm in-app deletion, account data is retained for up to 30 days while the account is deactivated, then permanently deleted unless you reactivate
• Email deletion requests: After a verified email request, we deactivate and schedule deletion or remove/anonymize data within applicable legal timeframes

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your password confidential and using Hooeychat in a safe manner.

If you believe you have discovered a security or privacy vulnerability in Hooeychat, submit a Security vulnerability request in Help & support or email support@hooeychat.com with a detailed description. We will contact you if we need more information.

Hooeychat is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information may be processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate, which may have different data protection laws than your home country.

Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms offered by our service providers, including Supabase and Stripe.

Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to certain processing, receive a portable copy of information you provided, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise these rights, use Help & support or email privacy@hooeychat.com with the subject line Privacy Request. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request and will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law, generally within one month for GDPR requests.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority if you believe our processing violates applicable law.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to know what personal information we collect, request access or deletion, correct inaccurate information, opt out of sale or sharing, limit use of sensitive personal information, or appeal a denied request, subject to applicable law.

Categories we collect (last 12 months):

• Identifiers — email, username, account IDs, birthdate
• Customer records — profile details, subscription tier, billing status
• Internet or network activity — technical logs, cookies, usage and safety events
• Communications — friend messages and support or report correspondence
• Sensitive information — birthdate (used only to enforce our 18+ requirement and operate the Service)

Disclosures for business purposes: We disclose the categories above to service providers such as Supabase, Stripe, and GIPHY solely to operate Hooeychat. Sale / sharing: We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by CPRA. To exercise privacy rights, use Help & support or email privacy@hooeychat.com with the subject line Privacy Request and tell us what you are requesting. We aim to respond within 45 days, subject to applicable extensions and verification requirements.

An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf where permitted by law. The agent must provide proof of authorization and we may still require you to verify your identity. If we deny a request, you may appeal by replying to our response with Privacy Appeal in the subject line.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights permitted by law, although some features may become unavailable if certain data is required to operate them.

Hooeychat is intended exclusively for adults and is not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. We use birthdate information and other signals to enforce our 18+ requirement and may deny, restrict, or terminate access where we reasonably believe a user is under 18.

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a minor, we will take steps to delete it and may terminate the associated account.

If you believe your child has created an account, accessed, or used Hooeychat, contact us promptly at privacy@hooeychat.com with Minor Account in the subject line so we can review the situation and delete the account and associated data where appropriate.

We encourage parents and guardians to supervise children's online activity and use device-level parental controls to help prevent minors from accessing adult-only services.

Hooeychat is only for adults. If you are under 18, you may not use the Service or create an account. Please stop using Hooeychat and do not provide personal information. Do not attempt to bypass age checks.

If you believe you have already created an account or shared information here, ask a parent or legal guardian to contact us so we can remove your account and delete associated data.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated policy on this page and update the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of Hooeychat after changes become effective means you accept the revised policy.

The easiest way to reach us is Help & support while signed in.

For privacy and data-rights requests, contact privacy@hooeychat.com.

For general support, safety escalations, security reports, and legal inquiries, contact support@hooeychat.com.