Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Hobson ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly to us when you:

• Create an account (name, email address)
• Connect your calendar (Google Calendar or Apple Calendar event data)
• Connect activity trackers (Strava activities, Apple Health workouts)
• Use Talk to Hobson chat (conversation messages)
• Join or create Circles (circle membership and coordination data)
• Forward emails to your Hobson address (email subject, body, and attachments for event extraction)
• Scan paper schedules or flyers (photos you choose, for event extraction)
• Use location-aware features (device location while the app is open, for weather and nearby suggestions)

Calendar Data

Hobson reads your calendar events to generate smart nudges. We store event titles, times, and locations to analyze scheduling patterns. We never modify or delete your calendar events.

Hobson's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Google Calendar data is used only to provide and improve user-facing features of Hobson, is never used for advertising, and is never sold or transferred to third parties except as necessary to provide those features or as required by law.

Health & Fitness Data

With your permission, Hobson reads workout data from Apple Health (HealthKit) and Strava to detect fitness lapses and generate activity nudges. HealthKit data is never used for advertising or marketing, is never shared with data brokers, and is never disclosed to third parties for their own purposes.

Email Forwarding

When you forward emails to your Hobson address, we parse the content to extract calendar events. The raw email content is stored securely and automatically deleted after 90 days. Email content is processed by AI (Anthropic Claude) to extract event details.

Paper Scanning

When you scan a paper schedule or flyer with your camera (or choose a photo from your library), the image is sent to AI (Anthropic Claude) to extract calendar events. The image is processed in memory only — Hobson never stores your scanned photos on our servers, and nothing is added to your calendar without your review and confirmation.

Conversations

Talk to Hobson chat messages are stored securely and automatically deleted after 90 days. Messages are processed by AI (Anthropic Claude) to provide scheduling assistance.

Location

With your permission, Hobson uses your device's location while the app is open (never in the background) to show local weather context and suggest nearby restaurants. Your coordinates are sent to Open-Meteo for weather and to Google Places (via our secure edge function) for restaurant search. Location is used to service these requests and is not stored on our servers; a copy may be cached on your device for up to 30 minutes. You can revoke location access at any time in your device settings.

Analytics

We use PostHog to understand how the app is used (for example, which features are opened) so we can improve it. Analytics events include your user ID and product interaction data. They never include your calendar content, messages, photos, or location.

Error Monitoring

We use Sentry for error monitoring to improve app stability. Your user ID and anonymized error data (crash reports, performance metrics) may be sent to Sentry. No personal content including messages, events, or calendar data is included in error reports.

3. How We Use Your Information

• Generate AI-powered smart nudges based on your calendar patterns
• Enable Circle coordination with your family or co-parent
• Process Talk to Hobson conversations for scheduling assistance
• Send push notifications for nudges and event alerts (opt-in)
• Improve our services and develop new features
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data, and Hobson does not display advertising. Your data is shared only in the following limited circumstances:

• Circle members: Nudges you explicitly share with your Circle
• Anthropic (Claude AI): Calendar patterns and event titles are sent via secure edge functions to generate nudge messages and process chat conversations. Photos you scan for calendar events are sent for extraction only and are not stored. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, content sent to the Claude API is not used to train Anthropic's models
• RevenueCat: Your user ID and subscription status are shared for subscription management
• PostHog: Your user ID and product usage events for analytics
• Sentry: Anonymized error data and your user ID for crash monitoring
• Expo: Push notification tokens for delivering notifications to your device
• Postmark: Email content when you use the email forwarding feature
• Open-Meteo: Your coordinates for weather forecasts (no account or identifier is attached)
• Google Places: Your coordinates and search context, sent via our secure edge function, for nearby restaurant suggestions
• Legal requirements: If required by applicable law, court order, or governmental authority

5. Data Security

Your data is stored in Supabase, which encrypts data in transit and at rest, with row-level security (RLS), meaning each user can only access their own data. All API calls are authenticated. Calendar access tokens for Google and Outlook are stored on your device — not on our servers; Apple Calendar access uses iOS's on-device permission system and involves no stored token at all. While we implement commercially reasonable security measures, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Data Retention

• Account data: Retained as long as your account is active
• Forwarded emails: Automatically deleted after 90 days
• Chat conversations: Automatically deleted after 90 days
• App logs: Automatically deleted after 30 days
• Analytics and error data: Retained by our providers (PostHog, Sentry) on rolling schedules and deleted or de-identified over time
• Calendar events: Retained while your account is active; deleted when you disconnect a calendar or delete your account

7. Your Rights

• Access: Request a copy of your data by contacting us at developer@gethobson.app
• Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data directly in the app (Profile → Delete Account), or by contacting us
• Disconnect: Revoke calendar or activity tracker access at any time via Settings
• Portability: Request an export of your data in a machine-readable format
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you

8. Children's Privacy

Hobson is designed for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us at developer@gethobson.app so we can delete it.

Children's schedule data entered by parents

Hobson is a family coordination tool. Adult users may enter, import, or manage calendar data that includes events involving their minor children, such as school pickups, sports schedules, and medical appointments. This data is entered by and associated with the adult user's account. We do not create separate profiles for minors and do not knowingly collect data directly from minors.

If you are a parent or guardian with concerns about how your child's schedule information is handled within your account, please contact us at developer@gethobson.app.

9. Security Incidents

In the event of a data breach involving your personal information, we will notify you via email without undue delay and within the timeframes required by applicable law, along with details of what occurred and the steps we are taking to address it.

10. California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

• Right to Know. You may request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal data we have collected about you, the sources of that data, our business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
• Right to Delete. You may request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions permitted by law.
• Right to Correct. You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing. We do not sell your personal information, we do not display advertising, and we do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising under the CPRA. Because we neither sell nor share personal information, there is nothing to opt out of; if you have questions, contact us at developer@gethobson.app.
• Right to Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of the above rights.

To exercise your California privacy rights, contact us at developer@gethobson.app. We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

Website analytics. On our website (gethobson.app) we use privacy-minimal, cookieless analytics (PostHog) to understand how visitors arrive and which pages they read, and the Meta Pixel to measure ad performance. These collect standard technical data such as the referring site and pages viewed. They do not collect your app data, messages, or calendar content.

Our website does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals.

11. International Users and Data Processing in the United States

Hobson is operated from the United States, and your information is processed and stored on servers located in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

If you use Hobson from Canada, you understand and consent to your personal information being transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States as described in this policy. You may request access to or correction of your personal information, or withdraw consent (which may limit the features we can provide), by contacting us at developer@gethobson.app.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, by sending a notification through the app. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy: