Hearo logoHearo

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 27, 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Hearo ("Hearo," "we," "our," or "us"). Hearo is a music rating and social review application that enables users to discover, rate, review, and share their musical experiences. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with transparency and care.

This Privacy Policy describes how Hearo collects, uses, shares, and protects information about you when you use our mobile application and related services (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use our Service.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories in connection with your use of the Service:

2.1 Contact Information

Email Address: We collect your email address for account creation, authentication, communication, app functionality, and marketing purposes.

2.2 Phone Number (Optional)

If you choose to add a phone number to your account, we collect and verify it via a one-time SMS passcode for the purpose of confirming you control that number. Your phone number is used to 1) verify your identity, 2) allow you to find friends who are already on Hearo by matching hashed contact information, and 3) allow other users to find you if your number is in their contacts. We do not store your raw contact list, only a one-way cryptographic hash of phone numbers is used for matching. By providing your phone number, you consent to receive a one-time SMS message containing a verification code. Standard message and data rates may apply. You may remove your phone number at any time in Settings.

2.3 Usage Data

Product Interaction: We collect data about how you interact with the Service, including features used, content viewed, searches performed, ratings and reviews submitted, and other in-app actions. This data is used for product personalization, app functionality, analytics, developer advertising or marketing, and third-party advertising.

Advertising Data: We collect data related to your engagement with advertisements within the Service, including impressions and clicks. This data is used for analytics, developer advertising or marketing, and third-party advertising.

2.4 Diagnostics

Crash Data: We collect information about crashes and errors that occur within the app to improve stability and performance. Crash data is used for analytics and app functionality.

Performance Data: We collect data about app performance, including load times and technical metrics. Performance data is used for developer advertising or marketing, analytics, and app functionality.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • App Functionality: To operate, maintain, and provide the core features of the Service, including account management, music discovery, and social features.
  • Analytics: To understand how users interact with our Service, measure performance, and improve our features and user experience.
  • Developer Advertising or Marketing: To promote Hearo and communicate with you about updates, new features, and promotional offers.
  • Third-Party Advertising: To serve relevant advertisements from third-party advertisers through the Service.
  • Safety and Security: To detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, and other potentially harmful or illegal activities.
  • Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, and enforceable governmental requests.

4. Tracking and Cross-App Data Use

Certain data we collect may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies for advertising purposes. The data types used for tracking include:

  • Usage Data (Product Interaction and Advertising Data)
  • Email Address
  • We engage in this tracking to deliver targeted advertising and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. You may limit tracking by adjusting your device settings. On iOS, you can manage app tracking preferences in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking. On Android, you can opt out of interest-based advertising through your device's advertising settings.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. However, we may share or sell aggregated, de-identified data that cannot reasonably be used to identify you, as described in Section 5.1 below. We may also share your information in the following circumstances:

  • Service Providers: We may share information with third-party vendors and service providers that perform services on our behalf, including hosting, analytics, customer support, and advertising services.
  • Third-Party Advertisers: We may share limited data with advertising partners to serve targeted advertisements within the Service and to measure ad performance.
  • Aggregated and De-Identified Data: We may sell or share aggregated, de-identified data with third parties, including music industry partners such as record labels, publishers, distributors, and music analytics firms. See Section 5.1 for full details.

Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency).

Protection of Rights: We may disclose information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, threats to the safety of any person, or violations of our Terms of Service.

With Your Consent: We may share your information for any other purpose with your explicit consent.

5.1 Sale and Sharing of Aggregated, De-Identified Data

We may derive, compile, and sell or share aggregated and de-identified datasets built from user activity on the Service, including music ratings, reviews, listening behavior, and engagement patterns. Before any such data is shared or sold, we apply technical and procedural safeguards to ensure that the data:

  • Contains no direct identifiers such as name, email address, phone number, or account ID;
  • Contains no indirect identifiers that could reasonably be used, alone or in combination, to identify a specific individual;
  • Is aggregated across a sufficient number of users such that no individual's behavior can be singled out; and
  • Is subject to contractual restrictions prohibiting recipients from attempting to re-identify any individual.

The purposes for which we sell or share aggregated, de-identified data include:

  • Music Industry Intelligence: Providing record labels, music publishers, distributors, and artists with insights into listener preferences, genre trends, album and track performance, and audience demographics to inform artist development, marketing, and release strategies.
  • Market Research and Analytics: Enabling music industry stakeholders to understand broader listening and rating trends across geographic regions, age groups, and musical genres.
  • Advertising Effectiveness: Sharing aggregated engagement metrics with advertising partners to measure campaign performance and improve ad targeting at the cohort level.
  • Product and Platform Development: Using aggregated behavioral data internally and with select partners to improve the Service, develop new features, and enhance personalization algorithms.
  • Because this data is aggregated and de-identified, it does not constitute "personal information" under applicable privacy laws, including the CCPA/CPRA, and its sale or sharing is not subject to opt-out rights applicable to personal information. We maintain internal policies prohibiting re-identification of de-identified data and contractually require the same of all recipients.

6. Data Linked to Your Identity

The following categories of data are linked to your personal identity within the Service:

  • Usage Data (Product Interaction and Advertising Data)
  • Data linked to your identity is associated with your account and may be used to provide personalized features and targeted advertising.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. When determining the appropriate retention period, we consider the nature and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure, the purposes for which we process the data, and applicable legal requirements.

When your personal information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention procedures.

8. Data Security

We implement reasonable and appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. However, no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under the age of 16 in certain jurisdictions). To help enforce this requirement, we collect date of birth during account registration and block account creation for users who are under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child without appropriate parental consent, we will take steps to delete such information, including terminating the associated account. If you believe we have collected information from a child, please contact us at hearo.help@gmail.com.

10. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal information:

  • Access: You may request access to the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correction: You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
  • Deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Portability: You may request a copy of your personal information in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Opt-Out of Tracking: You may limit cross-app tracking through your device's privacy settings.
  • Marketing Communications: You may opt out of receiving marketing emails from us by following the unsubscribe instructions in those messages or by contacting us directly.
  • To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided in Section 15. We will respond to your request within the timeframe required by applicable law.

11. U.S. State-Specific Privacy Rights

Depending on the state in which you reside, you may have additional privacy rights under applicable state law. We honor these rights for all qualifying residents. The following section describes your rights by state.

11.1 California CCPA/CPRA

California residents have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), including:

  • The right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell.
  • The right to delete personal information we have collected, subject to certain exceptions.
  • The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
  • The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
  • The right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information.
  • The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.
  • We do not sell personal information as that term is defined under the CCPA. We may sell or share aggregated, de-identified data that does not constitute personal information under applicable law, as described in Section 5.1. To submit a California privacy request, contact us using the information in Section 15.

11.2 Virginia VCDPA

Virginia residents have rights under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of your personal data, and the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. To submit a request or appeal a decision regarding your request, contact us using the information in Section 15.

11.3 Colorado CPA

Colorado residents have rights under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of your personal data, and the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling. You may appeal any denial of your request by contacting us at the information provided in Section 15.

11.4 Connecticut CTDPA

Connecticut residents have rights under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal data, and the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling. You may appeal a denial of your request within a reasonable time by contacting us at the information in Section 15.

11.5 Texas TDPSA

Texas residents have rights under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data, and the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling. To submit a request, contact us using the information in Section 15.

11.6 Oregon OCPA

Oregon residents have rights under the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of personal data, and the right to opt out of targeted advertising and the sale of personal data. Contact us using the information in Section 15 to exercise these rights.

11.7 Montana MCDPA

Montana residents have rights under the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA), including the right to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of personal data, and the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling. Contact us using the information in Section 15 to exercise these rights.

11.8 Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, and Other States

Residents of Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, and other states that have enacted or may enact comprehensive consumer privacy laws are afforded similar rights with respect to their personal data, including rights of access, correction, deletion, portability, and opt-out of targeted advertising and sale of personal data, to the extent required by applicable law. Contact us using the information in Section 15 to submit a request.

11.9 How to Submit a State Privacy Request

To exercise any of the rights described in this Section 11, please contact us at hearo.help@gmail.com with the subject line "Privacy Rights Request" and include your state of residence and a description of your request. We will respond within the timeframe required by your applicable state law (generally 45 days, with a permissible extension). We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country. We take appropriate safeguards to ensure that your personal information remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy when transferred internationally.

13. Third-Party Links and Services

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or applications that are not operated or controlled by Hearo. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you access through our Service.

13.1 Third-Party Services We Use

We integrate the following third-party services within the Hearo application:

  • Mixpanel — We use Mixpanel to collect anonymous usage events and device identifiers to help us understand how users interact with the Service and improve app performance. No email addresses or personally identifiable information are shared with Mixpanel. You may opt out of this data collection at any time in Settings → Privacy within the app.
  • OneSignal — We use OneSignal to deliver push notifications to your device. OneSignal receives your device push token solely for the purpose of sending notifications you have opted into. Your push token is deleted from OneSignal's records when you sign out of the app.
  • Resend — We use Resend to deliver transactional emails, including account verification and notification emails. Resend receives your email address solely for the purpose of delivering these communications on our behalf.
  • Spotify / Apple Music — We integrate with Spotify and Apple Music to allow you to connect your music library to Hearo. These integrations are accessed only with your explicit consent through OAuth authorization. We do not access your Spotify or Apple Music account without your permission, and you may disconnect either service at any time through the app's Settings.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or for other business purposes. When we make material changes, we will notify you by updating the effective date at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, by providing additional notice through the Service or via email. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

  • Email: hearo.help@gmail.com
  • Privacy Policy URL: https://hearo.website/privacy
  • Hearo (DBA) | Privacy Policy | hearo.help@gmail.com
  • You may also manage your privacy preferences and exercise your data rights by visiting the settings page within the Hearo application.