Hello Dear ("we," "us," or "our") is operated by Luis Roberto Vazquez Benavidez, an individual developer. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you use the Hello Dear mobile application (the "App") and related services.
Hello Dear is an iOS application that allows family members to monitor the wellness of elderly relatives who live alone. An AI-powered system calls seniors daily by phone, generates wellness classifications, and the App displays the results to family members. The senior never uses the App — they simply answer a phone call.
By creating an account and using the App, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.
1. Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of information to provide and improve our services:
1.1 Account Data
When you sign in using Sign in with Apple, we receive the following from Apple:
- Apple User ID — a unique, app-specific identifier assigned by Apple
- Full name — optional; you may choose to hide your name during sign-in
- Email address — optional; Apple may provide a private relay email address if you choose to hide your real email
1.2 Senior Information
You provide the following information about the senior relative you wish to monitor:
- Name of the senior
- Age of the senior
- Phone number in E.164 international format
- Language preference for phone calls (from 15 supported languages)
- Timezone for call scheduling
- Relationship to you (e.g., grandmother, grandfather)
- Senior's role (how you refer to them)
- Your name (the family member's name, shared with the senior during calls)
- Call schedule preferences — preferred days, hours, and frequency of calls
- Retry configuration — maximum retry attempts and intervals if a call is not answered
- Notification preferences — your settings for push notifications about calls and wellness
1.3 Call and Wellness Data
When the AI system conducts a phone call with your senior relative, the following data is generated:
- Call transcripts — text-only transcriptions of the conversation. No audio is recorded or stored at any point.
- Call metadata — duration, completion status, timestamps of when calls occurred
- Wellness classifications — AI-generated assessments including:
- Risk level
- General wellbeing assessment
- Physical comfort indicators
- Emotional state evaluation
- Mood indicators
- Key concerns identified
- Whether assistance may be needed
- Aggregated wellness insights — weekly and monthly summaries derived from individual call assessments
- Authorization call results — outcome of the initial call in which the senior confirms they consent to receiving regular wellness calls
Important: Wellness classifications are generated by artificial intelligence and are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider regarding any health concerns about your loved one.
1.4 Technical Data
- Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token — a device-specific token used to deliver push notifications to your device
- Device timezone and locale — used to schedule calls at appropriate times and display dates correctly
- App usage analytics — we collect 15 non-personally-identifiable analytics events (such as screen views and feature usage counts) to understand how the App is used and to improve the experience. These events contain no personal data, names, phone numbers, or wellness information.
1.5 Payment Data
All payments and subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple through the App Store. Hello Dear does not collect, process, transmit, or store any payment information, including credit card numbers, billing addresses, or financial account details. For information about how Apple handles your payment data, please refer to Apple's Privacy Policy.
1.6 Information We Do Not Collect
For transparency, we want to be clear about what we do not collect:
- We do not record or store audio from phone calls
- We do not collect location data or GPS coordinates
- We do not use advertising identifiers (IDFA)
- We do not engage in cross-app tracking
- We do not use cookies (the App contains no web views)
- We do not integrate with Apple HealthKit
- We do not collect any data from the senior's device — they receive only a standard phone call
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To provide the service — scheduling and conducting AI wellness calls with your senior relative, generating wellness reports, and delivering them to you through the App
- To authenticate your account — verifying your identity through Sign in with Apple
- To send notifications — alerting you about completed calls, wellness updates, and important status changes
- To improve the service — analyzing anonymized, non-personally-identifiable usage patterns to understand how the App is used and where we can improve the experience
- To provide support — responding to your questions and requests when you contact us
- To comply with legal obligations — meeting applicable legal requirements and responding to lawful requests
3. Third-Party Services
We share data with the following third-party service providers, each of which is necessary for the operation of the App:
3.1 Firebase by Google
We use Firebase for authentication, analytics, and push notification delivery (Cloud Messaging). Firebase receives your Apple User ID, FCM token, and anonymized analytics events. Firebase processes data in the United States. For more information, see the Firebase Privacy Policy.
3.2 Superwall
We use Superwall for subscription and paywall management. Superwall receives your user ID, senior name, senior role, pronoun preferences, and subscription status. For more information, see the Superwall Privacy Policy.
3.3 Apple
Apple provides Sign in with Apple authentication, App Store payment processing, and push notification infrastructure (Apple Push Notification service). Apple processes data according to its own privacy policy. For more information, see Apple's Privacy Policy.
3.4 Telnyx
We use Telnyx for phone call infrastructure. Telnyx processes your senior's phone number and handles call routing to conduct wellness calls. Telnyx does not permanently store call content. For more information, see the Telnyx Privacy Policy.
3.5 Google Gemini
We use Google Gemini, a large language model, as the AI that conducts the wellness phone calls. Gemini processes the conversation in real time to respond naturally and generate wellness assessments. No audio is stored by the AI. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.
4. Data Storage and Security
4.1 Where Your Data Is Stored
- Backend servers — hosted on Hetzner infrastructure in the United States
- Firebase / Firestore — hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure in the United States
4.2 How Your Data Is Protected
- All data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS
- Authentication is handled through Apple's secure Sign in with Apple system
- API access is protected by authentication tokens
- We follow industry-standard security practices for data storage and access control
While we take reasonable measures to protect your information, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.
5. Data Retention and Deletion
5.1 Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account remains active and as needed to provide you with our services.
5.2 Account Deletion
You may delete your account at any time through the App's Settings screen. When you delete your account, all of your data is permanently deleted in cascade, including:
- Your user record and account data
- All senior profiles you created
- All call records and text transcripts
- All wellness classifications and insights (daily, weekly, and monthly)
- All retry records and call scheduling data
- All notification preferences and FCM tokens
This deletion is permanent and irreversible. Once deleted, your data cannot be recovered.
6. Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Right to access — You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to deletion — You may delete your account and all associated data at any time through the App's Settings screen.
- Right to correction — You may update and correct your personal information and senior profiles through the App's Settings and editing features.
- Right to data portability — You may request a copy of your data in a portable format by contacting us at hello@hellodear.app.
- Right to opt out of analytics — You may request that we disable analytics collection for your account by contacting us at hello@hellodear.app.
To exercise any of these rights, you may use the in-app features or contact us at hello@hellodear.app. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
7. Information for European Economic Area (EEA) Residents — GDPR
If you are located in the European Economic Area, the following additional information applies to you:
7.1 Data Controller
The data controller responsible for your personal information is:
Luis Roberto Vazquez Benavidez
Email: hello@hellodear.app
7.2 Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal information on the following legal bases:
- Consent — When you create an account and provide information about your senior relative, you consent to the processing of that data to deliver our services. You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account.
- Legitimate interest — We process certain data (such as analytics and technical data) based on our legitimate interest in maintaining and improving the service, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
- Contract performance — Processing necessary to fulfill our service agreement with you, including conducting wellness calls and delivering reports.
7.3 International Data Transfers
Your data is processed and stored in the United States by our hosting provider (Hetzner) and by Google (Firebase/Firestore). These transfers are necessary for the performance of our contract with you and are conducted with appropriate safeguards for data protection.
7.4 Additional EEA Rights
In addition to the rights listed in Section 6, EEA residents have the right to:
- Restrict processing — request that we limit the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
- Object to processing — object to our processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests
- Lodge a complaint — file a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority
8. Information for California Residents — CCPA
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with additional rights regarding your personal information.
8.1 Categories of Personal Information Collected
In the preceding 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information:
- Identifiers — Apple User ID, name, email address, phone numbers of seniors
- Personal information under Cal. Civ. Code 1798.80(e) — name, phone number, age of seniors
- Internet or electronic network activity — app usage analytics (non-personally-identifiable), FCM tokens
- Inferences drawn from personal information — AI-generated wellness classifications and insights about the senior's wellbeing
8.2 Sale of Personal Information
We do not sell, and have never sold, your personal information to any third party. We do not sell the personal information of any user, including minors under 16 years of age.
8.3 Your California Rights
- Right to know — You may request that we disclose what personal information we have collected, the categories of sources, the business purpose for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
- Right to delete — You may request that we delete the personal information we have collected about you, subject to certain exceptions.
- Right to opt-out of sale — Not applicable, as we do not sell personal information.
- Right to non-discrimination — We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. We will not deny you services, charge different prices, or provide a different quality of service because you exercised your rights.
To exercise your California rights, contact us at hello@hellodear.app or use the in-app account deletion feature.
9. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell your personal information. We share your information only in the following circumstances:
- With service providers — as described in Section 3, we share data with third-party service providers that are necessary for the operation of the App. These providers are contractually obligated to use your data only for the purposes we specify.
- For legal compliance — we may disclose your information if required to do so by law, or in response to valid legal process such as a subpoena, court order, or government request.
- To protect rights and safety — we may disclose information when we believe it is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, the safety of others, or to investigate fraud or respond to a government request.
We do not share your data with advertisers or ad networks. We do not engage in cross-app tracking or targeted advertising.
10. Children's Privacy
Hello Dear is intended for users who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a person under 18, we will take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under 18 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at hello@hellodear.app so that we can take appropriate action.
11. Regarding Senior Relatives
Hello Dear processes information about senior relatives who do not use the App themselves. We want to be transparent about how this works:
- Senior relatives are informed about the service through an initial authorization call in which they can accept or decline participation.
- If a senior declines, no further calls are made and no data is collected about them.
- Call transcripts are text-only — no audio recordings are made or stored.
- Wellness data is shared with the family member who set up the monitoring. The AI does not promise the senior that any information will be kept private from the family member.
- If a family member deletes their account, all data about the senior is permanently deleted as well.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the "Effective date" at the top of this page
- Notify you through the App or via email if the changes are significant
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the App after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.
13. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Luis Roberto Vazquez Benavidez
Email: hello@hellodear.app
Website: hellodear.app
We will respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.