Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated 25 September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Brace Labs (ABN 44 346 982 757), trading as Hound ("Hound", "we", "us" or "our"), collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information when you use the Hound mobile application, websites and related services (together, the "Services").

1. Information we collect

Account and profile information

We collect information you provide when creating and using an account, including your name, email address, profile photo, interests, dietary preferences, account settings and whether your profile is public. If you sign in by email, we also process authentication and verification information. Passwords are stored in hashed form.

Google and Apple sign-in information

If you choose Google Sign-In, Hound requests only the openid, profile and email scopes. We receive your Google account identifier, name, email address and profile information made available through those scopes. Hound does not use Google Sign-In to access your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, contacts or other Google services. If you choose Sign in with Apple, we receive the identifier and account information Apple makes available according to your choices. We never receive your Google or Apple password.

Location and search information

With your permission, Hound collects precise or approximate device location to identify your locality, show nearby venues, events, menu items and specials, calculate distance and tailor recommendations. We also collect locations you search for or select. A recent device location may be stored locally on your device. Location and search parameters may be sent to our servers and mapping, geocoding or weather providers when needed to provide a requested feature.

Plans, social features and communications

We collect plans you create, saved calendar items, plan messages, votes, invitations and responses, followed or blocked users, and the names or email addresses of people you choose to invite. People included in a shared plan or invitation may see information you choose to share, such as your name, response and plan contributions.

AI chat and recommendation information

We collect the prompts and messages you send to Hound AI, conversation history, selected location and time context, recommendation preferences, generated responses, feedback, usage counts and related technical records. Do not include sensitive personal information in a prompt unless it is necessary for the response you request.

Photos, camera and calendar

If you choose a profile photo, Hound accesses only the image you select or capture and uploads it to our storage. If you choose to add a plan, event or special to your device calendar, Hound requests calendar permission, identifies a writable calendar and creates or removes the Hound calendar entry you request. This device-calendar access is separate from Google Sign-In.

Subscriptions and transactions

Paid Hound memberships are currently processed by Apple. We receive subscription and transaction identifiers, product, entitlement, status, start and end dates, and refund or renewal events needed to provide and manage membership access. We do not receive your full payment-card details.

Device, analytics and diagnostic information

We collect device and browser type, operating system, app version, IP address, session and device identifiers, push-notification token, network and authentication information, timestamps, feature interactions, selected locality, and selected venue or content identifiers. We use PostHog for product analytics and Sentry for error reporting, performance monitoring and diagnostics. Production analytics is linked to an internal Hound user identifier; it is not intended to contain your chat text or precise coordinates.

Venue and public-source information

Hound collects venue, event, menu and special information from public websites, mapping and place-information providers, venues and other public sources. This may include business contact information and other information that is publicly available.

2. How we collect information

We collect information directly from you, automatically from your device and use of the Services, from people who invite you to a plan, from authentication and payment providers, and from public or commercial venue-data sources. Where practical, you may interact with us anonymously, but an account and identifying information are required for features such as saved plans, invitations and subscriptions.

3. How we use information

We use personal information to:

• create, authenticate and secure your account;
• provide nearby discovery, AI chat, recommendations, plans, invitations, social features, calendar actions and notifications;
• personalise results using your location, preferences and previous interactions;
• process and verify subscription entitlements;
• send service, authentication, invitation, security and support communications;
• measure feature usage, diagnose faults and improve the reliability and relevance of Hound;
• prevent fraud, abuse and security incidents and enforce our Terms of Use; and
• comply with legal obligations and protect our rights and the safety of users.

4. Google user data

Hound uses information received from Google only to let you create or access your Hound account, associate that account with the correct email and display your basic profile information. We store the Google account identifier and associated email needed to recognise your sign-in. We do not sell Google user data, use it for advertising, or permit people to read it except where necessary for security, support, legal compliance or providing the sign-in feature.

Hound's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

5. When we disclose information

We may disclose information:

• to other Hound users or invitees when you use collaborative plans, invitations or public-profile features;
• to infrastructure, storage, email, notification, analytics, monitoring and customer-support providers that process information for us;
• to AI providers, including OpenAI and Replicate, when processing Hound AI requests;
• to Apple, Google, mapping, geocoding, weather and place-information providers where needed for the feature you request;
• to professional advisers, regulators, courts, law enforcement or other parties where authorised or required by law;
• where necessary to investigate misuse, prevent harm or protect rights and security; or
• in connection with a merger, financing, acquisition or sale of all or part of our business, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.

We do not sell personal information or share it with third parties for their own targeted advertising.

6. Overseas processing

Hound is operated from Australia and uses service providers that may process information overseas. Recipients are likely to be located in the United States and in other countries where Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google, OpenAI, Replicate, PostHog, Sentry and their subprocessors operate. Privacy protections in those countries may differ from Australian law. We take reasonable steps to use providers and arrangements appropriate to the information involved.

7. Storage, security and retention

We use access controls, encryption in transit and at rest where appropriate, private cloud storage and other technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect information. No online service is completely secure.

We retain personal information for as long as needed to provide your account and requested features and for legitimate security, dispute, accounting and legal purposes. Retention varies by record. For example, authentication sessions expire, invitation records have expiry periods, while account, plan and chat history may remain until deleted or no longer required. Backups and security records may persist for a limited period after deletion. We de-identify or delete information when it is no longer reasonably required, subject to legal obligations and technical constraints.

8. Your choices and rights

You may update profile information and privacy settings in Hound. You can withdraw location, camera, photo-library, calendar or notification permissions through your device settings, although related features may stop working. You can manage or cancel an Apple subscription through your Apple account settings.

You may ask us to access or correct personal information we hold about you, delete your account information, or provide information about our handling practices. We may need to verify your identity and may refuse or limit a request where permitted by law, in which case we will explain why where required.

9. Privacy complaints

To make a privacy complaint, email contactus@happyhourhound.com with enough detail for us to investigate. We will acknowledge and investigate the complaint and aim to respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

10. Children

Hound is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information without appropriate consent, contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

11. Third-party links and services

Hound may link to venue, event, booking, mapping and other third-party services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. Hound does not control those services.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to Hound, our providers or applicable law. We will publish the updated policy here and change the date above. We will provide additional notice where a change is material or the law requires it.

13. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact Brace Labs at contactus@happyhourhound.com.