Privacy Policy
Last updated 2026-07-05.
What we collect
Account email, handle, display name, anything you choose to put on your profile, posts you make, who you follow, what you judge, who you DM, and basic analytics about how you use the app. This includes which sponsored posts you are shown and which ones you tap, tied to your account so advertisers can be billed and measured. We also keep records of what you buy and sell on HEARD: purchases, subscriptions and creator memberships, and creator payout history. Card details are handled by Stripe, not by us. We keep these transaction records as long as the law and our accounting need them.
Device permissions you grant
Microphone and camera are used only while you are recording audio or video for a post or a voice note, and only after you allow it. We do not record in the background. If you turn on the Local feed we store the city and region you choose so we can show you nearby artists. If you enable notifications we store a push token for your device so we can deliver them. You can revoke any of these in your device settings at any time.
What we don't collect
We don't track you across other apps. We don't sell your contact info. We don't share your DMs with anyone outside the thread.
Who sees what
Public: your posts, profile, likes/reposts, stats, judging streak. The people on your followers/following lists. Comments you make. Private: your DMs (to the other parties), your saves, your reports, your blocks/mutes (silent), your phone number unless you opt into calls, your DOB.
Third parties
Our database and authentication provider, Stripe (payments), our media storage and anti abuse providers, Resend (email), Tenor (GIF search), Spotify and Apple Music (only if you connect them). Each of those gets only the data they need to do their job. We do not sell your personal information for money.
Advertising
HEARD shows sponsored posts in the feed. When you are shown a sponsored post or tap one, we record that event tied to your account so we can measure the campaign and bill the advertiser correctly. We serve these ourselves and do not hand your identity to an outside ad network. If that ever changes we will update this policy and tell you first. You can turn off marketing email in Settings, and a paid plan removes ads from your feed.
Payments and purchases
Payments on the web are processed by Stripe, which receives your card details directly so we never store them. Purchases made inside the iOS app may be processed by Apple and purchases inside the Android app by Google, under their terms, in which case they handle the payment and share only confirmation and entitlement data with us.
Cookies / storage
We use cookies for auth and localStorage for UI preferences (genre filter, recent searches, follower delta baseline). No third party tracking cookies.
Your rights
You can edit your data and permanently delete your entire account from Settings, right inside the app, and that removes your profile, posts, and messages. To export everything or ask a question, email privacy@theheard.app. We respond within 30 days.
California and EU residents
If you live in California you have the right to know what we hold, to request deletion, and to opt out of any sale of personal information. We do not sell it. If you live in the EU or UK you have rights of access, correction, deletion, and portability under the GDPR. Use the in app deletion or email privacy@theheard.app to exercise any of these.
Retention
Stories: 24 hours. Notes: 24 hours. Trashed posts: 30 days. Notifications: 90 days. Push subscriptions: 180 days of inactivity. Account deletion is immediate but background storage cleanup can take 7 days. After deletion we keep a minimal record (an account identifier, handle, email, and the join and deletion dates) for legal, accounting, and fraud prevention. Your posts, messages, and profile content are removed.
Minors
HEARD is for adults only. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe we have, email privacy@theheard.app and we'll delete it.
Changes
Material updates get a banner before they take effect.