Privacy Policy

Effective as of 29th May 2022
Last updated 7th May 2023

This Privacy Policy describes the privacy practices of Hashtag Hero in connection with the Hashtag Hero application (henceforth may be referred to as the ‘app’).

The purpose of Hashtag Hero is to allow users to quickly and automatically generate hashtags for their chosen picture through AI, before uploading them to their social media. The hashtag database is a pre-built dataset containing potential hashtags, their associated total number of posts (on Instagram) and the average number of likes for which these posts get. The app is currently free but utilises in-app advertising for monetisation.

Key Points

To summarise the policy, the key points are:

  • The application is designed to aid users with growing their social media presence, by generating potential hashtags from their chosen picture.
  • We use a third-party service, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS) for content detection within an image.
  • As highlighted below, AWS state that may use processed images to further train its service. It’s important to note that this can be opted out of, and Hashtag Hero has opted out of this to protect the privacy of our users. More information can be found on the AWS Rekognition webpage.
  • Hashtag Hero does not store/process/share ANY information about the image or its metadata, outside of the content-detection through AWS previously described. The only exception is when a user chooses the ‘share’ functionality for which they can choose a third-party service to share their image.
  • Only the image you select is used for hashtag generation. The image you select is modified (scaled and compressed only) to increase efficiency.
  • The app is available for free but utilises in-app advertising provided by Google AdMob. Information such as your IP address (which could be used to infer location), device ID, advertising information and other product interaction information may be provided to Google AdMob to improve their service. Further information can be found below.
  • A monthly subscription, when available, will allow users to remove all in-app advertising. For this reason, a user’s purchase history will be assessed to determine the presence of such a subscription.

Personal Information We Collect

The app collects the following personal information about you:

  • Photographs you provide when you use the application, via your camera or camera roll (if you have permitted us to access your camera or camera roll). We obtain only the specific images you chose to modify using the App; we do not collect your photo albums even if you grant us access to them. Before generation, your chosen image is modified to improve efficiency – this involves scaling the image down and compressing it. Your image is sent for content detection using a secure connection (TLS); the third-party service, namely Amazon Web Services, then proceeds with content detection. Your image is not stored anywhere on our servers. Detected labels in this case, only refer to those identified by AWS, and this is limited to objects (e.g tree), scenes (e.g beach), actions (e.g running), or concepts (e.g outdoors).
  • Purchase information, including purchase history, is used only to determine whether the user has purchased the ad-free subscription.
  • Device data, such as your computer and mobile device operating system type and version number, manufacturer and model, device ID, push tokens, Google Advertising ID, Apple ID for Advertising, browser type, screen resolution, IP address (and the associated country in which you are located), the website you visited before visiting our Site; and other information about the device you are using to visit the App.
  • Online activity data, such as information about your use of and actions on the app, including screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, navigation paths between screens, information about your activity on a screen, access times, and length of access. Our service providers and certain third parties (e.g., online advertising networks and their clients) also may collect this type of information over time and across third-party websites and mobile applications. This information may be collected on our Site using cookies, browser web storage (also known as locally stored objects, or โ€œLSOsโ€), web beacons, and similar technologies. We may collect this information directly or through our use of third-party software development kits (โ€œSDKsโ€). SDKs may enable third parties to collect information directly from our App.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We may use your personal information in the following way:

  • Provide application functionality, such that you can identify potentially related hashtags for your images. Your images are not used for ANY other reason but to serve the purpose of the application itself.
  • Application analytics, to assess the use of the application itself. This could involve sending usage information to Google Analytics.
  • To display advertisements to you. If you use the app without the ad-free subscription, we work with advertising partners to display advertisements to you. These advertisements are delivered by our advertising partners and may be targeted based on your use of the App or your activity elsewhere online. To learn more about your choices in connection with advertisements, please see the section below titled โ€œTargeted online advertising.โ€.
  • Verify purchases, which requires the assessment of a user’s purchase history to determine whether the user is currently subscribed.

How We Share Your Personal Information

As previously described, your images are not shared with anyone but the third-party service used for content detection, for which Hashtag Hero has opted out of AWS using scanned images to improve their AI service or the third-party platform for which the user can share their image to from within the app.

We may share your personal information with:

  • Service providers. We may share your personal information with services providers that perform services on our behalf or help us operate the App (such as customer support, hosting, analytics, email delivery, marketing, and database management services). These third parties may use your personal information only as directed or authorised by us and in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy and are prohibited from using or disclosing your information for any other purpose.
  • Advertising partners. When we use third-party cookies and other tracking tools, our advertising partners may collect information from your device to help us analyse the use of the Site and the App, display advertisements on the App and advertise the Site and App (and related content) elsewhere online.
  • Third-party platforms and social media networks. If you utilise the share-to feature of the application to share your uploaded image, then we may disclose the personal information, e.g the image, that you authorised us to share. We do not control the third-party platforms’ use of your personal information, which is governed by that third party’s privacy policy and terms and conditions.

Your Choices

  • Device permissions. You may revoke any permissions you previously granted to us, such as permission to access your camera, camera roll, or microphone through the settings on your mobile device.
  • Targeted online advertising. Some of the business partners that collect information about users’ activities on or through the app may be members of organisations or programs that provide choices to individuals regarding the use of their browsing behaviour or mobile application usage for purposes of targeted advertising. App users may opt-out of receiving targeted advertising in mobile apps through participating members of the Digital Advertising Alliance by installing the AppChoices mobile app and selecting the user’s choices. Please note that we also may work with companies that offer their own opt-out mechanisms and may not participate in the opt-out mechanisms that we linked above. In addition, your mobile device settings may provide the functionality to limit our, or our partners’, ability to engage in ad tracking or targeted advertising using the Google Advertising ID or Apple ID for Advertising associated with your mobile device. If you choose to opt-out of targeted advertisements, you will still see advertisements but they may not be relevant to you. Even if you do choose to opt-out, not all companies that serve online behavioural advertising are included in this list, so you may still receive some cookies and tailored advertisements from companies that are not listed.

Other Sites, Mobile Applications and Services

The App may contain links to other websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. These links are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. In addition, our content may be included on web pages or in mobile applications or online services that are not associated with us. We do not control third-party websites, mobile applications or online services, and we are not responsible for their actions. Other websites, mobile applications and online services follow different rules regarding the collection, use and sharing of your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on the App. We may, and if required by law, will provide notification of changes in another way that we believe is reasonably likely to reach you, such as through the App. Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting of the new terms and/or upon implementation of the new changes on the App (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your continued use of the App after the posting of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the terms of the modified Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at support@hashtag-hero.co.uk

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