Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 2026

1. Information we collect

Ehopto may collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, business details, messages, uploaded content, account activity and information needed to operate codes, hubs, websites, discovery and marketplace tools.

2. How we use information

Information may be used to operate your account and public pages, answer support messages, provide discovery and business tools, process transactions, prevent abuse and improve Ehopto.

3. Public registry information

Names, codes, public descriptions and content that members deliberately publish can be shown in search, hubs and websites. Members may correct their own information, and unclaimed entries can be claimed or reported through Ehopto's normal controls.

4. Messages through member websites

Messages submitted through an Ehopto member's website may be stored so that the relevant person or business can manage and respond to them.

5. Payments

Payments may be handled through secure third-party payment providers or approved payment channels. Ehopto does not store full card details. Payment providers may process payment information according to their own security and privacy practices.

6. Sharing information

Ehopto does not sell personal information. Information may be shared with the relevant member when a visitor contacts them through Ehopto, or with service providers needed to deliver hosting, email, payments and platform features.

7. Security

Ehopto uses reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information, but no online system can be guaranteed to be completely risk-free.

8. Retention

Information may be retained for as long as needed to provide services, resolve queries, maintain records, support clients, comply with legal requirements, or protect legitimate business interests.

9. The Ehopto app and registry

The Ehopto mobile app is a shell around ehopto.com — everything below applies equally to the website and the app. Registry accounts store the details you choose to give: your name, email address, the contact links you list on your hub, and the posts, websites, and codes you create. Codes are permanent by design; deleting your account never deletes the registry's memory of a code, only your claim on it.

Topic grouping first uses Ehopto's own word rules. When those rules cannot confidently understand the subject, only the title and description — with email addresses and phone numbers removed — may be sent to OpenAI to suggest topic labels. Ehopto requests a one-off response, keeps the resulting labels and token-cost record, and does not send content that you have already grouped yourself.

Live place discovery uses Google Maps only after you ask to look beyond Ehopto's own registry. Ehopto sends Google the search words or category and a location or Ehopto area centre needed to answer that request. Google returns a temporary, visibly attributed result list; Ehopto does not cache or store that list. If you choose one exact result, Ehopto keeps the place name and kind you personally confirm plus Google's place ID to prevent duplicates. It does not retain Google's returned name, address or type. Google's processing is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.

10. App permissions

Camera is used while you scan. Reading a barcode, a QR code or an Ehopto code happens entirely on your device, and those frames are never uploaded. When you deliberately ask “What is this?”, that one frame IS uploaded: Ehopto first compares it against everything registered, and if nothing matches it is sent to an external AI vision service (Anthropic) to be described. It is not used to train that service, and Ehopto keeps no copy of it except as set out below.

Microphone is used only while you press Listen. A short clip is recorded, turned into an acoustic fingerprint, compared against sounds their owners registered on Ehopto, and then discarded. The clip is never published and never added to your account.

Image checking fingerprints your uploaded file and stores nothing — unless you tick the box offering the photo so Ehopto can learn. Only then is a copy kept, with location metadata stripped: either as an unidentified scan that may later be shown to product owners so the thing can be named, or — when Ehopto did not know the thing and creates a page for it — as that thing's first public picture on its hub and website. Leave the box unticked and no photograph of yours is published or retained. Administrators can delete anything kept.

Location is used only while you run the address radar or explicitly ask for places near you. Your coordinates are sent in the request body and are not saved, attached to your account, or placed in a URL. Ehopto searches its own registered places first; if no local result exists and you ask for an outside suggestion, the coordinates may be sent from Ehopto's server to Google Maps for that one live request.

Bluetooth is used only while you run the shelf radar. The app listens for nearby beacons broadcasting public Ehopto codes and resolves those codes into names. Scanning stops when you leave the radar, press stop, or after 60 seconds — whichever comes first. The app never transmits over Bluetooth and does not use beacons to track you.

None of these permissions are used in the background. Each one activates only for the feature you opened, and each can be declined — the rest of Ehopto keeps working.

11. Social signals

Reactions, follows, reposts, and view counts are shown as public totals on registry entries. Views are counted once per visit and are never shown as a list of who viewed. Follower counts from platforms you link on your hub are fetched from those platforms' official public APIs; a count we cannot verify is a count we do not show.

12. Your account controls

From settings you can take a break (your profile shows as away until the date you pick) or delete your account. Deletion is immediate, requires your password, and removes your login and personal details. Your codes remain in the registry — unclaimed, or hidden from public view if you choose unlist on the way out. Accounts that break the rules can be suspended or banned by moderators.

13. Contact

For privacy questions or correction requests, please contact Ehopto through the official website or business contact channels.