Privacy Policy

What we collect

When you open HeyHangout inside Telegram, Telegram shares your numeric ID, first name, last name (if set), username (if set), language, and a cryptographic signature proving the request really came from you. We never receive your phone number, contacts or message history.

If you fill in optional profile fields — city, bio, photo, interests, what you're looking for, languages — we store those too. You can change or clear them anytime in Settings → Profile.

We also store what you do in the app so it works: hangouts and events you create or join, messages you send in their chats, references, and payments made with Telegram Stars.

How we use it

To show you hangouts, events and people near you; to let people you meet message you; to remind you about plans you joined; and to keep spam and abuse out.

If you opt in to suggested hangouts, we use your interests and the times you're usually free to suggest hangouts with people who share them. You can opt out anytime in Settings.

We do not sell your data and we do not share it with marketers.

Who can see what

Your name, photo, bio and interests are visible to other HeyHangout users. Your Telegram @handle is hidden by default — you decide whether to show it in Settings.

References you write or receive are visible on the profiles involved.

Location data

When you create a hangout, mark yourself “free now”, or pin yourself on the live map, you choose to share a venue or approximate location. Other users nearby can see it.

This location is removed automatically when the hangout or your availability ends — within hours, not days. We never sell or share precise location.

References

References are short reviews from people who actually met you at a hangout or event. They appear on your profile inside the app and are not shared outside it.

If you think a reference is inaccurate or written in bad faith, contact us. Admins can remove references that break the community rules.

Sponsored messages

To keep the app free, the bot and the app may occasionally show a sponsored message from our ad partner, AdsGram. To pick an ad, AdsGram receives your Telegram ID and language — nothing from your profile, your plans or your messages.

Third parties

We use a small number of providers to run the service: Telegram (sign-in, messaging and payments), our hosting provider (servers and database), Sentry (error monitoring), OpenStreetMap/Nominatim (turning venue names into map coordinates), Leonardo AI (optional AI-generated cover images) and AdsGram (sponsored messages, see above).

Each provider receives only what it needs for its part of the service and may not use your data for its own purposes.

Retention and deletion

We keep your data while your account is active.

Request deletion in Settings → Account. Within 7 days we delete your profile, the references you wrote, the hangouts you hosted and your RSVPs. Messages you sent in group chats are anonymized but kept so conversations still make sense.

Your rights

You can see, correct or delete your data anytime in Settings → Profile and Settings → Account. To get a copy of everything we hold about you, contact us at the address below.

Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR), you may have further rights — erasure, portability, restriction and objection. We honor these wherever they apply.

Contact

Message @heyhangout_bot on Telegram for the fastest reply, or email privacy@heyhangout.com.

We aim to reply within 5 business days.