Privacy Policy

Effective 11 October 2026.

This policy explains what HeyaBud collects, why, who helps us run it, and the choices you have. HeyaBud is run by Black Rooster Creative LLC ("HeyaBud", "we", "us"), La Habra, California, United States. Questions or requests: privacy@heyabud.ai.

The short version: we collect what we need to run your bud and nothing to sell. We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and we don't use your conversations to train anyone's AI models.

What we collect

Your account. Your email address and a password (stored by our sign-in provider as a one-way hash, never readable by us). If you subscribe, your plan and its status.

Your buds. The buds you save: their names, how they look, their mind and voice, and your settings for them. When you change a saved bud, we keep its earlier looks so you can put one back, until you delete the bud.

Your conversations. What you type or say to your bud and what it says back. We keep recent conversation history so your bud can follow along, and things you tell it to remember (like your sister's name or your allergy) as memories. On Standard, memories roll over after 30 days. You can ask your bud to forget something, or ask us to delete all of it.

Your voice. When you talk, your speech is sent to a speech-recognition service to turn it into text. We use the text; we don't keep the recording.

Your camera. The camera only opens when you ask (for example "how do I look?", "can I show you something?" or a selfie). The photo is sent to an AI vision model so your bud can see it and reply. We don't store the photo, and we never store or recognise faces. For a selfie with your bud, your photo and a frame of your bud are sent to an image service to make the picture.

Pictures you make. Drawings and selfies you make with your bud. Ones you save are kept in your account under Saved images until you delete them. Copies used to show a picture in the app are kept on our server for a short time.

Files in Work mode. Documents you upload so your bud can read them, kept until you delete them or your account.

Location. Only when you use directions, nearby places or weather, and only while you're using them. Your location is sent to our maps and weather providers to answer the question. We don't keep a location history.

The game. Your Trials of Aetheris collection, decks, quests, Embers, rating and match history. In the Arena, other players see your bud's name, your rating and your cosmetic choices.

Payments. Handled by Stripe. We receive whether a payment worked and what it was for. We never see or store your card number.

Beta testers. If you join the beta: what you post on the testers forum, and your signed tester agreement (the name you typed, your email, and the date and time).

Technical data. Our servers log requests (IP address, time, the page or feature used, errors) to keep the service running and secure. Your device stores a few settings locally, such as whether your bud says hello when you come back.

Who helps us run HeyaBud

We use these service providers. Each gets only what it needs for its job, and is not allowed to use your data for anything else.

Some of these providers process data in the United States and other countries. Where the law requires it, we rely on appropriate safeguards for those transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.

How we use it

• To run HeyaBud: your bud's replies, voice, memory, camera, pictures, translation, maps, the game and your account.
• To keep it safe: preventing abuse, enforcing age and content rules, and fixing problems.
• To improve it: we look at errors and how features are used. When we test changes to how buds talk, we use made-up test accounts, not your conversations.
• To bill you, if you subscribe.

We don't sell your personal information, we don't share it for advertising, and we don't let AI providers train their models on it.

How long we keep it

• Account, buds and settings: while you have an account.
• Conversation history and memories: as long as your plan keeps them (30 days rolling on Standard), or until you delete them.
• Saved images and files: until you delete them.
• Camera photos: not kept.
• Server logs: up to 30 days.
• Payment records: as long as tax law requires.

When you delete your account, we delete your data within 30 days, except what the law makes us keep.

Your choices and rights

• See or download your data, correct it, or delete it. Delete your account in the app (Account) or email privacy@heyabud.ai.
• Forget a memory. Tell your bud, or ask us to clear all memories.
• Camera, microphone and location are off until you allow them, and you can turn them off at any time in your phone's settings.
• Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or California), you may have extra rights, such as objecting to processing or complaining to your data protection authority. We'll answer any request within the time the law sets.

Age

HeyaBud is for people aged 18 and over. Adult mode is only available to adults who confirm their age. If you think a child has given us data, contact us and we'll delete it.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit. Access to our systems is limited to the people who need it to run HeyaBud. No system is perfectly secure, so if something goes wrong we'll tell you as the law requires.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

Contact

Black Rooster Creative LLC, La Habra, California, United States. Email: privacy@heyabud.ai.