Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 1 January 2025 · Effective immediately for new accounts
We wrote this in plain language. The short version: we use your data to improve your skin, not to sell to anyone. Your photo is deleted in under two seconds.
What we collect
Scan photos
When you run a skin analysis, your photo is transmitted over an encrypted connection and analysed by Anthropic's Claude model, which Hearth uses as a processor under contract. Neither Hearth nor Anthropic retains the image: it is held in memory for the few seconds the analysis takes and is never written to disk, backed up, or used to train any model. What is kept is the numerical result described below, never the photo.
Skin profile data
We store the numerical output of your analysis — your skin score, factor readings (hydration, redness, texture), and skin type classification. This data is what powers your routine and check-in history. It is encrypted at rest.
Account information
Name and email address provided during sign-up. No additional personal data is required to use Hearth.
Check-in responses
Daily check-in answers (mood, sleep, products used, observations) are stored to build your progress chart. You can delete individual entries or your full history at any time.
Questions you ask the assistant
If you ask the in-app assistant a question, the text you type is sent over an encrypted connection to Anthropic's Claude model — the same processor that analyses your scans, under the same contract — and is not used to train any model. Hearth does not store your questions or the answers, and nothing about a conversation is written to our database. It is held on your device for as long as you have it open. Note that continuing a conversation means the earlier turns are sent again with each new question, so the server sees them in order to answer — it just keeps none of them. Alongside your question we send the rating band of your most recent scan and the names of its weakest factors, plus the routine step you are asking about. We do not send the written notes from your analysis, the image-quality details, or the medical flag; if your most recent scan on either track raised that flag, the assistant declines to discuss it and points you to a dermatologist instead.
Usage analytics
None. Hearth does not use an analytics service, advertising SDK, or tracking pixel. There is no product-analytics package in the app or on the website, so no page views, feature clicks, or behavioural events are recorded anywhere.
How we use your data
Personalisation
Your skin profile, scan history, and check-ins are used exclusively to generate and improve your personalised routine. No external party has access to this data.
Product improvements
Improvements come from the data already described above — scan analyses, quiz answers and check-ins tied to your own account. We do not collect behavioural or usage events, so nothing about how you navigate the app is recorded. Deleting your account removes everything we hold.
Communication
We may send transactional emails (account updates, subscription receipts) and, if you opt in, weekly tips based on your skin phase. You can unsubscribe from non-transactional emails at any time.
What we never do
We never sell your data
Your skin data, usage patterns, and contact information are never sold, rented, or licensed to third parties — including advertisers, brands, or data brokers.
We never build ad profiles
Hearth has no advertising business. We do not use your data to serve ads, enrich advertising profiles, or target you on other platforms.
We never share with skincare brands
Even brands whose products appear in your routine do not receive data about you. Nothing in your routine is a paid placement and we take no commission — the product links open a retailer search, not a sponsored listing.
Your rights
Access & export
You can request a full export of all data associated with your account at any time. We will deliver it in a machine-readable format within 5 business days.
Correction
If any stored data is inaccurate, you can update it directly in your account settings or contact us and we will correct it within 48 hours.
Deletion
You can request full account deletion at any time from your account settings, including inside the iOS app. All personal data — profile, check-ins, skin history, scan analyses, notification preferences and push registrations — is deleted immediately, in a single transaction.
What deletion does not remove
If you bought a founding-member lifetime plan, we keep a minimal record of that purchase — an internal reference and the Stripe charge id — after your account is deleted. It contains no name, email, photo or skin data. We keep it because the 500-place founding cap is counted from these records, and deleting an account must not release a place someone paid for. Payment and refund records are also retained by Stripe under their own retention rules, which we do not control, as required for tax and accounting.
Portability
GDPR and CCPA residents have the right to data portability. On request, we will provide your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Security
Encryption
All data in transit is protected by TLS 1.3. All stored profile data is encrypted using AES-256.
Access controls
Access to production systems is restricted to a small number of engineers, all of whom use hardware security keys and have undergone background checks.
Incident response
In the event of a data breach, affected users will be notified within 72 hours in accordance with GDPR Article 33.
Contact & complaints
Data controller
Hearth Technologies Ltd is the data controller for all personal data processed by the Hearth platform.
Contact us
For privacy questions, access requests, or deletion requests: privacy@hearthskin.com. We respond within 2 business days.
Supervisory authority
If you are in the EU or UK and believe your rights have not been respected, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.