Hown Privacy Policy

At Hown, our goal is to create a community where users are able to freely share and discover properties of interest. To achieve this goal, we aim to personalize each user’s experience, meaning the photos and other media (“Content”) that we recommend will be tailored to your interests based on information that we collect from you. We only collect information from you necessary to create this personalized experience, and only information that you have chosen to provide us.

We understand the responsibility associated with handling your information and take this responsibility seriously. This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains our practices, notably the types of information that we collect from you, why we collect this information, how we use it in our operations, and your options around your information. This Privacy Policy applies to the Hown website and mobile application and any other electronic-based services offered by Hown in the future (“Service”).

By accessing this Service, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by this Privacy Policy.

Should you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at contact@hown.app.

Legal Basis For Collecting Your Information

When you create an Hown account, you provide your first and last name, email address, and age. We require that information from you to enter into the Terms of Service agreement with us, available at www.hown.app/policies/terms/, and we process that information on the basis of performing that contract. You can modify this information at any time but you cannot delete it without deleting your user account.

When you fill out the information in your user profile, you have the option to provide additional personal information, such as photos and biographical information. We process this information on the basis of consent. All of this information is entirely optional, and you have the ability to access, modify, or delete it at any time.

Generally, the remainder of the processing of personal information we perform is necessary for the purposes of our commercial interests. For example, to provide this Service, we collect information regarding users’ onsite activity; for security purposes, we keep logs of who accessed Hown; and in order to respond to legal processes, we are required to keep records of all Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) takedown notices.

The Different Types of Information That We Collect

Information that you provide

Account Information. When creating an account with Hown, you are required to provide us some basic information — first and lastname, a valid email address, and you age. You have the option to provide additional information to your profile for a more personalized experience, which could include personal details, photographs and other media.

Onsite Activity. We collect information on all of the Content that you post on or through this Service, including photos and other media, direct messages, and comments. With the exception of direct messages, all user Content posted on or through this Service is public and viewable by the entire community by default, including all posts, photos and other media, and comments.

You may also provide information to us about a third-party through this Service, if you were to share Content with that third-party via email, text, or otherwise.

Ownership Verification. Should you own a property and attempt to claim ownership access to that property’s profile, thereby allowing you access to curate the profile pictures and property information, and to respond to direct messages sent to that property by other users, you shall provide us with information, from which we will independently verify your assertion of ownership, for the purposes of the Hown website.

Technical information that is automatically collected

Similar to other electronic platforms, like websites and mobile applications, when using this Service, information is created and logged automatically. The types of information that we automatically collect from you are the following:

Log data. We collect information that your browser or mobile device automatically sends to improve this Service’s performance. The information collected includes, but is not limited to, the type of mobile device or computer used to access this Service (which includes information on the operating system, device settings, and unique device identifiers), the date and time that you accessed this Service, and your activity on this Service.

Location Data. We request that you enable location services on your mobile device or computer when accessing this Service. We collect this information to provide you with location-based information, in particular Content that is close in proximity. Disabling location services on your mobile device or computer terminates this functionality.

Cookie and token data. Cookies and tokens are tiny bits of information that are transferred to your computer by your browser to uniquely identify you or your browser. We use cookies to make interactions with this Service easy and meaningful. For example, we use cookies to keep you logged in across different browser sessions and remember your preferences. We also use cookies to identify a device, for security reasons. From time to time and without prior notice to you, we will change the cookies we use with the Service.

By using this Service, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your computer or mobile device. If you disable your browser’s or mobile device’s ability to accept cookies, you will not be able to access or use this Service.

We also collect information from our partners and sponsors, which includes the following:

Partners. We receive geographic information from our partners to help maintain and improve this Service, in particular functionality to identify properties’ addresses, verify ownership, and discover properties of interest near to you.

Sponsors. Our sponsors share information with us about you and your interests so that we can better personalize the advertisements that we display to you. We try to minimize the number of advertisements that we display but we are still a business, and we rely on advertising revenue to maintain operations.

What We Do with the Collected Information

With information we have collected, we will provide you with this Service, continue to improve this Service, and to maintain our operations:

To Provide this Service. We use information to fulfill the primary function of this Service, creating a community where users can discover properties of interest. Using your information, we are able to do the following:

Create unique user accounts and partially populate profiles with usernames and nickname.
Verify property ownership and grant users ownership access to property profiles.
Develop and maintain infrastructure necessary for users to post Content, follow users and properties, comment on Content, and send and respond to direct messages.
Recommend Content of interest to users.
Connect users with properties of interest and other users with similar property interests.
Notify users about relevant community activity.

To Improve this Service. We continually aim to improve this Service to ensure that we always provide the best possible experience to our users. To accomplish this goal, we use your information for at least the following:

Evaluate community use of this Service to identify areas for improvement.
Compile statistical reports on activity to assess trends and resource needs.
Respond to any questions posed to our support team.
Stay in touch with users about updates and other important Service announcements.

Maintain Operations. To minimize any burden on our users, we try to ensure that any advertisements we display to them are closely tailored to their interests, and we use your information to do the following:

Assess and improve the relevancy of the advertisements that we display.
Evaluate for our sponsors how well their advertisements performed with users.
Send marketing materials to users, with their consent.

Your Options Regarding Your Information

You have plenty of choices regarding your information. If you have a Hown account, you can control the information we collect about you by limiting the information in your profile. You may access, update, edit, or delete user profile information you added by editing your user profile. Similarly, with ownership access to a property profile, you can update, alter, or delete property profile information you added by editing your property profile.

To further control the information that we collect from you, users can also disable location services or limit the data and Content that you share with us by changing your preferences in your device’s settings.

If you would like a copy of the Content that you have shared on Hown, you can request a copy in a CSV file in your settings or by contacting us at Hown, LLC, PO Box 582644, Minneapolis, MN 55458. Please note, that it may take up to two weeks for us to email you your data. If you would like to request that we erase your data, Content concerning you, or object to our processing of your personal information, please send us a letter with a detailed description of the concern at Hown, LLC, PO Box 582644, Minneapolis, MN 55458.

Most of the user-generated Content on this Service is public-facing, meaning other users and third-parties may access and use it in compliance with our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Community Guidelines, such as by viewing your profile. Beyond that, we also share your information with:

Sponsors. Although we try to minimize the amount of advertisements that we display, we rely on our sponsors’ support to maintain operations. We share with our sponsors information about how to improve the performance of their advertisements.
Third-Party Vendors. We share information with third-parties who process it for analytics purposes to improve our Service and for their own personal commercial purposes. Although we process all of your information in the United States, our third-party vendors may process data outside of the United States or in the European Union.
New Ownership. We may share your information if we are involved in a merger, sale, or acquisition. If any such change of ownership happens, we will endeavor to put into effect terms that preserve the confidentiality of your information after the transaction is complete, and we will notify you of such transfer of your information as promptly as practicable after the completion of the transaction.
Law Enforcement. We may share personally-identifying information or other information we collect about you with law enforcement in response to a valid subpoena, court order, warrant, or similar government order, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect our property or rights, or those of third-parties or the public at large. In complying with court orders or other similar legal processes, we strive for transparency. When permitted, we will make a reasonable effort to notify users of any disclosure of their information, unless we are prohibited by law or court order from doing so, or in rare, exigent circumstances.

Over time we may use data we collect in other, lawful ways and share it with other businesses for uses beyond marketing purposes. You hereby grant Hown a perpetual license to use any personally identifiable information that you provide to Hown in any manner that Hown wishes, in its sole discretion. Accordingly, to the extent any personally identifiable information (“PII”) about you is provided to us, it is at your own risk.

Data Storage and Transfers

If our vendors or affiliates have access to users’ information, they must sign agreements that require them to comply with this Privacy Policy and with applicable data privacy laws.

How We Protect Data

We take industry standard security measures (including physical, electronic and procedural measures) to help safeguard PII from unauthorized access and disclosure. In addition to the restrictions outlined above, we require Hown employees to comply with information security safeguards, we use encryption in the transmission of PII, and we use firewalls to help prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to your PII.

No system can be completely secure. Therefore, although we take steps to secure PII information, We do not promise, nor should anyone expect, that his PII or other communications with us will always remain secure. Users should also take care with how they handle and disclose their PII. Please refer to the Federal Trade Commission’s website for information about how to protect yourself against identity theft, available at: www.identitytheft.gov.

How Long We Retain Information and Deleting Information

We will retain user information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you this Service.

We may retain certain user information indefinitely, unless you close your account or request its erasure. For example, we will not automatically close inactive user accounts, so unless you choose to close your account, we will retain your information indefinitely.

If you would like to close your user account, you may do so. Once closed, we will attempt to delete your user profile and information as soon as possible; however, we will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, maintain this Service, and enforce our agreements. Further, certain data, such as comments on others’ posts, may remain. In these cases, we will attempt to hide any identifying information from your Content that remains after deletion.

Changes to this Policy

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time and without prior notice to you. We will post any changes on this page and they will go into effect immediately.

Your continued use of this Service after any changes are posted on this page means that you accept and agree to the changes. You are responsible for checking this Privacy Policy as necessary so you are aware of any changes, as all changes are binding.

Contact Us:

With any questions regarding Hown’s Privacy Policy, please contact Hown at contact@hown.app.