Hoodly

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 August 2026

Hoodly is a neighbourhood app that helps people discover local businesses, community activities, marketplace listings and neighbours near them. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it.

Hoodly is operated by Jameel Shehadeh, a sole developer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates ("we", "us", "Hoodly"). If you have questions about this policy, contact support@hoodlysocial.com.

Hoodly is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

Account details — your name, email address, password (stored hashed, never in plain text), and optionally a profile photo.
Your neighbourhood — the neighbourhood you select or submit when setting up your account.
Content you create — posts in the neighbourhood feed, marketplace listings, activity details, comments, and any images you upload.
Reports and support messages — anything you send us when reporting content or contacting support.

Information collected automatically

Location — with your permission, we use your device location to show you content near you, match you to a neighbourhood, and show nearby businesses and activities. You can revoke this permission in your device settings, though parts of the app will not work without it.
Device and usage data — device type, operating system version, app version, crash reports, and how you use the app (screens viewed, features used).
Device identifiers — including your device's advertising identifier where you have permitted tracking, and identifiers used for analytics and push notifications.
Offer redemptions — which business offers you redeem, when, and at which branch.
Rewards activity — gems earned and spent, and the actions that triggered them.

2. Why we use your information

Purpose	What this involves
Running the app	Creating your account, showing you your neighbourhood feed, letting you post and redeem offers
Location relevance	Showing businesses, activities and listings near you, and matching you to a neighbourhood
Notifications	Sending push notifications about activity in your neighbourhood, and transactional emails such as verification and password resets
Safety and moderation	Reviewing reported content, removing content that breaks our rules, and suspending accounts where necessary
Improving Hoodly	Understanding which features are used so we can improve them
Advertising measurement	Understanding whether our advertising leads to app installs

3. Advertising and tracking

Hoodly includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK. This collects your device's advertising identifier and basic app events — that you installed the app, and when you open it — and shares them with Meta so we can measure whether our advertising works.

On iOS, we ask for your permission before this identifier is used for tracking, using Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt. If you decline, we do not use your advertising identifier for tracking, and Meta receives only aggregated, non-identifying measurement data.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not show third-party advertising inside Hoodly.

4. Who we share information with

We share information only with the service providers we need to run Hoodly:

Provider	What they receive	Why
Meta Platforms	Device identifiers, app install and open events	Advertising measurement
Google (Firebase)	Usage data, crash reports, push notification tokens	Analytics and push notifications
Mailjet	Your email address	Sending transactional email
Amazon Web Services	Encrypted database backups	Backup storage
Hetzner	All app data	Server hosting

We may also disclose information where we are required to by law, or where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to protect the safety of a person.

What other users see

Your profile name, photo, and the content you post are visible to other Hoodly users in your neighbourhood. Marketplace listings are visible to anyone in the neighbourhoods you list in. Your exact location is never shown to other users — only the neighbourhood you are associated with.

5. Where your data is stored

Hoodly's servers are located in Germany, operated by Hetzner. Backups are stored with Amazon Web Services. Some of our service providers, including Meta and Google, process data in other countries including the United States. By using Hoodly you consent to your information being transferred and processed in these locations.

6. How long we keep it

Account data — for as long as your account is active.
Content you post — until you delete it, or your account is deleted.
Redemption and rewards records — retained after account deletion in anonymised form, so businesses keep accurate redemption counts.
Backups — encrypted database backups are retained on a rolling basis and eventually overwritten.

7. Your rights

You can:

Access and correct your account information in the app's settings.
Delete your account from within the app. This removes your profile and your content. Some records may persist in anonymised form as described above, and in backups until those are overwritten.
Control permissions — location, notifications and tracking can all be changed in your device settings at any time.
Ask us questions about what we hold about you, by emailing support@hoodlysocial.com.

8. Security

We protect your information using encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access controls on our servers, and encrypted backups. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Hoodly changes. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we will let you know in the app.

10. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints: support@hoodlysocial.com