Privacy Policy

Thank you for using Herd!

Our mission is to help everyone find a community easily while making users owners. In an ecosystem that deprioritizes user well-being and privacy, Herd is the greener pasture of social media; grown from transparency, respect, creativity and discovery. To do that, we show you content in chronological order, based on the interests you select. You have the power to change your interests each week. We no not use your data for ads, nor do we collect information from third parties. We only use information on Herd to better the Herd experience and ensure we are protecting user wellbeing through our product design. Right now, we are transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized data structure, and this policiy reflects where we are at today. We wrote this policy to help you understand what information we collect, how we use it and what choices you have about it. Because we’re an internet company, some of the concepts below are a little technical, but we’ve tried our best to explain things in a simple and clear way. We welcome your questions and comments on this policy.

We collect information in a few different ways

1. When you give it to us or give us permission to obtain it When you sign up for or use Herd you voluntarily share certain information including your name, email address, phone number, photos, comments, and any other information you give us. You will also have the option to share other information about yourself such as your preferred pronouns, age and preferred language.

2. We also get technical information when you use Herd When you use a mobile application or other internet service, certain internet and electronic network activity information gets created and logged automatically. This is also true when you use Herd. Here are some of the types of information we collect:

   • Log data. When you use Herd, our servers record information (“log data”), including information that your mobile app automatically sends when you’re using it. This log data includes your Internet Protocol address (which we use to infer your approximate location) the date and time of your request, how you used Herd, cookie data and device data.
   • Cookie data. We also use “cookies” (small text files sent by your computer each time you visit our website, unique to your Herd account or your browser) or similar technologies to get log data. When we use cookies or other similar technologies, we use session cookies (that last until you close your browser) or persistent cookies (that last until you or your browser delete them). For example, we use cookies to store your language preferences or other settings so you don‘t have to set them up every time you visit Herd. Some of the cookies we use are associated with your Herd account (including information about you, such as the email address you gave us) and other cookies are not.
   • Device information. In addition to log data, we collect information about the device you’re using Herd on, including the type of device, operating system, settings, unique device identifiers and crash data that helps us understand when something breaks.

What we do with the info we collect

We’re committed to keeping Herd ad-free & have intentionally removed connections to other tech platforms and services. We want to ensure information collected is only used to better your experience building community and enjoying content on Herd. To do that, we use your information to provide and improve your experience, including:

• Identify you when you use Herd & for how long, as we aim to keep our daily active usage lower than other social platforms. In summary, your data is only used to make your Herd experience better while ensuring overall user well being is being protected. We have a legitimate interest in making Herd safe and improving our product features so you keep finding the inspiration and community you want. We all benefit when we use your information to:
• Show other people who have similar interests. For example, if you are opted into the home interest, we will show you other people with that interests.
• Work with law enforcement and keep Herd safe. We may get requests for account information from law enforcement authorities like the police or courts.
• Review your comments on Herd to detect activity that poses a risk to the safety of you, our community and/or members of the public.
• Conduct analytics and research on who is using Herd and what they are doing. For example, by logging how often people spend on a feature on Herd, we can understand which feautres are better.
• Improve Herd and offer new features. We have no interest in using information we collect to customize your Herd experience based on your offsite behavior. For example, if you visit websites that sell electric guitars, we will not suggest you join the electric guitars interest. We do not identify your interests based on your offsite behavior with cookies. In addition to the specific circumstances above, we’ll only use your information with your consent in order to:
• Send you marketing materials by email. Each time we send you marketing materials, we give you the option to unsubscribe.

Transferring your information

Herd is a worldwide service. By using our products or services, you authorize us to transfer and store your information outside your home country, including in the United States, for the purposes described in this policy. The privacy protections and the rights of authorities to access your personal information in such countries may not be equivalent to those of your home country.

How and when we share information

Anyone with a Herd account can potentially see the public images you create and post, should you share interests. We do not make this public information available through what are called APIs (basically a technical way to share information quickly). We do share your information with:

• Law enforcement agencies or government agencies. We only share information if we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety, rights, or property of the public, any person, or Herd; or to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
• Our wholly-owned subsidiaries and affiliates. If we were to engage in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, reorganization, or similar transaction or proceeding that involves the transfer of the information described in this Policy, we would share your information with a party involved in such a process (for example, a potential purchaser).

How long we keep your information

We keep your information only so long as we need it to provide Herd to you and fulfill the purposes described in this policy. This is also the case for anyone that we share your information with and who carries out services on our behalf. When we no longer need to use your information and there is no need for us to keep it to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, we’ll either remove it from our systems or depersonalize it so that we can’t identify you.

Our policy on children’s information

Children under 13 are not allowed to use Herd. If you are based in the EEA you may only use Herd if you are over the age at which you can provide consent to data processing under the laws of your country.

Residents of the EEA

If you have any questions about our data processing activities, the data controller you should contact is Herd Europe Ltd., an Irish company with its registered office at Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. You can also contact our Data Protection Officer. If you think that we haven’t complied with data protection laws, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission in Ireland or with your local supervisory authority. Because Herd is a worldwide service, we may transfer the personal data of EEA residents to a country outside the EEA. Where we transfer information from the EEA to a country that doesn’t provide an adequate level of protection, we’ll only do so under appropriate safeguards to protect your information, like standard contractual clauses.

California residents

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires us to disclose categories of Personal Information we collect and how we use it, the categories of sources from whom we collect Personal Information, and the third parties with whom we share it, which we have explained above. In the preceding twelve months, we have collected Personal Information from you, your devices, our partners, third parties, and from categories of sources otherwise described in the “We collect information in a few different ways” section of this Privacy Policy. We are also required to communicate information about rights California residents have under California law. You may exercise the following rights:

• Right to Know and Access. You may submit a verifiable request for information regarding the: (1) categories of Personal Information we collect, use, or share; (2) purposes for which categories of Personal Information are collected or used by us; (3) categories of sources from which we collect Personal Information; and (4) specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you.
• Right to Equal Service. We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.
• Right to Delete. You may submit a verifiable request to close your account and we will delete Personal Information about you that we have collected. In order to verify your identity when you make a request, you will be required to log in to your password-protected account or respond to an email verification request. We do not sell the Personal Information of our users. For more information about these rights, please see “Choices you have about your info” above, and to exercise them, please contact us at privacy-support@Herd.com. In addition to exercising these rights yourself, you may also designate an authorized agent to make these requests on your behalf. In order to do this, we will ask you to verify the request directly via email or through your password-protected account. We collect the following categories of Personal Information and in the past 12 months, we have disclosed these categories of Personal Information for a business purpose to affiliates, service providers and third parties, as described in the How and when we share information section of this Privacy Policy:
• Identifiers, such as your name, username, email address, phone number, unique device identifiers, and your IP address
• Personal characteristics protected by law, such as your gender and age
• Internet or electronic network activity information, such as information about your device and your use of our Services
• Electronic, visual, or similar information, such as your profile picture or photos
• Other information you provide, such as your pics and comments We use and disclose this information for the business purposes described in the What we do with the info we collect section in this Privacy Policy, including to: provide our Service, communicate with you to provide updates or respond to your comments and questions, audit our Service, detect security incidents and prevent fraud, debug and repair errors, maintain your account, provide customer service, conduct research and development and other activities to improve our Service, and understand how users interact with our Services.

How we make changes to this policy

We may change this policy from time to time and if we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. If you continue to use Herd after those changes are in effect, you agree to the new policy. If the changes are significant, we may provide a more prominent notice or get your consent, as required by law.

Contact us

The best way to get in touch with us or to exercise your options described above is through the Help Center. If you live in the United States, Herd, Inc. is responsible for your information. You can contact Herd Inc. at contact@Theherdapp.com