What we receive from the app
Nothing. Hearth has no account and no server of ours behind it. It contains no analytics, advertising or crash-reporting code, and no advertising identifier. It does not track you across apps, sites or devices. We never receive your data, so we have nothing to sell or share.
The only information we hold is what you choose to send us by email. Section 06 covers that.
What Hearth uses on your TV
What stays on your TV
| What | How it’s stored |
|---|---|
| Your Home Assistant address and access token | Encrypted — Android Keystore |
| Your live TV address, and a username and password if your source uses one | Encrypted — Android Keystore |
| Your favorites, the channel groups and countries you pick, and recent channels | Encrypted — Android Keystore |
| Your settings, and what the app remembers between uses, such as your layout and which notifications you have already seen | Standard app storage |
| The program guide, channel logos, and your dashboard’s browser data if you open it in Hearth | Cache and standard app storage |
Android’s cloud backup and device-to-device transfer are turned off for Hearth, so none of this is copied off the TV.
It stays until you change it, Hearth replaces it, or you clear Hearth’s data or uninstall it. Either of those deletes all of it. We hold no copy.
Uninstalling does not cancel Hearth’s Home Assistant access token. Remove it in your Home Assistant user profile.
Who your TV connects to
Hearth connects straight to the services you set up. None of them are run by us.
Each of these services sees your network’s IP address, as with any connection.
Hearth uses encrypted connections (HTTPS) where it can. These can be unencrypted:
Your home network. A Home Assistant at a local address often uses plain HTTP, and Hearth connects to it that way.
Pairing. When you pair from your phone, the address and token go from your phone to the TV over plain HTTP on your home network. Pair on a network you trust.
A live TV provider you approve. If Hearth can’t connect to your provider securely, it asks before trying without encryption. Your provider login and what you watch can then be seen by others on your network and by your internet provider. The approval covers that one provider.
Channel logos. Some logo sites have no encryption, so others on your network could see which channels you browse.
Playlists, and guide addresses you add for them, must use HTTPS. Hearth refuses unencrypted ones.
More technical detail is on the trust page.
Permissions
| Permission | Used for |
|---|---|
| Internet, network state | Connecting to your services |
| Microphone | Voice search only |
| Display over other apps | Showing Home Assistant alerts over a few video apps, and nowhere else |
| Foreground service, notifications | Keeping the alert service running, and the notice Android shows while it runs |
| Keep the device awake | Letting background work, such as guide updates, finish |
| Run at startup | Starting Hearth when the TV turns on |
| Accessibility service (optional, off until you turn it on) | Keeping Hearth as your launcher, letting Sleep turn the screen off, and knowing which app is showing so alerts appear only over those video apps |
The accessibility service sees which app is in front and which buttons are pressed. It cannot read what is on the screen. Hearth uses this only for the three things above, keeps no record of it, and none of it leaves the TV.
Hearth does not request your location.
If you write to us
If you email us, we have your email address and whatever you put in the message. We use it to reply, to help with the app and, if you ask to test new versions, to arrange that. Messages are kept with our email provider, only as long as the conversation or testing needs them. They are never added to a mailing list or sold, and apart from the tester list below, never passed to anyone else.
Test versions go out through Google Play to Google accounts on a tester list. If you ask to take part, we add the address you send us to that list in the Google Play Console. Google handles the list under its own terms. Ask at any time and we will remove you, which ends your access to test versions. When testing ends, we delete the list.
You can ask us what we hold about you, and to correct or delete it, at privacy@doitup.ca.
Children
Hearth is not directed at children, and the app collects no personal information from anyone of any age.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version is published here with a new date. A change to how the app handles your information is published here before the app update that makes it.
Contact
Questions or complaints about this policy:
privacy@doitup.ca