This policy explains what data HULA collects, why, who we share it with, and what you can do about it. We have tried to write it in plain language rather than legalese.
Who is responsible
José Antonio Bao Barceló, Alberto Jaén and Ignacio García-Fontecha Zúñiga
Mühlehalde 23
8032 Zürich
Switzerland
Email: privacy@hula.exchange
We are jointly the controllers of your personal data under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP / revDSG). Because two of us are resident in Spain, we also act as joint controllers within the meaning of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
HULA is a service in a test phase, offered free of charge and operated by the three of us as private individuals. It is not a company.
What HULA does with your photos
This is the most important section, so it comes first.
When you scan an object, the photo you take leaves your device. It is uploaded to our servers and sent to Anthropic, a third-party AI provider based in the United States, which analyses the image to identify the object. Anthropic returns a description and an estimated value; we do not send them your name, email or account identifier along with the image.
Anthropic does not use images sent through its API to train its AI models. We do not use your photos to train any model either, and we do not sell them, license them or share them with anyone else.
To estimate a price, we may also send a text search query (for example, "Logitech MX Vertical mouse") to eBay's public API. This query contains a product description only — no photo and no personal data.
Photograph only what you intend to. Please avoid capturing other people, documents, screens or anything else you would not want to leave your device. You can delete any photo from the app at any time.
What data we collect
Account data. Your email address and an account identifier. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your email address (or Apple's private relay address) and a provider identifier — never your password.
You can use HULA as a guest, without creating an account. In that case we create an anonymous account identifier and collect no email address.
Content you create. Photos of your objects, and the data derived from them: title, description, category, condition and estimated value. Any edits you make to that data.
Technical data. Device and app version, language, and error and diagnostic logs needed to keep the service working. Diagnostic logs are automatically deleted after 7 days.
Push notification token, if you enable notifications.
We do not collect your precise location, we do not use advertising trackers, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
Why we use it
- To identify the objects you photograph and estimate their value — the core function of the app.
- To keep your inventory available across sessions and devices.
- To let you exchange, swap or pass on your objects to other users, and to suggest matches between what you have and what others are looking for. This feature is not live yet. When it launches it will be optional: nothing you own becomes visible to other users unless you choose to offer it.
- To improve our valuation accuracy, using data about the objects themselves rather than about you.
- To send you account emails (registration, password reset).
- To send push notifications, if you have enabled them.
- To detect abuse and enforce usage quotas.
- To fix bugs and improve the service.
Who we share it with
We use the following providers, each of which processes data only on our instructions:
| Provider | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, authentication, file storage | Ireland (EU) |
| Anthropic | AI analysis of object photos | United States |
| eBay | Public price lookup (text query only, no personal data) | United States |
| Google Firebase | Push notifications | United States |
| Resend | Transactional email | United States |
| Apple | App distribution, Sign in with Apple | United States / global |
| Cloudflare | Hosting and delivery of this website | Global |
We do not sell your data. We do not share it for advertising. We will disclose data to authorities only where we are legally required to do so.
International transfers
Your account and your photos are stored in the European Union (Ireland). Some of the providers above are located in the United States, so some data is transferred outside Switzerland and outside the EU.
These transfers are covered by Standard Contractual Clauses recognised by the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. Neither Anthropic nor Supabase is certified under the Swiss–U.S. Data Privacy Framework, so we do not rely on it.
How long we keep it
We keep the photo of an object for as long as that object exists in your inventory. The photo is not deleted after it has been analysed — the app shows it back to you, so it has to stay. Delete the object and its photo is deleted with it.
If you use HULA as a guest and never register, you can remove everything at any time by deleting the account from the app. We also remove abandoned guest accounts and their photos from time to time.
Diagnostic logs are deleted automatically after 7 days.
When you delete your account, your account data, your objects and your photos are deleted. You do not have to ask us and you do not have to wait: it happens from inside the app.
One exception, and we want to be plain about it. We keep anonymous valuation records — what kind of object it was, its category, condition, estimated value, the city and the date — with no link to you, your account or your photos. These records are what let HULA price a coffee machine in Zürich at all, and they cannot be traced back to any individual. They are kept indefinitely. Nothing in them identifies you.
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- tell you what data we hold about you,
- correct it if it is wrong,
- delete it,
- give you a copy in a portable format,
- restrict or object to certain processing.
You can delete your account and all your data directly in the app, under Settings. No email required, no waiting.
For anything else, write to privacy@hula.exchange. We will reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) or, under the GDPR, the Spanish Data Protection Authority (AEPD) or the supervisory authority of your place of residence.
Children
HULA is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us data, write to us and we will delete it.
Security
Data is transmitted over encrypted connections and stored with access controls that restrict each user's data to that user. No system is perfectly secure, but we take this seriously — particularly given that the photos are of people's homes.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that materially affects you, we will notify you in the app before the change takes effect. The date at the top always shows the current version.