The short version. HContacts Email keeps your mail and your contacts on your device. We operate no servers, and your messages, credentials, contacts and photos never reach us. When the app sends or receives mail it connects directly from your phone to the mail provider you chose, exactly as any standard email client does. The app does display advertising, supplied by third-party ad networks; those networks collect advertising and device data of their own, described in section 3, and they never receive your mail, your credentials or your contacts.
This policy covers HContacts Email only. The separate HContacts application
(com.hcontacts.app) has its own policy; if you use both, see section 4 for what
passes between them. Please read this document before installing; by installing or using the app,
you agree to it.
We do not collect, store, or transmit your personal data to our servers. We operate no servers for this application. There is no account to create with us and no sign-in to our systems. This is separate from the advertising described in section 3, which is handled by third parties and never includes the content of your mail or contacts.
Email accounts and messages. To read and send mail, the app connects over IMAP and SMTP directly from your device to the mail servers you configure — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, or any other provider you enter. Your mail passes between your phone and your provider only; it does not pass through us.
Contacts. Contacts you create or edit are stored in a database on your device and are processed locally. The app does not read your device's system address book. We do not upload contacts anywhere.
Photos. If you set a contact photo, the image you select is resized and stored on your device. We do not upload or store photo data on any server.
Backups and exports. The app can export your data to a file you choose and import it back. Where that file goes — local storage, a cloud drive, a message to yourself — is your decision, and once it leaves the app it is governed by whatever service you send it to, not by this policy.
Technical and diagnostic data. We include no analytics, crash-reporting, or tracking software of our own, and receive no usage statistics or device identifiers from the app. Third-party advertising components collect data as described in section 3. Google Play may independently collect installation and crash information under Google's own privacy policy; that collection is Google's, not ours, and is outside our control.
The app requests very little. Each permission is listed below with its single purpose. You can revoke a runtime permission at any time in Android Settings; the feature depending on it will stop working, but the rest of the app will continue to run.
| Permission | Type | Why it is needed |
|---|---|---|
INTERNET |
Automatic | To reach your mail provider over IMAP/SMTP, and to load advertisements. These are the only network connections the app makes. |
| Photos / media | Requested when used | To let you pick or take a picture for a contact's avatar. Asked only at the moment you choose an image. |
com.hcontacts.permission.ACCESS_CONTACTS_DATA |
Granted at install | A private permission shared with the HContacts app, allowing this app to read contacts from HContacts on the same device, and to add a contact there at your request. On-device only, and only meaningful if HContacts is installed. |
The app requests no access to your device address book, call log, SMS, location, microphone, or telephony features.
HContacts Email may display advertisements — for example a banner or an occasional full-screen ad — supplied by third-party advertising networks such as Google AdMob. Ads help keep the application free.
An advertising network operates independently of us and collects its own data in order to select, deliver, and measure ads. That typically includes:
What advertising never receives. Ad networks have no access to your mailbox, the messages cached on your device, your email addresses or passwords, your contacts, or your photos. The app does not send any of that to an ad network, and it does not target ads using the content of your mail. No advertising component is given the ability to read the application's database or the device keystore.
Your controls. You can limit ad personalisation or reset your advertising ID in Android Settings; you can review Google's advertising practices at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. If a paid or ad-free version of the app is offered, choosing it removes the advertising components. Data collected by an ad network is governed by that network's own privacy policy, not by this one.
The parties involved besides you and us are:
The HContacts app. If you also install HContacts
(com.hcontacts.app), this app can read the contacts held there so that mail from those
people is recognised, and can add one contact to HContacts when you explicitly ask it to. This
exchange happens entirely on your device, between two apps you installed, through Android's standard
inter-app data mechanism protected by the permission listed in section 2. Nothing leaves the
device, and neither app requires the other to function.
Because your data lives on your device, you control its lifetime completely:
All application data is stored locally on your device and is protected by Android's per-app sandbox. Email passwords are held in the device's encrypted system keystore rather than in the application database. Connections to mail servers use TLS (SSL or STARTTLS) as configured for your provider. No security measure is perfect, and the security of the device itself — its lock screen, its operating system updates, and any software you install on it — remains your responsibility.
The application is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. No data reaches us from the app, so there is none to identify or remove. Because the app carries advertising, it is not offered as a child-directed application.
We may update this policy as the application changes. The effective date above will be updated and the current version will be published on this page. Material changes will also be noted on the app's Google Play listing. Continuing to use the application after a change means you accept the revised policy.
By downloading, installing, or using HContacts Email, you agree to these Terms of Use and to the Privacy Policy above. If you do not agree, do not install or use the application.
You may use the application for lawful personal or business purposes. You agree not to: use it for any unlawful purpose, including sending unsolicited bulk email; reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble it except where that restriction is prohibited by law; interfere with or disrupt its operation; attempt to access another person's data or mail account through it; or block, hide, falsify interaction with, or otherwise interfere with the advertising it displays.
You are solely responsible for the accuracy of the contacts and content you enter, for keeping your own backups, and for the security of the email accounts you configure. Because your data is stored only on your device, a lost, damaged, wiped, or stolen device means lost application data unless you have exported a backup. You are responsible for complying with your mail provider's terms, including its rules on app passwords and third-party client access.
The application is supported by advertising and may display ads from third-party networks. Ad content is selected and served by those networks, not by us: we do not choose, endorse, review, or control individual advertisements, and we are not responsible for the products, services, websites, or conduct of any advertiser. Any dealing you have with an advertiser is between you and them. We may change the amount, format, or placement of advertising, introduce an ad-free option, or remove advertising entirely, in any version of the application.
The application interacts with services we do not control — mail providers, advertising networks, Google Play, and any destination you export data to. We are not responsible for their availability, conduct, content, or policies, and their terms govern your use of them.
The application is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the application will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that mail will always be sent, received, or synchronised successfully.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, or for any loss of data, contacts, messages, profits, or goodwill, arising from your use of or inability to use the application.
You may stop using the application at any time by uninstalling it. We may discontinue the application, or suspend or withdraw a version, at any time and without notice.
These Terms may be revised from time to time. The current version is always the one published on this page, and continued use of the application after a revision constitutes acceptance of it.
Questions about this policy, these terms, or the application: support@hcontacts.com