In plain words, first.
HiBud is a small iOS app for keeping in touch with the people who matter to you. The app needs to know which friends you've added and when you last reached out — and that stays on your phone. We don't sell your data, we don't run ads, and we don't track you across other apps and websites. If you ever want it gone, you can take the whole garden with you in one tap.
Who we are.
HiBud is published by AURACO PTY LTD, an Australian proprietary limited company (ABN 36 695 730 404) trading as CTRLSZE, in Sydney. This policy applies to the HiBud iOS app and the marketing site at hibud.ctrlsze.studio. The privacy contact is dev@ctrlsze.studio.
If you're looking for the studio's broader privacy practices — for the website itself, sponsorships, contact form, and so on — those live at ctrlsze.studio/privacy.
What HiBud collects.
Three small things, and only because the app would not function without them.
What HiBud doesn't.
A list, in case it's easier to read what isn't there.
The permissions HiBud asks for.
You can grant or revoke each of these at any time in iOS's settings. HiBud asks only when it needs to.
- Contacts— so you can add a friend from your address book in two taps. Your contacts aren't uploaded; the permission is used only to display them inside the app.
- Calendar — read-only, so an existing event with a friend in it can count as a proper catch-up. Calendar data stays on your device.
- Notifications — for the gentle reminders that are central to HiBud. You decide when, and how often.
- Photos— only when you choose to attach one to a friend. We don't access your photo library otherwise.
How long we keep it.
As briefly as we can. The data inside HiBud lives on your device until you delete it or uninstall the app — uninstalling takes the local copy with it. iCloud copies remain in your Apple account until you delete them yourself.
If you join the waitlist, we keep your email until launch and send one message. If you've emailed us, we hold the contents of that message for as long as we need to reply and follow up.
A note on security.
Because your HiBud data is stored locally and (optionally) in your encrypted iCloud account, the primary security boundary is your device passcode and your Apple ID. We strongly recommend a strong device passcode and two-factor authentication on Apple ID.
If a data breach affecting any data we hold ever occurs, we will notify you in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Your rights, your garden.
Under the Australian Privacy Act, you can:
- See it. Ask for a copy of the (very small) amount of personal information we hold — typically just your waitlist email or correspondence.
- Take it. When the app ships, Settings → Privacy → "Pull up the garden" exports a tidy .jsonof everything you've added.
- Fix it.Ask us to correct anything that's wrong.
- Burn it. Ask us to delete it. We mean it.
To do any of these, write to dev@ctrlsze.studio and a real person will reply, usually within a couple of days. If you're not satisfied with the response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
About children.
HiBud is meant for people who can decide for themselves whether tending to a small digital garden is a good use of their afternoon — so we don't knowingly collect anything from anyone under 13. If you're a guardian and you think we have, write to us and we'll take it down.
If this note changes.
We'll tell you. The "last tended" date at the top of this page will move, and for any meaningful change we'll send a small, one-time notice the next time you open the app — or, if accounts are introduced, an email. We won't bury it.
Writing to us.
For anything privacy-shaped — questions, requests, second thoughts — the inbox is dev@ctrlsze.studio. A real person will reply.
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