Hilmo is a self-help app published by Shahzeb Speaks LLC ("we"). This policy explains what the app does with your information. The short version: what you write stays on your phone, encrypted. We have no account system and no analytics, and we collect no personal data ourselves. Hilmo is free and shows ads from Google AdMob on a few list screens; Google's ad technology collects some device data to show them, as described below.
What stays on your phone
Your check-ins (with any feeling words and tags you add), practice history and ratings, anything you write (notes, thought checks, worries, letters, one line a day, your journal), your self-check answers and scores, your panic diary, your fear ladders, habits and task lists, your support plan, your sleep diary, your health-check answers and your settings are stored only on your device. They are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, and the key is kept in your phone's secure keystore (Android Keystore / iOS Keychain). We never receive them, and they are never shared with advertisers.
- Hilmo turns off Android cloud backup and device-to-device transfer for this data, so it isn't copied to Google Drive.
- Export (My space → My data) creates a plain-text copy through your phone's share sheet. Where you send it is up to you. It contains your private notes.
- Delete everything (My space → My data) erases the data and the encryption key from the phone. Uninstalling the app also removes it.
Ads
Hilmo shows ads from Google AdMob, which keeps the app free.
Where. A small banner on the library, Toolkit, Programs, Feelings dictionary and My space screens, and an occasional ad between groups in the library. Settings has an optional "Watch an ad to support Hilmo" button; that full-screen ad plays only if you tap it, and nothing is locked behind it. There are never ads on Get help, hard-moment mode, the Today screen, check-ins, any practice, self-check questions or results, the panic diary, calm games, the support plan, onboarding or the lock screen, and no ad ever opens by itself over the app.
What Google collects. To show and measure ads and prevent fraud, Google's ad software in the app collects your device's advertising ID, your IP address (from which an approximate location can be inferred), information about your device and the app, and how you interact with ads. Google processes this under its own privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
Non-personalised. Hilmo asks Google for non-personalised ads on every request, so ads are not chosen from a profile of your interests. Nothing you write or log in Hilmo is ever passed to Google or any advertiser, and ads are never targeted at mental-health topics because of anything you do in the app.
Your choices. If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, Google's consent message asks for your choice the first time you open Hilmo, and Settings → Ad privacy choices lets you change it. If ads can't be shown with your choice, you simply see none. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings (Google → Ads).
What else leaves your phone
Apart from the ad requests above, Hilmo makes no internet connections of its own. The Guide works offline and doesn't send what you type anywhere.
Some things you tap hand over to another app on your phone, and that app's own privacy policy applies once you're there:
- Calls and links. Tapping a help number opens your phone's dialer. Tapping "findahelpline.com" opens that website in your browser. Quick exit opens a Google search page (www.google.com) and closes Hilmo.
- Songs. Tapping a song in "My steadying music" opens its link, or a YouTube search (www.youtube.com) for its title, in your browser or music app.
- Sharing. When you share a thank-you, an export or a backup, your phone's share sheet opens and you choose the app. Hilmo sends nothing itself.
- Read aloud. If you turn it on, the practice text (never your own writing) is spoken by your phone's text-to-speech service. On most phones this works offline; some text-to-speech services can use the internet, depending on their own settings.
Reminders are scheduled on your phone. Calm sounds and the meditation bell are generated on your phone; nothing is downloaded or streamed.
Backups. A backup file is encrypted with a passphrase you choose (PBKDF2 and AES-256-GCM). We never see the passphrase or the file; you decide where the file goes. Without the passphrase nobody can open it, and we can't reset it.
The home-screen widget and the Quick Settings tile show only fixed text and buttons, never anything you've written or logged.
The AI Guide (not in this version)
A future version may offer an optional AI Guide. It would be off until you agree to it, it would send only the message you type (never your notes, check-ins or support plan), and messages that look like a crisis would be answered on the phone and not sent. If it is added, this policy will be updated first and will say exactly where the message goes.
Permissions
- Notifications, only if you turn on a reminder. Reminder text is neutral ("A minute for yourself?") so nothing personal shows on your lock screen.
- Biometrics, only if you turn on the app lock. Your phone checks your fingerprint, face or PIN. Hilmo never sees it.
- Vibration, for pocket breathing.
- Start at boot, so reminders you set still ring after the phone restarts.
- Internet, for ads (and, in a future version, the optional AI Guide).
- Advertising ID, used by Google's ad software as described under Ads.
Hilmo doesn't use your location permission, contacts, camera or microphone. People you add to your support plan are typed in by you and stay on the phone.
Data we collect
We, Shahzeb Speaks LLC, don't collect, store, sell or share personal data, and Hilmo contains no analytics or tracking code of ours. Your records stay on your phone, and Delete everything or uninstalling removes them. The only data that leaves the phone automatically is what Google's ad software collects to show ads, described under Ads; for that, see Google's policy and your ad privacy choices.
Children
Hilmo is for adults aged 18 and over.
Health information
Hilmo is not a medical device and doesn't diagnose or treat any condition. It is not an emergency service. Your health-check answers only decide which practices are offered, and they never leave the phone. Self-check scores (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-5) are shown only to you and are not a diagnosis; they leave the phone only if you choose to share the doctor summary.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at the same address with a new date.
Shahzeb Speaks LLC, Denver, Colorado, United States. Questions: admin@shahzebspeaks.com