HIO Golf ("the App") is a golf GPS rangefinder and scorecard tool. This policy explains, in plain language: what personal information we collect, why, where it is stored, who we share it with, and how you can access, correct or delete it — or close your account entirely.
Please read this policy before using the App. By using the App, you confirm that you have read and agree to it.
HIO Golf is developed and operated jointly by Fan Zihao (范梓浩) and Chen Xin (陈鑫). They act as joint personal information handlers under Article 20 of the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, and have agreed their respective rights and obligations between them. You may direct any request under this policy to the email address below; we will respond jointly.
This policy covers the HIO Golf iOS app and the hiogolf.cn website.
We collect only what a given feature actually requires.
| Data | Why we collect it | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number or email address | Your account identifier when you sign in with a one-time code, and the address we send that code to | Required for this sign-in method |
| WeChat OpenID / UnionID | To identify your account when you sign in with WeChat | Required for this sign-in method |
| Apple user identifier and email | To identify your account when you use Sign in with Apple. If you choose "Hide My Email", we only ever receive Apple's anonymous relay address | Required for this sign-in method |
| Nickname, profile photo | Shown to playing partners in rounds, friend lists and posts. If you set none, we generate a random nickname | No — editable at any time |
| Gender, handicap, home course, city / country, language | Player profile, regional course suggestions, interface language | No |
| Date of birth | Part of your profile. Visible only to you — never shown to other users | No |
| HIO ID | A shareable ID so friends can find you by search or QR code | Generated automatically |
Passwords: the App uses one-time codes and third-party sign-in only. We do not set, collect or store any password. Session refresh tokens are stored as irreversible hashes; the original values are never written to our database.
All permissions are optional. Declining one only disables the matching feature. You can withdraw any of them at any time in iOS Settings.
| Permission | Used for | If you decline |
|---|---|---|
| Location (While Using the App) | Live distance to the front, centre and back of the green while scoring; finding courses near you | No GPS distances or "nearby courses"; you can still pick a course manually and keep score |
| Camera | Scanning a playing partner's QR code to add them as a friend | No QR scanning; you can still add friends by HIO ID |
| Photos (add only) | Saving the generated scorecard image to your photo library | Scorecard images cannot be saved to your library |
| Notifications | Friend requests, round invitations and score updates from your group | No push notifications |
The App uses iOS Background App Refresh to keep your inbox up to date. No location is collected during background refresh.
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as far as necessary with the following service providers:
| Provider | Purpose | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | Sign in with Apple; push notification delivery via APNs | Sign-in: the user identifier and email Apple returns to us. Push: your device token and notification content (which may include another user's nickname) |
| Tencent (WeChat Open Platform) | WeChat sign-in | The WeChat authorisation code; in return we receive an OpenID / UnionID |
| AMap (Autonavi) Open Platform | Course lookup, nearby-course fallback search, course weather | Search keywords and course area codes; your coordinates only when our own course database returns no match |
| Tencent Cloud SES | Sending sign-in code emails | Your email address and the code |
| Tencent Cloud COS | Storing and serving your profile photo and round photos | The image files you upload |
| Tencent Cloud (servers and database) | Hosting infrastructure for the App | Processes the above data on our behalf only |
We may also disclose information where required by law, in response to a valid request from a judicial or administrative authority, or where necessary to protect the vital interests of you or another person.
Storage. Our servers and database are located in mainland China (Tencent Cloud).
International transfers. Two features are provided by Apple and involve transferring data to Apple Inc. outside mainland China: Sign in with Apple (to verify your credential) and push notifications (your device token and notification content pass through APNs). If you prefer to avoid these transfers, use a different sign-in method and turn notifications off.
Retention. We keep your information while your account is active. After you delete your account we erase or anonymise your personal information within a reasonable period, except where law requires us to retain certain logs. Verification codes and rate-limiting records expire automatically within minutes.
If you cannot complete any of the above in the App, email contact@hiogolf.cn. We will verify your identity and respond within 15 working days.
The App is intended for adult golfers. We do not direct our services to children under 14 and do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you are under 18, please read this policy together with a parent or guardian. If we learn that we have collected a child's personal information without the required consent, we will delete it promptly.
We may update this policy as the App evolves. The revised version will be posted on this page with a new version number and effective date. For material changes to the purposes, methods or categories of information we process, we will notify you in the App and, where required, ask for your consent again.
We respond within 15 working days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent regulator or to seek a remedy through the courts.