Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 3, 2026

HashSpace (“HashSpace”, “we”, “us”) is an invitation-only online community for Hash House Harriers: hashers, kennels and their friends around the world. It is run by volunteer hashers, is non-commercial, and is paid for by donations. This policy explains what information we collect when you use hashspace.com and the HashSpace mobile app (together, “HashSpace”), what we do with it, who else sees it, and the choices you have.

The short version: we collect what we need to run a community site, we use it to run the community site, and we do not sell it, rent it or use it for third-party advertising.

1. Information you give us

Your account

  • Registration: username, email address, password (stored only in scrambled, hashed form) and the invitation code you used.
  • Profile: anything you choose to add, such as your hash name, real name, profile photo, cover photo, location, kennels, birthday or other profile fields. Each profile field has its own visibility setting, and you can choose who can see your profile as a whole.
  • Settings: your notification, email and privacy preferences.

What you post and do

  • Posts, comments, reactions, photos, videos and blog posts you submit.
  • Groups you create or join, people you friend, follow or block.
  • Private messages. These are visible to the people in the conversation. They are stored on our server and are not encrypted end to end, so site administrators can technically access them; we only do so when needed to investigate a report of abuse, to keep the site secure, or when required by law.
  • Events, venues and organizer details you list, and events you register for.
  • Travel information you add to the travel tracker (countries and US states you have hashed in), which can appear on leaderboards and travel maps.
  • Map markers and hash kennel details you submit, including the locations you enter.

Invitations

When you invite someone, we use the email address you enter to send them an invitation and to record who invited whom. Please only invite people who would expect to hear from you.

Former members of earlier HashSpace sites

  • Invite requests: if you ask for an invite as a former member, we compare a one-way fingerprint (hash) of your email address against fingerprints of the old membership list. We do not keep the old list of names or plain email addresses on the website. We record the request time and your IP address to limit repeated requests.
  • Photo recovery: if you ask for photos from the original HashSpace (2010–2015), we look up the email address you enter in our records of those accounts and, if it matches, email that address a private link to the photos. We keep a log of these requests to prevent misuse.

Donations

Donations are made directly through PayPal or Venmo, which process the payment under their own privacy policies; we never see your card or bank details. We record the donor’s name, the amount and the date to track our running costs. If you choose to appear on the donor wall, your name is shown to members; you can ask to be listed as anonymous at any time.

Contacting us

If you email us or send a report, we keep that correspondence for as long as it is needed to deal with it.

2. Information collected automatically

  • Technical and log data: your IP address, browser and device type, pages you visit and the times you visit them. Our web server and our security software keep logs of this information to keep the site running and to block attacks, spam and abuse.
  • Analytics: we use Google Analytics to understand, in aggregate, how many people visit and which pages are used. Google receives your IP address and data about your visit through cookies. You can opt out with Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
  • Activity data: things like when you last logged in, which notifications you have read, and which posts you have viewed, so the site can show you what is new.
  • Mobile app: the app works like the website. If you allow push notifications, your device receives a notification token that is stored so we can send you alerts; you can turn this off in your device settings.

3. Cookies

HashSpace uses cookies (small files stored by your browser) for:

  • Essential functions: keeping you logged in, remembering your settings and protecting forms from abuse. The site does not work without these.
  • Security: identifying and blocking malicious traffic.
  • Performance: serving cached pages faster.
  • Analytics: Google Analytics cookies, described above.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but you will not be able to log in without the essential ones.

4. How we use your information

  • To create and run your account and show your profile and content to the audience you choose.
  • To deliver features you use: feeds, groups, messages, events, photos, maps, travel tracking and invitations.
  • To send you emails and notifications you have asked for (you control most of these in your account’s notification settings), plus essential messages such as password resets and important notices about the site.
  • To keep HashSpace safe: preventing spam, fraud and abuse, enforcing our Terms and Conditions, and responding to reports.
  • To understand how the site is used so we can fix and improve it.
  • To comply with the law.

We do not sell or rent your personal information, we do not share it with advertisers, and the only advertising on HashSpace is our own announcements and notices posted by members. We do not use your information for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, our legal bases are: performing our agreement with you (running your account and the features you use), our legitimate interests (keeping the site secure, understanding usage, connecting hashers), your consent (where we ask for it, such as optional cookies or push notifications, which you can withdraw at any time) and legal obligations.

5. Who can see your information

  • Other members and visitors: what you post is seen by the audience you pick for it (for example, members only, friends only, or a group). Content posted in a group is visible according to that group’s privacy setting (open, closed or secret). Public pages, such as the donate page, can be seen by anyone. Remember that anyone who can see your content can copy, screenshot or share it.
  • Group owners and moderators can see membership lists and moderate content in their groups.
  • Site administrators (a small number of volunteers) can access account data to run, support and protect the site.
  • Service providers who help us run HashSpace and process data only on our behalf:
    • KnownHost, our web hosting provider (servers in the United States).
    • Amazon Web Services, which stores photos from the original HashSpace.
    • Dropbox, where site backups are stored.
    • An email delivery service that sends our emails.
    • Google Analytics, for site statistics.
    • Map tile providers (such as OpenStreetMap), which receive your IP address when you view a map.
    • AddToAny, if you use a share button.
    • The provider of the HashSpace mobile app and the Apple and Google push notification services, if you use the app.
    • PayPal and Venmo, if you donate.
  • Legal reasons: we may disclose information if we believe in good faith that the law requires it, or that it is necessary to protect someone’s safety, or to protect the rights of HashSpace or its members.
  • If HashSpace changes hands: if HashSpace is ever handed over to a new group of volunteers or organization, your information would go with it under this policy, and we would tell you first.

Embedded content from other websites (such as YouTube videos or podcast players) behaves as if you visited that website, and those websites may collect data about you under their own policies.

6. How long we keep information

  • Your account and content: for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, your profile, posts, photos and other content are deleted. Messages you sent to others may remain in their conversations, and copies may remain in site backups until those backups are replaced.
  • Server, security and analytics logs: kept for a limited time, generally no more than 14 months.
  • Invite and photo-request logs: kept only as long as needed to prevent misuse.
  • Donation records: kept as long as needed for our financial records.

7. Your choices and rights

  • See and change your information: edit your profile and settings at any time.
  • Control your audience: choose who can see your profile, each profile field and each post; block other members.
  • Download your data: request a copy of your data from your account settings.
  • Delete your account: from your account settings, from the “Delete Account” page in the app, or by emailing us.
  • Emails and notifications: change them in your notification settings. Essential account emails cannot be turned off while you have an account.
  • Remove something about you: if another member posted a photo or information about you that you want removed, report it or email us and we will look at it promptly.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights, such as the right to access, correct, delete or move your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect and to ask us to delete it; we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law. To make any request, email us at the address below. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights, and we may need to confirm your identity first.

8. Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect your information, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, hashed passwords, firewall and login protection, restricted administrator access and regular backups. No website is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us right away if you think your account has been compromised.

9. International users

HashSpace is operated from the United States and our servers are in the United States. If you use HashSpace from elsewhere, your information will be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.

10. Age limit

HashSpace is for adults. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18; if we learn that we have, we will delete the account.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as HashSpace changes. We will change the “Last updated” date above, and for significant changes we will post a notice on the site or email members.

12. Contact us

Questions, requests or concerns about your privacy? Email admin@hashspace.com.