HKI 7 Privacy Policy¶
Last updated: August 29, 2026
HKI 7 ("the app") is an Android client for Home Assistant, a home automation platform that you host yourself. This policy explains what data the app handles and where it goes.
The short version: your data goes to your own Home Assistant server and stays on your device. The app has no developer-operated servers, no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking. The developer never receives, sees, or stores any of your data.
Data the app handles¶
Connection details and credentials¶
To connect to your Home Assistant instance, the app stores the server URL(s) and an access token you provide. These are stored locally on your device and are only ever sent to the Home Assistant server you configured, in order to authenticate with it.
Location (including background location)¶
If you enable presence detection, the app collects your device's location — including in the background via geofencing — and reports it only to your own Home Assistant server, so your home automations can respond to you arriving or leaving. Specifically:
- Location is used for geofence-based presence (home/away) and, if enabled, periodic location updates to your Home Assistant instance.
- Location data is never sent to the developer or to any third party.
- Presence detection is optional. You can decline the location permissions or disable the feature in settings, and the rest of the app works normally.
- Revoking location permission in Android system settings stops all location collection immediately.
Device sensors and telemetry¶
If you enable sensor reporting, the app reads device state such as battery level, charging state, network/Wi-Fi state, and similar device sensors, and reports them only to your own Home Assistant server (mirroring what the official Home Assistant companion app does). This is optional and configurable in settings.
Paired Wear OS watch¶
If you install the Wear OS app, your phone sends it the Home Assistant server address, a session token, and the shortcuts and rooms you chose to show on it. This transfer happens over Google's Wear OS Data Layer, which is encrypted between your paired devices; it does not pass through any server operated by the developer.
The watch then talks to your own Home Assistant server directly, using its own session. If you instead sign in on the watch itself, the login page opens in your phone's browser and the watch receives only the resulting token — your password is never entered on, or seen by, the watch.
The watch reports nothing about itself unless you switch on Report watch battery, which sends its battery level and charging state to your own Home Assistant server and nothing else. The app does not request location, body sensors, heart rate, or microphone access on the watch.
Android Auto¶
The Android Auto screen shows the shortcuts you chose and calls the corresponding services on your own Home Assistant server. Nothing about your vehicle, your location, or your driving is collected, and no data is sent anywhere other than the Home Assistant instance you configured.
Home Assistant data (entities, cameras, media)¶
Dashboards, entity states, history, camera streams, and media are fetched from your own Home Assistant server for display on your device. Camera streams are viewed live and are not recorded or stored by the app.
Notifications¶
Notifications are delivered directly from your own Home Assistant server to the app over your configured connection. No third-party push service operated by the developer is involved.
App settings and backups¶
Your app settings (dashboards, preferences, connection configuration) are stored locally on your device.
Optionally, you can enable cloud backup to Google Drive. If you do, the app asks for Google's drive.appdata permission and stores a backup of your app configuration in the private app-data area of your own Google Drive account. This data is accessible only to the app and to you; the developer has no access to it. Google's handling of your Drive data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. You can disable backups and delete them at any time from the app's settings, or by removing the app's access in your Google account settings.
What the app does NOT do¶
- No data is sent to the developer — there are no developer-operated servers.
- No analytics, crash-reporting, advertising, or tracking SDKs.
- No sale or sharing of personal data with third parties.
- No collection of contacts, messages, photos, or files.
Third-party services¶
The app uses Google Play services on your device for location (fused location / geofencing) and, if you enable cloud backup, for Google Drive authorization. These services are provided by Google and are subject to the Google Privacy Policy. Your self-hosted Home Assistant server is operated by you (or your server's administrator) and is outside the scope of this policy.
Data retention and deletion¶
All app data lives on your device, on your Home Assistant server, or (if you enabled backups) in your own Google Drive. To delete it:
- On device: clear the app's data or uninstall the app.
- On your Home Assistant server: remove the device/entities from your Home Assistant instance.
- Google Drive backups: delete them from the app's settings, or revoke the app's access at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
Children's privacy¶
The app is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to this policy¶
Changes to this policy will be published at this same location, with the "Last updated" date revised. Significant changes will be noted in the app's release notes.
Contact¶
If you have questions about this policy or your data, open an issue at github.com/jimz011/android-hki7 or contact the developer at jimz011apps@gmail.com.