Privacy, in plain language
What we keep, and what we don’t.
Last updated October 8, 2026. This page describes how the site works today. If that changes, this page changes and the date above changes with it.
The short version
- You can read the archive and the comfort hub without an account. The comfort hub stores nothing.
- Hoto Space needs you to sign in. It saves only what you choose to save.
- Ads are off. They appear only if you click “Accept ads”, and you can change your mind at any time.
What this site is, and is not
Planet Hoto is educational. It is not therapy, medical advice, or a diagnosis, and nothing here is monitored by a clinician. It is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis in the U.S., call or text 988. For immediate danger, call 911.
Reading the archive and the comfort hub
You do not need an account to read these pages. The comfort hub has no forms, accounts, or mood data, and it does not store or score what you choose there. Reading creates no score, diagnosis, or sharing permission. Links to other sites, such as music or video searches, open services that have their own privacy policies.
The site is hosted on Cloudflare, which processes requests in order to deliver pages and may keep technical logs under its own policies.
Inside Hoto Space
Hoto Space uses the sign-in provided by the platform the site runs on. That sign-in gives the site a user ID and an email address. The site keeps only hashed (one-way scrambled) versions of them, not your plain email address. What it saves, only when you press a save button:
- Reflections: the exact words you wrote, which context they belong to, and when. They are stored in the site’s database and linked to your hashed ID, not to your email address. They are not encrypted at rest by this site beyond what the database provider does.
- Routine check-ins and daily movement notes: the items and notes you enter.
- Witnessing invitations: the reflection you choose to share is encrypted. The invitation is single-use and expires after 24 hours. The person you invite is recorded only as a hashed email.
- Waitlist and founding invitations: a hashed identity and a queue state.
We do not sell this information, and the site does not pass your reflections or check-ins to any advertiser.
Cookies and ads
The home page can show two ads from Google AdSense. Here is exactly how that works:
- Ads are off by default. Google’s ad code does not load, and no ad is shown, until you click “Accept ads” in the banner.
- If you click “No thanks”, or never answer, no Google scripts load, no Google cookies are set by this site, and no ad space is shown.
- If you accept, the site asks Google for non-personalized ads. Google still sets cookies or similar identifiers to deliver and measure ads, and those are third-party cookies controlled by Google. See how Google uses information from sites that use its services and Google Ads Settings.
- Ads never appear on the comfort hub, the games, the urgent help pages, or this page.
- Your choice is saved in this browser as a small record (your answer and the date). It is not sent to our server.
Questions about ads or cookies: nicholas.ho.music@gmail.com
To change your choice, use “Change ad choice” in the footer of any page. If you switch from yes to no, the page reloads and stops requesting ads. Cookies Google already set stay on your device until you clear them in your browser’s cookie settings.
Games
The optional games (Little Haven and Meadow Circle) run entirely in your browser. They use no ads, trackers, analytics, cookies, accounts, or outside services, and they make no network requests while you play. Progress and preferences are saved only in this browser's local storage on this device, and never leave it. You can export, import, reset, or delete that save from inside each game. If your browser blocks storage, the games still work and simply do not remember anything. The games are not a mental health treatment.
Children
This site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Deleting your information
You can export your saved reflections, and delete any of them permanently, from the saved reflections list in Hoto Space. Deleted reflections are removed from the database. Check-ins, movement notes, and invitations cannot yet be deleted from inside the site. To ask us to delete them, or any other information we hold about you, email the address below and say what you would like removed.
Contact
Questions or deletion requests: nicholas.ho.music@gmail.com