Hosobi
Privacy
Effective October 17, 2026
Hosobi is run by Good Vibrations Media LLC. This page explains what information Hosobi collects, why, and who else gets it. Questions? Email hello@hosobi.com.
What we collect
If you make a channel: your email address, a password, a channel name and, if you write one, a short channel description. We never store your password itself, only a scrambled one-way version (a salted hash). Your channel name also becomes your channel's address (hosobi.com/your-channel). We keep a list of the videos you add: each video's ID, title, description for Vimeo videos (shortened, with links and hashtags left out), length, thumbnail link and whether it can be embedded. We keep which plan you're on and, if you ask for a paid plan, which one and when. On a paid plan, we also keep your network's name and address, the web address of your logo if you add one, and your one custom link and its button name; viewers' browsers load your logo straight from that address. We don't ask for your real name, age, phone number, home address or payment details.
If you watch: you don't need an account. While a channel plays, the page sends us simple viewing events: which channel and video, when you tune in, start live TV, or open or play something On Demand, a "still playing" signal every 30 seconds, and player error codes. These events contain no IP address, browser type, account or viewer ID. When a channel plays inside another website, the event also notes that website's address (like https://example.com), but not which page. A channel's owner sees totals from these events for their own channel, like minutes watched and top shows, but never who watched. On Hosobi's own demo networks (not creators' channels or networks), Google Analytics also counts visits; see Google Analytics.
Video error reports: when YouTube's player says the video on the air can't play here, we ask YouTube about that video, and it leaves the schedule only if YouTube agrees. So that no one can flood us with these reports, we count them under a scrambled (hashed) code made from your IP address and the hour. We never store the address itself.
Server logs: our host, Cloudflare, logs requests to Hosobi: the web address requested and technical details that can include your IP address, browser type and rough location. We also log errors. Cloudflare keeps these logs for up to 7 days.
How we use it
- To run your account: sign you in, keep you signed in, and handle email verification and password resets.
- To build and play your channel. Once you make your channel live, its name, description, address, guide, Vimeo video descriptions and share picture are public, and anyone can watch. On a paid plan, another network owner on Hosobi who enters your network's or channel's address sees your live channel with its name, description and your network's name, and can carry it, with its guide, on their network and its embeds. That's on for every channel until you switch off "Let other networks carry this channel" in the channel's editor.
- To count tune-ins, watch time and player errors, so we can fix problems and improve Hosobi, and to show each channel's owner the totals for their channel.
- To count visits to Hosobi's own pages with Google Analytics, so we can see which pages people use and how they find Hosobi (see Google Analytics).
- To show local weather on networks that have a weather channel (see below).
We don't sell or rent your information, we don't run ads of our own, and we don't build profiles of you: we look at Google Analytics only as totals, like visits per page. We use video information from YouTube and Vimeo only to build and play channels, never for advertising, profiling or training AI.
Cookies and storage
Hosobi sets sign-in cookies only when you sign up, sign in or connect Vimeo. uflix_session keeps you
signed in for 30 days or until you sign out. hosobi_device remembers that this browser has signed in
to your account before, so someone guessing your password elsewhere can't lock you out; your browser sends it
only to the sign-in page, it lasts 180 days, and changing your password ends it on every device. __Host-hosobi_vimeo_state lasts 10 minutes while you connect Vimeo, to check that the answer coming
back from Vimeo is the one you asked for. Browsers don't send these cookies to a channel playing inside another
website, and embedded channels never use them, so they are always anonymous. If the page shows its Low Power Mode notice, it
remembers that for the current visit (in session storage) so the notice shows only once. We use no ad cookies.
The only cookies that count visits are Google Analytics' on Hosobi's own pages (see Google Analytics).
Other companies' cookies: Google Analytics sets _ga cookies on Hosobi's own pages and demo
networks. YouTube's player can place and read its own cookies and similar technology on your device. Vimeo's
player loads with its Do Not Track setting on, which Vimeo says stops the player collecting session data and
analytics. Cloudflare may set a short-lived cookie it uses to block bots, and it asks your
browser to report failed connections to it so it can spot network problems. You can clear or block cookies in
your browser settings; you'll then need to sign in again.
Google Analytics
Starting October 5, 2026, Hosobi uses Google Analytics, a Google service, to count visits to its own pages: the home page, Pricing, sign-up, this Privacy page and the Terms, and Hosobi's own demo networks (the sample networks we show people who are interested in Hosobi). It never runs on creators' channels or networks, in channels embedded on other websites, or on sign-in and account pages.
On those pages, Google Analytics collects which pages you visit, your approximate location (worked out from your internet connection), your device and browser, and how you arrived, such as the website that sent you (we pass on that website's address, not the page). We send Google each page's plain address, with nothing after it except, on a demo network, which network and channel you're watching. Google says that in Google Analytics 4 "IP addresses are not logged or stored."
It sets two cookies on hosobi.com: _ga, which tells one browser from another, and _ga_<container-id>, which keeps track of the current visit. Google sets them to last 2 years;
some browsers delete them sooner. Google's advertising features and Google signals are off, so these visits
aren't used for ads personalization or for demographics and interests reports. We keep the details of each visit
in Google Analytics for 2 months; after that, only totals stay in our reports, like visits per page per day.
We don't load Google Analytics for visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, or when your browser sends Global Privacy Control. To opt out, turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser or install Google's opt-out browser add-on. Blocking cookies for hosobi.com stops Google Analytics from recognizing your browser from one visit to the next.
How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services
Location for the weather channel
Some Hosobi networks include a local weather channel. When it comes on, your browser asks whether to share your location (unless you've already answered). If you say yes, the page rounds it to about 1 km before sending it to our server, which uses it to get the forecast from the National Weather Service. We don't save it in our database. Because the rounded position is part of the web address the page requests, it can appear in Cloudflare's request logs for up to 7 days. Forecasts are cached by rounded location, not by person.
If you say no, we use the approximate location Cloudflare works out from your internet connection (US only), or else show New York weather. You can change your answer any time in your browser's site settings.
YouTube and Vimeo
Hosobi uses YouTube API Services: the YouTube Data API (to read video details) and YouTube's embedded player. By using Hosobi, you agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service. How Google handles your information is covered by the Google Privacy Policy.
Every Hosobi channel page, including channels embedded on other websites, loads YouTube's player code from YouTube as soon as it opens, even while a Vimeo video is on, and YouTube videos can start playing muted before you click anything. So YouTube receives some basic information about your visit (to show the video, check that it can play, and prevent fraud and abuse) right away. YouTube may show ads inside its player, and may collect information about your activity over time and across websites.
Hosobi never asks for access to your Google account. You can see and remove any app's access to your Google data on Google's security settings page.
Vimeo videos play in Vimeo's player with Do Not Track on. On phones and tablets, some Vimeo videos instead stream straight from Vimeo's servers into Hosobi's own player. Either way, Vimeo receives your IP address. How Vimeo handles your information is covered by the Vimeo Privacy Policy.
Our server reads video details from YouTube and Vimeo with Hosobi's own access. It sends them only video, playlist, showcase, channel and profile IDs, nothing about you.
When you connect your Vimeo account (part of the Premium Plus plan; during early access only some accounts see the button): you sign in on Vimeo's own page, and we never see your Vimeo password. With your OK, Vimeo gives Hosobi an access key that lets us read your Vimeo account name and plan and your public, private and unlisted videos, including links to the video files so they play smoothly on phones. We store that key encrypted, along with your Vimeo account name, plan and whether file links work for it, and use them only to build and play your channels. You can disconnect Vimeo at any time in your settings; when you disconnect or delete your account, we ask Vimeo to cancel the key and delete our copy.
How long we keep it
- Your account, channel, video list and share picture: until you delete your account (see below).
- Sign-ins: a sign-in stops working after 30 days. Signing out erases it, and expired ones are erased the next time you sign in. We store each sign-in only in scrambled (hashed) form.
- Verification and password-reset links: they work for 48 hours.
- Emails we send: Cloudflare's activity log, which we can look back through for 30 days; copies of the messages about 7 days; an address on the do-not-send list until we take it off.
- Sign-in and reset attempt counts (to stop password guessing): kept under a scrambled (hashed) version of the
email address, or of a random number from the
hosobi_devicecookie, and cleared within an hour. - Video error report counts (to stop flooding): kept under a scrambled (hashed) code made from the IP address and the hour, and deleted within two hours.
- Viewing events: no end date, except that deleting your account deletes your channel's. They don't identify viewers.
- Cloudflare's request logs: up to 7 days.
- Google Analytics: details of each visit for 2 months, then only totals; its cookies up to 2 years unless your browser deletes them sooner.
Hosobi uses encrypted connections (HTTPS), and your sign-in cookie is only ever sent over one.
Your choices
- Watch without an account. Viewers never need to sign up.
- Location. Say no when your browser asks, or change it later in your browser's site settings.
- Cookies. Clear or block them in your browser.
- Google Analytics. Turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser, install Google's opt-out browser add-on, or block cookies for hosobi.com (see Google Analytics).
- See or change your information. After you sign in, the account menu in the top bar shows your email address, and the Channels page (from your GM Dashboard) shows your videos and lets you rename a channel, change or clear its description, and delete videos. To change your email or password, email hello@hosobi.com.
- Delete your account. Sign in and choose Delete my account in Your Account on your GM Dashboard. It deletes your account, sign-ins, channel, video list, schedule, share picture, your channel's viewing events and your Vimeo connection right away. If you can't sign in, email hello@hosobi.com from the address on your account and we'll delete it within 7 days. Attempt counts clear within an hour and Cloudflare's request logs run out on their own within 7 days. Deleting your Hosobi data doesn't delete anything on YouTube or Vimeo.
- Disconnect Vimeo. If you've connected your Vimeo account, disconnect it any time in your settings. You can also remove Hosobi from the connected apps in your Vimeo settings.
Do Not Track
Hosobi doesn't track you across other websites: Google Analytics runs only on Hosobi's own pages, with Google's advertising features off. So a Do Not Track signal doesn't change anything here, but Global Privacy Control does: with it on, Hosobi doesn't load Google Analytics. Other companies may: YouTube can collect information about your activity over time and across websites through its player. We turn on Vimeo's Do Not Track setting for every Vimeo player.
Children
Hosobi isn't meant for children under 13. You must be at least 13 to watch, and if you're under 18, you need a parent's or guardian's permission to watch. You must be at least 18 to make a channel or connect a Vimeo account (see our Terms). We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you think a child has given us some, email hello@hosobi.com and we'll delete it.
If you're outside the US
Hosobi is run from the United States. Your information is handled in the US and wherever Cloudflare and our other providers operate. We use account information to provide the service you signed up for, your device's location only with your permission (otherwise only the rough location of your internet connection, for the weather), viewing events and logs to run and fix Hosobi, and Google Analytics to count visits to Hosobi's own pages. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland don't get Google Analytics. Wherever you live, you can ask us to show you, correct, delete or send you a copy of your information, or to stop using it, by emailing hello@hosobi.com. In the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll post the new version here with a new effective date. For important changes, such as collecting a new kind of information or sharing it with a new company, we'll also put a notice on Hosobi's home page before the change takes effect.
Contact
For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact Good Vibrations Media LLC, Pennsylvania, at hello@hosobi.com.