🔐 PRIVACY POLICY

WHO WE ARE

HiddenShows.com ("HiddenShows," "we," "us") is an underground show discovery network operated in New York, USA. We run this website and a telephone hotline. This policy explains what information we collect through both, why we collect it, and what we do with it. We wrote it in plain language on purpose.

WHAT WE COLLECT

• Account information. If you register, we store your chosen username, email address, and a securely hashed password. If you purchase premium access, payment is processed by PayPal — we never see or store your card numbers.
• Phone numbers. If you call our hotline, request a callback, RSVP to a show, or are added as a contact, we store the phone number involved so those features can work.
• Call activity. Our hotline logs which extensions are dialed and when. A limited, anonymized version of this activity (no phone numbers) appears in the public "Live Hotline Activity" feed on our homepage.
• Voice recordings. If you choose to leave a voicemail on our hotline, your message is recorded after an announcement and an audible tone. Recordings are stored with our telephony provider (Twilio) and are accessible only to the site operator. Do not leave a message if you do not wish to be recorded.
• Hotline conversations. Parts of our hotline are interactive. Things you say to our automated hostess may be transcribed, processed by an AI service (Anthropic's Claude API) to generate her replies, and stored in shortened form so she can remember returning callers. Do not share sensitive personal information with the hotline.
• Site submissions. If you submit a show, we store the details you provide (venue, description, contact info) to publish the listing.
• Cookies & similar tech. We use cookies for login sessions and basic site functionality. Our interactive features may use Google Firebase, which sets its own identifiers to make real-time features (like chat) work.

HOW WE USE IT

• To operate the hotline, website, shows directory, RSVP reminders, callbacks, and interactive experiences.
• To remember returning hotline callers and personalize their experience.
• To publish anonymized activity in the public feed (extension numbers and event titles only — never your phone number or identity).
• To process premium purchases and grant access to premium content.
• To keep the site secure and prevent abuse.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not run third-party advertising. We do not share your data with anyone except the service providers below, who are required to handle it only on our behalf.

SERVICE PROVIDERS WE RELY ON

• Twilio — powers our phone hotline, calls, and voicemail recordings.
• Anthropic (Claude API) — generates responses for our interactive hotline hostess from what callers say to her.
• PayPal — processes premium payments.
• Google Firebase — powers real-time features such as chat and games.
• GoDaddy — hosts this website.

Each provider has its own privacy policy governing its infrastructure.

CALL RECORDING NOTICE

Voicemail is the only part of our hotline that records your voice, and it always announces itself and plays a tone before recording begins. By speaking after the tone, you consent to being recorded. Other hotline interactions may be transcribed as text (see above) but are not stored as audio by us.

HOW LONG WE KEEP THINGS

Activity logs are short — the public feed keeps only the most recent entries. Voicemails, caller memory, RSVPs, and account data are kept until they are no longer needed for the feature they serve, or until you ask us to delete them.

YOUR CHOICES & RIGHTS

• You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• You may request deletion of your account, your voicemails, your caller memory, or your RSVP entries.
• You may simply stop calling the hotline or using the site at any time.

To make any request, contact us through the site's contact options and we will respond within a reasonable time.

CHILDREN

HiddenShows is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

CHANGES

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Meaningful changes will be noted on the site. The Underground keeps its promises in writing.