Who we are
HelioPulse is local energy monitoring software for solar inverters, batteries and chargers. This policy explains what data is handled in the software you install on your equipment (Raspberry Pi, Docker or Home Assistant), in the iPhone app, in the backups you choose to keep in your cloud and on the heliopulse.io website, including the installer portal.
The data controller is the HelioPulse project, based in Colombia. For any privacy question, write to us through the contact form at https://www.heliopulse.io.
The software runs on your equipment
The readings of your devices, the energy history, the configuration, the users and the credentials of integrations are stored on your own equipment. HelioPulse does not receive them or store them on its servers.
The software only talks to external services in these cases:
- Anonymous installation notice: the first time it starts, and on some installation types once per version, the equipment sends a random identifier it generates itself, the installation type, the architecture and the version. The server adds the approximate country. No IP addresses, energy data or personal data are sent.
- Updates: the equipment checks for and downloads new HelioPulse versions.
- Support and ratings: when you send a support request or a rating from the dashboard, what you write, your email if you give it and a technical summary of the equipment (version and service status) are sent, without passwords or keys.
- Integrations you turn on, such as remote access, Alexa, SmartThings, Tuya, MQTT or Home Assistant: the equipment exchanges with those services the data needed for the feature you set up. Each service's own policy also applies.
- Installers: if you invite an installer, they can see and manage your system with the permissions you grant, and you can remove their access at any time.
- Cloud backups, explained in the next section.
Backups in Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive
You can link your own Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive account to keep your equipment's backups there. Linking is done from your equipment and every user links their own account. Data HelioPulse accesses:
- Google Drive: with the "drive.file" permission, only the files and folders HelioPulse creates in your Drive (the "HelioPulse" folder). HelioPulse cannot see or change any other file in your Drive. It also reads the account email and name, to show you which account is linked, and the available space.
- Dropbox: only the app folder, the account name and email and the available space.
- OneDrive: only the app folder, the account name and the available space.
How that data is used
It is used only to upload your equipment's encrypted backups, check that they arrived complete, delete older backups according to the number you choose, and list and download them when you want to restore.
The access grant (token) is stored only on your equipment, in a protected file, and is never sent to HelioPulse or to third parties. Backups are encrypted on your equipment before they are uploaded, with a key protected by your password: neither HelioPulse nor the cloud provider can read their content.
We do not sell, share or transfer this data; it is not used for advertising, profiling or training artificial intelligence models, and no person at HelioPulse has access to it.
HelioPulse's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy (https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy), including the Limited Use requirements.
To remove access, press "Unlink" in HelioPulse, which revokes the grant, or remove it from your account (for Google: https://myaccount.google.com/permissions). Backups already uploaded stay in your cloud until you delete them.
The HelioPulse iPhone app
The iPhone app shows the dashboard of your own HelioPulse equipment and adds widgets, Siri shortcuts and Face ID lock. It only talks to the address of your equipment that you enter when setting it up: it does not use HelioPulse servers, analytics, advertising or third-party SDKs, and we do not collect data through it.
What data it uses and where it stays:
- On your iPhone: the address of your equipment and the latest battery reading, for the widgets and the offline screen; and, in the iOS Keychain, the session credentials and a read-only token for the widgets.
- On your equipment: when you pair the iPhone, it records the phone's generic name (for example, "iPhone"), the platform, the app version and the date it was last used, so you can see and revoke paired phones from the dashboard.
- Camera: only when you tap "Scan QR code" to read your equipment's code. The image is not stored or sent.
- Face ID or passcode: iOS checks them; the app only learns whether the check succeeded.
- To delete this data, use "Disconnect this iPhone" in the app settings, revoke the phone from your equipment's dashboard or delete the app.
- Apple may share aggregated, anonymous statistics and crash reports with us only if you agree to share them with app developers in the iOS settings.
The heliopulse.io website
On the website and in the installer portal we handle this data:
- Analytics (PostHog), only if you accept it in the cookie notice: pages visited and actions on the site. It may record the session with every text field hidden. It is sent through our own domain to PostHog, in the United States.
- Meta Pixel, only if you accept it in the cookie notice, to measure the results of our campaigns.
- Download and installation counters: we record downloads and copies of the install commands pseudonymously, without IP address, cookies or fingerprint; at most a browser identifier that changes every 24 hours. They are kept for up to 400 days.
- Contact and support forms: what you write, your email if you give it so we can reply, the approximate country and the device and browser type.
- Payments: priority support and donations are paid through PayPal, which processes the payment under its own policy. We receive the email you give and the status of the payment or subscription, never your card details.
- Installer portal: your email and the profile details you enter, such as your company. The session uses the portal's own cookies.
- Cookies and browser storage: your cookie choice, language and theme. You can change your choice at any time from "Cookies" at the bottom of every page.
Providers
These providers handle data on our behalf: Amazon Web Services (hosting, database, email and portal accounts), PostHog (analytics), Meta (campaign measurement, with your consent), PayPal (payments) and GitHub (release downloads). They may handle it outside your country, including in the United States.
Retention
We keep each piece of data only as long as needed: pseudonymous counters for up to 400 days; support requests while they are needed to help you; portal accounts until you ask us to delete them. You control the data on your equipment and your backups in the cloud.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct or delete your data, object to its processing or withdraw your consent, under Colombian Law 1581 of 2012 and, where it applies, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation. Write to us through the contact form and we will answer within the legal deadlines.
Minors
HelioPulse is not directed at minors and does not knowingly collect their data.
Changes to this policy
We will publish any change here and update the date. If a change is significant, we will announce it on the site or in the software.