YouTube API Services Policy
Last updated: September 7, 2026
Hey Robot ("we", "the Service") uses the YouTube API Services to let you connect your YouTube channel. This page explains, as required by the YouTube Terms of Service and the YouTube API Services Terms of Service, what data we access, why, and how you can revoke access or delete it. Google's own handling of your data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.
What we ask permission for
When you connect YouTube, Google's consent screen asks you to authorize the following scopes:
| Scope | What it's used for |
|---|---|
youtube.readonly | Read your channel's basic info (ID, title, handle) and read live chat messages during your stream. |
youtube.force-ssl | Post the bot's replies into your live chat on your behalf, when you ask it a question or trigger a command. |
openid, email | Used only for "Sign up / log in with YouTube" — confirms your identity and, optionally, links an email to your account for password recovery. |
What data we access and store
- Channel identity: your YouTube channel ID, title, and handle — stored so the Service knows which channel's live chat to read/post to.
- OAuth tokens: your access and refresh tokens, stored encrypted at rest, so the Service can keep reading chat without asking you to re-authorize every session.
- Live chat messages: author display name and message text, read while your stream is live, so the assistant can answer questions and so you can see the current session's chat on your dashboard. Raw messages are kept only for the current stream session: when the stream ends they are summarised into per-viewer topics (short dated notes such as "got a new puppy", plus who they interacted with) and the raw messages are deleted. As a safety net, any raw platform messages older than 36 hours are purged automatically. Topics are kept so the assistant can greet returning viewers; they are not YouTube data, but they are derived from chat and are deleted on request.
- Viewer opt-out: any viewer can ask the assistant in chat, in any language, to forget them. Their messages, topics and profile are deleted immediately and the assistant ignores their messages from then on. This is honoured for all platforms, including YouTube.
- Speech transcripts: if you use the voice assistant, a per-session transcript is stored so you can download it after your stream — this is your own microphone audio's transcription, not YouTube data, but it may reference the same session.
We do not use YouTube data to sell ads, and we do not share YouTube data with third parties except the AI/search providers strictly needed to generate an answer to a question you asked live (see our Terms of Service).
How you can revoke access
You can disconnect YouTube from Hey Robot at any time in two ways:
- From inside your Hey Robot dashboard settings, which revokes and deletes your stored YouTube tokens; or
- Directly from your Google Account's third-party access settings, which revokes Hey Robot's access from Google's side.
How to delete your data
Disconnecting YouTube removes your stored tokens and stops any further access. If you also want your stored viewer topics, session chat, speech transcripts, and account deleted entirely, you can do so yourself from your account settings (password confirmation required), or by emailing admin@heyrobot.gg — we'll delete it within 7 days and confirm once it's done. Individual viewers can have their own data deleted by asking the assistant in chat (see above) or by emailing the same address.
Contact
Questions about this policy or how YouTube data is handled? Reach out at admin@heyrobot.gg.