Terms of Service
Effective May 7, 2026
Plain English
You pay us a monthly fee plus a one-time setup fee for an AI receptionist that answers your business phone, talks with your callers, and books appointments to your calendar. You promise you have the right to use it on the phone numbers you set up, and you promise you won't use it to spam, scam, or impersonate anyone. Either of us can leave with reasonable notice. We cap our financial risk to you at the fees you paid us in the last twelve months.
1.The agreement, in plain terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly ("Howdyly," "we," "us"), a Texas limited liability company with principal place of business at 1401 Lavaca St #879, Austin, TX 78701, and the business or individual that signs up for the Service ("Customer," "you"). By creating an account, completing checkout, tapping a button that explicitly accepts these Terms, or using the Service, you accept these Terms on behalf of yourself and any business you represent. If you don't have authority to bind that business, do not proceed. We accept electronic signatures and click-to-agree acceptance under the federal E-Sign Act and state-equivalent UETA statutes.
2.What the Service includes
The Service is an AI voice receptionist that (a) answers calls placed to or forwarded to a phone number we provision for you, (b) conducts spoken conversations with callers using large language models and synthesized voice, (c) where you have authorized it, books appointments onto your connected calendar, (d) sends you written summaries, transcripts, and recordings of calls, (e) where available, sends short text-message (SMS) replies to inbound texts and to confirm appointments, and (f) escalates calls to a human contact you designate. Specific features depend on your subscription tier and what you configure in your customer portal.
3.Subscription, billing, taxes, and promo codes
Subscriptions are month-to-month and renew automatically until you cancel. Your card is charged the monthly fee on each renewal date and the one-time setup fee at signup. All fees are listed in U.S. dollars and exclude any sales, use, or value-added taxes you may owe; you are responsible for those taxes. If usage exceeds the included minutes for your tier, overages are billed at the per-minute rate disclosed at signup. From time to time we issue promotional codes; promotional pricing applies only while the code is active and we may revoke or rotate codes at any time.
4.The 30-day money-back promise
If, in your first 30 days as a paying customer, Howdy does not generate booked appointments or other measurable recovery worth at least three (3) times your monthly subscription fee, you may request a full refund of all fees paid (subscription + setup) by emailing kate@howdyly.com within 7 days of the end of that period. We'll process the refund within 14 business days and grant you an additional 30 days of free service while we tune the assistant. This promise applies once per customer and only to the first 30 days following first paid invoice.
5.Cancellation, downgrades, and suspension
You can cancel any time from your customer portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period; you keep full access until then. Setup fees are non-refundable after the window described in Section 4. We may suspend or terminate the Service if you breach these Terms, fail to pay, or use the Service in a way that violates the Acceptable Use Policy (Section IV). If a regulator, carrier, or law-enforcement authority demands suspension of a specific number or campaign, we may comply immediately and will notify you as soon as practicable.
6.Phone numbers, porting, and number ownership
During setup we provision a phone number for you through Twilio. That number is licensed to you for the duration of your subscription. On cancellation you may either (a) port the number to another provider at your own cost within 30 days (we'll cooperate fully and waive any release fee on our side), or (b) release it back to the carrier pool. We do not guarantee any specific number, area code, or carrier remains available.
7.Service levels, outages, and your fallback obligation
We target 99.5% monthly availability for the call-answering function. We do not currently offer a contractual SLA with credits; if you need one, contact us. You are responsible for keeping a fallback configured - a voicemail box, an escalation number that rings a real person, or a backup carrier route - so that if our Service is temporarily unreachable, your customers still reach you. We are not liable for any business lost during a Service outage.
8.Your data, call recordings, and ownership
You own all data you put into the Service (business hours, services, escalation contacts, knowledge-base entries, custom prompts) and the call recordings, transcripts, and metadata generated by your line. We process them solely to operate the Service for you, to bill you, to detect abuse, and to comply with legal obligations. You can export everything via the customer portal or by emailing us, and you can delete it at any time. We back up your data for 30 days after deletion, then it is permanently removed.
9.Our use of aggregated, de-identified data
We may use aggregated, de-identified data - call-volume patterns, model performance metrics, common caller intents, and similar signals - to improve the Service and to train internal models that benefit all customers. We will not use identifiable customer data, identifiable caller content, or your business-specific configuration to train any model that is shared across customers or external parties without your express opt-in.
10.Call recording - important, please read
By default, Howdy discloses at the start of every call that the call may be recorded for quality and training. Most U.S. states are one-party consent: the disclosure is more than sufficient. Several states (including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington) are all-party / two-party consent for at least some call types. You are responsible for compliance with the call-recording laws of every jurisdiction in which your callers may be located. Disabling the recording disclosure is at your sole risk. The default-on disclosure is configurable per tenant but cannot be removed without an explicit acknowledgement that you accept full responsibility for state-law compliance. See also the Call Recording Notice (Section V).
11.Honest representation; no impersonation of humans
Howdy is an AI. The Acceptable Use Policy requires that the assistant identify itself as an AI assistant if a caller directly asks whether they are speaking with a human. You may not configure the assistant to deny it is AI when directly asked. You may not configure the assistant to impersonate a specific named human individual, including yourself or your employees.
12.SMS and your TCPA responsibilities (critical)
The Service sends and receives short text messages (SMS) on phone numbers we provision for you. SMS is regulated by the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), state mini-TCPA statutes, the CTIA Messaging Principles & Best Practices, and individual wireless carrier rules. You represent and warrant that, for every phone number on which you enable Howdyly SMS, you have obtained the recipient's prior express consent (and, for marketing SMS, prior express written consent that satisfies 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(8)) to receive automated text messages from your business. You agree to maintain reasonable documentation of that consent and to provide it to us within 5 business days on request. The Service automatically honors STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, and CANCEL replies across your account; you agree not to override or attempt to bypass this honoring. See the SMS Program Disclosure (Section VI) for the message types Howdyly sends and the consent flow we maintain.
13.Multi-tenant ISV / On-Behalf-Of registration
Howdyly operates as a Twilio Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and registers messaging campaigns under the A2P 10DLC standard on behalf of you and similarly-situated customers. You authorize us to (a) register your business as a sub-brand or end-user entity under our parent brand for the purpose of carrier registration, (b) attach your provisioned phone numbers to one or more shared or per-tenant 10DLC campaigns, (c) submit accurate business information (legal name, EIN, address, website, vertical) about you to The Campaign Registry, Twilio, and U.S. wireless carriers, and (d) take prompt action on carrier suspensions, rejections, or audits affecting your campaigns. You will provide accurate, current business information and will update us within 7 days of any material change (name, ownership, address, EIN, line of business).
14.Acceptable Use (incorporated)
You agree to the Acceptable Use Policy (Section IV). The bar isn't legalistic: don't use Howdyly to harass, defraud, spam, mislead, or threaten the people who call your business or who you message through your Howdyly numbers. Violations are grounds for immediate suspension and, in some cases, reporting to the relevant carriers or regulators.
15.Indemnification (you protect us)
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly, its officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates from and against any and all third-party claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the Service in violation of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) your business's compliance failures, including but not limited to the TCPA, the CTIA Messaging Principles, state mini-TCPA statutes, state call-recording laws, state Do-Not-Call lists, the CAN-SPAM Act, the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, HIPAA (where you have not entered into a Business Associate Agreement with us), the GLBA, the FCRA, or state consumer-privacy statutes (CCPA/CPRA, VCDPA, CPA, CTDPA, UCPA, OCPA, TDPSA, and successors); (c) any claim that your business misrepresented itself to callers through the Service; (d) any claim by a person called or messaged via a Howdyly number you operate arising from your insufficient consent, failure to honor opt-out, or content of the communications; (e) any claim by a third party arising from content, data, or information you submitted to the Service; (f) intellectual-property infringement claims arising from logos, copy, audio, or other materials you provided; (g) tax claims relating to your subscription; and (h) any government investigation, audit, or enforcement action involving your business.
16.Our indemnification of you (limited)
We agree to defend you from any third-party claim that the Service, as we provide it (excluding any portion you configured, modified, or combined with non-Howdyly software), directly infringes a U.S. patent or copyright, and we will pay damages and reasonable costs finally awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction or agreed in settlement. Our obligation is conditioned on you giving us prompt written notice, sole control of the defense, and reasonable cooperation. If the Service becomes the subject of an infringement claim, we may at our option (i) procure for you the right to continue using it, (ii) modify it to be non-infringing, or (iii) terminate the affected portion and refund pre-paid fees on a pro-rata basis. This is your sole and exclusive remedy for infringement claims.
17.Limitation of liability (read this)
To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither party will be liable to the other for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost data, business interruption, or substitute-procurement costs, even if advised of the possibility. Our total aggregate liability for all claims related to the Service, in contract, tort (including negligence), warranty, or otherwise, will not exceed the greater of (i) the fees you paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim or (ii) one thousand U.S. dollars ($1,000). This cap does not apply to your indemnification obligations in Section 15 or to fees you owe us.
18.Disclaimers (we mean these)
The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE." We don't promise the assistant will handle every call perfectly, that bookings will never be missed, that transcripts will be fully accurate, that the underlying language model will always respond in the way you would, or that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure. We encourage you to keep a fallback (voicemail or human escalation) configured for outages. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all express, implied, and statutory warranties - including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement - that are not expressly granted in these Terms.
19.Confidentiality
Each party will treat the other's non-public information with the same care it uses for its own confidential information (and at minimum, reasonable care), will not use it except to perform under these Terms, and will not disclose it except to its employees and contractors who need to know and who are bound by similar confidentiality obligations.
20.Disputes - informal resolution, then binding arbitration in Texas
Before filing any formal claim, the parties will negotiate in good faith for at least 30 days. Any dispute that the parties cannot resolve informally within that window will be settled by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, conducted in Austin, Texas. Each party waives any right to a jury trial and to participate in a class action, class arbitration, or collective action against the other. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding. Either party may bring claims in small-claims court instead, where they qualify and remain there. This Section 20 is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.
21.Governing law and venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The federal and state courts located in Austin, Texas have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim that, for any reason, is not subject to arbitration under Section 20.
22.Force majeure
Neither party is liable for failures to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, civil unrest, pandemic, labor strikes, power or internet outages, denial-of-service attacks, or actions of third-party providers (including Twilio, Vapi, OpenAI, Stripe, Resend, Cal.com, and Netlify).
23.Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will email the address on file for your account at least 14 days before it takes effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms. Your remedy if you reject an update is to cancel the Service.
24.Miscellaneous
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, SMS Program Disclosure, and Call Recording Notice, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remain in force. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent (we may assign in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all our assets). Notices to us go to legal@howdyly.com with a mailed copy to 1401 Lavaca St #879, Austin, TX 78701. Notices to you go to the email on file for your account.
Privacy Policy
Effective May 7, 2026
Plain English
We collect what we need to run your phone line: your account info, call recordings, transcripts, and the phone numbers of people who call you. We don't sell any of it. We share it only with the vendors who help us deliver the Service. You can export or delete it any time. For callers, the business that operates the line is the data controller and we are the processor.
1.Who this Policy applies to
This Policy describes how Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly ("we," "Howdyly") collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you (a) visit howdyly.com, (b) sign up for or use the Service as a business customer, or (c) call or text a phone number operated through the Service as an end caller.
2.What we collect from business customers
We collect your name and email; your business name, phone numbers, address, hours, and the services you provide; your billing information (handled by Stripe - we do not store full card numbers); the phone number we provision for you; configuration choices you make in the customer portal; the records of your TOS / Privacy / AUP acceptance and your SMS consent attestations; and any messages or support tickets you send us.
3.What we collect about callers (end callers)
When someone calls or texts the Howdyly number we operate for our business customer, we collect: the caller's phone number; the date, time, and duration of the call or message; an audio recording of the call; a written transcript of the conversation; any names, contact details, or appointment requests the caller provides; SMS message bodies; opt-in and opt-out events (STOP, HELP, START keywords); and metadata generated by Twilio. As described in Section 10, the business customer is the data controller for this caller data; we process it as their data processor.
4.Why we collect it
We use the information to deliver the Service; maintain a record for the business customer to review; bill the business customer; detect and prevent abuse, fraud, and security incidents; produce evidence of consent on regulator or carrier request; comply with legal obligations and lawful requests; and improve the Service in aggregate, de-identified form. We do not use call audio or transcripts to train models that are shared across customers or external parties without express opt-in.
5.Who we share it with (subprocessors)
We share data with the following service providers, each contractually bound to use it only to deliver services to us:
- Vapi (vapi.ai) - orchestrates the AI voice agent and stores call audio + transcript
- Twilio - provides phone numbers, call routing, SMS, and trust/verification services
- OpenAI, Anthropic - large language models that power the conversation (no training on your data)
- ElevenLabs - text-to-speech voice generation
- Stripe - payment processing, subscription billing, customer portal
- Resend - transactional email (sign-in codes, welcome packets, summaries)
- Cal.com - calendar booking
- Neon (Postgres) - application database
- Netlify - web hosting and edge compute
- Google Cloud Platform - reCAPTCHA Enterprise (anti-abuse on demo + signup forms)
- Google Places API - business enrichment during demo and onboarding
- Bitwarden - credential vault (Howdyly secrets only; not customer data)
- GoHighLevel - our internal CRM (used only for our sales pipeline; not for end-caller data unless required to operate the Service)
6.Call-recording consent and SMS opt-in
By default, the assistant discloses at the start of each call that the conversation may be recorded for quality and training. SMS opt-in is captured at the demo form (button-text consent) and, for tenant-line texting, via the consent the business customer collects from its own callers (the business is responsible for that consent, see Terms § 12). All consent records are stored in our consent log and available on request.
7.Retention
Account data persists for as long as you are a customer and for 90 days after cancellation, after which it is permanently deleted. Call recordings and transcripts are retained for 12 months by default; you can shorten the retention to 30, 60, or 180 days from the customer portal, or trigger immediate deletion of any specific call. Consent records are retained for 4 years (the federal TCPA statute of limitations plus margin). Backups are purged within 30 days of primary-store deletion.
8.How we protect it
Data in transit is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or higher. Data at rest is encrypted by our database and object-storage providers. Access to production systems is limited to a small number of named individuals on Howdyly's team and protected by strong passwords plus two-factor authentication. Secrets are stored exclusively in Bitwarden Secrets Manager. Customer-portal authentication uses HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite-Lax cookies; the session token never crosses the browser JavaScript boundary.
9.Your rights as a business-customer individual
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict processing of your personal information. To exercise any of these rights, email legal@howdyly.com. We will respond within 30 days. Some rights have carve-outs for personal information we are required to retain to comply with legal obligations (e.g., tax records, consent logs, sanctions screening).
10.End-caller rights and the controller / processor relationship
For data about end callers (the consumers who call or text a Howdyly number we operate for a business customer), the business customer is the data controller and we act as their data processor. If you are an end caller and want to exercise your rights with respect to the recording of your call, the transcript, or the phone number we hold, please contact the business that called you. If you cannot reach them, email legal@howdyly.com and we will route your request to the appropriate business customer and assist them in responding.
11.California, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, and other state-law rights
We do not "sell" or "share" personal information as defined by the CCPA/CPRA, the VCDPA, the CPA, the CTDPA, the UCPA, the OCPA, the TDPSA, or successor statutes. We do not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not process sensitive personal information beyond what is necessary to provide the Service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (and require all users to be 18 or older). California residents may designate an authorized agent to exercise their rights; instructions on how to authenticate are available at legal@howdyly.com.
12.International users and data transfers
We are based in the United States and process all data in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the U.S., you consent to the transfer of your information to the U.S., which may have different data-protection rules than your home jurisdiction.
13.Cookies and analytics
We use a minimal cookie set on howdyly.com to remember your sign-in session and to count page views in aggregate. We use first-party analytics and do not load third-party advertising trackers. We use Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise on the demo and signup forms to prevent abuse; Google's use of that data is governed by its own policies.
14.Updates to this Policy
We'll update this Policy when our practices change. Material changes are announced by email at least 14 days before they take effect to the email on file for your account.
15.Contact us about privacy
Email legal@howdyly.com or write to Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly, 1401 Lavaca St #879, Austin, TX 78701.
Acceptable Use Policy
Effective May 7, 2026
Plain English
Don't use Howdyly to dial or message people who haven't asked to be dialed or messaged, to impersonate a specific person, to defraud anyone, or to do anything illegal. Don't try to break into systems or to dodge consent rules. Be a good neighbor.
1.Compliance with telecom and consumer-protection laws
You will use the Service only for lawful business purposes and in compliance with applicable laws, including the TCPA, the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, state mini-TCPA statutes (FL Mini-TCPA, OK TCPA, WA Spam Law, and others), state Do-Not-Call lists, the CAN-SPAM Act, the STIR/SHAKEN framework, and any state-level call-recording or autodialer rules. The Service is not designed for, and may not be used for, mass outbound telemarketing, robocalls, ringless voicemail drops, political campaign autodialing, fundraising autodialing, or debt-collection cold dialing.
2.SMS-specific rules
For every phone number you enable for SMS, you must have prior express consent (and for marketing SMS, prior express written consent under TCPA). You will not send messages to numbers on any applicable Do-Not-Contact list, to wireless numbers without prior consent, or to recipients who have replied STOP or otherwise opted out. You will not attempt to evade STOP / suppression by re-onboarding the number from a different sender or by stripping opt-out language. You will not send messages containing content prohibited by the CTIA SHAFT (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) categories without proper age-gating and carrier approval.
3.No impersonation, no deception
You will not configure the assistant to (a) deny it is AI when a caller directly asks, (b) impersonate a specific named human individual (including yourself or your employees), or (c) make material claims about your business that are false or misleading.
4.Prohibited content and uses
You may not use the Service in connection with: adult or sexually explicit services; hate speech; harassment; promotion of self-harm, suicide, or violence; illegal goods or services; schemes to defraud, scam, or extort; phishing or credential theft; gambling outside jurisdictions where you are properly licensed; cryptocurrency promotions or investment solicitations; payday loans; "loan modification" or debt-relief schemes; lead generation for any of the above; or any activity prohibited by our payment processors or telecom carriers.
5.Sensitive data and regulated industries
The Service is not, by default, suitable for handling Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA, payment card data beyond what Stripe handles directly, FCRA-covered consumer report data, or other tightly regulated data. If your business operates in healthcare, finance, legal, insurance, or another regulated field that requires special handling of incoming caller data, you must contact us before signing up. We may decline service or require a separate Business Associate Agreement or Data Processing Addendum.
6.Security and abuse
You will not (a) attempt to access another customer's data or any non-public Howdyly system, (b) probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service except as part of a coordinated disclosure with us, (c) use the Service to distribute malware or to phish users, (d) interfere with the Service's operation, (e) reverse-engineer or attempt to extract the underlying language models or prompts, or (f) build a competing service using data extracted from the Service. To report a security issue, email legal@howdyly.com.
7.Enforcement and reporting
We may suspend access immediately to investigate a suspected violation and may terminate your subscription for any material or repeated violation, with no refund of unused fees. To report a Howdyly user violating this Policy, email legal@howdyly.com.
SMS Program Disclosure
Effective May 7, 2026
Plain English
SMS from Howdyly is always opt-in. The demo form has an optional checkbox specifically for the text-recap follow-up - leaving it unchecked means we'll still place the demo call but we will not text you. When you sign up as a customer, your phone line texts your customers on your behalf. Reply STOP at any time to opt out. Standard message and data rates may apply. Howdyly will not sell your number or use it for marketing unrelated to the Service you requested.
1.Programs covered
This Disclosure covers all SMS programs operated by Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly, including (a) the Howdyly "Demo Transcript" program (one-time follow-up text after a demo call you requested), (b) the Howdyly "Account Operations" program (sign-in codes, billing, security, and transactional messages to business customers), and (c) the Tenant-On-Behalf-Of (OBO) programs we operate for our business customers, where the business customer is the originating party and Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly is the registered ISV conducting the messaging under Twilio's A2P 10DLC ISV framework.
2.How you opt in
You opt in to the Demo Transcript program by affirmatively checking the optional SMS opt-in checkbox on the demo form at howdyly.com/demo, separate from and in addition to the "Call me now" button. The checkbox is unchecked by default. The text adjacent to the checkbox reads, in substance: "Optional: Also text me the call recap and a booking link. Leaving this unchecked is fine - you'll still get the demo call. By checking this, you agree to receive recurring transactional SMS from Howdyly at the number above. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, HELP for help." Checking the box is recorded as your electronic signature under the E-Sign Act and UETA. Tapping "Call me now" alone - without the checkbox checked - opts you into the demo call but NOT into any SMS messaging. You opt in to the Account Operations program by becoming a Howdyly business customer and providing your phone number. For OBO programs, opt-in is collected by our business customer from their callers and recorded in our consent log.
3.Message frequency and content
The Demo Transcript program sends one (1) message per demo call. The Account Operations program sends transactional messages on demand (sign-in codes, billing notices, security alerts) and is unlikely to exceed 5 messages per month per recipient. OBO programs vary by business customer and are typically limited to appointment confirmations, missed-call text-back, and direct responses to inbound texts.
4.How to opt out
Reply STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, or CANCEL at any time to the message thread. You will receive one final confirmation that you have been unsubscribed; you will receive no further messages from that program. Reply START to re-subscribe. Reply HELP for assistance.
5.Carriers and rates
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Standard message and data rates may apply to all messages, set by your carrier. Howdyly does not control or set carrier rates.
6.Identity and contact
The Demo Transcript and Account Operations programs are operated by Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly, 1401 Lavaca St #879, Austin, TX 78701. Email legal@howdyly.com with any questions about SMS practices.
7.Privacy
Information collected via SMS programs is processed under the Privacy Policy (Section II). Howdyly will not share, rent, or sell your mobile number or message content to any third party for unrelated marketing.
Call Recording Notice
Effective May 7, 2026
Plain English
Calls handled by Howdyly may be recorded. The assistant says so at the start of each call. By staying on the line after that disclosure, the caller consents to the recording. If you operate Howdyly on a phone line and your callers may be in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, or Washington (and a handful of others), keep the disclosure on - it's the simplest way to comply with all-party-consent law.
1.Default behavior
By default, every call answered by Howdyly opens with the phrase: "This call may be recorded for quality." The default is on across all subscription tiers and all ai_disclosure modes (disclosed, on_request, off). Turning the recording disclosure off requires an explicit override in your customer portal and an acknowledgement that you accept full responsibility for state-law compliance on the affected line.
2.Why we record
Recordings and transcripts are used to (a) give you, the business customer, a record of every interaction, (b) train Howdy on your business over time, (c) resolve disputes about appointments, escalations, or instructions, (d) detect and prevent abuse of the Service, and (e) comply with lawful investigative requests.
3.States that require all-party consent (general guidance, not legal advice)
The following U.S. jurisdictions require, at least in some circumstances, the consent of all parties to record a call: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon (special rule for cellular calls), Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington. Federal law and most other states require only one-party consent. The default-on recording disclosure satisfies the consent requirement in every U.S. jurisdiction we are aware of, provided the caller remains on the line after hearing it.
4.Caller right to refuse recording
A caller who does not consent to the recording may, at any time during the call, ask Howdy to stop recording or hang up. Howdy is configured to acknowledge the request and either end the call gracefully or, where the business customer has enabled it, transfer the call to a human contact.
5.Access, deletion, and your obligations
Business customers can listen to, transcribe, export, or delete any specific recording from the customer portal. End callers can request access to or deletion of a recording made of their call by contacting the business they called, or by emailing legal@howdyly.com.
6.Wiretap and intercept
Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly records only the inbound calls to phone numbers it provisions or that have been forwarded into the Service. Empath Labs LLC dba Howdyly does not intercept, wiretap, or otherwise record any communication on lines that have not been actively connected into the Service by the lawful business customer.