howie.lol
Effective Oct. 10, 2026
The short version: Howie looks at messages only to catch scams. It checks them on the spot and forgets them, unless it has to act on one. We don't sell data, and we don't use your messages to train AI.
What Howie looks at
To spot scams, Howie reads new messages in the channels it has access to, including text and image attachments. It downloads images briefly to compare them against known scam images and to read any text in them. That text recognition runs on our own servers, not through an outside service, and the temporary image file is deleted as soon as the check finishes.
Messages that don't look like scams are not stored.
What Howie keeps
- Moderation reports. When Howie acts on a message, it posts a report to the channel your server chose. The report can include the account's username, user ID, the message's text and a fingerprint of any matched image. Reports live in your Discord server, and your admins control them.
- Scam image fingerprints. We keep short, one-way fingerprints, called hashes, of known scam images so Howie can recognize them again. A fingerprint can't be turned back into the image.
- System logs. Our servers log what Howie does, such as which server, user and message IDs were involved in an action, so we can fix problems. Connection logs are deleted after seven days, and other logs are deleted on a rolling basis.
What Howie never collects
Howie does not see or collect passwords, email addresses, payment information, direct messages between users or voice chat.
How we use information
Only to detect and remove scams, report what Howie did and keep it running. We do not sell or rent information, show ads or use your messages to train AI models.
Who else is involved
Howie runs on Discord, so Discord's Privacy Policy also applies. Howie runs on servers rented from a cloud hosting provider. We share information only with those services, or when the law requires it.
Your choices
- Server admins can limit which channels Howie sees, or remove Howie at any time. Removing it stops all processing for that server.
- If you think Howie acted on your account by mistake, contact the server's moderators. They can reverse the action.
- To ask what we have about you, or to ask us to delete it, email wtf [at] howie [dot] lol.
Children
Discord requires users to be at least 13, or older where local law requires. Howie is not meant for anyone below Discord's minimum age, and we don't knowingly collect their information.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the effective date above. Big changes will also be announced where we normally post Howie updates.
Contact
Privacy questions? Email wtf [at] howie [dot] lol.