This policy explains how the operator of Waku (“we”, “us”) handles information when you use Waku. Questions: hello@waku.chat.
What we don’t collect
- Your name, email address or phone number. You never give them to us.
- Photos of your face. Profile pictures and banners are chosen from Pinterest images.
- Your location. There are no location features; a country on your profile or Portal is optional and chosen by you.
- Your private chats, except messages and files waiting to be delivered (see below).
What’s on your device
Your profile, your matches, your chats, and media you send or receive are stored in your browser on your device. Before a photo, video or audio file is sent, its location, device and date details (metadata) are removed. Clearing your browser data, deleting your account, or going quiet for the period you choose removes it.
What we process on our side
- Your profile card (nickname, age, pfp, banner, bio and the details you choose to add), so other people can see it in Swipe. It’s deleted with your account.
- Who said yes to whom, so a yes can reach their Requests and a chat can open, and chat requests and notes you send. A note is shown with your request, and deleted once the chat opens, they decline, or either account is gone. The rest is deleted with the accounts involved.
- Board posts, which are public to other users. They’re deleted when a thread goes 24 hours without a reply, or when your account is deleted.
- Connection data: like any website, our hosting and security provider processes your IP address and basic device information to deliver the Service, check for bots and stop abuse. These security logs are kept for a short period.
- Searches for pfps, banners and GIFs: we fetch these images on your behalf, so the image services see our server, not your IP address.
- Safety checks on public content: board posts, profile text and notes may be checked by an automated safety provider for things like child exploitation or illegal activity. Flagged content is hidden and reviewed by a person; nothing is decided on an automated score alone. Private chats are never scanned. Board images are checked by OpenAI’s moderation service before they’re posted.
- Reports you make or that are made about you, kept as long as needed to keep the Service safe and meet legal obligations.
- Push notifications, if you turn them on: a push token from your browser, deleted when you turn them off or your account is deleted.
Private chats are sent directly between the devices in the chat, through a relay so neither person sees the other’s IP address. We help the two devices find each other. When the other person is offline, a message waits on our servers until they’re back and is deleted once delivered, or after 24 hours. Photos, videos and audio go through temporary storage the same way: deleted once the other person has them, or after a day. Messages and files are end-to-end encrypted, so we can’t read or scan them. Notes sent with a yes aren’t. If you report someone, your device can attach what you report.
Analytics and ads
We use an analytics provider to understand how the Service is used (for example, which pages are visited), and we may show ads. These providers can use cookies or similar technologies and receive device and usage information. Where the law requires it, we ask for your consent first, and you can change your choice at any time. We never share your chats or board posts with them.
Who we share information with
- Service providers who help us run the Service: hosting and security, automated safety checks, analytics, advertising, and (if you use paid features in the future) payments. They may only use the information to provide their service to us.
- Law enforcement and safety, as described below.
- A buyer or successor, if the Service is sold or merged, under this policy.
We don’t sell your personal information.
Law enforcement
We follow the approach in our Terms. We report child sexual exploitation to the relevant authorities. We respond to legal requests (such as subpoenas, court orders and warrants) that are valid under the applicable law, and push back on ones that are overbroad. In an emergency involving a risk of death or serious harm, we may share information without waiting for legal process. Where the law allows and it’s safe, we tell you first.
What we can provide is limited by design: there are no names, emails or phone numbers to hand over, private chats aren’t kept on our servers (only undelivered messages and files, for at most a day), and accounts are deleted after the inactivity period each user chooses. Depending on what still exists, it may include a profile card, board posts, reports, account timestamps and short-term security logs.
How long things are kept
- Your account, profile, matches and chats: until you delete them, or the inactivity period you choose (24 hours, 7 days or 30 days).
- Messages and files waiting to be delivered: until delivered, at most a day.
- Board posts: until the thread goes 24 hours without a reply, or your account is deleted.
- Security logs: a short period, for preventing abuse.
- Reports and information preserved for legal reasons: as long as needed for safety or the law.
- Backups made by our hosting provider can keep deleted data for up to 30 days.
Children
The Service isn’t meant for children; see the Terms for who can use it. If we learn that a child is using it, we delete their account and data, except where we must preserve it to report exploitation.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or move your information, to object to or restrict certain uses, and to withdraw consent. The fastest way to delete everything is “Delete my profile now” in Settings. For anything else, email hello@waku.chat. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Security
We protect information in transit with encryption and limit what we keep in the first place. No service is perfectly secure, so never share anything that identifies you in a chat.
International transfers
Our providers may process information in countries other than yours. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for these transfers.
Changes
If we change this policy in a meaningful way, we’ll make it visible in the Service and update the date above.