Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how the Nicechat mobile app (listed as “Nicechat Mesh” on the App Store and Google Play) and the website nicechat.me (together, the “Services”) handle information. “We”, “us” and “our” mean the Nicechat team that provides the Services.

Nicechat is built so that we don’t need your personal data. It has no accounts, and we don’t run servers that receive your messages. Most of this policy therefore explains what happens on your phone and between phones, so you can make informed choices.

Summary

No account, no phone number, no email address. We don’t know who you are or who you talk to.
We don’t run servers that receive your messages. Messages travel directly between phones over Bluetooth or, when you’re online, through public relays run by third parties.
We collect anonymous usage statistics and crash reports, only to improve the app. They tell us which screens and features are used and why the app crashes. They never include what you write or share, who you talk to, or where you are, and they aren’t linked to you. No ads and no tracking across apps. The website uses no cookies and no analytics.
Private chats and private groups are end-to-end encrypted. Nearby chat, Places, place notes and channels without a password are public.
Your data stays on your phone until you delete it. You can erase everything in one tap. We can’t delete copies that already exist on other people’s phones or on public relays.

1. Who we are

The Nicechat team is responsible for the Services. You can contact us at any time at [email protected].

2. What we collect

We never collect the content of what you do. Your messages, photos, voice, notes, nickname, keys, contacts, friends, groups, channel names and location never reach us. We don’t operate any server that receives them, and we don’t know who uses Nicechat or who they talk to.

Usage statistics (always on). To understand how the app is used and make it better, the app sends anonymous usage statistics to Google Analytics for Firebase:

which screens you open and how long the app is open, so we can see which parts are used and where people get stuck;
a few actions, recorded only by type: finishing setup and whether you allowed Bluetooth and notifications; sending a message (only where — for example Nearby chat or a private chat — and what kind — text, photo, voice — never the content or the recipient); adding a friend (only how: QR code, Nearby list or accepting a request); opening a place chat (only its size, such as city or neighbourhood, never which place); and sharing an invitation;
technical information: device model, operating system and app version, language, and an approximate country or region that Google derives from the connection;
a random identifier that Firebase creates for this installation of the app.

These statistics aren’t linked to your identity, nickname, keys or contacts, we don’t set any user ID, and we don’t collect advertising identifiers (IDFA or Android advertising ID) or use the data to track you across other apps and websites. We use them only to improve the Services — never for advertising, and we never sell them.

Crash reports (on by default, you can turn them off). If the app crashes, it sends a crash report to Firebase Crashlytics: where in the code the crash happened, the device model, operating system and app version, and the time. Crash reports contain no messages or other content. You can turn them off in Me → Send crash reports; we’ll fix problems more slowly if you do.

Privacy mode pauses both. Firebase connects to Google directly, not through Tor, so Google can see your IP address when the app sends statistics or crash reports (Google says Google Analytics doesn’t log or store IP addresses). While Privacy mode is on, the app sends neither; crash reports stay on your phone until you turn Privacy mode off.

When you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include (see section 9).

From the app stores. Apple and Google may give us aggregated statistics, such as the number of downloads, and crash reports if you have chosen to share diagnostics with app developers in your phone’s settings. Their privacy policies govern that data.

3. Information stored on your phone

When you first open Nicechat, the app creates your identity on your phone: a set of cryptographic keys and a random nickname and avatar colour, which you can change.

Identity keys are generated on your phone and kept in the iOS Keychain or in storage protected by the Android Keystore. Your private keys never leave your phone.
Chats, friends, groups, channels, waiting messages, photos, voice messages and settings are stored on your phone, encrypted.
No backup or transfer. The app doesn’t back up or move your identity or chats. If you change phones, you start with a new identity.
You’re in control. You can delete individual messages and conversations. In Privacy mode, messages disappear automatically after the time you choose (24 hours by default). Erase everything permanently deletes your identity keys and all app data on that phone and creates a new identity.

Anyone who can unlock your phone may be able to open the app and read your chats, so protect your phone with a passcode.

4. Bluetooth: Nearby features

While Nicechat is running (including in the background, if you allow it), it uses Bluetooth to find and talk to nearby phones running Nicechat, bitchat or other compatible apps.

What your phone broadcasts. The app advertises a Bluetooth service and sends an announcement containing your nickname, your public keys and a short ID derived from your key. Anyone nearby with a compatible app or a Bluetooth scanner can receive it. Your phone’s device name is not included.
Nearby chat is public. Messages in Nearby chat are signed but not encrypted. Anyone in range can read them, other phones relay them so they reach people further away, and nearby phones may keep a copy for about 15 minutes so they can pass it on to people who missed it.
Channels. Messages in a channel without a password are public in the same way. Messages in a channel with a password are encrypted with a key derived from that password, so anyone who knows the password can read them.
Private chats and private groups are end-to-end encrypted using the Noise protocol. Phones that relay them can’t read their content, but can see limited routing information needed to deliver them, such as the short IDs of the sender and recipient and when they were sent.
Carrying messages for offline friends. If a friend is out of reach, your phone may hand an encrypted copy of your private message to nearby trusted devices, which can carry it for up to about 25 hours and pass it on if they meet your friend. They can’t read it. Your phone may do the same for others.
Photos and voice messages are sent only over Bluetooth. Before sending, photos are re-encoded, which removes location and other embedded metadata (EXIF).
Push-to-talk streams your voice live while you hold the button — to everyone nearby in Nearby chat (public, like a nearby message) or end-to-end encrypted in a private chat — and then also sends it as a voice message.

5. Internet features

When you’re online, Nicechat also uses the internet for chats with friends who aren’t nearby and for Places.

Public relays. Internet features use public Nostr relays: third-party servers that pass messages between apps. We don’t operate or control these relays. Their operators have their own policies and may store what is sent through them.
Places and place notes are public. Messages in a place chat and notes left at a spot are visible to anyone, are tagged with the approximate area they belong to (from about 150 m up to a whole country; a note’s area can be as small as a few dozen metres), and are signed with a separate pseudonymous key for each place, so your activity in one place isn’t linked to another or to your Bluetooth identity. Place notes are intended to be permanent and may stay on relays indefinitely. While you have a place chat open, the app also publishes a short “online” signal under that place key so people can see how many are there.
Private messages to friends over the internet are end-to-end encrypted. Relays can see the encrypted data and limited technical information needed to deliver it, such as the time and the recipient’s public key, but not the content. When you become friends, your apps exchange the public keys needed to reach each other online.
Your IP address. By default, internet connections go through the Tor network, so relays don’t see your IP address. In normal mode, if Tor can’t start, the app may connect directly, and relays can then see your IP address. In Privacy mode, the app never connects directly; online features pause instead.

6. Location

Nicechat asks for location permission only when you use a feature that needs it. Your location is processed on your phone and is never sent to us.

Places. The app turns your location into an approximate area at the size you choose, and uses it to show and tag place chats and notes.
Live location. When you choose to share your live location with friends or a group, your exact location is sent to them end-to-end encrypted, for the time you choose (15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours). Sharing may continue while the app is in the background, and stops automatically or when you stop it.
SOS. When you send an SOS, everyone nearby (including bitchat users) receives your message and an approximate area of about 150 m, which is not encrypted. Your friends receive your exact location, end-to-end encrypted. While SOS is on, the app re-sends it about once a minute with your updated location until you turn it off.
Maps. To show maps, the Android app uses the Google Maps SDK and the iOS app uses Apple MapKit. These map requests go directly to Google or Apple, which may receive your IP address and the area being shown.

7. Other permissions

Bluetooth / Nearby devices: to find and talk to nearby phones.
Camera: to scan friends’ QR codes and take photos to send. QR codes are decoded on your phone.
Microphone: to record voice messages and push-to-talk.
Photos: to choose photos you want to send.
Notifications: notifications are created on your phone; we don’t use a push notification service. By default, message text is not shown on the lock screen, and Privacy mode hides it everywhere. On Android, a persistent notification shows while the app stays online in the background.

You can change these permissions at any time in your phone’s settings.

8. Third-party services

The app doesn’t include advertising or tracking software development kits (SDKs). It relies on these third-party services, whose own privacy policies apply:

Public Nostr relays run by independent operators, for internet features (section 5).
The Tor network, run by volunteers, to hide your IP address.
On Android: Google Play services (location), the Google Maps SDK (map tiles from Google) and ML Kit barcode scanning, which runs on your phone. Google states that ML Kit may send limited diagnostic and usage information about the API to Google.
On iOS: Apple MapKit.
Google Firebase (Google Analytics for Firebase and Crashlytics), which processes the usage statistics and crash reports described in section 2 on our behalf.
Apple and Google, which distribute the app through the App Store and Google Play.

9. Reports and emails to us

Report a problem opens your email app with a message to [email protected] that contains only what you write.
Reporting a person opens your email app with a draft report that includes the reason you picked, the person’s public key and up to five of their recent messages. Nothing is sent until you send the email yourself, and you can edit it first.
Reports in Places are also published as public report events on the relays, signed with your key for that place, so other people and apps can see them.

We use emails and reports only to respond to you, to look into reports and to improve the Services. We keep them only as long as needed for those purposes or to meet legal obligations, then delete them. Our email provider processes these emails on our behalf.

10. This website

nicechat.me uses no cookies, no analytics and no third-party requests; fonts and images are served from our own domain. Our hosting and content delivery providers (currently Huawei Cloud and Cloudflare) process technical information such as IP addresses and request logs to deliver the site and protect it from abuse.

11. Legal bases

Where data protection laws such as the GDPR or UK GDPR apply: we process the usage statistics and crash reports described in section 2 based on our legitimate interests in keeping the app working and improving it; they’re limited to what’s needed for that and aren’t linked to you. We process support emails and reports based on our legitimate interests in responding to you and keeping the Services safe, and, where relevant, to meet legal obligations. Our providers process website request data based on legitimate interests in operating and securing the site.

We don’t sell or share personal information, including for targeted advertising. Google processes usage statistics and crash reports as our service provider. We disclose support emails only if required by law or to protect someone’s safety. Because we don’t have your messages, contacts or location, we can’t disclose them.

13. International transfers

Our email, hosting and content delivery providers, and Google for usage statistics and crash reports, may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses.

14. How long data is kept

On your phone: until you delete it, it disappears in Privacy mode, or you erase everything.
On other people’s phones: messages you sent stay in the recipients’ apps until they delete them. Public Nearby messages may be cached by nearby phones for about 15 minutes, and carried private messages for up to about 25 hours.
On public relays: depends on each relay operator. Place notes are intended to be permanent.
Usage statistics: kept by Google Analytics for 2 months, then deleted.
Crash reports: kept by Crashlytics for 90 days, then deleted.
Emails to us: as described in section 9.

15. Your choices and rights

You can delete messages and conversations, turn on Privacy mode (which pauses usage statistics and crash reports), turn off crash reports, revoke permissions, or erase everything at any time. Uninstalling the app stops all collection. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict the use of personal data we hold about you, to object to its use, and to data portability. Usage statistics and crash reports aren’t linked to you, so we usually can’t find the ones that came from your phone; for everything else, contact us at [email protected] to exercise these rights. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

16. Security

Private chats use end-to-end encryption, identity keys are kept in your phone’s secure storage, and app data is encrypted on your phone. No system is perfectly secure, and security also depends on your phone and how you use it. If you believe you’ve found a security issue, please email [email protected].

17. Children

The Services are intended for people aged 17 and over (or older, if required where you live), and the app is rated 17+. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we’ll delete it.

18. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the Services change. We’ll post the new version on this page and update the date at the top. If changes are significant, we’ll also give notice on this website or in the app’s release notes.

19. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints about privacy: [email protected]