Privacy Policy

Effective September 30, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Dialr ("Dialr", "we", "us") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the Dialr messaging app and related services (the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to this policy.

Information we collect

• Account information. You sign in with your phone number, and we store it. You may add a display name, a username, and a profile photo. You may also add an email address. It is optional, you cannot sign in with it, and its only use is so we can identify you if you write to us after losing access to your phone number.
• Messages and media. To deliver your messages, voice messages, round video notes, photos, videos, files, and stories to their recipients, this content passes through and is stored on our servers. Text messages stay for as long as the conversation exists. Media attachments — photos, videos, voice messages, round video notes, and files — are kept for 60 days after they were last opened and are then deleted from our servers; copies already saved on a device are not affected. Stories are deleted 24 hours after they are posted. Messages are protected in transit by TLS; they are not end-to-end encrypted, which means we hold them on our servers in a form we could read.
• Calls. Voice and video calls are carried peer-to-peer over WebRTC where possible. We process call signaling and metadata (such as participants and timing) to connect and log calls in your history.
• Location, only when you send it. When you choose to share your location or a point on the map in a chat, that point is sent as a message and stored like any other message. We never collect your location in the background.
• Games. When you play chess or checkers, we store the moves, results, and your Dialr rating so the game can continue on any of your devices.
• Device and usage data. We collect a push notification token, app version, device name, and basic technical information needed to deliver notifications, show you which devices are signed in to your account, and operate the Service.

What other people can see

People you are in a chat with can see your display name, your username, your profile photo, when you were last online, and the phone number you signed in with — that number is how they reached you. Anyone else who finds you through search sees only your name, username, and photo. We never show your email address to another user.

How we use your information

• To provide, maintain, and improve the Service — delivering messages, connecting calls, and syncing your chats across devices.
• To send you push notifications for new messages and calls.
• To keep the Service secure and prevent abuse.

Sharing

We do not sell your personal information and we do not use advertising or analytics trackers. We share information only with the service providers below, only as needed to provide the Service, or where required by law:

• Hosting: Hetzner Online (servers in Germany) stores your account and messages; media attachments are stored with Amazon Web Services (Frankfurt, Germany). Cloudflare carries traffic between the app and our servers.
• Sign-in codes: to send your one-time code we give your phone number and the code to Telegram (Telegram Gateway, used when your number has a Telegram account) or to Twilio (to send it by WhatsApp or SMS). If you are already signed in on another device, the code is shown there in Dialr and nothing is sent to these providers.
• Notifications: Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) deliver notifications to your device. A notification may contain the sender's name and a preview of the message.
• Voice to text: on iPhone and Mac, turning a voice message into text uses Apple's speech recognition, on your device whenever your language supports it, otherwise through Apple. On Android it runs entirely on your phone after you download a language pack; the pack is downloaded from alphacephei.com (the open-source Vosk project), which sees only the download request, never your voice or messages.
• Calls: calls are peer-to-peer where possible; otherwise audio and video are relayed through our own TURN server and are not recorded. To set up a call, your device asks a STUN server for its own public IP address. We run our own STUN server; on Android and older app versions, a public STUN server operated by Google may also be asked. A STUN server sees only your device's IP address, never who you are calling or the content of the call.
• Signing in on a new device: on iPhone and Mac, Dialr can keep a sign-in key in your iCloud Keychain so that your other Apple devices can offer to continue as you. The key is stored and synced by Apple, end-to-end encrypted, and we never see your keychain.

Chess training puzzles come from the open Lichess puzzle database (public domain, CC0), stored on our servers; no information about you is sent to Lichess. Link previews are loaded from the website a link points to. When you open a shared location in a maps or navigation app (such as Apple Maps, Google Maps, or CosmicNav), that point is passed to the app you choose, under its own privacy policy.

Data retention and deletion

We keep your information for as long as your account is active, except media attachments, which are deleted from our servers 60 days after they were last opened (profile photos stay until you remove them). You can delete your account and associated data at any time from within the app (Settings → Delete Account). When you delete your account, your profile, messages we hold, and related data are removed from our active systems.

Your choices

• Control who can reach you by blocking other users.
• Manage notification permissions in your device settings.
• Delete your account and data from within the app.
• Report a message or a person who is abusing the Service; reports reach us directly.
• Ask us what we hold about you, or ask for a copy of it, by writing to the address below.

Security

Data is transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS). While no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we take reasonable measures to protect your information.

Children

Dialr is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at [email protected].