Privacy Policy

chatuvo ("we", "us", or "the application") is a free chat client that uses a decentralized gossip network to distribute messages. Users are identified solely by their cryptographic keypair — there is no central system, no user registration, and no central authority. This Privacy Policy explains what data chatuvo does and does not collect, how information flows through the network, and what choices you have.

chatuvo does not require you to create an account, provide an email address, choose a username, or submit any personal information whatsoever. When you launch chatuvo for the first time, a unique cryptographic keypair is generated locally on your device. This keypair is your identity within the network.

Your private key never leaves your device. Your public key is shared with peers only as necessary to route and verify messages. Because keypairs are generated randomly and locally, we have no mapping between keypairs and real-world identities.

chatuvo uses a decentralized gossip protocol to propagate messages across the network. When you send a message, it is relayed from peer to peer until it reaches its intended recipient(s). Key characteristics of this model:

• Private messages are encrypted end-to-end using the recipient's public key. Only the holder of the corresponding private key can decrypt them.
• Relay peers cannot read the content of your private messages — they only see encrypted payloads and routing metadata.
• Messages in public rooms (without password) are not encrypted, only their sender signature gets verified.
• There is no central server that stores or processes messages. The network is composed entirely of user devices acting as peers.
• Because the network is decentralized, there is no single point where messages are logged or archived by chatuvo.

Because chatuvo has no central infrastructure and no user accounts, we fundamentally cannot collect the following:

• Personal identification information (name, email, phone number)
• Account credentials or passwords
• IP addresses or device fingerprints
• Geolocation data
• Message content or metadata
• Browsing or usage analytics
• Cookies or tracking identifiers

All data that chatuvo handles — including your keypair, messages, and settings — is stored locally on your device. This data includes:

• Keypair: Your cryptographic identity, generated and stored on your device.
• Messages: Decrypted message content is stored in your local application storage.
• Contacts & settings: Any contacts you've added and your app preferences are stored locally.

You have full control over this data. You can delete it at any time by clearing the application data or uninstalling chatuvo. If you delete your keypair, your identity on the network is irrecoverably lost and cannot be recreated.

chatuvo includes built-in safety filters that are designed to protect users from unwanted or harmful content. These filters operate entirely on your device. Specifically:

• All filtering logic runs locally within the chatuvo application on your hardware.
• No message content, metadata, or filtering results are ever transmitted to any server or third party.
• Filter rules and configurations are bundled with the application or updated alongside app updates — they are not dependent on any remote service.

While chatuvo does not collect metadata, it is important to understand what information is inherently visible to the decentralized network:

• Peers you directly connect to can observe your IP address at the transport layer, just as with any peer-to-peer protocol.
• Encrypted message payloads and your public key are visible to relay peers as messages propagate through the network.
• Timing and volume of network traffic may be observable by peers directly connected to you.

chatuvo integrates with advertising services to support the free availability of the application. These services operate within the app and do not track you across other apps or websites. Specifically:

• Ads are delivered by a third-party ad provider that receives limited contextual information necessary to select relevant advertisements, such as your device type, operating system, and general time-based parameters (e.g., time of day, weekday vs. weekend).
• The ad service assigns a visitor identifier that is scoped to chatuvo and is not linked to your cryptographic keypair or any real-world identity.
• Cookies or similar identifiers used by the ad service (such as for frequency capping or to prevent showing ads from competing advertisers) are confined to the in-app browsing context and do not follow you outside of chatuvo.
• chatuvo does not integrate with any third-party analytics, cross-device tracking, or advertising networks that profile users across the web. The ad service operates solely within the application.

No data collected by the ad service is combined with your keypair, messages, contacts, or any other chatuvo data. Ad-related data is processed separately and remains isolated from your private communications.

chatuvo is available globally. Since there is no central server and no data collection, there are no cross-border data transfers to consider. Your data stays on your device at all times, regardless of your geographic location. If you are in a jurisdiction that restricts the use of encrypted communication or peer-to-peer networks, it is your responsibility to ensure that your use of chatuvo complies with local laws.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the application or for legal, regulatory, or operational reasons. When we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Because chatuvo has no account system, we cannot notify you directly — please review this page periodically. Continued use of chatuvo after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.