ChatCat Privacy Policy
ChatCat is a chat app for the Matrix and XMPP networks, published by LSYS ("we", "us"). This policy explains what ChatCat does with your data, and, just as importantly, what it does not do.
The short version
- We do not run any server that your data passes through. We have no user database, no analytics, and no crash reporting.
- Everything you send in ChatCat goes to the server you chose when you signed in (your Matrix homeserver or XMPP server). That server's operator, not us, holds your account and your messages.
- We cannot see, access, sell, or delete your data, because we never have it.
Who is responsible for your data
ChatCat is a client. When you sign in, you pick a server: the default suggestion is matrix.org, but you can type any Matrix homeserver or XMPP server, including one you run yourself. That server stores your account, your contacts, your rooms, and your message history, and its operator is the data controller for all of it. Please read the privacy policy of the server you use. For matrix.org, that is matrix.org/legal/privacy-notice.
We publish the app and nothing else. We have no way to look up who uses ChatCat or what they send.
Data the app sends off your device
ChatCat sends data only to servers you choose, and only to make the app work.
To your Matrix or XMPP server
- Your username and password (or a sign-in token) when you sign in.
- Your display name and avatar, if you set them.
- Messages, reactions, and read receipts.
- Photos, videos, voice messages, audio, and files you attach.
- Your location, only when you deliberately share it in a chat, and only for as long as you leave a live location share running.
- Your device's name and the encryption keys needed for end-to-end encryption.
- A push registration so the server can tell your device when a new message arrives.
Rooms and chats that use end-to-end encryption (Matrix Olm/Megolm, XMPP OMEMO) are encrypted on your device before they are sent, and only the participants can read them. Unencrypted rooms, public rooms, and plain XMPP chats are readable by the servers involved.
To push notification services
To wake your phone when a message arrives, ChatCat by default registers with the UnifiedPush rewrite proxy at unifiedpush.org, which relays through Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging. These services see a push token identifying your device and small notification payloads, which do not contain message content. Builds configured for a self-hosted push proxy do not contact unifiedpush.org.
To Google Play
The Google Play version checks for app updates through Google Play's in-app update service. Google's handling of that request is covered by Google's privacy policy.
ChatCat contacts no other services. There are no advertising networks, trackers, analytics, or crash reporters in the app.
Data stored on your device
ChatCat keeps a local copy of your accounts, message history, media cache, and encryption keys on your device so the app works offline and encrypted messages can be decrypted. This data stays in ChatCat's private app storage and is excluded from Android cloud backup. Uninstalling ChatCat deletes it.
Permissions
ChatCat asks for permissions only when you use the related feature, and you can refuse any of them:
- Camera and microphone: taking photos and recording voice messages to send.
- Location: sharing your location in a chat. Location is never read for any other purpose.
- Notifications: showing new-message alerts.
- Photos, media, and files: attaching things you pick.
Children
ChatCat is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect any data from them. Since we hold no data at all, age restrictions are enforced by the server you sign up with.
Deleting your data
- Local data: sign out of an account in ChatCat, or uninstall the app.
- Your account and server-side history: deactivate your account with your Matrix homeserver or XMPP provider. Matrix servers offer account deactivation in their account settings or through their web client; most XMPP servers offer it through their account management page. We cannot delete an account for you, because we do not operate the server that holds it.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be published at chatcat.lsys.xyz/privacy with an updated effective date.
Contact
Questions about this policy: cc@hooli.email