Privacy Policy
- Your messages, photos, voice notes, shared locations, contacts, notes and status are end-to-end encrypted and live on your phone. We cannot read them.
- We never collect your phone number, email, location or address book. No ads, no trackers, no selling of data.
- Our server keeps only what it needs to deliver messages, for as short a time as possible (encrypted messages: until delivered, at most 24 hours).
- You can see what we hold and delete everything in the app: Settings → Account & backup → Your data.
1. Who we are
Quiet ("Quiet", "we", "us") is a private messenger operated by Someshwar, an individual based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. For your personal data handled by our server, we are the Data Fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act"). Contact our Grievance Officer at the address in section 13.
This policy applies to the Quiet app at quiet-messenger-ebon.vercel.app and the Quiet Android app. By tapping Get started (or Agree in the app) you confirm you are 18 or older and consent to the processing described here.
2. What stays on your phone (we can't see it)
Your name, profile photo, contacts and their keys, chat history, photos, voice notes, reactions, groups and group lists, notes, the text of your reminders, your status and your settings are stored only on your device. When you send them to a contact they are encrypted on your phone (ECDH P-256 key agreement with AES-256-GCM) and can only be opened on that contact's phone. Backups you create are encrypted with your passphrase and saved wherever you choose; we never receive them. Photos are taken with the camera inside Quiet; Quiet never reads your gallery, and no location or camera details are attached.
Phone permissions. Quiet asks for each only when you use the feature: camera to take photos and scan invite QR codes, microphone to record voice messages, location only when you tap Share location (your position is read once, sent end-to-end encrypted to that chat, and never to our server), notifications to alert you, and fingerprint or face to unlock the app (handled by your phone; Quiet never sees it). Smart planner suggestions are worked out on your phone from your messages and are never sent anywhere.
3. What our server processes, why, and for how long
| Data | Purpose | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
| Account ID (random letters and numbers) and a hash of your account secret, sign-up date and the day you were last active (not the time) | Deliver messages to the right phone; stop others using your account | Until you delete your account, or 180 days without opening Quiet |
| Encrypted messages in transit (unreadable ciphertext), the recipient's account ID and time sent. We don't store who sent it ("sealed sender"), and messages are padded to fixed sizes so their length reveals little | Hold a message until the recipient's phone collects it | Deleted on delivery; never more than 24 hours |
| Encrypted invite codes | Let the person you invite connect with you | Until used, or 7 days |
| Encrypted account move (only if you move from a browser to the app) | Hand your account to the Quiet app; the key stays in your move link, so we can't open it | Until the app collects it, at most 30 minutes; the record that a move happened, 1 day |
| Push address issued by your phone (Firebase Cloud Messaging for the Android app; Google, Apple or Mozilla for browsers) | Wake your phone when a message or reminder arrives. The push carries no message content. | Until you delete your account or turn notifications off |
| Reminder ID and time (never the reminder text) | Alert you at the right time | Until the reminder fires or is cancelled |
| Who you have blocked (account IDs) | Silently drop messages from people you blocked | Until you unblock or delete your account |
| Sending counts: how many messages an account sent per minute, with no recipients or content | Prevent spam | 2 hours |
| Safety signals with no content: that an account created an invite, was blocked, or was reported | Prevent spam and abuse | 30 days |
| Reports you choose to send: reason, account IDs, and only the messages you choose to include (these leave your phone unencrypted so we can read them) | Investigate abuse; act on illegal content; meet legal duties | 180 days |
| Feedback you send: your text, rating, device type, app version, number of contacts | Improve Quiet | 1 year, or until you delete your account |
| Record of a closed account: account ID, sign-up and deletion dates only | Legal record-keeping under the IT Rules, 2021 | 1 year after the account ends |
| Technical logs kept by our hosting providers: IP address, browser type, time of request | Keep the service secure and running | As set by the provider, typically a few days |
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, automated decisions about you, or training AI. We do not scan your messages.
4. Legal basis
We process the data above with your consent (Section 6 of the DPDP Act), given when you start using Quiet, and for legitimate uses permitted by Section 7, such as complying with Indian law, court orders and lawful requests from authorities.
5. Who else handles it
We use these service providers (Data Processors) under contract. Some process data outside India, which the DPDP Act permits except to countries the Government restricts:
- Supabase: database, hosted in Mumbai, India.
- Vercel: hosts the app and sends push notifications; may process requests outside India.
- Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android app) and Google, Apple or Mozilla push services (browsers): deliver the content-free wake-up signal to your phone.
- Google Play, if you install Quiet from it: handles the download and app updates under Google's own privacy policy.
We do not sell or rent personal data. We disclose data to authorities only when Indian law requires it, and we can only provide what is listed in section 3. We cannot provide message content because we never have it.
6. Your rights
Under the DPDP Act you can:
- Access a summary of what we hold: in the app, Settings → Account & backup → Your data.
- Correct your name or avatar: Settings → your profile, then Save.
- Erase your data and withdraw consent: Settings → Account & backup → Your data → Delete my account (how to delete your account). This removes your account and all server data linked to it immediately, except the records we must keep by law (section 3). Withdrawing consent doesn't affect processing that happened before.
- Nominate someone to exercise these rights if you die or become incapable: email us with their name and contact.
- Grievance redressal: contact our Grievance Officer (section 13). If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
We answer rights requests within 30 days, and never later than 90 days.
7. Children
Quiet is only for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly process children's data. If you believe a child is using Quiet, contact us and we will act on it.
8. Security and breaches
We use end-to-end encryption with weekly session keys that are destroyed after 14 days (forward secrecy), private keys that can't be copied out of your phone, protection against replayed messages, encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed account secrets, database access only through checked functions, and short retention. If a personal data breach happens, we will inform affected users and the Data Protection Board of India as the DPDP Act and its Rules require, and report cyber incidents to CERT-In within the required time.
9. Your phone's storage
Quiet stores your data in the app's private storage on your phone (or your browser's storage if you use Quiet in a browser). We don't use advertising or tracking cookies. Clearing Quiet's data or uninstalling deletes your chats unless you made a backup.
10. Language
This policy is in English. You can ask us for it in any language listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
11. Changes
We will tell you in the app before material changes take effect, and ask for consent again where the law requires it.
12. Terms
Your use of Quiet is also governed by our Terms of Use.