Privacy policy
Last updated: 15 October 2026
INFLUENCE (“we”, “the app”) is a private messaging app. This page explains what data the app handles, why, who else receives it, how long it is kept and how you can delete it. We wrote it to be read. If anything is unclear, contact us.
The short version. You sign up with a username and password only. No email, phone number, contacts or location are collected. Your messages are encrypted on our server, but the app is not end-to-end encrypted: our server software can decrypt them to deliver them. We do not read them, we do not sell data, and we do not use message content for ads. You can delete your account and everything you sent from inside the app.
1. What we collect
| Data | Why |
|---|
| Username, display name, short bio (the ones you choose) | To run your account and let people find you by exact username. |
| Password, stored only as an Argon2id hash | To sign you in. We cannot see your password and cannot recover it. |
| Messages, photos and files you send, with times, delivery and read status | To deliver them to the people you send them to. Message text and files are stored encrypted. |
| Chats, group memberships, blocks, mute/pin/archive choices, disappearing-message timers, privacy settings | To make the app behave the way you set it. |
| Device and sign-in details: platform (Android/iOS), device name, a random device id, sign-in and last-active times | To keep you signed in, show you “Sessions & devices”, and let you sign devices out. |
| Push-notification token | To wake your phone when a message arrives. Notifications contain generic text by default, not the message. |
| Reports you send or that are made about you (who, why, optional note) | Safety and moderation. |
| IP address and request path in short-lived server logs | Security, abuse prevention and fixing faults. Kept for up to 14 days. |
| Advertising data, handled by Google AdMob (see section 3) | To show ads that support the app, only where ads are switched on. |
We do not collect your contacts, location, microphone recordings, browsing history or any health or financial information.
2. How your messages are protected, and the limits
- Connections are encrypted with TLS (HTTPS).
- Message text and files are encrypted before they are stored, with a key held by the server. This protects against a leaked database or storage account. It does not protect against someone who controls our server or has the key.
- The app is not end-to-end encrypted. Our administrators have no tool to read messages or open files, but the server software can decrypt them in order to deliver them.
- Your phone keeps a local copy of your chats in an encrypted database, and the app can be locked with your fingerprint or face.
- Nobody can stop another person from copying or screenshotting what you send them.
3. Who else receives data
We use these service providers, only for the purposes stated:
- Hosting: our server runs on a virtual server rented from Hostinger.
- Database: MongoDB Atlas (MongoDB, Inc.) stores accounts and encrypted messages.
- Media storage: encrypted files are stored on our server, or on Cloudinary when that option is switched on.
- Push notifications: Expo’s push service, and Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) or Apple (APNs), receive your notification token and a notification with generic text.
- Ads: Google AdMob may collect your device’s advertising ID, IP address and app-usage data, according to the consent choices shown in the app. You can change them in Settings → Ad privacy options when available, and in your phone’s system settings (reset or turn off the advertising ID). Message content is never shared with the ad network. Ads can be switched off for everyone by us at any time.
We do not sell personal data. We share data with authorities only when the law requires it, or to prevent serious harm.
4. How long we keep it
- Messages and files: until you or the other person delete them, until a disappearing-message timer ends, or until the account is deleted. Disappearing messages are removed from the server when they expire.
- Messages sent to someone who has not opened them are removed after a maximum retention period even if never read.
- “Delete for everyone” removes the text and file from the server immediately.
- Sign-in sessions end when you log out, are signed out, or after they expire.
- Server logs: up to 14 days.
- Records of actions taken by our administrators (an id and the action, no messages) are kept for security and legal reasons.
- If database backups are enabled at our database provider, they are encrypted and rotate out automatically, normally within 35 days.
5. Your choices and rights
- Delete your account: Settings → Delete account. This erases your account; your one-to-one chats (for you and the other person) with all their files; and everything you sent in groups. See how deletion works. If you cannot open the app, request deletion there.
- Edit your profile and privacy settings (last seen, online status, read receipts, typing indicator) in the app.
- Sign out other devices in Settings → Sessions & devices.
- Access or correct your data, or object to processing: most of it is visible to you in the app. For anything else, contact us. Depending on where you live (for example the EU/UK under GDPR, or California), you may have further rights, and the right to complain to your data-protection authority.
6. Children
INFLUENCE is not for children under 13 (under 16 in the EU/UK). We do not knowingly keep data of people below that age. If you believe a child has an account, tell us and we will remove it.
7. Where data is processed
Our providers may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States and the European Union, under their own safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses).
8. Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will update the date above and, for big changes, tell you in the app.
9. Contact
Questions or requests: contact page.