Banter is a chat app for messaging people and groups in real time. This page explains what Banter stores about you, why, who else handles it, how long it is kept, and what you can do about it. “We” means whoever runs this Banter server.
What we collect
- Your account: your name, username and email address; your password, stored only as a one-way hash that cannot be turned back into the password; your profile photo if you add one; and your settings (do not disturb, message previews, read receipts).
- If you sign in with Google: your name, email address and Google profile picture, which Google shares with us when you choose to sign in. We never post to Google or read anything else there.
- What you send: your messages, photos, videos, voice messages and files, reactions, edits, and things you organise for yourself — starred messages, pinned and muted chats, chat lists.
- Your connections: your friends and friend requests, the groups you are in, and the people you block.
- Your devices: for each signed-in device, the browser and system it uses, its IP address and when it signed in — so you can see and sign out devices in Settings. If you turn on notifications, the address your browser gives us to deliver them.
- Activity: whether you are online and when you were last seen, and which messages have been delivered to and read by you.
- Reports: if you report someone or something, your report and a copy of what you reported.
- Guest accounts: no email and no password — just a generated name, the chats in your guest space, and the files you send there.
We do not run advertising, we do not sell or rent your information, and we do not use analytics or tracking tools.
How we use it
- To run the service: deliver your messages and files, keep your devices in step, and show your chats.
- To email you about your account: verifying your address, resetting your password, and security notices such as a new password or a deletion request.
- To send the notifications you turned on.
- To keep Banter safe: limiting how fast accounts can act, checking that guests are people (not scripts), and reviewing reports.
Who can see what
- People can find you by your name or username. Your email address is never shown to anyone.
- The people in a chat see the messages in it, your name, username and photo, and — depending on your settings — whether you are online, when you were last seen, and whether you have read their messages.
- When you look at someone's profile, Banter shows which of your friends are also their friends.
- People you block cannot message you, see you online or add you to groups.
- Messages are encrypted on their way to and from the server, but they are not end-to-end encrypted: they are stored on the server in a form it can read, so it can deliver them, search them and show them on all your devices.
Services that handle data for us
- Hosting and database (Microsoft Azure): where Banter and its database run.
- File storage (Cloudinary): photos, videos, voice messages and files you send, and profile photos.
- Email delivery: the email provider that sends account emails.
- Google: only if you choose “Continue with Google”.
- Cloudflare Turnstile: checks that someone continuing as a guest is a person; Cloudflare sees information about your browser while it checks.
- Your browser's notification service (for example Google, Mozilla or Apple): delivers notifications if you turn them on. If “Hide message previews” is on, they only say “New message”.
Cookies and storage on your device
Banter sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It cannot be read by scripts on the page and is not used for anything else. Banter also keeps a few preferences in your browser's storage — your theme, in-app sounds and layout — which never leave your device. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.
How long we keep it
- Your messages stay until you delete them or clear the chat, or your account is deleted.
- When you delete your account it is switched off at once and you have 7 days to change your mind. After that, your name, username, email address, photo, password, files, friends and settings are permanently removed. The messages you sent stay in other people's chats, shown as from “Deleted user”, because they are part of their conversations.
- Guest accounts, and everything in them, are permanently deleted after 24 hours.
- Reports are kept for 12 months. In rare cases — for example a lawful request from the police — an account or a report may be kept for longer while that request is dealt with.
- A signed-in device stays signed in for up to 30 days of inactivity.
- Invite links that have ended are removed after 30 days.
Your choices
- Change your name, username, photo and privacy settings in Settings at any time.
- See your signed-in devices, and sign any of them out, in Settings.
- Turn off read receipts, message previews and notifications.
- Block or report anyone.
- Delete your account from Settings.
- For a copy of your data, a correction, or any other privacy question, contact us at ibtihajwork325@gmail.com.
Security
Banter uses HTTPS for everything, stores passwords only as one-way hashes, keeps sign-in tokens from Google encrypted, and limits how fast anyone can try to sign in. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you.
Children
Banter is not for children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, please contact us.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes too. If a change matters, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions about this policy: ibtihajwork325@gmail.com.
See also the Terms of Service.