1. Our Privacy-First Design

AnonymChat is built on a strict privacy-by-design principle. Because AnonymChat is an anonymous matching service, we do not log, process, or permanently store any communication content, email addresses, phone numbers, real names, or real-life metadata identities. Every chat session is transient — messages exist only in server memory for the duration of the active session and are permanently deleted the moment either participant disconnects. There are no chat logs, no message history, and no user profiles.

2. What We Collect

We collect only the minimum required to operate the service:

• Device ID — a randomly generated UUID created locally in your browser. It is never linked to any personal identity.
• Theme and language preferences — stored locally in your browser's localStorage.
• Session-only WebSocket messages — relayed in real time and discarded on disconnect.
• Aggregate online-user counts — anonymous, non-identifying.

3. What We Never Collect

• Email addresses or phone numbers
• Real names or identity documents
• Chat message logs or history
• Location data or IP address profiles
• Cross-session behavioral tracking
• Biometric or demographic data

4. How We Use the Information

• To match you with a chat partner based on the selected interest theme
• To relay messages between participants in real time during an active session
• To enforce our Terms of Service and prevent abuse (temporary ban flags tied to Device ID only)

5. Cookies

We use minimal cookies:

• NEXT_LOCALE — stores your language preference. No personal data.
• Theme cookie — stores your light/dark mode preference. No personal data.
• Google AdSense or similar ad-tech cookies may be set by third-party partners (see Section 6).

6. Third-Party Services

We may use the following third-party services which operate under their own privacy policies:

• Google AdSense — may collect anonymous usage data for ad personalisation.
• Google Tag Manager / Analytics — aggregate, anonymised traffic metrics.
• Railway.app — infrastructure hosting for the WebSocket server.
• Vercel — infrastructure hosting for the web application.

7. Data Security

All connections are encrypted via HTTPS/WSS. Session data is held exclusively in volatile server memory and never persisted to disk or any database. The only database writes are: (1) published blog articles managed by the administrator, and (2) temporary device-level abuse flags that contain no personal information.

8. Your Rights (GDPR / Data Subject Rights)

Because we hold no personal data, the right to erasure is trivially satisfied. You may:

• Clear your Device ID at any time by clearing your browser's localStorage.
• Opt out of non-essential cookies via the consent mechanism on the site.
• Contact us with any data-related inquiry at: contact@anonymchat.online

9. Children's Privacy

AnonymChat is strictly for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect any data from minors. If you believe a minor has accessed the service, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance.

11. Contact

For privacy-related questions or concerns: contact@anonymchat.online