Privacy policy

Our approach

Privacy is the default in Wollem, not a setting you have to turn on. We designed the service around a simple principle: the less we know about you, the less there is to lose, leak, subpoena, or sell. Wherever a feature can work without us holding your data, we build it that way.

That means we minimize what we collect, we encrypt what we must store, and we delete things as soon as we no longer need them. This policy describes how that works in practice and the choices you have.

Information we collect

We collect the smallest amount of information needed to give you an account and deliver your messages. Specifically:

• Account information. A username, a private account code that identifies your account, and a password. We never store your password in plaintext — only a cryptographic hash derived from it, so we cannot recover or read your actual password.
• Profile information. An optional display name and an optional bio that you choose to add. You can leave these blank or change them at any time.
• Minimal technical data. The limited delivery information required to route messages to the right recipients and to keep your account functioning, such as which messages are still pending delivery.

Just as important is what we do not collect:

• No phone number.
• No email address is required to use Wollem.
• No IP address logs and no geolocation tracking.
• No device fingerprinting and no user-agent profiling.
• No advertising identifiers and no third-party ad or analytics SDKs.

How your messages are handled

How a message is protected depends on the type of chat:

• Private and group chats are end-to-end encrypted using the Signal Protocol. They are encrypted on your device and can only be decrypted by the intended recipients. We cannot read their contents — not their text, not their attachments.
• "Regular" chats are encrypted on our servers rather than end-to-end. To be honest about the trade-off: because these are not end-to-end encrypted, we can technically process them in order to deliver them. We do not read them as a matter of course, but the cryptographic guarantee is weaker than for private and group chats.
• Private messages are deleted from our servers once all intended recipients have received them. We hold them only as long as needed to complete delivery.
• Calls are relayed, not recorded. When a call needs to be relayed through our infrastructure, we pass the data through to connect you. We do not record or store the contents of your calls.

How we use information

We use the limited information we hold for a single purpose: to provide, maintain, and secure the Wollem service. That includes creating and authenticating your account, delivering your messages, and protecting the service against abuse and fraud.

We do not use your information to build advertising profiles, we do not show you ads, and we never sell or rent your data to anyone.

Encryption & security

Security is implemented with well-established, open cryptographic standards:

• Signal Protocol for end-to-end encrypted messaging, using X3DH for initial key agreement and the Double Ratchet algorithm for ongoing forward secrecy.
• AES-256-GCM for encrypting data at rest.
• Argon2id to derive keys from your password, making brute-force attacks expensive and slow.
• A single active session per account, which reduces the attack surface and makes unauthorized access easier to detect.

Data sharing

We do not sell or rent your data, full stop. We share data only in narrow, necessary circumstances:

• Service providers. We rely on a limited set of infrastructure providers (for example, hosting and call relay) to operate the service. They are bound by contract to process data only on our instructions and only for the purpose of running Wollem.
• Legal requests. If we receive a valid legal request, we can only provide the information we actually hold. For end-to-end encrypted content, that means there is nothing readable for us to hand over, because we do not have the keys.

Data retention

We keep data for as short a time as we reasonably can. Private messages are purged from our servers once they have been delivered to all recipients. Where we keep activity signals, we keep them coarse — for example, a last-seen indicator is stored only with day-level precision rather than to the minute. When you delete your account, the associated data is removed in line with the process described below.

Your rights & choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information. Wollem is designed to make the most important of these easy:

• Access and export. You can review your profile information and export the data associated with your account.
• Deletion. You can delete your account from within the app. Deleting your account removes your account information and associated data from our systems.

If you need help exercising any of these rights, contact us using the details below and we will assist you.

Children's privacy

Wollem is not intended for children. The service is not directed to, and should not be used by, anyone under the age of 13 — or under the higher minimum age that applies in your country (for example, 16 in parts of the EU). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below the applicable age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

International users

Wollem can be used from around the world, which means your information may be processed and stored in a country other than the one you live in. Wherever data is processed, we apply the same protections described in this policy and use appropriate safeguards for any cross-border transfers required to operate the service.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time as the service evolves or as the law changes. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of Wollem after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your data, contact our privacy team at privacy@wollem.org. We are happy to help.