Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2025
1. What We Collect
When you sign in with GitHub, we receive your GitHub login, display name, avatar, and email address (if public). We store the minimum needed to run the service.
- GitHub profile data (username, display name, avatar URL, email)
- Messages you send (content, timestamp, sender/recipient)
- Friend connections you establish
- Room participation history
- Plan and subscription status
2. How We Use Your Data
Your data is used solely to operate SnipChat. We do not sell it, share it with advertisers, or use it for purposes beyond what is described here.
- Authenticating your account via GitHub OAuth
- Delivering messages to your contacts in real time
- Storing message history for paid plans
- Sending in-app notifications (unread message counts)
- Processing billing through Stripe (paid plans only)
3. Data Storage & Security
Data is stored in a PostgreSQL database and Redis cache hosted on secure infrastructure. Messages on free accounts are ephemeral (24h retention) unless you upgrade. All connections are encrypted via TLS.
We follow industry-standard security practices including JWT-based authentication, parameterized queries, and rate limiting on all endpoints.
4. Your Rights (GDPR)
If you are in the EU or UK, you have the following rights:
- Access: Export all your data from your Settings page.
- Erasure:Delete your account and all associated data from Settings. Messages are tombstoned (content replaced with "[deleted]") to preserve conversation integrity.
- Portability: Download your data as JSON at any time.
- Correction: Update your display name from Settings.
5. Third-Party Services
- GitHub OAuth: Used for authentication only. We store your GitHub ID to link your account.
- Stripe: Handles billing for Pro and Team plans. We never store your card details.
6. Cookies
We use a single session cookie (snipchat-token) to keep you logged in. It is an HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax cookie with a 7-day expiry. No third-party tracking cookies are used.
7. Contact
For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email privacy@snipchat.dev.