SovTalk is a social and messaging app built to collect as little about you as possible. You don't give us an email address or a phone number, your messages are end-to-end encrypted, our servers keep no logs of your IP address, and the app's AI features run only on your phone. This policy explains, plainly, what information exists, where it is and what we do with it.
In short: your identity is a key created and kept on your phone. Your posts and profile are public. Your messages, photos, videos and calls are encrypted so that we can't read or see them. We don't sell or share your information, we show no third-party ads, and we use no analytics or tracking.
01Who we are
SovTalk is provided by Kaninee Technologies Inc., 25 Dalzell Ave, Brampton, Ontario L6Z 1H1, Canada ("we", "us"). We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy.
Person in charge of the protection of personal information: Founder and Privacy Officer, Kaninee Technologies Inc. Contact: support@kaninee.com.
02How SovTalk works
SovTalk uses Nostr, an open protocol. When you create an account, the app generates a pair of keys on your phone: a public key (your public ID, like a username) and a secret key (like a password that can't be reset). The secret key is encrypted by your phone's security chip and never leaves your phone, unless you back it up yourself. We can't recover it for you.
Our servers are located in Beauharnois, Québec, Canada (OVHcloud). They run the relay that carries posts and encrypted messages, and the services listed below.
03What we collect and why
| Information | Who can see it | Why and how long |
|---|---|---|
| Public key | Public | Your account identifier. It's part of everything you publish. Kept until you delete your account. |
| Display name and profile picture (optional) | Public | Shown to others instead of your public ID. Pictures are re-encoded on our server and stripped of location and camera data. Deleted when you remove them or delete your account. |
| Posts | Public | Shown in your friends' feeds. Anyone with your public key can read them, and others can copy them. Kept until you delete them or your account. |
| Friends list and blocked people | Only you | Stored on the relay encrypted with your own key. We can't read it. |
| Messages | Only you and your friend | End-to-end encrypted and wrapped so that the relay can't see who sent them; it sees only the recipient's public key, the size and an approximate time. Kept on the relay so your devices can sync them, until you delete your account. |
| Photos and videos in messages | Only you and your friend | Encrypted on your phone before upload; we store only the encrypted file. Deleted from our server 7 days after upload. |
| Voice and video calls | Only you and your friend | Encrypted end to end and relayed through our server so neither side learns the other's IP address. We don't record calls and the relay keeps no logs. |
| Notification registration (only if you turn notifications on) | Us, Apple or Google | A device token, stored with a keyed hash of your public key (never the key itself). Notifications contain no message content or sender. Expires 60 days after the app last checks in. |
| Call ringing token | Us, your friends | A random token your friends use to ring your phone without telling us who is calling. Expires 60 days after the app last checks in. |
| Reports (only if you report someone) | Us | What you report, your reason and, if you choose, up to 10 messages you select, which your phone decrypts and sends with your consent. We store you as a keyed hash, not your public key. Deleted 180 days after we decide. |
| Sponsored post statistics | Us | Anonymous total counts only, never linked to you or your device. |
| Upload limits | Us | A keyed hash of your public key with a daily counter, to prevent abuse. Expires with the day or the file. |
What we don't collect: your email address, phone number, contacts, location, IP address logs, advertising identifiers, analytics, or the content of your messages, media or calls.
04Information that stays on your phone
Your secret key, your decrypted messages, photos and videos, your saved feed and your settings are stored only on your phone, excluded from cloud backups where the system allows it. If you choose to back up your secret key (for example in your password manager or on paper), that copy is under your control.
Call history: SovTalk calls appear in your phone's call history by default. Apple or Google may include that history in your phone's backups. You can turn this off in Profile.
05On-device AI
Writing suggestions ("Suggest clearer wording") run entirely on your phone: with Apple Intelligence or Google's Gemini Nano when your phone has them, otherwise with an open-source model you can choose to download from our server. Nothing you write is sent to us or to anyone else for these suggestions. Using a suggestion in a post adds a public "AI-assisted" label to that post.
06Who else is involved
- OVHcloud hosts our servers and file storage in Beauharnois, Québec, Canada.
- Apple (APNs) and Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) deliver notifications if you turn them on. They receive a device token and a content-free signal; Google and Apple may process this outside Canada. We use no other Firebase or Google services.
- Other Nostr relays and apps: because Nostr is open, public posts and your profile can be read, and copied, by other Nostr apps and relays. Encrypted messages remain unreadable to them.
We don't sell, rent or share your personal information with advertisers or data brokers. We may disclose information if required by law, and we report child sexual abuse material to the appropriate authorities as Canadian law requires.
07Legal bases (for users in the European Union)
We process personal information to provide the service you ask for (contract), to keep it safe and handle reports (legitimate interests), with your consent where we ask for it (notifications, sharing messages in a report, downloading the AI model), and to meet legal obligations.
08Where your information is stored
Our servers and stored data are in Québec, Canada. The European Commission recognises Canada as providing adequate protection for personal information. Notification delivery by Apple and Google may involve processing outside Canada, as described above.
09Deleting your information
- Delete a post: it's removed from our relay and from your friends' phones.
- Delete your account (Profile → Delete account): we delete your profile picture, notification and call registrations and stored files, remove your posts and messages from our relay, and refuse your key from then on. Your friends' phones erase your conversation, posts and friendship. Copies held by other Nostr relays or apps, or by people who saved them, are outside our control.
10Security
We use end-to-end encryption, keys protected by your phone's security chip, encrypted connections, and servers that keep no request logs. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affecting your information occurs, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
11Your rights
Depending on where you live (including under Canada's PIPEDA, Québec's Law 25 and the EU's GDPR), you can ask to access, correct or delete your personal information, receive it in a portable format, withdraw consent and object to processing. Much of this you can do yourself in the app; for anything else, write to support@kaninee.com. We'll answer within 30 days. Because we don't know your name or email, we may ask you to prove you control the account (for example by signing a message with your key).
You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec or, in the EU, your local data protection authority.
12Children
SovTalk is for people 16 and older. We don't knowingly provide it to anyone younger. If you believe a child under 16 is using SovTalk, contact us.
13Changes
We'll update this policy when SovTalk changes, show the new date at the top, and tell you in the app before significant changes take effect.
14Contact
Kaninee Technologies Inc., 25 Dalzell Ave, Brampton, Ontario L6Z 1H1, Canada · support@kaninee.com