How long things are kept
- Encrypted copies of a message waiting for a phone: until that phone has it, at most 30 days.
- Photos sent in chats: 180 days. Videos, voice messages and other files: 90 days. After that the file is deleted from storage and the message says so; copies already on a phone stay there.
- Messages in a chat with disappearing messages on: until each message’s timer runs out.
- Until you remove the entry or delete your account; the other participant’s entry may remain.
- Request and diagnostic logs: 30 days.
- Push tokens and device records: up to 30 days after a device is last seen.
- Online status: minutes.
Chat backup
Backup is optional (Settings → Chat backup). Your phone encrypts a copy of your history with a random key, and that key is locked with a recovery key kept in your iCloud Keychain and never sent to AiThao. The server stores the encrypted backup and cannot open it. If you lose your phone, your Apple ID and the recovery key, nobody can restore the history, AiThao included.
Moving to a new phone
The new phone shows a code; the old phone scans it and sends your history encrypted with a key that travels only in that code. The server relays the encrypted data and deletes it within an hour.
Getting a copy of your data
Write to the privacy address and within 30 days you receive a file with what the server holds about your account. For end-to-end encrypted chats that is who wrote to whom and when, not the words: those exist only on your phones and in your backup.
Deleting your account
Settings → Account → Delete account removes the account, its sign-in methods, devices, contacts, blocks, call history, profile images, chat backup and any chats in transit, and frees the username. It cannot be undone.
Messages you already sent stay in the other person’s conversation, shown as from “Deleted account”. To remove a message from both sides, delete it for everyone first.
If you do not open AiThao for six months (or 1, 3 or 12, as you choose in Settings → Privacy), the account is deleted the same way, after a notification a week before.
How data is used
The app sends events to measure advertising effectiveness, and map services receive data when you use them. The privacy policy explains the details and available settings.
Questions
Is my data used for advertising?
The app sends events to measure advertising effectiveness, and map services receive data when you use them. The privacy policy explains the details and available settings.
Does deleting my account delete the messages I sent?
Not from the other person’s conversation: there is one copy, and it is theirs too. Your name is removed from it. Delete a message for everyone before deleting the account if you want it gone from both sides.