Privacy information

Who runs RadarChat and how to contact us

RadarChat is operated by IronForge Studios Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company number 17561683). Registered office: 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom. We act as the controller for information used to operate RadarChat. Contact support@radarchat.app about privacy, account access, correction or deletion.

What information RadarChat uses

• Accounts: pseudonymous user ID, chosen display name, hashed guest recovery credentials, optional Google account identifier and email address, and Google session details.
• Matching: interest choices, country selections, optional approximate/matching coordinates and radius, preferences and wait timers. Coordinates are used by the matching system and are not intended to be displayed to strangers.
• Communication: accepted friends, requests, blocks, mute choices, private friend messages and message status. Anonymous chats can expose information a user chooses to share to their partner.
• Safety: reports, relevant recent-message evidence, moderation decisions, timestamps and service-protection records.
• Payments: Stripe customer/subscription references and plan status, rather than full payment-card numbers.
• Technical operation: connection and security data available to our hosting provider, including IP addresses, and temporary media-processing data.

Do not share health, intimate, financial or other sensitive information in chat or as an interest. Other participants can save what you disclose.

Why we process information

• Provide the requested service (contract): accounts, matching, friend messaging, session management and subscriptions.
• Safety and system security (legitimate interests and applicable legal obligations): prevent misuse, respond to reports, enforce rules and protect users. This may require retaining relevant report evidence after an account is deleted.
• Legal, accounting and consumer obligations: handle necessary financial records, disputes and lawful requests.
• Optional choices: a device may ask you to permit location or microphone use. You can decline; location-based matching or voice features may then be unavailable. Browser/device permission is not a blanket consent to other processing.

For processing relying on legitimate interests, contact us if you wish to object; we will assess the request under applicable data protection law.

Who receives information

The person you are chatting with receives messages, media or audio you deliberately send or accept, and can copy or record them. Technical providers include Render (hosting and storage), Google (when you use Google sign-in), Stripe (payments, when enabled) and our email provider (support correspondence). We may disclose information where legally required or to respond to credible threats. We do not publish users’ precise matching coordinates to their chat partners.

These providers may process some information outside the UK. Relevant international-transfer arrangements and safeguards must be checked for the specific provider and service configuration; contact us for details.

Photos, video and voice calls

Sharing images and video requires receiving-user acceptance. The browser processes images before upload; video conversion can involve temporary files on the RadarChat server. The server relays media, which is not intended to become permanent message history, although a recipient can retain a copy. When voice calls are available, the server relays audio using encrypted browser-to-server transport; calls are not end-to-end encrypted and RadarChat does not intentionally record call audio. Reported evidence may be retained separately for safety purposes.

Regional and age checks (when enabled)

Before entering chat, RadarChat may use a server-side IP country lookup with FreeIPAPI and, if you separately allow it, browser location coordinates to decide which regional safeguards apply. This check is separate from optional matching-radius location. Precise coordinates are not stored in the regional access record. The signed region cookie is associated with the current network address and expires. A third-party IP service receives an IP address for lookup. Where age verification is needed, Yoti processes evidence you provide under its privacy notice; RadarChat receives a result rather than storing identity documents or facial images. Unknown regions are treated conservatively.

How long information is kept

Saved account information and friendships are normally held while an account exists, subject to deletion and applicable obligations. Private friend conversations are limited in the application to the most recent 100 messages per friendship; that limit is not a time-based deletion promise. We do not currently promise an automatic expiry date for moderation records, application files or backups. We retain them according to service needs, safety/legal obligations and manual deletion procedures; these schedules are being finalised before public launch. Some records held by payment or login providers follow their own retention policies.

Account deletion removes account and saved friend-message records from the active application as implemented, but it does not automatically remove separate moderation reports, existing backups or external-provider records.

Your choices and rights

Within the app, use Profile to export account data or request deletion; if an active paid subscription exists, cancel or resolve it first so payment does not continue unintentionally. For access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability or objections, contact support@radarchat.app. Rights depend on the specific processing and lawful basis. We may need to verify your account before acting. You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

Cookies and storage

RadarChat uses session and access cookies, and browser storage for guest recovery and user preferences. These support sign-in, security and user-requested functions; RadarChat does not intentionally use third-party advertising trackers. Google sign-in and Stripe-hosted checkout have their own privacy information.

Age and updates

RadarChat is intended for adults aged 18 and over. A self-declared age alone does not reliably establish adult status. Access to chat is subject to the applicable safety protections and service restrictions. We will update this notice when processing or retention procedures change substantially.