Privacy Policy

When you join Chatlek, we collect exactly what you enter on the join form: a display name, an age, a gender, a chosen avatar, and a country. All of these are self-reported and are not verified in any way. We do not collect an email address, a phone number, a password, or any persistent device fingerprint beyond the session cookie described below.

Chatlek stores a single session token in your browser's local storage to authenticate your active session with our server. This token is used solely to keep you signed in. It is not used for cross-site tracking, advertising, or analytics. It expires automatically after a set period, or immediately when you log out or your session is otherwise terminated.

Messages you send are transmitted in real time over a WebSocket connection to our server, which relays them to your conversation partner and stores them only for as long as your session is active. As described in our Terms of Service, all messages are permanently deleted the moment your session ends, whether through logout or an inactivity timeout, except for any messages you or the other participant have specifically attached to a safety report, described below.

Even during an active session, we only retain the most recent messages in any single conversation, up to a fixed limit. Older messages in a very long-running conversation are automatically and permanently trimmed as new ones arrive. This is a storage safeguard, not a moderation action.

Once your session ends, your profile document, every conversation you were part of, and every message in those conversations are hard-deleted from our live database. We do not currently maintain database backups or snapshots, so this deletion is immediate and final. There is no backup copy anywhere that could later resurface that data.

If you or someone you're chatting with submits a safety report, the reason, any details written, and any messages specifically attached as evidence are retained beyond that session. They are not covered by the deletion described above. This is a deliberate exception that exists so reports remain reviewable for safety purposes even after a session ends; nothing else about your account or conversations is affected by it, and reported content is used only for reviewing that report.

The people in the online list see your display name, age, gender, avatar, and country. They do not see your IP address or anything you did not enter on the join form. We do not tell anyone whether you have read their message.

We do not share your information with third parties. As of the date at the top of this page, Chatlek does not integrate any third-party analytics, advertising, or error-tracking services. If that ever changes, we will update this policy accordingly.

To keep the service usable for everyone, we temporarily track short-lived rate-limit counters (for example, how many messages an IP address or session has sent in the last few seconds). This data lives for a matter of seconds to minutes, is used only to enforce rate limits, and is not linked to your profile beyond your currently active session.

Chatlek requires users to be at least 16 years old. Because there is no identity verification, we rely entirely on the age you self-report at join time. If you believe a child under 16 has used the service, please contact us using the details below.

Chatlek is an international service and may be accessed by users from different countries. By using the Service, you understand that information may be processed by Chatlek and its service providers in locations where they operate, subject to applicable laws and our Privacy Policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Since we do not collect any way to contact you directly, please check this page periodically. Questions can be directed to support@chatlek.com.