Privacy Policy

• Messages, contacts, auth credentials, account information never touch Messages servers.
• Your messages are sent directly to the messaging platforms.
• All end-to-end encryption is preserved when the platform supports it.
• Messages is a client and works like the official app. It's similar to a web browser like Chrome.
• Account credentials are stored locally with the help of system keychain (Apple Keychain/Credential Vault), similar to how a browser stores your passwords.
• Messages makes money by charging you a monthly subscription, not by monetizing data.

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Messages.com Privacy Policy

Last updated April 24rth, 2024

This Privacy Policy applies to all information we collect from you through our website (http://www.Messages.com), our desktop and mobile applications and any related services we control (collectively, the “App”). The App aggregates and displays messages sent to and from third-party messaging services (“Messaging Service”) in a single inbox on your desktop computer or mobile phone. Messages.com is part of Automattic Inc, but this Privacy Policy only applies to your use of the App and does not apply to other Automattic products or services.

We are committed to protecting your information and your right to privacy, and we expressly designed the App with your privacy in mind. Your messages, contacts, and account credentials are never stored on or transit our servers, nor do we have any ability whatsoever to access such information.

The App enables you to send and receive messages directly from the Messaging Services you have activated to your desktop computer or mobile phone. The App encrypts your messages before sending them and stores an encrypted copy on your device, which means that only you can see the message content stored on your device. The App also preserves end-to-end encryption of your messages if supported by your Messaging Service. End-to-end encryption means that your messages are encrypted to prevent us or any third parties from reading them.

This Privacy Policy only governs our use of the information we collect from you and not the collection or use of your information by the Messaging Services you activate through the App or the payment processors we use to process your subscription payment.

If you have any questions or concerns about how we use your information, please email us at privacy@messages.com.

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

We collect information from you when you create a Messages Account, use the App, or contact us. We also collect IP addresses from Cloudflare when you visit our website. The categories of information we have collected in the past 12 months, and collect today, include the following:

• Identifiers. Username, first and last name.
• Profile Information. Social media profile name and profile picture.
• Contact Information. Email address.
• Location Information. We do not collect precise geolocation information from GPS sensors. However, we do collect IP addresses of our website visitors and users of our App.
• Internet and mobile network activity information. We automatically collect App performance metrics, website engagement metrics, App error and crash data, and your hashed device ID.

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

We use your information for the following business purposes:

• Provide the App. We use your information to operate the App; contact you about changes to our Terms of Use (“Terms”) and Privacy Policy, and updates to our App; provide customer support; troubleshoot bugs or errors; improve the App; test new features; and better understand your online and mobile phone activity while using the App.
• Enforce our Terms. We may use your information to assist with enforcement of our Terms, this Privacy Policy and other agreements.
• Determine Pricing. We may use your location data to determine subscription costs.

3. WITH WHOM WILL WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION?

We only share and disclose your information with the following third parties:

• Service Providers. We may share your information with third party service providers (“Service Providers”) who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. We use Service Providers such as Stripe for payment processing, Cloudflare for IP information, and AWS for cloud storage, as well as other Service Providers.
• Purchasers of Our Business. We may share your information in connection with any merger or acquisition of our business to another company.
• Law Enforcement. We may share your information in order to comply, as necessary, with applicable laws and regulatory requirements, or in response to a valid legal request. We will never share the contents of any Messages with law enforcement as we do not have the ability to access such data.
  
  You may create a backup of your Messages directly on Box, Dropbox and any other third-party server we may integrate with the App or enable in the future (“Back Up Provider”). The collection, sharing and use of information by Back Up Providers is governed by their respective privacy policies.

4. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

We keep your information until you ask us to delete it or until you delete your account. If you ever decide to stop using the App, you can just ask us to delete your account by emailing us at support+privacy@Messages.com or logging into your account and clicking on settings. Unless there is a legal requirement for us to keep your information, we will delete your information within seven days of your request to delete your account.

5. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

We work hard to protect your information against unauthorized access or use. We seek to protect your information by implementing physical and electronic safeguards though no security system is completely secure.

6. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

You must be at least 13 years old or the minimum legal age in your country to use the App. If you live in a country in the European Economic Area, you must be at least 16 years old to use the App.

7. USE OF COOKIES

We use cookies in order to provide better service, to track usage of the App, and to address certain security issues. We do not use cookies for profiling or advertising. When you access our App, we send the cookies to your computer or phone. The cookies help us keep track of your visits and your activity on our App and to understand how you interact with us.

8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

We do not currently respond to “Do Not Track” or DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online.

9. PRIVACY RIGHTS UNDER THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (“GDPR”)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or Switzerland (“EEA Residents”), you can make the following requests at any time by emailing privacy@Messages.com:

• Opt-Out. You may request that we stop sending you direct marketing communications which you have previously consented to receive. We may continue to send you service-related and other non-marketing communications.
• Access. You may request we provide you with information about our processing of your information and give you access to your information.
• Rectify. You may request we update or correct inaccuracies in your information.
• Erase. You may request we erase your information. Please note that we do not have the ability to erase any Messages stored locally in your desktop or mobile phone.
• Export. You may request we transfer a machine-readable copy of your information to you or a third party of your choice.
• Restrict. You may request we restrict the processing of your information at any time. For example, you may request that we stop storing your first and last name, or your social media pictures. Keep in mind that certain features of the App may lose their functionality if you restrict processing, such as the ability to log-in using your Google account.
• Object. You may object to our processing of your information at any time. We have provided you with the ability to delete your account if you don’t want us processing your information anymore.

Note that we may refuse to grant your requests in whole or in part as permitted by the GDPR. You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your information. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority or click here.

9.1. Our basis for processing your Information

The GDPR prohibits us from processing or using your information unless certain conditions apply. These conditions are known as a “legal basis” and we will usually rely on one of the following legal bases when processing your information:

• Contract. We use your information because you have entered into a contract with us and have accepted our Terms.
• Legitimate Interest. We use your information because we have a legitimate interest in doing so. For example, we need to use your information to communicate with you as necessary to provide the App and to improve our services.
• Consent. We use your information because you have given your consent to us to use your information for specific purposes. You can revoke your consent at any time.

9.2. International Transfers of Information

We will store and process your information in the United States. If you use the App from outside the United States, you acknowledge we will transfer your information to, and store your information in, the United States, which may have different data protection rules than in your country, and information may become accessible as permitted by law in the United States, including to law enforcement and/ or national security authorities in the United States.

10. CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

As a California consumer, you have the following choices regarding our use and disclosure of your information subject to certain limitations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”):

• Right to know. You may request, up to twice in a 12-month period, the following information about the information we have collected, used, disclosed or sold about you during the past 12 months:
  • the categories and specific pieces of information we have collected about you;
  • the categories of sources from which we collected the information;
  • the business or commercial purpose for which we collected the information;
  • the categories of third parties with whom we shared the information; and
  • the categories of information about you that we disclosed for a business purpose and sold to third parties, and the categories of third parties to whom the information was disclosed or sold.
• Right to delete. You may request that we delete the information we have collected from you, subject to certain limitations under the CCPA.
• Right to opt-out from sale of Information. You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your information. We do not sell your information.
• Non-discrimination. The CCPA provides that you may not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.
  
  To submit a request to exercise any of the rights described above, you may email us at privacy@Messages.com. We will verify your identity before responding to your request by either verifying that the email address from which you send the request matches your email address that we have on file, or by requiring you to log into your account using your Google credentials.

10.1. Sources of Information

Sources of information under the CCPA are:

• You (as an individual user) when you provide us information directly, and when we collect it automatically based on your interactions with us (for example, through your computer you use to access our App); and
• Service Providers such as Cloudflare who support our business.

10.2. Consumer Request by an Authorized Agent

If any authorized agent submits a consumer request under the CCPA on your behalf, we require the authorized agent to submit the following information so that we can confirm their authority to act on your behalf:

• Evidence of authorization to act on behalf of the California consumer: (1) California Secretary of State authorization, (2) notarized written permission from the California consumer, or (3) power of attorney.
• Evidence of identity of the California consumer: (1) first and last name, (2) email address, and (3) password.

11. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy. If we make material changes to our Privacy Policy, our revised Privacy Policy will be posted at www.Messages.com/privacy, and it will either be noted on our App that material changes have been made or we will notify our users by email. The date of the most recent update to our Privacy Policy will be set forth in the header to the Privacy Policy.

12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS PRIVACY POLICY?

If you have questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy practices, you may email us at privacy@Messages.com.