Effective Date: August 9, 2026

Welcome to FiChat, developed by Circle Mesh Limited ("we," "our," or "us"). FiChat is a decentralized communication platform designed to provide secure messaging through peer-to-peer (P2P) mesh networks and global internet bridging.

Your privacy is at the core of our mission. This Privacy Policy explains what information FiChat accesses, how it is used, and how we protect your privacy when you use our Service.

1. Our Privacy Philosophy: "Privacy by Design"

FiChat is built around a "Zero-Knowledge" and "Zero-Identity" architecture, designed to minimize the collection and centralized storage of personal information.

No Registration

FiChat does not require you to provide a phone number, email address, or social media profile to create or use an account.

Anonymous Identity

Your FiChat identity is represented by a unique, randomly generated alphanumeric ID that is created locally on your device.

No Permanent Centralized Message Storage

Your chat history is primarily stored locally on your device. Messages transmitted through the local P2P Mesh do not pass through or get stored on our centralized servers.

For messages sent through the Global Bridge, temporary processing may occur through our infrastructure as described below.

2. Information We Collect and How We Use It

A. Real-Time Location Data

FiChat may request access to your device's precise location to support decentralized mesh discovery and Emergency SOS functionality.

Purpose:
Location access may be required by the Android operating system to discover nearby Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices used as Mesh nodes.

Emergency SOS:
When you manually activate the SOS feature, your real-time GPS coordinates may be broadcast to users within the available Mesh range and, when the Global Bridge is enabled, through the internet connection to assist with emergency communication and rescue efforts.

Storage:
FiChat does not maintain or store your location history. Location information is used temporarily for active network discovery and emergency signaling.

B. Messages and Media

P2P Mesh:
Messages transmitted through the local Mesh network travel directly between compatible devices. FiChat does not have access to the contents of these local transmissions.

Global Bridge:
When you enable the Global Bridge (Internet Mode), messages may be routed through our secure Firebase infrastructure to facilitate communication between users who are not directly connected through the local Mesh network. Such data is intended to be temporary and is deleted after delivery or expiration, subject to technical requirements and service operation.

Encryption:
Text communications are protected using AES-256 encryption. Where end-to-end encryption is implemented, only the intended communicating parties should be able to decrypt the message content.

C. Device Information

FiChat may access basic device information, such as your device model (for example, "Pixel 7"), to provide a default display name within the application.

You may change your display name at any time through the FiChat settings.

3. Premium Features and Security

A. Stealth Privacy Mode

Premium users may activate Stealth Privacy Mode, which uses Android's FLAG_SECURE functionality to help protect sensitive content.

When enabled, this feature may:

Please note that Android system behavior and device manufacturer settings may affect the effectiveness of these protections.

B. Anti-Spam Protection

To maintain network stability and protect device resources, FiChat may analyze the frequency and volume of incoming network packets.

If a node is detected transmitting excessive traffic or attempting to flood the network, FiChat may automatically drop or ignore excessive packets locally.

C. Biometric Security

FiChat may provide an optional Biometric Lock using supported device authentication methods, such as fingerprint or facial authentication.

Biometric authentication is handled by the Android operating system and the device's secure hardware or trusted execution environment. FiChat does not access, collect, or store your biometric information.

4. Third-Party Services

FiChat uses a limited number of trusted third-party services to support certain application features and infrastructure.

Google Play Services

Google Play Services may be used to support core Android functionality and mapping-related features.

Google AdMob

FiChat may use Google AdMob to display advertisements to non-premium users.

AdMob may collect certain device identifiers, usage information, and other information in accordance with Google's applicable privacy policies and advertising technologies.

Firebase by Google

FiChat may use Firebase services to support features such as:

Third-party services may process certain technical information according to their own privacy policies.

5. Data Retention

Local Chat History

Chat history stored locally on your device remains available until you manually delete it, clear the application's data, or uninstall FiChat.

Ephemeral Messages

If you use the Timer or disappearing-message feature, eligible messages are automatically removed from the applicable local databases after the selected duration.

The exact deletion behavior may depend on the connectivity and synchronization status of the participating devices.

6. Children's Privacy

FiChat does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

Because FiChat does not require traditional account registration, we may not be able to independently verify the age of every user.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to FiChat, please contact us so that we can review the situation and take appropriate action.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information processed through FiChat.

However, no communication system, internet transmission, wireless network, or electronic storage method can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Users should also take reasonable precautions to protect their devices, authentication credentials, and access to the FiChat application.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to FiChat, our services, or applicable legal requirements.

When we make changes, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice through the FiChat application or our website.

We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how FiChat handles information.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this Privacy Policy or FiChat's privacy practices, please contact us:

Circle Mesh Limited
FiChat

Email: support@circlemesh.site