Status App Privacy Statement

The goal of Status is widespread adoption of the decentralized web. Our challenge is achieving mass adoption while staying true to our Principles, which include privacy and transparency.

We believe privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world. For us, it’s essential to protect privacy in both communications and transactions.

Guided by our principles, Status App is designed to protect your privacy. Status enables pseudo anonymity, strives to provide the right of total anonymity, and offers ways to selectively reveal oneself to the world.

Who we are

Whenever “Status” or “we” is used in this Privacy Statement, we’re referring to Status Research & Development GmbH, a Swiss company. Our contact information can be found at the end of this Privacy Statement.

Status App provides a secure messaging app, crypto wallet, and Web3 browser integrated into one powerful super app. These and any other Status services available through the application are simply called the Status App. The Status App connects users to the Ethereum blockchain.

The Status App utilizes a peer-to-peer network that doesn’t rely on any centralized servers from which communication can be blocked. Instead, Status App relies on a distributed network of nodes running Waku peer-to-peer messaging protocol. Anyone can choose and run such a node, or several nodes, as we do from time to time too. You don’t need anyone’s permission or registration to run or stop running the node. Your device also becomes a node when you download the Status App. Learn more about Waku and the role and types of the nodes here.

You can find more information about Status products and services on our website.

Our role in your privacy

This Privacy Statement applies to you as a user of Status App.

Under the relevant data protection legislation, we would be under certain obligations if we process any personal data when you use Status App. Personal data means all information by which a person can be directly or indirectly identified, in line with the definitions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection of June 19, 1992 (DPA) (as amended from time to time) and its ordinances, and other relevant legislation on the protection of personal data. When we refer to privacy legislation in this Privacy Statement, we mean GDPR and all such relevant legislation.

However, since we do not process any of your personal data when you use the Status App, we decided to tell you the following instead:

Ethereum is a public blockchain

Ethereum is the community-run technology powering the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and thousands of decentralized applications (DApps). The Status App provides a mobile portal and streamlined access to Ethereum’s growing ecosystem of decentralized applications.

The Ethereum public network is accessible to anyone in the world with an internet connection. Anyone can read or create transactions on a public blockchain and validate the transactions being executed. Therefore, information you share on the Ethereum blockchain is public, whether or not you use the Status App. If you decide to share any kind of information, photos, videos, audios and in general any type of content in a public chat, you should keep in mind that it will be accessible and available to the intended recipient and to any other user of the Status app, as it is a public space and accessible to anyone.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) allows Ethereum addresses to be replaced by custom text-based names. Anyone can register a stateofus.eth username by staking the required Status Network Tokens (SNT) from within the profile tab on the Status App. When you register an ENS name with a given wallet address, that address becomes associated with the username, reducing the privacy of that account.

Offering secure, private messaging

When you generate an account, your private keys are generated (public and private keys) and stored locally on your own device. This means that Status doesn’t know which keys belong to you and doesn’t process any personal data in this respect. You’ll then be given display name options to choose from (derived from this key pair). Your display name will only be shared if you choose to share it by chatting with Status or other users.

Within the Status App, you can create a list of trusted contacts based on the chat keys you choose to trust. Your trusted contacts are also stored locally on your own device. This means Status has no access to your contact list and doesn’t process any personal data in this respect.

On the Status App, you can exchange messages with other users, including photos and audio messages. Only the recipient of a message can decrypt the message by opening it on their own device. This means that Status can never access any user messages in private chats.

These messages aren’t stored on a central server but are only temporarily stored by nodes within the network that run Waku peer-to-peer messaging protocol. You can choose which nodes you use, run your own node, or only collect messages directly on your device. Learn more how Waku nodes operate here.

A quick bite on cookies

We do not set any cookies for the use of the Status App. Web 3.0 browser embedded within our App technically supports the use of cookies set by websites you might choose to visit through our Web 3.0 browser.

Changes to Status App privacy

It is unlikely that this Privacy Statement might change, because we do not intend to process your personal data, ever.
You can message us directly in the Status app using the public chat channel #support. Keep in mind, any information shared in the public chat won’t be private. To contact us privately, please email us at support@status.im.

This document is CC-BY-SA.

Last update: 2022-09-26