Privacy Policy for GifChat

Last updated: June 21, 2026

Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how GifChat (“we,” “us,” “the app,” “GifChat”) collects, uses, stores, and shares your information when you use our mobile application. GifChat is operated by Cezar Drumea, an individual developer, based in Romania.

By creating an account and using GifChat, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.

If you have any questions, contact us at: gifchatlegal@gmail.com

Important: Use of Artificial Intelligence

GifChat is built around AI. To turn your text into reaction GIFs, the content you type — including the text of your messages and conversation context — is sent to third-party AI providers (OpenAI and Anthropic) for processing. This is essential to how the app works. Specifically:

OpenAI receives your message text, post captions, and search queries to generate “embeddings” used to match your words to relevant GIFs.
Anthropic (Claude) receives your message text and surrounding conversation context to break messages into emotional segments so the app can pick fitting GIFs.

These providers process this content to provide the GIF-matching service. We do not use this content to build advertising profiles. Please review OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s privacy policies to understand their data practices. By using GifChat’s messaging and GIF features, you consent to this AI processing of your content.

If you are not comfortable with your message content being processed by these AI providers, please do not use the app’s messaging or GIF-generation features.

Information We Collect

Information you provide

Account information: your email address, password (stored securely/hashed by our authentication provider), and username.
Profile information (optional): display name, bio, and profile picture (avatar).
Content you create: posts (GIFs, captions, titles, hashtags), messages (text, GIF attachments, voice recordings, replies, forwards), stories, and comments.
Age confirmation: confirmation that you meet the minimum age requirement at signup.

Information collected automatically

Usage and engagement data: likes, post views, story views, reposts, saves, and similar interactions. Some view tracking is recorded per-viewer (i.e., which user viewed which post/story).
Social graph: your follows, follow requests, and interaction streaks.
Inferred preferences: we automatically generate a “taste profile” (a vector representation of your GIF preferences based on your interactions) and language-affinity scores to improve GIF matching and content relevance.
Activity status: a “last seen” timestamp updated when you use the app.
For advertisers only: if you use advertiser features, we log IP address and user-agent for ad impression/click events.

Information we do NOT collect

We do not collect your location, health data, calendar, contacts, or browsing activity outside the app. We do not use third-party analytics SDKs, advertising trackers, cookies, or device fingerprinting.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Provide and operate the app (create your account, deliver messages, show your feed, generate GIFs).
Match your text to relevant GIFs using AI (see “Use of Artificial Intelligence” above).
Moderate content for safety (see “Content Moderation” below).
Personalize your experience (relevant GIFs and content based on your taste profile and language affinity).
Send you push notifications (e.g., when someone interacts with you).
Maintain the security and integrity of the app.

Content Moderation

To keep GifChat safe, images and videos you upload are scanned by AWS Rekognition (a third-party service) before they are published, to detect explicit, violent, or otherwise prohibited content. Image and video frames are sent to AWS for this purpose.

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only with the third-party service providers necessary to operate the app:

Provider	What is shared	Purpose
OpenAI	Message text, post captions, search queries	AI GIF matching (embeddings)
Anthropic (Claude)	Message text + conversation context	AI message segmentation for GIF selection
AWS Rekognition	Image/video frames you upload	Content moderation
Supabase	Account and app data	Database, authentication, and file storage
Railway	App data in transit	Backend hosting
Expo (push notifications)	Push tokens, notification content	Delivering push notifications
Stripe	Payment details (advertisers only)	Processing advertiser payments

Each provider processes data under its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review them.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect rights and safety, or in connection with a business transfer.

Where Your Data Is Stored

Your data is stored using Supabase (which uses cloud infrastructure located in EU-West-1 / Ireland). By using the app, you understand your data may be processed and stored in this location and by the third-party providers listed above (some of which are located in the United States).

Data Retention

Stories are automatically deleted after 24 hours.
Other content and account data are retained while your account is active.
When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your data as described below.

Your Rights and Choices

Deleting your account and data

You can delete your account at any time from within the app (Settings → Delete Account). When you delete your account:

We permanently delete your personal and identifying data, including your profile, email, account, posts, private messages, stories, saved items, and uploaded media (including your profile picture).
Content you contributed to shared spaces (such as comments on other users’ posts or messages in group chats) is anonymized — your identity is removed (shown as “[deleted]”) so that other users’ experience is not broken, but the content itself may remain.
Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

Other rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. If you are in the European Union/EEA, you have rights under the GDPR. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at gifchatlegal@gmail.com.

Children’s Privacy

GifChat is not intended for children under 16. We require users to confirm they meet the minimum age at signup. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the minimum age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at gifchatlegal@gmail.com and we will delete it.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your information, including secure authentication, access controls, and encryption in transit. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will update the “Last updated” date and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Continued use of the app after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

gifchatlegal@gmail.com

Cezar Drumea Romania