GU Chat Privacy Policy

GU Chat Legal Info

Our Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") helps explain our data practices, including the information we process to provide our Services.

For example, our Privacy Policy talks about what information we collect and how this affects you. It also explains the steps we take to protect your privacy, like building our Services so delivered messages aren’t stored by us and giving you control over who you communicate with on our Services.

This Privacy Policy applies to all of our Services unless specified otherwise.

Please also read GU Chat’s Terms of Service ("Terms"), which describe the terms under which you use and we provide our Services.

• Your Account Information. You must provide your mobile phone number or email address and basic information (including a profile name of your choice and your date of birth to verify your age) to create a GU Chat account. If you don’t provide us with this information, you will not be able to create an account to use our Services. You can add other information to your account, such as a profile picture, cover image and "about" information.

• Your Messages. We do not retain your messages in the ordinary course of providing our Services to you. Instead, your messages are stored on your device and not typically stored on our servers. Once your messages are delivered, they are deleted from our servers. The following scenarios describe circumstances where we may store your messages in the course of delivering them:

  • Undelivered Messages. If a message cannot be delivered immediately (for example, if the recipient is online), we keep it in encrypted form on our servers for up to 30 days as we try to deliver it. If a message is still undelivered after 30 days, we delete it.

  • Media Forwarding. When a user forwards media within a message, we store that media temporarily in encrypted form on our servers to aid in more efficient delivery of additional forwards.

    We offer end-to-end encryption for our Services. End-to-end encryption means that your messages are encrypted to protect against us and third parties from reading them.

• Your Connections. You can use the contact upload feature and provide us, if permitted by applicable laws, with the phone numbers and email addresses in your address book on a regular basis, including those of users of our Services and your other contacts. If any of your contacts aren’t yet using our Services, we’ll manage this information for you in a way that ensures those contacts cannot be identified by us. You can create, join, or get added to groups and such groups get associated with your account information. You give your groups a name. You can provide a group profile picture or description.

• YouTube Channel Connection: You can connect your YouTube channel to your profile, from which we collect the channel name, number of subscribers, and a link to the channel. This information is used to enhance user profiles and provide a richer platform experience.

• Transactions And Payments Data. If you use our service to cash out your AV (actual valuation), you have to visit virtualvaluation.com and add your bank or paypal details there, that service operate under their own privacy policies

• Customer Support And Other Communications. When you contact us for customer support or otherwise communicate with us, you may provide us with information related to your use of our Services, including copies of your messages, any other information you deem helpful, and how to contact you (e.g., an email address). For example, you may send us an email with information relating to app performance or other issues.

• Usage And Log Information. We collect information about your activity on our Services, like service-related, diagnostic, and performance information. This includes information about your activity (including how you use our Services, your Services settings, how you interact with others using our Services (including when you interact with a games), and the time, frequency, and duration of your activities and interactions), log files, and diagnostic, crash, website, and performance logs and reports. This also includes information about when you registered to use our Services; the features you use like our messaging, calling, Status, groups (including group name, group picture, group description), profile photo, "about” information; whether you are online, when you last used our Services, and when you last updated your "about" information.

• Device And Connection Information. We collect device and connection-specific information when you install, access, or use our Services. This includes information such as hardware model, operating system information, battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP), language and time zone, IP address, device operations information, and identifiers.

• Location Information. We collect and use precise location information from your device with your permission when you choose to use location-related features, like when you decide to share your location with your contacts or view locations nearby or locations others have shared with you. There are certain settings relating to location-related information which you can find in your device settings or the in-app settings, such as location sharing. Even if you do not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location (e.g., city and country). We also use your location information for diagnostics and troubleshooting purposes.

• Cookies. We use cookies to operate and provide our Services, improve your experiences, understand how our Services are being used, and customize them to provide a safer experience, and otherwise to customize our Services for you.

• Information Others Provide About You. We receive information about you from other users. For example, when other users you know use our Services, they may provide your phone number, name, and other information (like information from their mobile address book) just as you may provide theirs. They may also send you messages, send messages to groups to which you belong to, or call you. We require each of these users to have lawful rights to collect, use, and share your information before providing any information to us. You should keep in mind that in general any user can capture screenshots of your chats or messages or make recordings of your calls with them and send them to GU Chat or anyone else, or post them on another platform. User Reports. Just as you can report other users, other users or third parties may also choose to report to us your interactions and your messages with them or others on our Services; for example, to report possible violations of our Terms or policies. When a report is made, we collect information on both the reporting user and reported user. To find out more about what happens when a user report is made.

• Third-Party Service Providers. We work with third-party service providers and other companies to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. For example, we work with them to distribute our apps; provide our technical and physical infrastructure, delivery, and other systems; provide engineering support, cybersecurity support, and operational support; supply location, map, and places information; process payments; help us understand how people use our Services; market our Services; conduct surveys and research for us; ensure safety, security, and integrity; and help with customer service. These companies may provide us with information about you in certain circumstances; for example, app stores may provide us with reports to help us diagnose and fix service issues.

• Third-Party Services. We allow you to use our Services in connection with third-party services and games. If you use our Services with such third-party services or games, we may receive information about you from them; for example, if you play games using GU Chat then we receive information from those games like time spent, ads watched and money spent on those games to reward you based on those parameters. These third party services operate under their own privacy policies.

• Our Services. We use information we have to operate and provide our Services, including providing customer support; completing purchases or transactions; improving, fixing, and customizing our Services; and connecting our Services with games and other services that you may use. We also use information we have to understand how people use our Services; evaluate and improve our Services; research, develop, and test new services and features; and conduct troubleshooting activities. We also use your information to respond to you when you contact us.

• Safety, Security, And Integrity. Safety, security, and integrity are an integral part of our Services. We use information we have to verify accounts and activity; combat harmful conduct; protect users against bad experiences and spam; and promote safety, security, and integrity on and off our Services, such as by investigating suspicious activity or violations of our Terms and policies, and to ensure our Services are being used legally. Please see the Law, Our Rights and Protection section below for more information.

• No Third-Party Banner Ads. We still do not allow third-party banner ads on our Services. We have no intention to introduce them, but if we ever do, we will update this Privacy Policy.

• Send Your Information To Those With Whom You Choose To Communicate. You share your information (including messages) as you use and communicate through our Services.

• Information Associated With Your Account. Your phone number, profile name and photo, "about" information, last seen information, and message receipts are available to anyone who uses our Services, although you can configure your Services settings to manage certain information available to other users, with whom you communicate.

• Your Contacts And Others. Users with whom you communicate can store or reshare your information (including your phone number or messages) with others on and off our Services. You can use your Services settings and the “block” feature in our Services to manage who you communicate with on our Services and certain information you share.

• Third-Party Service Providers. We work with third-party service providers and other companies to help us operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services. We work with these companies to support our Services, such as to provide technical infrastructure, delivery and other systems; market our Services; conduct surveys and research for us; protect the safety, security, and integrity of users and others; and assist with customer service. When we share information with third-party service providers and other companies in this capacity, we require them to use your information on our behalf in accordance with our instructions and terms.

• Third-Party Services. When you or others use third-party services or other company products that are integrated with our Services, those third-party services may receive information about what you or others share with them. For example, if you use a data backup service integrated with our Services (like iCloud or Google Account), they will receive information you share with them, such as your GU Chat messages. If you interact with a third-party service linked through our Services, such as when you use the in-app player to play content from a third-party platform, information about you, like your IP address and the fact that you are a GU Chat user, may be provided to such third parties. Please note that when you use third-party services, their own terms and privacy policies will govern your use of those services and products.

• Services Settings. You can change your Services settings to manage certain information available to other users. You can manage your contacts, and groups, or use our “block” feature to manage the users with whom you communicate.

• Changing Your Mobile Phone Number, Profile Name And Picture, And “About” Information. If you change your mobile phone number, you must update it using our in-app change number feature and transfer your account to your new mobile phone number. You can also change your profile name, profile picture, and "about" information at any time.

• Deleting Your GU Chat Account. You can delete your GU Chat account at any time (including if you want to revoke your consent to our use of your information pursuant to applicable law) using our in-app delete my account feature. When you delete your GU Chat account, your undelivered messages are deleted from our servers as well as any of your other information we no longer need to operate and provide our Services. Deleting your account will, for example, delete your account info and profile photo, delete you from all GU Chat groups, and delete your GU Chat message history. Be mindful that if you only delete GU Chat from your device without using our in-app delete my account feature, your information will be stored with us for a longer period. Please remember that when you delete your account, it does not affect your information related to the groups you created or the information other users have relating to you, such as their copy of the messages you sent them.