Legal
Privacy Policy
ARKK is a privacy-focused encrypted messenger operated by Genroar. This policy explains what data ARKK does and does not collect.
Summary
- ARKK does not require a phone number, email, or any personal account to use.
- ARKK does not collect names, emails, photos from your library, your contact list, or location data.
- All messages are end-to-end encrypted. Even Genroar, as the operator, cannot read them.
- Messages stay on your device until you delete them. Auto-deleting messages are an opt-in per-chat setting, off by default.
- Your profile name and photo, if you set them, are stored only on your device by default and never transmitted.
What we collect
Cryptographic identity
When you create an ARKK identity, your device generates a pair of cryptographic keys (Ed25519 for signing, X25519 for encryption). The public halves are registered on our servers under a short fingerprint, how other users find you to start a conversation. The private halves never leave your device; they are held in your phone's hardware-backed Keychain (iOS) or Keystore (Android) and protected by your device unlock.
Messages, briefly, in transit
Your device encrypts each message locally and uploads only the encrypted ciphertext. We hold it just long enough to deliver, typically seconds, capped at seven days if the recipient stays offline, then delete it the moment delivery is acknowledged. We cannot read these messages at any point; they are decrypted only on the recipient's device with a private key we never see.
Messages on your device
Decrypted messages are stored on your device in a SQLCipher-encrypted database and stay there until you delete them. They are removed when you delete them, when a chat's opt-in disappearing timer fires, when you block the contact, or when you reset your identity.
Disappearing messages are off by default. You can turn on a 30-second timer per chat; it is announced to the other side over the same end-to-end encrypted control channel, so both ends stay in sync. Our servers never see whether disappearing is on or off, that bit lives inside the encrypted payload.
Push notification tokens (only if you enable notifications)
If you turn on push notifications, your device's Firebase Cloud Messaging token is stored so we can send a wake-up. The payload contains no message content, no sender information, and no metadata beyond an opaque token. Notifications default to off.
Connection metadata (transient)
To deliver messages, your device connects to our server, which can observe your IP address and connection time, an unavoidable side-effect of any internet connection. We do not write this to persistent storage or retain it beyond your session.
What we do NOT collect
- Names, email addresses, phone numbers, or government-issued identifiers
- Profile photos or display names (stored only on your own device)
- Your phone's contact list, ARKK never reads your address book
- Location data, ARKK never requests location permissions
- Message content, sender, recipient, or conversation metadata beyond what is strictly required to relay encrypted ciphertext
- Behavioral analytics, usage tracking, or session recordings
- Advertising identifiers, ARKK contains no advertising
Data retention
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Encrypted message ciphertext (in delivery) | Deleted on delivery acknowledgement, or 7 days maximum if the recipient stays offline. |
| Public-key registration | Retained while your identity is active. Resetting your identity removes it from our servers. |
| Push notification token | Retained while you have an active identity with notifications enabled. Removed when you disable them or reset your identity. |
| Connection logs | Not retained. |
| Profile name and photo | On your device only by default. Cleared when you reset your identity. |
| Decrypted messages on your device | On the device only, in a SQLCipher-encrypted database. Removed on delete, timer fire, block, or identity reset. |
Third parties
- Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google LLC): used only to wake your device for incoming messages, and only if you enable notifications. Google receives an opaque wake-up token and notification timing, never content, sender, recipient, or conversation metadata.
- No other third parties have access to your data. ARKK integrates no analytics platforms, ad networks, or other data processors. This website itself loads no third-party code.
Your rights
- Reset your identity at any time from Settings → Profile → Reset Identity. This removes your public key and notification token from our servers and wipes all local data.
- Stop using ARKK at any time; uninstalling removes all local data. Reset your identity first to also clear the server-side registration.
- Request information or deletion by email. Because we hold so little, no name, no email, no phone number, there is typically nothing to provide beyond what resetting your identity already removes.
Children
ARKK is not intended for users under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
Security
ARKK uses libsodium (NaCl) for all encryption. Identity keys live in the device's hardware-backed keychain; the on-device database is encrypted at rest with SQLCipher; traffic to our servers uses TLS. Message confidentiality does not depend on that transport: every payload is end-to-end encrypted between devices, so a network observer, or a compromised TLS connection, still sees only ciphertext.
Changes to this policy
We will update this policy if our practices change, posting a new "Last updated" date here and announcing material changes inside the app.
Contact
- Operator: Genroar (ARKK)
- Address: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Email: privacy@arkk.chat
Jurisdiction
This policy is governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates. If you are in the EEA, the UK, or another jurisdiction with applicable data-protection laws, you retain all rights those laws afford in addition to the rights described here.