idle

Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

We built idle because we were tired of apps that treat your attention and data as products. This policy explains what we collect, what we don't, and why. We tried to make it actually readable.

What We Collect

  • Phone number— for SMS verification only. We don't use it for marketing or share it with anyone.
  • Username and display name— chosen by you, so your friends can find you.
  • Public encryption key— generated on your device for end-to-end encryption. This is the public half only.
  • Door customization preferences— your door style, color, stickers, and note so we can show your door to your friends.
  • Push notification tokens— so we can deliver knock notifications to your device.
  • Camera and microphone access— used for video and voice chat in the common room. Audio and video are streamed in real time and are never recorded or stored by idle.

What We Don't Collect

This list is important to us:

  • Location data
  • Contact list or address book
  • Browsing history
  • Advertising identifiers (IDFA, GAID)
  • Device fingerprints for tracking

We do not use any third-party analytics SDKs. No Mixpanel, no Amplitude, no Google Analytics. We don't want to know how many times you open the app or which buttons you tap.

End-to-End Encryption

This is the part we're most proud of. Your conversations are yours.

  • All messages in knock threads are encrypted client-side before reaching our servers.
  • Voice memos are encrypted client-side before upload.
  • Each message is encrypted with a unique key using XSalsa20-Poly1305, and that key is securely distributed to each of your devices via X25519 key exchange.
  • Each of your devices generates its own private encryption key that never leaves that device (stored in iOS Keychain / Android Keystore). You can view and revoke devices at any time.

We cannot read your messages. No one at idle can access the plaintext content of your conversations. Not our engineers, not our CEO, not under a court order (because we literally don't have the keys).

Data Retention

idle is built around ephemerality. Things disappear because that's how real life works.

  • Knock messages expire and are deleted after 23 hours.
  • Voice memos are deleted when the parent knock expires.
  • Feed events are retained for 48 hours.
  • Bulletin posts expire after 48 hours.
  • Room data is deleted when the room closes (when all participants leave).

Data Sharing

  • We do not sell your data to anyone.
  • We do not share your data with advertisers.
  • We do not share your data with data brokers.

Third-party services we use:

  • Supabase— database hosting
  • Twilio— SMS delivery for verification
  • Expo— push notification delivery
  • LiveKit— voice and video chat infrastructure

These services process data only as necessary to provide their functionality. They don't get to use your data for their own purposes.

Account Deletion

  • You can delete your account at any time from the app settings.
  • Upon deletion, your profile is immediately hidden from other users.
  • All associated data is permanently deleted within 30 days.
  • Your local encryption keys are deleted immediately.

Your Rights

Regardless of where you live, you can:

  • Access your data— request a copy of everything we have on you.
  • Correct your data— fix anything that's wrong.
  • Delete your data— nuke it all from the app settings, or email us and we'll handle it.
  • Export your data— get a portable copy of your information.

If you're in California (CCPA) or the EU (GDPR), you have additional rights including the right to opt out of data sales (we don't sell data, so there's nothing to opt out of) and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

For any of these requests: hello@beidle.app. We'll respond within 30 days.

Children's Privacy

idle is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 is using idle, please contact us and we'll take immediate action.

Changes to This Policy

We will notify users of material changes via in-app notification. We'll also update the "Last updated" date at the top. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

Contact

For privacy questions, concerns, or requests: hello@beidle.app

We actually read every email. It's a small team.