Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

What We Collect

Audio recordings you choose to release as whispers.
An approximate location — rounded on your device to an area of roughly 5 km (city-level), never your precise GPS position — and the country it falls in. These are attached to a whisper only to show distance, power the map and the "same country" filter.
The mood and fade time you pick for a whisper.
A random tag, created by the app, attached to every whisper you release. It stays the same across your whispers so listeners can block a sender, which also means anyone who hears several of your whispers could tell they came from the same device. It is not linked to your name, iCloud account or device hardware.
A random session name (e.g. "wandering reed") stored only on your phone and included in reports you make.
Small records (a whisper's ID and a time) created when you hear, echo or report a whisper, so the sender can be told and the same whisper isn't played twice.

What We Do Not Collect

Your name, email address, phone number or any contact information.
Your precise location.
Your iCloud or Apple ID details — WhisperBox cannot identify you from your iCloud account.
Analytics, advertising identifiers or tracking data.
Voice transcripts — speech checks run entirely on your device and nothing from them is sent anywhere.
A WhisperBox account. There is no sign-up.

How Your Data Is Used

Whispers and the records around them are stored in Apple's CloudKit solely to deliver whispers to anonymous listeners and keep the space safe. When someone hears a whisper it is hidden from everyone else's feed straight away, and the sender's phone deletes it a few hours later. If a listener chooses "carry it forward", their phone uploads a copy of the whisper as a new one, keeping its original mood, fade time and sender tag. A whisper you save to your Memory Vault is copied to your own phone only.

Apple CloudKit & iCloud

WhisperBox stores data in Apple's CloudKit, under Apple's Privacy Policy (apple.com/legal/privacy). WhisperBox does not run its own servers. Posting a whisper needs your device to be signed in to iCloud — that is your device's own sign-in, which we never see, not a WhisperBox account. CloudKit also gives every record an internal creator code. It contains no name, email or Apple ID, but it is the same for records made from the same iCloud account, and it is outside our control.

On-Device Safety Checks

Before a whisper is released, speech recognition on your phone checks it for content this space doesn't allow. No audio leaves your device for this check. If a whisper suggests you may be struggling, it isn't posted and the app shows support resources instead.

Moderation & Safety

When you report a whisper it disappears from your feed at once, and two records are saved: a flag (the whisper's ID and a random code unrelated to your sender tag) and a private report for moderators (the whisper's ID, the sender's tag, the category and your session name). Once several different people have flagged a whisper, it is hidden for everyone. Reported whispers are kept until the WhisperBox Moderation Team has reviewed them, within 24 hours. Blocking a sender is stored only on your phone and hides every whisper that carries that sender's tag.

Data Retention

Whispers fade after the time chosen when recording: 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, 7 days, or never. A whisper that is heard is deleted a few hours after it is heard.
Your phone deletes its own whispers, and the small records it created about others', the next time you open the app. A whisper whose sender never opens the app again can stay stored, hidden from feeds, until it is removed.
Quiet responses fade after 30 days.
Reported whispers and moderation reports are kept until they have been reviewed, and as long as needed to enforce the rules.
Saved whispers stay on your phone until you delete them or delete the app. A listener may also save a whisper on their own phone, so a copy can outlive its fade time there.

Permissions

Microphone — to record whispers. Approximate location — rounded as described above. Speech recognition — for the on-device safety check. Notifications — to tell you when a whisper is heard, echoed, or released near you. You can turn any of these off in Settings.

Children's Privacy

WhisperBox is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 is using this app, please contact us immediately.

Your Rights

Whispers delete themselves as described above. To have one removed sooner, contact support. Because whispers are anonymous, we cannot verify ownership, but we will remove any record you can identify (e.g. by its CloudKit record name).

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

For privacy inquiries or data requests:
[email protected]