Entangle Privacy Policy
Effective date: 3 November 2026
This policy explains how the Entangle apps for iPhone, Mac and Android ("Entangle", "the app") handle information. Entangle is published by Qbitwise ("Qbitwise", "we"); on the App Store it is called "Stay Entangled".
In short
- Entangle has no accounts. You never give us a name, phone number or email address to use it.
- Qbitwise runs no server for the app and receives none of your messages, contacts, location or usage data. The app contains no advertising, analytics or crash-reporting software, and it does not track you.
- What you post in public chats goes to other people: to phones near you over Bluetooth and, if you use internet features, to independent public servers called Nostr relays.
- Private messages are end-to-end encrypted. Only you and the person you write to can read them.
1. What stays on your device
Entangle keeps the following on your phone or computer. We cannot see any of it.
- Identity keys. The app creates its own encryption and signing keys. On Apple devices, secret keys are kept in the Keychain; on Android, they are stored encrypted with a key held in the Android Keystore. They never leave the device.
- Your nickname and settings, the people you have Entangled with, the people you have verified or blocked, and your channel bookmarks.
- Private conversations. Private chats are stored in an app database whose message text, names and file paths are encrypted with a key from the secure key storage. The database is not included in cloud or device backups. The app keeps a limited number of messages per conversation and removes older ones automatically.
- Messages waiting to be delivered. A private message that has not reached its recipient yet waits in an encrypted outbox for up to 24 hours.
- Sealed mail you carry for others. Your phone may hold a limited number of end-to-end encrypted envelopes for other people for up to 24 hours, so they can reach their recipient later. Your phone cannot read them.
- Recent public messages. Signed public messages from Near Field are kept for up to 6 hours so that phones arriving later can catch up.
- Photos, voice notes and files. Media you send or receive is stored in the app's own folder. Received media (and, on Android, media you sent) is deleted after 7 days or when the folder grows past its size limit, unless it belongs to a stored private conversation; then it is kept as long as that message is.
- E-Node data (only if you pair an E-Node radio): the radio you paired, the keys your Entangled contacts use over LoRa, and LoRa messages waiting to be sent.
- Shared items. Text or a link you share into Entangle from another app waits until you add it to a message or cancel: up to 24 hours on iPhone, and only in memory on Android. Nothing is sent automatically.
2. What other people receive
People near you (Bluetooth)
Entangle phones connect directly to each other over Bluetooth and pass messages along. Nearby phones can receive:
- your nickname and your public keys. These stay the same over time, so treat them as a pseudonym, not as anonymity;
- technical announcements, such as which features your phone supports and a short list of its direct neighbours;
- everything you post in Near Field, the public chat, including photos, voice notes and files. Anyone nearby can see them;
- private messages, which are end-to-end encrypted, so the phones that relay them cannot read them;
- if you turn on the bridge, the approximate area (about 1 km) your phone serves.
A receiving phone can also estimate how close you are from the Bluetooth signal strength.
Data you relay for others
To keep the mesh working, your phone relays other people's messages and stores them for a limited time: public messages for up to 6 hours, sealed mail for up to 24 hours, and signed public notices for up to 7 days. It also keeps and passes on encrypted group messages, a feature this version of the app does not show yet. Encrypted items stay unreadable to your phone.
Location channels, notes and Nostr relays (internet, optional)
When you use an internet feature, the app connects to Nostr relays. These are independent servers run by third parties, not by Qbitwise. The app comes with a few well-known public relays, picks location relays from a list bundled with the app, and lets you add relays of your own.
- Location channel messages carry your text, your nickname, the channel's area code (a "geohash"), a public key the app creates for that area, and the time. Anyone reading that channel can see them. A channel covers an area: a region or a city for wide channels, down to about 40 metres at the "building" level.
- Presence. While "Use my location" is on and the app is open, it announces that someone is active in your region, province and city channels, never at finer levels.
- Location notes are permanent public notes attached to a building-sized area (about 40 × 20 metres) and kept by relays.
- Private messages to people you have Entangled with can travel through relays when you are apart. They are end-to-end encrypted. Relays can see the recipient's public key, the time and the size, but not the content or who sent it.
- The bridge (off unless you turn it on) publishes your public Near Field messages to an area of about 1 km so that nearby people on the internet can see them, and passes sealed mail through relays.
Relays decide for themselves how long they keep messages and what they log. Public posts and notes can stay on relays and cannot always be deleted.
Tor and your IP address
Internet features go through the Tor network by default, so relays do not see your IP address. You can turn Tor off in Settings › Network; every relay you connect to can then see your IP address.
E-Node radio (optional hardware)
If you pair an E-Node, private messages to your Entangled contacts can travel over LoRa radio. They are end-to-end encrypted and carry a recipient tag that changes every day. Other E-Nodes relay the radio frames and may store them for a while. Anyone nearby with suitable equipment can receive radio transmissions, but cannot read their content.
3. Location
Location is optional. The app uses it only after you turn on "Use my location" and allow location access while the app is in use. It is never used in the background.
On Android 11 and older, the system requires location permission for Bluetooth scanning, so the app asks for it at setup; even then it reads your location only while "Use my location" is on. On Android devices with Google Play services, the position comes from the system's location service and follows your device's Google location settings.
The app turns your position into geohash areas on your device and uses them for location channels, location notes and the bridge. Exact coordinates are never put in a message, never stored, and never sent to us or to any map or geocoding service. You can join channels without sharing your location: by your region, by typing an area code, or from a bookmark.
4. Camera, microphone and photos
- Microphone: only while you record a voice note or hold push-to-talk. The audio goes to the conversation you are in.
- Camera: only while you take a photo to send or scan a verification QR code.
- Photos: the app uses the system photo picker, which shares only the images you pick. If you save an image, on iPhone the app asks for permission to add it to your photo library; on Android it goes to your Downloads folder.
You can change these permissions at any time in your device's settings.
5. Notifications and background activity
Entangle's notifications are created on your device, for example when a private message arrives. We use no push notification server. What the lock screen shows follows your device's notification settings.
So that messages keep arriving and are passed on while your phone is locked, Entangle keeps its Bluetooth connections and scans for nearby Entangle phones in the background, at a low rate. On Android this runs as a service with a persistent notification; it starts when you open the app and after an update, and you can turn it off in Settings. Background activity never uses your location.
6. Reports you send us
If you report a message or a person, the app prepares an email to us with the reported message, the sender's nickname and public key fingerprint, the channel and the time. Nothing is sent until you send that email from your own mail app. We use reports only to review them and act on them, and we delete them when they are no longer needed for that.
7. Links and payments
If a message contains a Cashu ecash token, you can open it in a wallet app or, after a confirmation, on the website redeem.cashu.me. That website is run by a third party, and its own privacy policy applies.
8. Encryption
Private chats over Bluetooth use the Noise Protocol (X25519, ChaCha20-Poly1305, SHA-256). Private messages through relays use secp256k1 keys and XChaCha20-Poly1305. Stored conversations are encrypted with AES-GCM. No encryption can protect a message once its recipient has read, copied or photographed it.
9. How long data is kept
| Data | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Private conversations | Your device | Until you delete them, the storage limit removes them, you panic-wipe, or you delete the app |
| Undelivered private messages | Your device | Up to 24 hours |
| Sealed mail carried for others | Your device | Up to 24 hours |
| Signed public notices relayed for others | Your device | Up to 7 days |
| Recent public Near Field messages | Your device | Up to 6 hours |
| Received media | Your device | 7 days or the size limit, unless a stored conversation uses it |
| Keys, settings, bookmarks, blocks | Your device | Until you change them, panic-wipe, or delete the app |
| Public posts, notes, presence, encrypted messages on relays | Third-party relays | According to each relay's policy |
| Reports you email us | Qbitwise | Until the report has been handled |
10. Your choices
- Panic wipe: tap the E logo at the top three times to erase all of Entangle's data on your device at once.
- Delete a conversation from the People page.
- Block anyone: their messages stop reaching you.
- In Settings, turn off "Use my location", the bridge or Tor, and remove relays you added.
- Delete the app to remove everything it stored.
Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to show, export or delete: everything is on your device and under your control. For data on a relay, contact that relay's operator.
11. Children
Entangle is not meant for children. Its public chats are open to strangers. The app is rated for adults, and the Terms of Use require users to be at least 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children; in fact we collect none from anyone.
12. Your rights
Depending on where you live, for example under the EU's GDPR or Türkiye's KVKK, you may have the right to access, correct or erase personal data and to complain to a data protection authority. Since Qbitwise receives no personal data through the app, except reports you choose to email us, there is usually nothing for us to provide. You can still contact us with any question.
13. Changes
If the app's handling of data changes, we will update this policy and its effective date before the change ships.
14. Contact
Qbitwise
Email: alp@qbitwise.com
Website: https://entanglement.network