VANISH PRIVATE CHAT GUIDE
Privacy without vague promises
Message text and optional images are encrypted in your browser. Some metadata is required to operate a web service.
Information not requested
No account, name, email address, phone number, contact list, or profile is required.
Information processed
The service processes random identifiers, expiry, encrypted payloads, media size, timing, and ordinary network metadata. Expired live messages and image objects are cleaned on a schedule; provider logs may last longer.
Analytics and tracking
Vanish uses a small first-party script to count public page views and a few room-creation and invite actions. The analytics database stores daily totals by public page and action, with no cookies, visitor IDs, room IDs, complete invites, or message content. Requests still pass through the hosting and database providers, whose operational logs may process network information.
Expiry and retention
The backend refuses room access after expiry. Scheduled cleanup deletes expired live rows and encrypted room image objects through the storage service. One-open notes are removed from live storage on first authorized retrieval. Infrastructure logs and backups may remain under provider retention schedules, so expiry is not instant erasure from every system.
Local tools
The password generator and image metadata wiper run in your browser. Images attached inside a chat room are encrypted locally and then uploaded as ciphertext.
Burn on view
When enabled, a cooperating recipient browser sends a confirmation after rendering a message. The live ciphertext is deleted and connected screens hide the message after ten seconds. This does not erase copies made by participants or providers.
Participant-controlled copies
Once content appears on another device, its owner can copy, screenshot, record, quote, or forward it. Choose recipients carefully.
Questions and answers
Are message bodies plaintext in the database?
No. The live backend stores encrypted payloads.
Does expiry erase another device?
No. Vanish cannot control copies made by participants.