Privacy notice

Who runs this site

Velvet is self-hosted software. This installation is run by an independent operator, who is responsible for your data here (the “controller”, in data-protection terms):

• Operator: [Operator name not yet configured]
• Contact: [Contact details not yet configured]
• Postal address: [Address not yet configured]
• Jurisdiction: [Jurisdiction not yet configured]

What is stored

A session cookie

When you first visit, your browser gets a random session token in a cookie. It identifies your browser session — not you — and only a one-way hash of it is stored on the server. A second cookie protects forms against cross-site request forgery. There are no tracking or advertising cookies.

Your agreement

When you confirm you’re at least 18 and accept the rules, we record that you agreed, which version of the text you saw, and when. Age is self-declared; we do not verify identity or age.

What you choose to share

Your display name, interests, language, country, gender and matching filters — all optional and all self-declared. Strangers you meet see your per-chat alias plus whatever of this you chose to show.

An abuse key derived from your IP address

To enforce bans and rate limits, the server derives a keyed, pseudonymous value from your IP address (for IPv6, from your network’s /64 prefix). Your raw IP address is not stored in the database. It is, however, necessarily visible while you’re connected to the web server and the call relay, and it may appear in the web server’s access logs if the operator has those switched on.

Chat metadata

Basic information about matches — when they started and ended, which mode, and how they ended — so the service can run, be debugged and be protected from abuse.

Text messages

Messages pass through the server and are held in a short-lived memory buffer so they can be attached to a report. The buffer is deleted about 15 minutes after the chat ends. Messages are only written to permanent storage if you (or your partner) choose to include them in a report.

Reports and evidence

If you report someone, we store the report, your note, and only the messages or attachments the reporter selected. Reports are reviewed by moderators and kept for a limited number of days.

Photos and voice notes

Voice notes are recorded in your browser and checked on the server for format and length. Attachments are only delivered to partners who have opted in to receive them, are stored on the operator’s own server — not a third-party service — and are deleted automatically shortly after the chat ends, unless they were attached to a report.

Accounts (optional)

If you create an account, we store your username, a password hash made with Argon2id (we never store the password itself), hashed recovery codes, and your saved preferences and block list. No email or phone number is ever requested.

Blocks

When you block someone, we keep a record linking your session or account to theirs so you aren’t matched again.

What isn’t collected

• No recordings of voice or video calls — ever.
• No email address, phone number or legal name.
• No third-party analytics, advertising, tracking pixels or social widgets.
• No content delivery networks, external fonts or remotely hosted scripts: every file is served from this site.
• No precise location. Country is only what you choose to declare.

Encryption — what it does and doesn’t cover

Everything between your browser and this site travels over TLS (https). Voice and video use WebRTC, which encrypts the media between the two browsers with DTLS-SRTP. By default, calls are routed through the operator’s own relay (TURN) server, so your partner doesn’t see your IP address. The relay forwards encrypted media and is not designed to decrypt it.

This is not end-to-end encryption. Text messages and attachments are readable by the server that carries them, and you are trusting the operator’s server to set up calls honestly. Velvet is anonymous between strangers, not anonymous from the operator.

How long things are kept

• Text chat buffer: about 15 minutes after a chat ends.
• Reporting window: a chat can be reported for about 15 minutes after it ends.
• Photos and voice notes: deleted shortly after the chat ends, unless attached to a report.
• Private rooms: expire after about 24 hours, or sooner if revoked.
• Report evidence and closed reports: a limited number of days, set by the operator, then deleted.
• Match metadata: a limited number of days, then deleted.
• Guest sessions: expire after a period of inactivity.
• Accounts: until you delete yours.
• Bans: for the length of the ban.

Who else sees your data

Only the people you chat with (what you choose to share), and the operator and their moderators (as described above). Data isn’t sold or shared for marketing. The operator may have to disclose information where the law requires it, for example in response to a valid legal order or to protect someone from serious harm.

Data is processed to provide the service you asked for, to keep it safe from abuse, and to meet legal obligations. Where the law in [jurisdiction not yet configured] sets other bases or requirements, the operator is responsible for meeting them.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the data held about you, have it corrected or deleted, object to or restrict its use, and complain to a data-protection authority. Because we deliberately don’t know who you are, we may need you to prove a session or account is yours — for example by contacting us from the same browser session, or by signing in.

• You can delete your account yourself at any time from your account page.
• You can clear this site’s cookies at any time to detach yourself from your guest session.
• For anything else, contact the operator: [contact details not yet configured].

See also the terms of use and safety page.