Privacy policy

Beta. Effective 29 October 2026, updated 1 November 2026 (launch list). Applies to the TARIQ apps for Linux, Windows and Android, and to tariqchat.com.

Who is responsible

Mohamud Bulle, a private individual in Sweden, publishes TARIQ and is the data controller for the processing described here. Contact: privacy@tariqchat.com.

The short version

• TARIQ has no accounts, phone numbers or email sign-up. Your identity is a key pair created on your own device.
• We, the publisher, run no message servers, so we do not receive your messages or your contact list.
• Direct messages, channel messages, calls, posts, comments and live streams are end-to-end encrypted (version 0.8.0-mature.118 and later). Photos and files you share are not yet, so don't share anything in them you couldn't afford to have read.
• TARIQ has no analytics, telemetry, advertising or crash reporting.
• Some data unavoidably passes through the network, most importantly your IP address. This policy says where it goes.

1. The app

1.1 Data stored on your device

Your identity keys, contacts, messages, posts, media and settings are stored on your device: in the .config/tariq folder of your user profile on Linux and Windows, and in the app's private storage on Android. We have no copy.

• Message and post contents are encrypted on disk. The key that protects them is stored on the same device, so anyone with full access to it can read them. Use device encryption and a strong lock.
• Some details are stored unencrypted on disk: who sent a message, which conversation it belongs to, when it was sent, and contact names.
• A local log file records the app's internal operations. It does not record message content.
• "Wipe local data" in Settings currently removes only app settings and the local session token. To remove everything, uninstall the app; on Linux and Windows, also delete the .config/tariq folder.

1.2 Data shared with other TARIQ users

TARIQ has no central message server. Messages travel through relays run by other TARIQ users. As a result:

• Other users' devices see your IP address. This includes the people you talk to and the relays that carry your traffic. Messages are wrapped in layered encryption with cover traffic to make it harder for relays to see who is talking to whom. This has not yet been independently audited. Your first relays (your "guards") stay the same for weeks and see your IP address throughout that time.
• Your device may help other users the same way. It can forward their encrypted traffic and hold sealed messages for offline users for up to 24 hours. Your device cannot read these items.
• Your public keys are shared so other users can find and verify you. The TARIQ ID you choose to share is a public key.
• Voice and video calls connect directly, or through another user's relay. The other party, and the relay if one is used, sees your IP address.

1.3 Data sent to other servers

• Update checks (Linux and Windows). The app checks for updates at dl.tariqchat.com, which Cloudflare hosts for us (section 2). The check sends your IP address and a standard technical request, and no identifiers. The Android app does not check for updates itself; Google Play updates it.
• Link previews. When you type a web link into a post, the app may fetch that page directly to build a preview, and that website sees your IP address. You can turn this off under Privacy, "Link previews". People who read your post do not fetch the page.
• Known defects in versions 0.8.0-mature.115 and earlier. The background service also tries a daily update check at updates.tariq.chat, a domain we do not control, and link previews are fetched even when "Link previews" is off. Both are fixed in the following release. Update as soon as it is available.
• The app contacts no other servers.

1.4 Android permissions

• Microphone and camera: only for calls, voice rooms and video you choose to start or accept.
• Notifications: to tell you about messages and calls. The notification text is created on your device.
• Screen sharing: only while you share your screen in a call.
• Running in the background: so your device can keep receiving and relaying messages while the app is closed.

2. Google Play

If you install TARIQ from Google Play, Google processes your account, device and install data under the Google Privacy Policy. Google shows us only aggregated statistics, such as install counts, and crash reports that do not identify you. The Android app currently sells nothing. If purchases are added, they will go through Google Play billing, and this policy will be updated first.

3. tariqchat.com and downloads

Our website and download server (dl.tariqchat.com) run on Cloudflare, Inc., which processes data on our behalf under its Data Processing Agreement.

• Cloudflare processes your IP address, browser user agent and the files you request, to deliver the site, block abuse and enforce rate limits. It keeps short-lived security and traffic logs under its own retention rules.
• The website sets no cookies, loads nothing from other websites and has no analytics.
• Email sent to our tariqchat.com addresses is forwarded by Cloudflare to a Gmail inbox, so Google also processes it.
• Launch list. If you email launch@tariqchat.com to be notified, we keep your email address and what you wrote (for example the platform you use) only to tell you when TARIQ launches publicly or comes to your platform. We then delete it. Reply “remove” at any time and we delete it straight away. We send no other email and share the list with no one.
• Cloudflare and Google are US companies. Transfers to them are covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, with the EU Standard Contractual Clauses as a fallback.

4. Why we process data (legal basis)

• To deliver the website, downloads and updates, and to protect them from abuse: our legitimate interest in providing a working, secure service (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)).
• To run the network you choose to join: performing the service you asked for (Art. 6(1)(b)).
• To answer your email: our legitimate interest in replying (Art. 6(1)(f)).
• To email you about the launch: your consent, given by writing to launch@tariqchat.com, which you can withdraw at any time (Art. 6(1)(a)).

We do not sell data, profile you or use your data for advertising.

5. How long we keep data

We, the publisher, hold no user data apart from Cloudflare's short-lived logs and email you send us, which we delete when it is no longer needed. Data on your device stays there until you delete it. Sealed messages held for offline users expire after 24 hours.

6. Children

TARIQ is not intended for children under 13. Do not use TARIQ if you are under 13.

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to access, correct or erase your personal data, to restrict or object to its processing, and to data portability. Because we hold almost no data about you, most requests concern data already under your control on your own device. Write to privacy@tariqchat.com for anything we hold. You can also complain to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY), imy.se.

8. Security

Report security problems to security@tariqchat.com.

9. Changes

This is beta software. We update this policy when the app changes; the date at the top shows the current version.