Charis privacy

Last updated October 20, 2026 · back to the globe

Your friends and your history

Everything you enter — names, cities, contact handles, and every line in a person's book — is stored in the app's local database (IndexedDB) on your device. It is not uploaded anywhere. Deleting the app (or, on the web, the site's data) deletes your data. The optional backup file ("Export") is saved wherever you choose on your device — it never touches our servers either.

Phone contacts (Android and iPhone apps, optional)

In the Android and iPhone apps, tapping “phone contacts” asks for your phone's standard contacts permission and reads names, phone numbers, and email addresses into that same on-device database — so you can add friends by typing a name instead of re-entering details. On Android, the app also reads which of your contacts' numbers are registered with Telegram, WhatsApp, or Signal (information your phone's own contact storage already holds) so a friend's card can show the right reach-out buttons. All of this stays on your device; none of it is uploaded. Decline the permission and everything still works — you just type names yourself.

Pictures (optional)

A memory can carry a picture: one you take with the camera inside Charis, or one you pick from your photos. The app asks for the camera or photos permission only when you choose to, and keeps only the pictures you add, stored on your device with the memory. They are not uploaded anywhere; they travel only inside a backup file you choose to save.

Google Contacts import (optional)

If you use the Google import button, your browser fetches your contacts directly from Google into that same on-device database, using read-only permission. The contact list never passes through or rests on our servers. You can revoke Charis's access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Charis's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Reminders (optional)

If you turn on reminders, we store on our server exactly two things: a push token for your device and the bare timing of your reminders — timestamps, nothing else. No names, no cities, no reminder text ever reaches us; the notification is a fixed line (“one of your friendships is back in rhythm…”) and the app names the friend only after you open it, on your device. In the Android and iPhone apps, reminders are scheduled entirely on the device and nothing is stored on our server at all. Turning reminders off deletes what we hold.

Usage analytics

We collect anonymous usage events (for example “a friend was added” or “a reminder was tapped”) through PostHog to understand what's working. These events never include your friends' names, cities, or handles. Like any request on the internet, they arrive from your device's IP address, which PostHog turns into a rough location (country and city) so we can see where Charis is used. If you're in Europe, these events aren't linked across visits at all — each session starts anonymous from scratch.

For readers in Europe (GDPR)

Charis processes very little in the first place: the anonymous usage events above and, if you turn reminders on, the bare timing of those reminders. In the EEA, analytics runs session-only — there is no identifier that persists between visits. And because your friends and your history never leave your device, there is mostly nothing on our side to request a copy of or to delete — it's already yours, in your hands.

What little we do process happens on servers in the United States, under the EU's standard contractual safeguards. For questions or requests about any of it, write to support@charis.day — it reaches a person.

What we don't do

• No accounts, no passwords, no profiles of you.
• No selling or sharing of data with anyone.
• No reading your address book without an explicit action from you.

Questions

Write to support@charis.day — it reaches a person.