← Back to Calln

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 2026

At Calln, your privacy is our priority. This policy explains exactly what data we handle, why we handle it, and how we protect you. Calln works fully anonymously by default — no account, no name, no email. If you choose to use optional features like adding friends, messaging, or joining Communities, or choose to sign in with Google, we explain exactly what that adds below, and you can permanently delete that data at any time.

This Privacy Policy applies to both the Calln web application (getcalln.com) and the Calln mobile app (Android). Both platforms share identical core functionality and are governed by this single unified policy. Both are supported by advertising (see the Advertising section).

🎙️ The short version: Your voice calls are never recorded or stored — audio goes directly between you and your partner via WebRTC peer-to-peer technology, our servers never touch it. By default you use Calln fully anonymously with no account and no name required. If you choose to use our optional Friends or Communities features, or sign in with Google to save your friends and chat history across devices, we store only what's needed for that — and you can permanently delete your account and all its data at any time from Settings. We never use your call or chat content for advertising.

📦 Information We Collect

We keep data collection minimal by design. Here's what we may handle when you use Calln:

  • IP Address — Used temporarily to match you with users in your preferred region and for abuse prevention. Not stored beyond the session.
  • Country/Region — Derived from your IP or from the country filter you choose. Used only for matching you with the right partner.
  • Browser & Connection Info — Basic technical data (browser type, WebRTC capabilities) needed to establish your call. Never tied to your identity.
  • Anonymous Device ID Web & App — When you first open Calln, we automatically create an anonymous identifier (via Firebase Authentication) so the app can function — for example, so we know which device sent a friend request, or which device a message belongs to. This identifier is not linked to your name or email unless you choose to sign in with Google (see below).
  • Random Display Name Web & App — A randomly generated name (e.g. "SilverFalcon482") is created for you automatically so friends can recognise you. You never have to enter a real name.
  • Google Account Info Optional — If you choose to tap "Continue with Google," we receive and store your Google email address and account identifier, so your name, friends, and message history are preserved if you reinstall the app or sign in on another device. This is entirely optional and never required to use Calln.
  • Friends, Requests & Messages Optional — If you use the Friends feature, we store your friends list, pending friend requests, direct messages, and any images shared in direct messages, so they're available whenever you reopen a conversation. Not created unless you add a friend.
  • Communities, Join Requests & Messages Optional — If you use the Communities feature, we store which communities you've created or joined, your requests to join private communities (and whether they were approved or declined), and any messages or images you send within a community. Not created unless you create, join, or request to join a community. See the Communities section below for full details.
  • Chat Messages (in-call) — Relayed in real-time between call partners during a live call only. Never stored on our servers at any point.
  • Microphone Audio — Streamed peer-to-peer via WebRTC. Our servers never receive, record, or process your audio.
  • Advertising Data — To show ads, our advertising partners may access identifiers and limited data needed for ad delivery. On the website, third-party advertising networks may set cookies and use your IP address, approximate (country-level) location, and device/browser information. On the mobile app, Google AdMob may access your device's advertising identifier, approximate (country-level) location, and basic device information. This data is processed by those advertising partners, not stored by us, and you can reset or limit it in your device or browser settings. See the Advertising section.

🚫 What We Never Collect

  • Your phone number, physical address, or payment information — Calln is free to use and never asks for these
  • Your email address, unless you explicitly choose to sign in with Google — Calln works fully without ever asking for one
  • Recordings or transcripts of your voice calls, or the content of in-call text chat
  • Your precise (GPS) location — only country-level, and only if you choose it
  • The content of your calls, chats, or shared images for advertising or profiling — we never use any of it for ads, including friend and community messages
  • Device fingerprints or hidden tracking tokens created by us. (Our advertising partners — third-party networks on the website and Google AdMob in the mobile app — use cookies or a resettable advertising ID to deliver ads; see the Advertising section.)

📸 Images & Media Sharing

Calln allows users to share images during live calls with strangers, in direct messages with friends, and in Communities. These situations are handled differently — please read all parts below.

  • Live call images — fully temporary. Images sent in a live call's chat are never stored on our servers, databases, or backups. They're transmitted instantly in real-time and discarded from memory the moment the call ends. We cannot view, retrieve, or recover them afterward.
  • Direct message (friend) images — temporarily stored. Optional If you send an image in a direct message to a friend, it is stored (as part of that conversation) so it remains visible when either of you reopens the chat. It is automatically deleted after 15 days, or immediately if either of you removes the other as a friend. See the "Accounts, Friends & Messages" section below.
  • Community images — temporarily stored, then automatically blurred. Optional If you send an image in a community, it's visible to every member and stored as part of that community's message history. It automatically blurs itself after 2 minutes as an added privacy measure — whether or not anyone is still viewing it — and, like all community messages, is automatically and permanently deleted after 7 days. See the Communities section below.
  • No gallery access — We do not save, archive, or log any photos from your device's gallery beyond the single image you actively choose to send.

👥 Accounts, Friends & Messages Optional Features

Calln's core calling feature never requires an account. The Friends feature — adding people you meet, messaging them, and calling them directly — is entirely optional and stores a limited amount of additional data, described here in full.

  • Anonymous by default — The moment you open Calln, you're assigned an anonymous identifier and a random display name. No sign-up, no email, no password.
  • Friends list & requests — If you send or accept a friend request, we store the connection between the two anonymous identifiers (or accounts) involved, along with the display name shown at the time.
  • Private nicknames — You may optionally set a private nickname for a friend. This is visible only to you and is never shared with or visible to that friend.
  • Direct messages — Text and images sent in a direct message with a friend are stored so the conversation is available when either of you reopens it. Messages are automatically and permanently deleted after 15 days. If you remove a friend, your entire message history with them is deleted immediately, on both sides.
  • Read receipts & "last active" status — Optional, toggleable features that show whether a message has been seen, and roughly when a friend was last active (e.g. "Active 5m ago"). Both can be turned off at any time in Settings — turning either off also stops you from seeing that same information about your friends.
  • Optional Google Sign-In — Tapping "Continue with Google" permanently links your existing anonymous identity to your Google account, preserving your name, friends, and messages if you reinstall the app or use a new device. We receive your email address and a unique Google account identifier from Google — never your Google password. This is entirely optional; declining it has no effect on any core calling functionality.
  • Account deletion — You can permanently delete your account at any time from Profile → Delete account (mobile) or the Profile panel (website). This immediately and permanently deletes your friends list, all direct messages and shared images, your display name record, and your account itself — including the Google-linked identity if applicable. This action cannot be undone.

🏘️ Communities Optional Feature

Communities let you join group conversations with people who share your interests — either public communities anyone can join instantly, or private communities that require the community admin's approval. Like Friends, this feature is entirely optional and only creates data if you choose to create a community, join one, or send a message.

  • Public communities — Anyone can view and join a public community instantly. Its name, description, and member count are visible to any Calln user browsing communities.
  • Private communities & join requests — Require the community admin's approval before you can view messages or send anything. When you request to join, we store your request — your display name and the time you requested — so the admin can review it, and so you can see whether it's pending, approved, or declined. If you leave and later request to join again, a new pending request replaces the previous one.
  • Community messages & images — Text and images sent in a community are visible to every member of that community, and are automatically and permanently deleted after 7 days. Shared images additionally blur themselves automatically after 2 minutes as an extra privacy measure.
  • Membership records — We store which communities you've joined so you can find them again, see your admin/member status, and track unread messages. Leaving a community removes you from its member list immediately; the community's message history and other members are unaffected.
  • Creating a community — If you create a community, your display name is visible to anyone who views it, along with your role as its admin.
  • No cross-use for advertising — Community names, descriptions, messages, and membership are never used for ad targeting or shared with advertisers, same as Friends messages.

📱 Mobile App Permissions Android App

The Calln mobile app requests the following device permissions. All permissions are requested at the time they are needed — not on app launch.

  • Microphone — Required to enable voice calls. Audio is streamed peer-to-peer via WebRTC and is never recorded or stored.
  • Foreground Service / Microphone — When a call is active, a foreground service keeps your microphone connection alive even when the app is in the background. A visible notification is displayed whenever this service is running. This service stops automatically when the call ends.
  • Photo Library / Gallery (optional) — Requested only when you actively choose to share an image during a call, in a direct message, or in a community. We use the Android system photo picker, which means we never request broad access to your photo library. We do not request, use, or hold the READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_MEDIA_VIDEO, or READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permissions. Only the single image you explicitly select is accessed. No gallery scanning, indexing, or background access occurs at any point.
  • Internet Access — Required to connect to the signalling server, establish calls, sync friends/messages/communities if you use those features, and load ads.

You may revoke any permission at any time in your device settings. Revoking microphone access will disable voice calls. Revoking photo library access will only disable the image sharing feature and will not affect voice or text chat.

⚙️ How We Use Information

The limited data we handle is used exclusively to:

  • Match you with a partner — Your country preference and IP help us connect you with a compatible user quickly and fairly.
  • Enable real-time communication — Our signalling server relays WebRTC connection data (offers, answers, ICE candidates) to establish the peer connection.
  • Provide the optional Friends and Communities features — If you use them, to maintain your friends list and community memberships, deliver friend and join requests, deliver direct and community messages, and let you sign in with Google to keep that data across devices.
  • Prevent abuse — Reported users' IP addresses are temporarily blocked to protect the community from bad actors.
  • Display ads — Our advertising partners (third-party networks on the website and Google AdMob in the mobile app) use limited data to deliver, cap the frequency of, and measure ads that keep Calln free. See the Advertising section.
  • Maintain service quality — Anonymous, aggregate traffic statistics help us understand load patterns. No personal data is involved.

🗑️ Data Retention

We hold data for the minimum time necessary, then delete it:

  • In-session call data (IP, match state, in-call chat messages, in-call images) — Deleted immediately when your session or call ends. No exceptions.
  • Direct messages & shared images (Friends feature) — Automatically and permanently deleted after 15 days. Removing a friend deletes your entire message history with them immediately, on both sides.
  • Community messages & shared images (Communities feature) — Automatically and permanently deleted after 7 days. Leaving a community removes you from its member list but does not delete the community's message history for remaining members.
  • Community memberships & join requests — Retained so you can see which communities you belong to and the status of any pending requests. A join request's outcome (approved or declined) is kept as part of the community's records; deleting your account removes your own copy of this data.
  • Friends list, display name, and Google account link — Retained until you delete your account, at which point it is removed immediately and permanently.
  • Ban records — Reported or banned IP addresses may be held for up to 30 days for abuse prevention, then automatically purged.
  • Server logs — Standard web server logs retained for up to 7 days for debugging purposes, then deleted.
  • Advertising data — Any advertising identifiers, cookies, and ad-related data are held and controlled by our advertising partners (the third-party advertising networks on the website, and Google for the mobile app, per Google's Privacy Policy), not by us.

🔗 WebRTC & Peer-to-Peer Audio

Calln uses WebRTC to transmit voice audio. Once a call is established, your audio travels directly between you and your partner — our servers are completely bypassed. We have no technical capability to listen to, intercept, or record your conversations.

To establish the WebRTC connection, your device may share your IP address with your call partner as part of the ICE negotiation process. This is standard WebRTC behaviour. If you are concerned about IP exposure, we recommend using a VPN.

🍪 Cookies & Local Storage Website

On the website, our own functionality uses only essential technical mechanisms required to run the app: WebSocket session tokens (via Socket.IO) needed to keep your real-time connection alive, expiring when you close your browser; and browser local storage, used to remember your random display name and to keep your anonymous (or Google-linked) sign-in session active between visits, via Firebase Authentication. In addition, the third-party advertising networks we use on the website may set their own cookies to deliver and measure ads — see the Advertising section for how to control these.

🔌 Third-Party Services

  • Google STUN Servers Web & App — Used by WebRTC to discover network paths. Google may log connection attempts per Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google Firebase Authentication Web & App — Provides the anonymous sign-in every user gets automatically, and the optional Google sign-in feature. Manages your session and, if you link a Google account, your email address. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google Cloud Firestore Optional — The database used to store your display name, friends list, friend requests, direct messages, communities you've created or joined, and community messages, if you use those features. Not used for anything if you never add a friend, create, or join a community. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google Firebase Analytics Web & App — Used to collect anonymous, aggregated usage data such as session duration, crash reports, and device type. No personally identifiable information is collected. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Google AdMob Android App — Displays banner and full-screen (interstitial) ads in the mobile app, and may use your advertising identifier, approximate location, and device information for ad delivery and measurement. Consent is gathered via Google's User Messaging Platform where required. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Third-Party Advertising Networks Website — Used to display advertisements on the website. These networks may set cookies and use your IP address, approximate location, and device/browser information for ad delivery, frequency capping, and measurement. See the Advertising section below for details and opt-out options.
  • Google Fonts Website — Loads the Outfit typeface from Google's CDN. Google may log font requests independently.
  • flagcdn.com Website — Serves country flag images for the filter UI. No personal data is transmitted in these requests.

👦 Children's Privacy

Calln is not intended for users under the age of 18. The Calln mobile app is rated 18+ on the Google Play Store. We do not knowingly collect any information from minors, and ads are not directed at children. If you believe a minor is using our service inappropriately, please contact us immediately at support@getcalln.com and we will take prompt action.

⚖️ Your Rights

Because Calln works anonymously by default, there is very little data tied to you unless you actively choose to use the Friends or Communities features or sign in with Google. You retain the following rights under applicable privacy law:

  • The right to know what data we hold (as described in this policy)
  • The right to delete your entire account — including your friends list, messages, community memberships, display name, and any Google account link — instantly and permanently, at any time, via Profile → Delete account
  • The right to control whether friends can see your "last active" status and message read receipts, via toggles in Settings
  • The right to request deletion of any temporarily stored IP records
  • The right to consent to, refuse, or withdraw consent for personalised advertising (via the in-app privacy options on mobile, or your browser cookie settings and the industry opt-out tools listed in the Advertising section on the website)
  • The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (e.g., ICO in the UK, your EU member-state authority, or the FTC / your state Attorney General in the US)

To exercise any of these rights, email support@getcalln.com. We aim to respond within 30 days.

📊 Analytics & Tracking

Calln uses Google Firebase Analytics on both the website and the mobile app to understand how people use the service. This helps us improve the product.

On the website, analytics is only activated if you click "Accept" on the cookie consent banner — it never loads if you click "Decline". On the mobile app, analytics runs with aggregated anonymous data only.

  • What is collected — Anonymous usage events such as page views, call starts, call matches, and session duration. No personally identifiable information is collected.
  • What is NOT collected — Your voice, chat content, images, or any content from your calls, direct messages, or community messages.
  • Storage — Firebase Analytics stores aggregated, anonymised data on Google's servers. See Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Opt-out (website) — Click "Decline" on the cookie banner, or install the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on. Your choice is remembered in your browser.

📢 Advertising Web & App

Calln is supported by advertising on both the website and the mobile app, which is how we keep the service free.

On the website (getcalln.com) we display advertisements provided by third-party advertising networks. On the Android mobile app we use Google AdMob to show an always-visible banner ad and occasional full-screen (interstitial) ads — for example after a number of calls have ended and periodically during longer calls. Ad audio is muted so it never interferes with your voice call. We do not control the specific content of third-party ads, and the display of an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement by Calln of any advertiser or product.

  • How ads work — On the website, third-party advertising networks may use cookies and your IP address, approximate location, and device/browser information to select and show ads. On the mobile app, Google AdMob may use cookies, your advertising identifier, and your activity for the same purpose. Ad selection, delivery, and measurement are handled entirely by these advertising partners.
  • Consent (EU, EEA, UK, Switzerland & US states) — In regions that require it, the mobile app uses Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) to ask for your consent before showing personalised ads. Where you decline or are not asked, you may see non-personalised ads instead. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time from the app's Privacy options.
  • Data shared with our advertising partners — Your IP address, approximate (country-level) location, advertising identifier (mobile), and device/browser information may be used for ad delivery, frequency capping, and measurement. We never share any call, chat, or direct/community message content with advertisers.
  • Your advertising ID (mobile) — You can reset your advertising ID or opt out of ad personalisation in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads.
  • Opt-out of personalised ads — On mobile, use the app's Privacy options or Google Ad Settings. On the website, use industry opt-out tools such as AboutAds.info and Your Online Choices, or block and clear cookies in your browser settings.
  • No ad revenue from call or message content — We never use anything said, typed, or shared during calls, direct messages, or community messages for advertising purposes.

📝 Changes to This Policy

If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of Calln — on either the website or the mobile app — after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We will always keep this page freely accessible from our website footer.

📧 Contact Us

Have a privacy question or concern? We're happy to help.

General
support@getcalln.com
Privacy
support@getcalln.com
Abuse
support@getcalln.com