Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 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. We collect very little, store even less, and we never sell your personal information or use your call content for advertising.
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).
📦 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.
- Chat Messages — Relayed in real-time between call partners 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 name, email address, phone number, or any account information
- Recordings or transcripts of your voice calls or chat messages
- 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
- 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.)
- Payment information of any kind — Calln is free to use
📸 Images & Media Sharing
Calln allows users to share images during live calls. We designed this feature to be fully temporary and private — images behave exactly like your voice and disappear automatically when the session ends.
- No image storage — Images sent in chat are never stored on our servers, databases, or backups. They are only temporarily relayed in real-time between users.
- Real-time only transmission — Images are transmitted instantly using Socket.IO and are discarded from memory immediately after delivery.
- No gallery saving — We do not save, archive, or log any photos shared during a call in any form.
- Deleted when call ends — Once a call ends or a user disconnects, all related media (images and chat messages) are permanently removed from active memory.
- No access by Calln — We cannot view, retrieve, or recover any images shared between users after transmission.
📱 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. 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, orREAD_EXTERNAL_STORAGEpermissions. 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, 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.
- 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 data (IP, match state, chat messages, images) — Deleted immediately when your session or call ends. No exceptions.
- 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 (such as WebSocket session tokens via Socket.IO) required to keep your real-time connection alive. These expire when you close your browser. 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
- Render.com Web & App — Hosts our signalling server. Subject to Render's Privacy Policy.
- Google STUN Servers Web & App — Used by WebRTC to discover network paths. Google may log connection attempts per 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 we don't store personal data tied to your identity, there is very little for us to provide or delete. However, 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 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 name, voice, chat content, images, or any content from your calls.
- 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 or chat 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 content — We never use anything said, typed, or shared during calls 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.