Privacy policy
Last updated 16 October 2026
baucord is a free, open-source app for voice chat, text chat and screen sharing, made by 0x0 Studios ("we" below). This policy covers the baucord apps for Android, iPhone, Windows, macOS and Linux, and the official baucord server that we run, the one the app lists by default.
Anyone can run their own baucord server. When you connect to a server someone else runs, that person controls what is stored on it and for how long, and their own policy applies. The app sends the same things to every server, as described below.
In short
- No ads, no analytics or tracking services, no selling of data. Nothing is shared with third parties.
- Your account is a key the app makes on your device. There is no email, phone number or account password.
- Messages are stored on the server so that people can read them later, and are deleted automatically after 90 days. Voice and screen shares are never recorded.
- Connections are encrypted, but not end to end: the server, and whoever runs it, can read messages and see shared media.
- You can delete your account, and what you posted, from the app at any time (Settings → Profile), or by writing to [email protected].
What stays on your device
- Your identity key. On first start the app makes a key that identifies you to servers. Its private part never leaves the device unless you export it yourself (Settings → Identity → Export) to move to another device.
- Settings: your nickname, the servers you added (address, invite code, and any room passwords you saved), your audio devices, and the volume you set for other people.
- Pictures: your avatar and a cache of other people's avatars. Files and pictures from chats are saved only when you choose to save them.
- The app's log, used to diagnose problems. It leaves the device only if you send it (see "Logs you send" below) or copy it yourself. Settings → Debug can clear it.
What the server receives and keeps
These are the things the app sends to a baucord server, and how long the official server keeps each one.
Your account
The name you choose; a fingerprint of your device key (not the key itself); the invite code you joined with; when you joined and last connected; your roles; your profile (name colour and avatar); and activity counters (time spent talking, sharing, watching and connected, and how many messages you sent). These are kept until your account is deleted.
Messages and files
Messages in the server's chat and direct messages are stored with the files and pictures attached to them, so that you and others can read them later. Messages are deleted automatically 90 days after they were sent. You can delete your own recent chat messages; deleted messages are hidden at once and erased with the 90-day clean-up. Files attached to messages go with them: once no message uses a file any more (its messages reached 90 days, or you or a moderator deleted them), it is erased within 30 days; when your account is deleted, at once.
Voice, screen sharing and shared audio
These are passed on live to the other people in the room and are never recorded or stored.
Call-quality data
While you are connected, the app sends a short report every 10 seconds (once a minute while the connection is idle) so problems with calls and screen sharing can be found and fixed. It contains the app version, the type of operating system and processor (for example "android, aarch64"), connection quality (delay, packet loss, speed), the audio and video settings in use, the names of your audio input and output devices, and which stream you are watching. It does not contain your location, contacts, phone model or any message content. The official server keeps the delay, packet loss, sharing figures and audio device names from these reports, and a note of moments such as a device change or a share starting, for 30 days; the whole report goes into the server's own log (below).
Logs you send
Settings → Debug → Send uploads the end of the app's log to the server, only when you press it. A log can contain the app version, your operating system, the server's address, the names of people in your rooms, your audio device names, error messages, and links to pictures you pasted. It does not contain the text of your messages. Logs are read only to fix problems. They are not yet deleted on a schedule: they are kept until we delete them, which we do on request and when your account is deleted.
Blocks and reports
When you block someone, the server stores that you did, so it can keep their messages, voice and direct messages from you on all your devices. The person is not told. A block is kept until you undo it or either account is deleted.
When you report a message or a person, the server stores the report: who made it, who it is about, the reason and note you gave, and a copy of the reported message as it was, so the moderators see what you saw even if it is edited or deleted later. The person reported is not told who reported them. A report is kept until a moderator marks it handled and is deleted 90 days after that; a report about you is deleted with your account, and one you made loses your name when your account is deleted.
Your IP address
Like any internet service, the server sees the IP address you connect from. It is written to the server's log when you connect and is not stored with your account. If a moderator bans you, the address may be stored with the ban for as long as the ban lasts.
The server's own log
To run the server and investigate abuse, its log records connections (with names and IP addresses), invite codes used, moderation actions, the text of messages posted in the server's chat, the names of files posted, who sent a direct message to whom (not its text), who blocked or reported whom, and the call-quality reports. Only we can read it, and it is replaced as it grows rather than deleted on a fixed schedule.
Moderation
Bans, mutes and kicks are stored with their reason and who made them, and moderators' actions are kept in a record of changes, so that moderation can be reviewed.
How the data is used
Only to run the service: to deliver your messages, voice and shares to the people you talk to, show your profile, keep the history of a channel, moderate the server and keep it safe, and find and fix problems. It is not used for advertising or profiling, and it is not sold.
Who can see it
- Other people on the server see what you share with them: your name and profile, your messages and files, your voice and your screen when you share it.
- Moderators and administrators of the server can also see account details, moderation records, the reports people make (with the reported message and who reported it) and the latest call-quality report of each person.
- The hosting provider that rents us the server stores its data on our behalf and does not use it for anything else.
- We disclose data to authorities only when the law requires it.
Nothing is given or sold to anyone else.
Security
Every connection between the app and a server is encrypted (TLS 1.3), and the app checks the server's key so that nobody can impersonate it. The encryption is not end to end: the server handles messages and media unencrypted, so anyone who runs a server can read what passes through it. Data stored on the server is protected by access to the server itself; it is not separately encrypted.
How long data is kept
| Data | Kept on the official server |
|---|---|
| Chat and direct messages | 90 days |
| Files attached to messages | As long as a message uses them (a message is kept 90 days), then erased within 30 days; at once when your account is deleted |
| Call-quality reports | 30 days |
| Account, profile, roles, activity counters | Until your account is deleted |
| Logs you send | Until deleted (on request, with your account, or by us) |
| Bans and their IP address | As long as the ban lasts |
| Blocks | Until undone, or either account is deleted |
| Reports, with a copy of the reported message | Until handled by a moderator, then 90 days |
| Voice, screen shares, shared audio | Never stored |
Deleting your account and data
In the app, connect to the server and choose Settings → Profile → Delete my account. Your account is deleted at once, with your device keys, profile, roles, the messages you posted, every direct message conversation you were part of (both people's messages and files), the files you uploaded, your call-quality reports, the logs you sent, your blocks and the reports about you. Reports you made stay without your name until handled, and the moderation record keeps a line that an account was deleted, with no name. Delete your account has the details.
Without the app, write to [email protected] with your name on the official server: we delete the same within 30 days and tell you when it is done.
You can also ask for a copy of what is stored about you, or for something to be corrected, at the same address. For servers run by other people, ask the person who runs them.
Other connections the apps make
-
Desktop only: at start-up the Windows, macOS
and Linux apps ask
baucord.comwhether there is a new version. This can be turned off in Settings. Pasting a link to a picture downloads that picture from the site it points to. - The Android and iPhone apps connect only to the servers you add.
- If you installed the app from Google Play or the App Store, those stores may share anonymous crash reports with us under their own privacy policies.
Children
baucord is meant for adults and is not directed to children. Do not use it if you are under 18. If we learn that an account belongs to a child, we will delete it.
Changes
When this policy changes, this page shows the new text and the date at the top changes. Important changes will also be announced in the app.
Contact
0x0 Studios, [email protected]. The source code is public at github.com/mpwsh/baucord, so anyone can check what the apps and the server do.