Privacy Policy

Summary

ChatWise (the "app") is a privacy-first WhatsApp chat analyzer. The app does not upload chat content. If you allow crash diagnostics, technical crash and error reports are transmitted to Sentry to improve reliability. Diagnostics are optional and can be disabled in Settings.

Everything you import — chat exports, statistics, charts, share cards — stays on your device. You can wipe all of it at any time from Settings → Delete all reports.

Information we collect

With your permission, ChatWise sends technical crash stack traces, exception categories, app/device details, app version, export-format categories (timestamp layout, clock style, date-order confidence, and separators), bounded parser counters and rejection reasons, source-file type and size categories, device language, parser version, and diagnostic event metadata to Sentry. Exception messages, chat text, names, phone numbers, file paths, and purchase tokens are excluded by our event filter. Screenshots, session replay, UI breadcrumbs, and performance tracing are disabled. Sentry receives your IP address as part of the network connection. Sentry may derive approximate location from that connection. We do not request device location permission or collect GPS location. Connection location and device language do not identify the language of your chats. No account creation is required to use ChatWise.

The data Google Play handles when you purchase the optional Pro upgrade (purchase token, transaction record) is processed by Google Play Billing under Google's privacy policy, not by Sentry. ChatWise receives purchase details and acknowledges the purchase through Google Play; purchase tokens are not sent to Sentry. Google Play Billing includes Google DataTransport components and may communicate with Google independently of the Sentry diagnostics switch.

How we use your data

Optional technical diagnostics are used to investigate failures and improve reliability. The chat exports you import are processed entirely on your device's CPU to generate statistics that are also stored only on your device.

Data sharing

We do not sell chat data. ChatWise does not send data to:

• Our servers (we don't have any)
• Third-party analytics, advertising, or attribution services
• Cloud backup services (the app is excluded from Google's auto-backup)
• Advertising or attribution services

Optional crash diagnostics are processed by Sentry, a third-party service provider, using encrypted HTTPS connections. See Sentry's privacy policy. Our project uses Sentry's US ingest endpoint. Diagnostic retention is governed by the project's configured retention and Sentry plan.

Data storage and security

Chat content and analytics live on your device. ChatWise uses two layers of strong, modern encryption to protect data at rest:

• Raw chat text: Encrypted with AES-256-GCM via Android Jetpack's EncryptedFile API. The master key is generated and stored in the hardware-backed Android Keystore.
• Analytics database: Encrypted with SQLCipher (AES-256 with HMAC-SHA512 page integrity).
• Backup exclusions: All app data is excluded from Android cloud backups and device transfers (see data_extraction_rules.xml and backup_rules.xml in the source).

Your rights and controls

You have full control over your data because it lives on your device. Within the app you can:

• Delete a single chat — long-press it in the Library and confirm.
• Delete all chats — Settings → Danger zone → Delete all reports. This wipes both the encrypted database rows and the encrypted blob files on disk.
• Uninstall the app — removes everything ChatWise has stored, instantly.

Disable diagnostics in Settings to stop future reports and clear local queued reports. This does not erase reports already received by Sentry. Contact us using the email below for diagnostic data questions or deletion requests.

Children's privacy

ChatWise is not directed at children under 13. Do not enable optional diagnostics if you are under the applicable age of consent.

International users

Optional diagnostics may be processed in the United States by Sentry. Chat content is processed locally and is not included in these transfers.

Permissions ChatWise requests

The app requests only these Android permissions:

• POST_NOTIFICATIONS — to optionally show local notifications when an analysis finishes. Off by default.
• USE_BIOMETRIC / USE_FINGERPRINT — auto-included by the AndroidX Biometric library, used in future versions to optionally gate access. Not currently requested at runtime.
• com.android.vending.BILLING — Google Play Billing for the optional Pro upgrade. Communicates with the local Play Store app via inter-process binder, not the network.
• ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE — read-only flag that lets the app see whether the device currently has connectivity. Does not allow any data transmission. Required by the Google Play Billing Library 7+ for connection-retry logic so the upgrade dialog can recover gracefully if the device briefly goes offline. The same permission is held by privacy-first apps like Signal, Tor Browser, and Bitwarden.

ChatWise declares INTERNET for optional crash diagnostics. Android grants this permission at installation; the separate in-app diagnostics choice controls whether reporting is initialized. ChatWise does not request location, contacts, microphone, camera, or broad storage access.

Changes to this policy

If we update this policy, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, post a notice in the app's next release notes. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions, concerns, or feedback about privacy? Email geekguruguide@gmail.com. We read every message.