Privacy Policy
Last updated: 7 July 2026
The short version. Couples is built so that we can't see your data — even if we wanted to. There are no accounts. Your messages, photos, notes, money and memories are end-to-end encrypted and live only on your two phones. Our relay server passes along sealed, unreadable envelopes and nothing else. The only personal information we ever hold is an email address — and only if you choose to join the launch waitlist on this website.
This policy covers the Couples mobile app ("the app") and this website. By using either, you agree to the practices described here.
1. What the app collects
Nothing about you reaches us. Couples has no sign-up, no user accounts, and no profile. You connect with your partner by scanning each other's QR code in person, which performs a key exchange directly between your two devices.
Your content — chat messages, voice notes, photos, shared lists, calendar entries, important dates, memories, budgets and game moves — is end-to-end encrypted and stored only on your and your partner's devices. It is never uploaded to, or stored on, our servers in readable form.
What our relay server can see
To reach your partner when you're on different networks, encrypted envelopes are passed through a relay server. That server acts as a blind courier:
- It cannot read your messages, photos, voice notes or any content.
- It has no name, email, phone number or account for you.
- It addresses your pair only by a random, unguessable code your two phones derive privately — it cannot link the two of you or identify who you are.
- It does not store your content. It forwards sealed envelopes and, briefly, holds undelivered ones so they arrive after a reconnect.
If you prefer to trust no one, the server is self-hostable — you can point the app at your own server instead.
2. What we do NOT collect
- No names, email addresses or phone numbers (in the app).
- No message, photo, voice-note, calendar, task or financial content.
- No advertising identifiers, no third-party ad or tracking SDKs.
- No analytics or behavioural profiling.
3. Encryption & security
Pairing uses an X25519 key exchange with Ed25519 signatures; message bodies are protected with a Double Ratchet (the same family of cryptography used by Signal). Keys are held in the Android Keystore and never leave your device. Signaling envelopes are signed by each phone, so a malicious server cannot impersonate your partner or read the connection.
4. Push notifications
To let your partner wake your phone for a new message, the app offers a Balanced delivery mode that sends a contentless wake signal through Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). Google sees only that a ping occurred — never any message content, and no message data passes through Google. If you'd rather avoid this entirely, choose Private mode in Settings, which registers no push at all (messages then arrive only while your connection is live).
5. Device permissions
The app requests permissions only for features you use, and the resulting data stays on your device:
- Camera — to scan your partner's QR code when pairing.
- Microphone — to record voice notes you send.
- Photos / media — to attach images you choose to a chat or your shared story.
- Calendar — to show your own device calendar events alongside your shared calendar. Read on-device; not uploaded.
- Notifications — to alert you to new messages and your turn in a game.
6. Data retention & deletion
App data lives on your devices for as long as you keep it. Using Unpair in Settings permanently erases all chats, media and shared data on that phone — there is no cloud copy for us to delete. Uninstalling the app removes its data from the device.
For the waitlist email described below, email us to have it removed at any time.
7. This website
If you submit the launch-waitlist form, we collect the name and email address you enter, plus any optional message. We use this only to notify you when the app launches and to reply to you. We do not sell or share it. It is emailed to our team and deleted on request.
The site uses no advertising or tracking cookies. Web fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means Google may receive your IP address when a page loads; our web host also keeps standard access logs (including IP address) for security and diagnostics, as is typical for any website.
8. Children
Couples is intended for adults in a relationship and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age required by their local law.
9. Your rights
Under laws such as South Africa's POPIA and the EU/UK GDPR, you have rights to access, correct and delete personal information we hold about you. Because the app holds none of your personal data on our side, in practice this applies only to a waitlist email you may have given us — which we will delete on request. Contact us to exercise any right.
10. Changes
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new "last updated" date.
11. Contact
Questions or requests: info@dcia.co.za.