Privacy Policy

Overview

Kismet is an anonymous text and peer-to-peer video-chat service. You can start a conversation without creating an account or giving us your name, email address, or phone number. Saving your handle to an account is optional.

Information the service handles

• Chat preferences: your interests, preferred partner gender and, only if you choose to share it, your own gender. Gender is optional. They are kept in your browser and saved with your handle, or your account when you are signed in, so matching can use them.
• Your handle: a randomly generated chat identity and display name (for example “Swift Otter”) that represents you to other people.
• Live chat data: a per-session participant ID, room membership, connection state, and the messages and typing events relayed to the person in your current chat.
• Friends and private messages: friend requests, conversations, and direct messages you exchange with people you connect with, and anyone you block.
• Reports: when you report someone, the reason, any note you add, and the most recent messages from that chat.
• Passkeys: if you save your handle with a passkey, the public key and credential identifiers needed to verify you. Your private key never leaves your device.
• Email and password: if you choose to sign in with an email instead of (or as well as) a passkey, we store the email address and a salted hash of your password. Your password itself is never stored. The email is used only to sign you in: we don't verify it, send you any email, or use it for marketing.
• Video connection data: when you use video, your camera and microphone stream goes over a peer-to-peer WebRTC connection. The service handles temporary participant and PeerJS identifiers to set that connection up.
• Technical data: request and device information that may be processed by hosting, security, and analytics providers when you use the site.

How information is used

We use this information to match compatible participants, deliver messages, keep your handle and friends together, provide peer-to-peer video, review reports and limit abuse, understand aggregate site usage, and keep the service reliable.

Cookies and local storage

A first-party, HTTP-only cookie remembers which handle belongs to this browser so your friends and inbox are still there next time. It is kept for up to 400 days unless you reset your handle or clear site data. Separate session cookies secure an active chat and, if you use one, your account sign-in.

Your browser's local storage keeps your chat preferences and the current session ID so a chat can reconnect after a reload. You can remove this data through your browser's site-storage controls.

Retention

Live chat state is held only while needed for an active conversation and is removed after a short reconnection window. It is not a message-history feature.

Friends, private conversations, and direct messages are stored until you delete the conversation, block the other person, or the service removes them. Reports are kept for as long as needed to review them and to prevent repeat abuse.

Video is not recorded.

Analytics and service providers

Kismet uses Google Analytics to measure page views and understand aggregate site usage. Google may process technical and browsing data to provide analytics. Hosting, database, network, and security providers may process data as needed to deliver and protect the service. These providers process information under their own terms and policies.

Your choices and safety

You can stop using the service at any time, reset your handle from your profile, delete conversations, and clear site data in your browser. Do not share personal, financial, login, or identifying information in an anonymous conversation. For service questions or privacy requests, use the contact channel published by the service operator.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the service or its data practices change. The latest version will remain available on this page with its effective date.

By continuing to use Kismet, you acknowledge the Terms of Service and this policy.