Relay

Privacy policy

Last updated 8 October 2026

Relay is a messaging service run at relaaay.online. This policy covers the Relay website and web app and the Relay app for Android phones, tablets and TVs. It explains what we store, why, who else is involved, and how you can see, export or delete it.

What we store

• Your account: your name, email address, username, and anything you add to your profile (photo, job title, bio, status, time zone). Guest accounts have a generated name and no email address.
• Your conversations: the messages, photos, files and voice notes you send, reactions, edits, and when messages were delivered and read.
• Your contacts and blocks: the people you add as contacts and the people you block.
• Your settings: appearance, accessibility and chat preferences, so they follow you between devices.
• Your sign-ins: for each device signed in, a description (such as "Relay on Pixel 8"), how you signed in and when it was last used, so you can see and end sessions. If you set up a passkey we store its public key, never your fingerprint or face. Passwords and PINs are stored only as salted hashes.
• Notification tokens: if you turn on notifications, an address for your browser or device that lets us tell it a message has arrived.
• Safety reports, appeals and feedback you choose to send, and the moderation decisions made about an account.
• Security records: short-lived counts of sign-in attempts and one-time codes, used to stop people guessing passwords and codes.

Why we store it

Only to run Relay: to deliver your messages, keep your devices in step, keep your account secure, and keep the service safe for everyone who uses it. We do not use it for advertising or profiling.

Who can see it

• The people in your conversations see your messages, your name and profile, and (unless you switch them off) read receipts, typing and when you were last active.
• Your email address is shown only to people you have added as a contact.
• Moderators of this service see what is reported to them, including the reported messages, and details of the accounts involved, so they can act on reports and appeals.

Other companies involved

• Our hosting provider runs the server that stores Relay's data, and sends our email (sign-in codes and password resets).
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging wakes the Android app when a message arrives. What passes through Google is a device token and the ids of the conversation and message, never the message text, names or attachments; the app then fetches the message from our server directly. Google's handling of this is covered by Google's privacy policy.
• Google ML Kit translates messages inside the Android app if you turn on Translation (Settings, Chat & notifications). The translating happens on your phone and the text of your messages never leaves it. The first time a language is needed, the app downloads that language's model from Google, and ML Kit sends Google reports on how it is working: your device's model and Android version, the app's version, an id for this installation of the app, timings, error codes, and the languages set and detected. Those reports are not linked to your Relay account. Google describes them in its ML Kit data disclosure. While Translation is off, ML Kit does nothing. On the website, translation uses your browser's own built-in translator where it has one.
• Your browser's push service (for example Google, Mozilla or Apple) delivers notifications to the website if you turn them on.

We do not sell or share your data with anyone else. Relay has no advertising and no third-party tracking, and apart from ML Kit's reports above, no analytics.

On your device

The Android app keeps a copy of your recent conversations and any unsent messages on your device, so it opens instantly and works offline. It is removed when you sign out. Sign-in cookies are encrypted with a key held in the Android Keystore. The app asks for the microphone only when you record a voice note, and for notifications only when you turn them on. The website stores its settings and an offline copy of the app in your browser.

Crash reports

If the Android app crashes, it sends our server a crash report the next time it opens: what went wrong in the app's code, the app version, and your device's model and Android version. A crash report never includes your messages, your name or your email address, and it is not linked to your account. We use it only to fix the crash, and keep it for up to 30 days. You can switch this off in the app under Settings, Data & privacy, Send crash reports.

Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit with HTTPS. Access to the server is limited to the people who run the service.

How long we keep it

• Your account and conversations: until you delete them or your account.
• Guest accounts: when a guest signs out, a guest who never sent a message is removed completely, and one who did is kept only as a name so other people's conversations still make sense.
• Deleted messages are removed from the server with their attachments.
• Safety reports and moderation records are kept while they are needed to keep the service safe; the reporter and subject are unlinked from a report when their accounts are deleted.

Your choices

• Export everything: Settings, Data & privacy, Export my data.
• Delete your account and everything in it: in the app, Settings, Data & privacy, Delete everything; on the website, Settings, Account, Delete account. This removes your account, profile, the messages and files you sent, your contacts, settings and sign-ins, and cannot be undone. If you cannot sign in, see Delete your account.
• Switch off read receipts, typing indicators and last seen in Settings.
• Block or report anyone from their profile or from a message.

Children

Relay is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact us and we will delete it. See also our child safety standards.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update it here and change the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: support@relaaay.online.