Under the hood
Trust is engineered.
Zerolog's privacy isn't a promise, it's an architecture. Here's how a message travels, how it's encrypted, and why it leaves no trace.
Most apps say "we're private" and hope you never look at the design. We do the opposite: we explain the system as openly as we can. Because the strongest privacy is the data you never collect.
Bluetooth Low Energy transport
Two nearby devices talk directly over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), with no internet. The message doesn't go up to a server and back down; it passes from one device to the other.
Local network
Peers on the same local network can form a faster local connection beyond Bluetooth range. Still no trip to the internet — traffic stays inside the network.
End-to-end encryption
When you talk to someone far away over the internet, content is end-to-end encrypted. Only you and the recipient can read it; no server in between sees the plaintext.
Keys stay on the device
Your encryption keys are generated on your device and stay there. Because we don't hold the keys, your messages can't be decrypted server-side even if someone wanted to.
Disappearing messages
Your messages have a time-to-live (TTL) and vanish when it runs out. There's no permanent archive — the principle is "never store," not "store then delete."
Minimal data
No advertising ID, location, contacts, analytics or message content is collected. Your phone number is used only for verification, and is not stored.
A message's journey
A whisper sent to a nearby peer reaches its destination without visiting any data center.
01
Mutual approval
Before any chat, both sides approve the pairing. No approval, no message; unwanted contact ends before it begins.
02
Encrypt on device
The message is encrypted on your device. What goes onto the network is no longer readable text, just a package only the recipient can open.
03
Carry it directly
If the peer is nearby, the package travels over Bluetooth or the local network; if far, it's delivered end-to-end encrypted. Plaintext never rests anywhere.
04
Read, then vanish
The recipient's device decrypts the message. When its time runs out, it disappears — leaving no record with you or with us.
What the architecture promises
- You don't need the internet to message nearby peers.
- Message content is never stored on any server.
- Encryption keys never leave your device.
- Messages permanently disappear when their time runs out.
- No advertising ID, location, contacts or analytics collected.
- No one can reach you without mutual approval.