Terms & Privacy

Last updated: 2026-05-06

What sodalite is

A small social app for real-life friend groups - your closest friends, your group chats, the people you grew up with. You sign in with your phone number or email. You share messages, photos, and drops with the people you chose. There are no strangers, no algorithm, no ads.

What we collect

Your phone number or email. Whichever you used to sign in. Used to send you a one-time login code. Never shown to anyone else.
A username you pick. Shown to your friends and group members.
Stuff you post: messages, photos, drops, albums, room items. Stored directly on cloudflare.
Basic technical data: your IP address (used to stop spammers), timestamps, the browser or device you're using.

Who sees what

Your phone or email: only us.
Your DMs: only you and the friend you sent them to. Stored encrypted with your recipient's personal key - even we can't read them after a quick safety scan on the way through.
Your group messages: only that group's members. Same per-member encryption applies.
Your room + profile: anyone on the app who opens your profile.

What we don't do

We don't sell your data.
We don't show you ads.
We don't train AI on your content.
We don't give your data to marketers.

What we may do

Respond to lawful government requests (subpoenas, warrants). Note: stored messages are encrypted with the recipient's key - we can hand over ciphertext, not plaintext.
Remove content that breaks our rules (harassment, abuse, illegal stuff).
Ban users who break the rules.

Are you under 13?

You need a parent's permission.

You can use sodalite, but only with a parent or guardian who knows you're using it and agrees to these terms on your behalf. If your parent doesn't know, you shouldn't be here yet.

Are you a parent of someone under 13?

Please read this carefully.

If your child is using sodalite, you are responsible for their use of it. We can't automatically verify anyone's age; we trust that you've agreed to your child being on the app.

What you're signing up for as the responsible adult:

Know what they're posting. sodalite is friend-group based, but kids can still send each other things they shouldn't.
Know who's in their groups. The invite system is code-based; anyone with the code can join. That means anyone you trust, but also anyone your kid trusts.
Use the tools we give you. Block, report, leave, kick from group. They work, but only if someone uses them.
You can ask us to delete their account any time. Email us.

We will never knowingly collect more data about a child than we need to run the app, and we will never sell or share that data.

Your rights

Delete your account any time from Settings. Your photos, room, drops, and messages-you-sent-to-friends-only are removed within 30 days. Messages you sent to other people may stay in their copy of the conversation - we can't pull those back.
Ask us what we have on you. Email us.
Block and report anyone who's making the app worse for you.

Contact

Questions, concerns, or a data request? Email hello@sodalite.app. We'll respond within a reasonable time.

The sections above are what most of this means in plain language. The sections below are the formal versions. If anything conflicts, the sections below are the operative text.

Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, signing in, or using sodalite ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and Minors

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service independently. Users under 13 may use the Service only with the informed, ongoing consent of a parent or legal guardian. By permitting a minor under 13 to use the Service, the parent or legal guardian:

agrees to these Terms on the minor's behalf;
assumes full responsibility for the minor's conduct, content, and interactions on the Service;
represents that they have reviewed the Privacy Policy and consent to the collection of personal information from the minor as described;
may revoke this consent and request deletion of the minor's account at any time by contacting us.

We do not knowingly permit individuals who falsely represent their age or their parent's consent to use the Service. We may suspend or delete accounts we believe do not meet these eligibility requirements.

3. Account Registration

Authentication is based on possession of a phone number capable of receiving SMS, or an email address capable of receiving mail. You are responsible for maintaining exclusive access to whichever you registered with. You may not share your account, impersonate another person, or register multiple accounts to circumvent enforcement actions.

4. User Content

You retain ownership of content you create or upload ("User Content"). By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display, and transmit your User Content solely as necessary to operate and improve the Service. This license ends when you remove the content, except to the extent it has already been shared with other users.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the rights to submit any User Content you post, and that your User Content does not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any third party's rights.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

harass, threaten, dox, stalk, or intimidate other users;
post content that is illegal, fraudulent, defamatory, hateful, sexually explicit in any context involving minors, or that promotes violence or self-harm;
impersonate another person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
use automated means to access, scrape, or interact with the Service;
attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or to breach any security or authentication measures;
use the Service to distribute spam, malware, or any content intended to damage another user's devices or data.

6. Moderation and Enforcement

We may, at our sole discretion and without notice: remove User Content; suspend or terminate accounts; limit feature access; or cooperate with law enforcement. Messages are passed through an automated safety filter prior to encryption; we are not obligated to pre-screen User Content beyond that, but we may do so. Content reported by users is reviewed by human moderators only when the reporting user explicitly attaches it as evidence.

7. Termination

You may terminate your account at any time by using the account-deletion control in Settings. Deletion removes your profile content, uploads, and private messages you have not yet transmitted; however, content you have transmitted to other users (messages, drops, photos in albums) may persist in their accounts and we are unable to retrieve it. We may terminate or suspend accounts for violations of these Terms.

8. Service Availability; Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. We disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant uninterrupted availability, accuracy, or data preservation.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will we be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, data, or use, arising out of or related to your use of the Service. Our total aggregate liability shall not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your use of the Service, your User Content, or your violation of these Terms.

11. Governing Law; Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Oakland County, Michigan.

12. Changes to These Terms

We may modify these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will post a notice in the Service prior to the effective date. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

13. Contact

For questions about these Terms: hello@sodalite.app.

Privacy Policy

1. Data We Collect

Account data: phone number or email address (whichever you registered with), username, numeric account identifier, account creation timestamp.
User-submitted content: messages, photographs, drops, albums, room items, captions.
Technical data: IP address, user-agent string, connection timestamps. Used for rate limiting and abuse prevention.

2. Legal Basis for Processing

We process personal information where we have a legitimate interest in operating the Service, to perform our contract with you (these Terms), or to comply with legal obligations.

3. How We Use Your Data

To authenticate you via SMS or email and maintain your session.
To transmit your content to the recipients you selected (DMs, groups).
To operate, maintain, and secure the Service, including rate limiting and fraud prevention.
To respond to legal, regulatory, and law-enforcement requests.

4. How We Share Data

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes. We share data in the following limited circumstances:

Service providers. We use Twilio to transmit SMS verification codes, an email-delivery provider to transmit email verification codes, and Cloudflare to host the Service (databases, object storage, code execution). These providers process data on our behalf under contractual confidentiality.
Legal requests. We may disclose data in response to a validly served subpoena, court order, or other legal process. Stored message contents are encrypted with the recipient's key and we are unable to decrypt them; we can produce ciphertext but not plaintext.
Safety. We may share data where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm.

5. Data Retention

Active account data is retained while your account is active. Upon account deletion, data associated with your profile, uploads, and unsent content is removed within thirty (30) days, subject to backup cycles. Content you transmitted to other users may remain in their copies of their conversations. Technical logs are retained for up to 90 days for security and abuse investigation.

6. Children's Privacy (Under 13)

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without the verifiable consent of a parent or guardian, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. Parents and legal guardians of users under 13 may:

review the personal information we have collected from the account;
request that we delete the account and its data;
refuse further collection of the child's data.

To exercise any of these rights, contact hello@sodalite.app.

Data collection for users we have reason to believe are under 13 is limited to the minimum necessary to operate the Service - specifically: phone number or email for authentication, chosen username, numeric account identifier, and content voluntarily created by the user. We do not use children's data for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.

7. Encryption and Security

Data is transmitted over HTTPS and stored on Cloudflare infrastructure. Each user's account is associated with a public/private keypair generated on the user's device at first sign-in. Public keys are uploaded to our servers; private keys remain on the user's devices and, in encrypted ("wrapped") form, on our servers solely to enable recovery on a new device after a verified login.

Direct messages and group messages are passed through an automated safety filter (described in Terms §6 and §11 of this Policy), then encrypted with the recipient's public key (or, for groups, with each member's public key) before being stored. Once stored, message contents are recoverable only by the intended recipient(s); we are technically unable to read them. A database breach, backup leak, or compelled production of stored messages would yield ciphertext only.

Limitations users should know about. The safety filter operates on plaintext for the duration of the request that delivers a message - typically a small fraction of a second - before encryption and storage. Push notifications, by their nature, are delivered through Apple, Google, or browser-vendor infrastructure and may include a short message preview. Photos and other media are presently encrypted at rest with a server-held key (per-recipient encryption for media is on the roadmap).

8. International Users

The Service is operated from, and data is stored in, the United States. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer of your data to the United States, which may have different data-protection laws than your country of residence.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact hello@sodalite.app. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy. If a change is material, we will post a notice in the Service prior to the effective date. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.

11. Contact

For privacy concerns or data requests: hello@sodalite.app.