Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Updated 4 November 2026

By creating an account and using Why, you agree to the terms below. Please read them before agreeing.

1. Respect other people’s privacy

  • Do not share, screenshot to spread, repost or forward other people’s messages, photos, files, locations or personal details without their permission.
  • Do not try to identify anonymous users in "Chat with someone", and do not reveal who they are.
  • Do not collect, bulk-copy or harvest other users’ data (including with automated tools).
  • Respect other people’s privacy choices: content shared with friends, close friends, family or "only me" must not be taken outside that circle.

2. Age and honest information

  • You must be at least the minimum age to use Why, and give your real date of birth and country.
  • Private messages, video calls and "Chat with someone" are only for people who are adults under the law of their country.
  • Do not impersonate other people or organisations. Documents used for verification must be your own.

3. Forbidden content and behaviour

  • Child sexual abuse material in any form (Why reports it to the authorities).
  • Violence, threats, terrorism; sexual content sent to people who don’t want it.
  • Harassment, bullying, hate speech, discrimination.
  • Scams, spam, malware, selling prohibited goods, or any other illegal activity.

4. Account security

  • Keep your password, message protection code and emailed codes secret. The message protection code protects your message encryption key.
  • You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell Why if you think your account was compromised.

5. Talking to strangers

  • Be kind and careful. Never send your home address, bank details or passwords to strangers.
  • Use "Report" when someone behaves badly. Messages in "Chat with someone" are not end-to-end encrypted so the Why team can review reports.

6. Your privacy: what Why collects

  • Account details: username, display name, email, date of birth, country, phone number (if given), photos you upload.
  • What you post: posts, comments, group messages, messages in "Chat with someone".
  • Technical data: IP address, access times, and who messaged whom and when (not the content of private messages).
  • Why does not sell your data and does not use tracking ads.

7. Encryption and storage

  • Private messages, photos, files and locations in private messages are end-to-end encrypted: Why’s servers only store encrypted data.
  • The encryption key is on your devices. By default Why also keeps a copy locked with your 6-character message protection code, to sync it to new devices; an easy code weakens this protection. You can choose in Settings to keep the key only on your devices, and then Why keeps no copy.
  • Files sent in chats are deleted automatically after 30 days.
  • Photos of identity documents are encrypted at rest and deleted right after review. Why keeps the result, your date of birth, and the document type, number and issuing authority recorded by the reviewer. These are encrypted, tied to your account, and used to stop one document being used for several accounts. They are deleted when you delete your account.
  • You can hide your email, phone number, date of birth and other details in Settings → Privacy.

8. Why’s rights

  • Why may remove content, limit features or suspend accounts that break these terms or the law.
  • Why may have to provide data to authorities when legally required.

9. Changes

  • Why may update these terms. For important changes you will be told, and may be asked to agree again.
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