Privacy Policy
Effective September 24, 2026
On this page
1. Overview
This Privacy Policy explains what information Sunflare Communications ("Sunflare," "we," "us") collects when you use our chat, voice, and related services (the "Services"), how we use and share it, and the controls you have over it. We don't sell your personal information.
2. Information We Collect
Information you give us
- Account information: username, email, password (stored hashed, never in plain text), birthday, and optionally your display name, avatar, bio, and pronouns;
- Content you create: messages, voice, files, custom emoji, and anything else you post or upload;
- Information from your actions: servers you join, roles you're given, friends you add, purchases you make;
- Anything you send us directly: support tickets, reports, and feedback.
Information collected automatically
- Device and connection information: IP address, operating system, browser or app version;
- Usage information: which servers/channels you access and when, features you use, crash/error logs;
- A push notification token (through Apple, Google, or your browser's push service), if you turn on notifications, so we can deliver them to your device;
- What you're currently listening to or watching, if you turn on Rich Presence (Sonar): read directly from your device's own media session. This happens locally on your device, and only while the feature is on;
- Cookies and similar technologies used to keep you signed in and remember preferences.
Information from other sources
We receive information about you from other users (for example, a message someone sends you), and if you connect a third-party account (like Spotify, for Rich Presence), from that service, only what that integration needs to work, and only while you keep it connected.
3. How We Use It
- To provide the Services: deliver your messages and calls, keep your account working, remember your settings;
- For safety and moderation: enforcing our Terms of Service, investigating reports, and maintaining the moderation records described in Section 7;
- To communicate with you: respond to support requests, send account and security notices;
- To improve the Services: understand what's working, fix bugs, and build new features;
- To comply with the law: respond to valid legal requests and enforce our rights.
We don't use a teen account's information to serve targeted advertising, and we don't use any account's information for advertising targeted at anyone based on sensitive characteristics.
4. How We Disclose It
We don't sell your personal information. We share it only:
- As you direct: content you post is visible to whoever you sent it to, or to a server's members, based on that server's own permissions;
- With service providers: companies that help us run the Services (hosting, payment processing, email delivery, push notification delivery), bound to only use your data to provide that service to us;
- For legal reasons: if required by valid legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Sunflare, our users, or the public;
- In a business transfer: if Sunflare is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your information may transfer as part of that, subject to this Policy continuing to apply (or you being notified of any change).
5. Data Retention
We keep your information for as long as your account is active, plus a reasonable period after that where we have a legitimate reason to (for example, moderation records, see Section 7, are kept independently of your account so that a moderation history isn't lost if the account involved is later deleted). When you delete your account, see Your Rights below for exactly what happens to your data.
6. Security
We encrypt data in transit and store passwords hashed, never in plain text. We restrict internal access to personal information to what's needed to operate the Services. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security. If you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at privacy@sunflare.me.
7. Privacy & Safety for Teen Accounts (13–17)
What's different for a teen account
For users aged 13–17, direct messages, friend requests, and server discovery features may be limited by default to reduce unwanted contact.
Sunflare requires everyone to be at least 13 to sign up; see our Terms of Service. If you're between 13 and 17, your account starts with extra protections on by default, rather than requiring you (or a parent) to go find and turn them on:
| Setting | Teen account default | Adult account default |
|---|---|---|
| Who can DM you | Friends only | Anyone |
| Who can send you a friend request | Friends of friends | Anyone |
| Age-restricted (18+) channels | Not visible, not accessible | Visible and accessible (per-server) |
These are defaults, not locks. A teen account can loosen the DM and friend-request settings at any time in Settings → Privacy, the same way any account can. Age-restricted channel access is not something either a teen or an adult can turn on for themselves before turning 18; it's tied to the birthday on your account and lifts automatically once you do. There's no parental dashboard and no parental-consent workaround. The account itself carries these protections.
We don't require or request a parent's contact information to create a teen account, and we don't share a teen's information with a parent or guardian except where we're legally required to.
Call safety monitoring
Voice and video calls on Sunflare are peer-to-peer: our servers relay only the connection setup, never the audio or video itself, and we have no way to listen to or record a call from our end. For a teen account specifically, that account's own device runs an additional, on-device check during calls: it looks at what's being said for language patterns associated with grooming (for example, pressure to keep a conversation secret, requests for photos, or attempts to move the conversation to another app), using a small speech-recognition model that runs locally on the device. Nothing about this is sent to Sunflare or anywhere else while it's running, and it has no effect on the call unless it detects one of these patterns.
On its own, this on-device check never interrupts or ends the call, even when it finds a pattern. Pattern matching alone isn't a reliable enough basis to act on a live call. Instead, it flags the account, and a short excerpt of the flagged part of the conversation (not the full call) is sent to Sunflare so a staff member can review it, the same way any other report is reviewed. The call itself continues normally, and the other person on the call is never notified that anything was flagged.
Separately, Sunflare may enable a second-layer review that looks at that same flagged excerpt more carefully before deciding whether anything more should happen in the moment. When that's active and a pattern looks strong and clear enough, one of two things can happen instead of a silent flag: a private, one-tap "are you okay?" check-in shown only to the teen account, with no effect on the call unless they choose to end it, or the call ending automatically with a message explaining it was ended for safety. We'll keep this section current about whether that second layer is active.
This is an automated, pattern-based check, not a person listening in, and not a guarantee. Like any automated system, it can miss things, and it can occasionally flag (or, when the second layer is active, end) a call by mistake. If your account is flagged or a call of yours is ended this way and you don't think anything was wrong, you don't need to do anything; a staff member reviews the flagged excerpt and nothing further happens unless it warrants it. We don't keep a copy of the rest of the call: nothing is transcribed or stored beyond the short excerpt attached to a flag, and nothing is kept at all if a call ends normally without a flag. This feature only ever runs for accounts we've identified as belonging to a 13-17 year old, and only during calls; it is not active anywhere else on Sunflare.
Reporting, blocking, and moderation: available to every account
These aren't teen-specific, but they're the tools that back the protections above:
- Report a message or a user directly from the message or their profile. This creates a record staff can review, distinct from a general support request.
- Block a user: hides their messages from you across direct messages and any server you're both in, and prevents them from DMing or friend-requesting you.
- Moderation logging: when staff take a moderation action (a ban, a timeout, a role change), we keep a durable record of who took it, on whom, and why, so moderation on Sunflare is accountable rather than a series of untracked one-off actions.
8. Your Privacy Controls
You're in control of the following, from Settings:
- Who can send you a direct message (everyone / server members / friends only), in Settings → Privacy;
- Who can send you a friend request (everyone / friends of friends / nobody), in Settings → Privacy;
- Whether your activity status, connected accounts, and friends list are visible to others, in Settings → Privacy;
- Who's blocked on your account, in Settings → Privacy → Blocked Users;
- Whether you receive push notifications for new messages, in Settings → Notifications;
- Whether Rich Presence (Sonar) shows what you're listening to or watching, in Settings → Rich Presence.
9. Your Rights
Wherever you are, you can:
- Access the information on your account through your profile and settings;
- Correct most of it directly in Settings → My Account;
- Disable your account temporarily (Settings → My Account → Disable Account): this is fully reversible by logging back in;
- Delete your account (Settings → My Account → Delete Account): this immediately removes your profile information (display name, avatar, banner, bio, pronouns) and your email and password are permanently scrambled so the account can never be logged into again. Messages you've sent remain visible to people you sent them to (shown as posted by "Deleted User"), the same way a message doesn't un-send from someone else's inbox in any messaging service, but nothing further identifies you as the author. If you own a server, you'll need to transfer or delete it first. See Delete Your Account for the full walkthrough, including what to do if you've lost access and can't log in.
If you're in a region with additional legal rights (for example, the EU/EEA/UK under GDPR, the UK GDPR, or California under the CCPA), you may also have the right to request a copy of your data in a portable format, object to certain processing, or lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. Contact privacy@sunflare.me to exercise any of these.
10. International Data Transfers
Sunflare's infrastructure may process and store data in a different country than the one you're in. Where we transfer personal information out of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we do so using a legally recognized transfer mechanism, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
11. Bots & Third-Party Developers
Servers on Sunflare can add third-party bots and integrations. These are built by independent developers, not Sunflare, and are subject to whatever permissions a server grants them. A bot can only see what that server's permission settings allow. We don't control these integrations and aren't responsible for their own data practices; check a bot's own privacy policy before adding it to a server you moderate.
12. Children's Privacy
The Services are not directed at, and not intended for, children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. This is enforced at signup (see our Terms of Service). Sunflare uses a neutral age-screening process that requires users to provide their date of birth. We may use additional verification methods if needed to confirm eligibility. If we become aware that we've collected information from someone under 13, we'll delete the account and the information associated with it. If you believe a child under 13 has a Sunflare account, please tell us at legal@sunflare.me so we can investigate.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make a material change, we'll give reasonable advance notice before it takes effect (for example, an in-app notice or an email), the same way we handle material changes to our Terms of Service.
14. Contact Us
Privacy questions or requests: privacy@sunflare.me.
Everything else: legal@sunflare.me.