Privacy policy
Last updated 2 November 2026
- We collect what a messenger needs to work, and nothing for advertising. We don’t sell your data and there are no ads.
- Messages are encrypted on the way and stored encrypted. They are not end-to-end encrypted, so our systems can read them when needed, for example to look at a message you report.
- If you let Vudo check your contacts, we compare their numbers with Vudo’s users and don’t keep them.
- You can delete your account at any time, in the app or without it.
This policy explains how Vudo (“we”, “us”) handles your information when you use the Vudo app for Android, Vudo on the web, and this website. Vudo operates the service and is responsible for your information (the “data controller”). Questions? Write to support@vudoapp.com.
What we collect, and why
| Information | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Your phone number | It’s your account: you sign in with it, and friends who have it can find you. We also note its country, for counting how many people use Vudo in each country. |
| Your name, photo and “about” | Your profile, shown to your friends and to people you send a request to. The photo and “about” are optional. |
| Your messages | To deliver them and keep your chats, including on your other devices. Each message’s character count is used for your daily allowance. |
| Your contacts (only if you allow it) | The phone numbers are sent to our servers, compared with Vudo’s users so the app can show who’s on Vudo, and then discarded. Names and other details stay on your phone. |
| Reports | When you report a message, we keep a copy of it and a few messages either side, as you saw them, so our team can review it. |
| Login codes | To check it’s really you. We store only a scrambled (hashed) version, and each code expires after 5 minutes. |
| Your time zone | So your daily allowance refills at your midnight. |
| Sessions and devices | To keep you signed in: a record of each signed-in device (with the browser or app it uses), and a notification token for each phone or browser that gets notifications. |
| Usage counts | Counts such as messages, characters and sign-ups per hour and country, and the hours in which you sent a message (to count active users). Used to run and improve Vudo, never for ads. |
On your phone only: the app keeps your chats on your phone so it works offline, and counts how much data it uses. That count never leaves your phone.
What we don’t do
- We don’t show ads or sell or rent your information.
- We don’t track you across other apps or websites.
- We don’t read your messages for advertising or profiling. Our team only looks at messages when you or the person you’re chatting with reports one, or when the law or someone’s safety requires it.
Who helps us run Vudo
We use a few trusted companies to provide parts of the service. They may only use your information to do that work for us.
- Amazon Web Services hosts our servers and stores Vudo’s data.
- Meta (WhatsApp) delivers login codes by WhatsApp message. It receives your phone number and the code.
- Twilio delivers login codes by phone call or text message. It receives your phone number and the code.
- Expo and Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) deliver notifications to Android phones. They receive your phone’s notification token and the notification itself: the sender’s name and the start of the message.
- Your browser’s push service (for example Google, Mozilla or Apple) delivers notifications on the web. These are encrypted so the push service can’t read them.
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety, or as part of a sale or merger of Vudo (in which case this policy keeps applying to your information).
Where your information is kept
Vudo’s servers may be outside Ghana. Wherever your information is stored, we protect it as this policy describes and as the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) requires.
How long we keep it
- Your account and profile: until you delete your account.
- Messages: until they’re deleted. “Delete for everyone” erases a message’s text straight away. When both people have deleted a chat, its messages are erased.
- When you delete your account: your phone number, photo, “about”, sessions, notification tokens and login codes are deleted straight away. Your name stays in your friends’ chats, and the messages you already sent stay in their chat history, so their conversations make sense. No one can write to you any more.
- Reports: kept for as long as needed to keep Vudo safe, for example to recognise repeated abuse.
- Usage counts: kept to see how Vudo is used over time.
Your choices and rights
- Change your name, photo and “about” in Settings at any time.
- Turn off notifications in Settings or in your phone’s settings, and stop sharing contacts in your phone’s settings.
- Delete your account at any time.
- Ask us for a copy of your information, to correct it, or to stop using it, by writing to support@vudoapp.com. We’ll reply within 30 days.
- If you’re unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to Ghana’s Data Protection Commission.
Children
Vudo is not for children under 13. If we learn that someone under 13 has an account, we’ll delete it.
Keeping your information safe
Connections to Vudo are encrypted, messages are stored encrypted, login codes are stored hashed, and access to our systems is limited and recorded. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will tell you if a breach affects you.
On this website
This website doesn’t use cookies or tracking. Vudo on the web keeps you signed in with a secure cookie, and remembers settings such as the theme in your browser.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. For important changes, we’ll also tell you in the app.
Contact
Write to support@vudoapp.com with any question about your privacy.