Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 9, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Pawprintf Ltd ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use Sliced Chat (https://slicedchat.com). We are committed to ensuring your privacy is protected and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

1. Data Controller

Pawprintf Ltd (https://pawprintf.com) is the data controller responsible for your personal data.

2. What Information We Collect

Anonymous public chat: We do not require registration for public chat. We may assign or store a temporary username, profile color, browser token, message preferences, slice activity, public messages, replies, reactions, mentions, and related in-app state needed to run the live chat experience.
Optional registered accounts: If you create an account, we collect your email address, securely hashed password, username, profile color, account badges, session tokens, friend requests, friendship state, direct-message conversations, account notifications, and account settings.
Direct messages and notifications: Friend-gated direct messages, message reactions, read state, notification data, grouped unread counts, and browser push subscription details may be stored so private conversations and alerts work across sessions.
Reports, moderation, and feedback: If you report content or send feedback, we may store the report category, message snapshot, reporter and actor details available to us, moderation status, ban records, feedback text, and admin review actions.
Technical Data: We automatically collect basic server logs and security data, which may include your IP address, browser type, user agent, request metadata, diagnostic data, and rate-limiting metrics to keep the service secure and functional.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the minimal data we collect to:

Provide, operate, and maintain the real-time chat service.
Prevent spam, abuse, and network attacks via IP rate-limiting.
Authenticate registered users and maintain account sessions.
Deliver friend requests, direct messages, in-app notifications, and optional browser push alerts.
Review reports, enforce bans, handle feedback, and protect users and the service.

4. Chat Data and Visibility

Public messages are visible to users in the relevant public chat context. Recent public chat history may be retained for active conversation context, then pruned or removed over time. Public messages may also be included in reports or moderation records.

Direct messages are stored separately from public chat history and are intended for the participants in that conversation. Direct messages may still be processed for delivery, read state, notifications, reporting, moderation, abuse prevention, and service reliability.

5. Cookies and Local Storage

Cookies: We use strictly necessary session cookies provided by the Phoenix framework to secure your WebSocket connection, protect against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), and maintain signed-in sessions. Because these cookies are strictly necessary for the site to function, they do not require a consent banner under UK law. We do not use tracking or advertising cookies.
Local Storage: We use your browser's local storage to remember UI preferences such as onboarding state, message styling, theme choices, and similar local experience settings.
Browser push subscriptions: If you opt in to push alerts, your browser gives us a push endpoint and public keys so we can send notifications through the browser push service. You can revoke permission in your browser settings.

6. Service Providers and Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with service providers that help us host, secure, email, monitor, or deliver the service, including cloud hosting, email delivery, and browser push infrastructure. We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect users, the service, or our legal rights.

7. International Data Transfers

Our servers are hosted in the United States. If you are accessing Sliced Chat from the UK or EEA, your technical data (and email address, if registered) will be processed in the US. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, relying on recognized data bridge frameworks and secure cloud infrastructure providers.

8. Data Retention

Technical server logs are routinely purged.
Public chat history is limited and may be pruned as messages age out, capacity limits are reached, or moderation requires removal.
Registered account data is kept until you request deletion, unless we need to retain limited records for security, abuse prevention, legal compliance, or moderation audit purposes.
Direct messages, account notifications, reports, feedback, moderation records, and ban records may be retained while they are needed to provide the service, preserve conversation history, review abuse, or keep an audit trail.
Push subscriptions are kept until you disable push alerts, revoke browser permission, sign out from a subscribed browser, or request deletion where available.

9. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the data we process, including hashed passwords for registered accounts and server-side storage for private VAPID keys. No internet service is perfectly secure, and you should not use Sliced Chat for sensitive or critical information.

10. Your Rights (UK GDPR)

Depending on your location and relationship with the service, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or receive a copy of your personal data. To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

11. Contact Us

For any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, your data, or general support, please contact us at: support@slicedchat.com.