Privacy policy

Murmkin is a messenger for two people, made by Spiritwalker Studios (“we”). This page explains what the app stores, what we can and can't read, who else is involved, and your rights. The short version: your conversations are end-to-end encrypted, so only you and your partner can read them, not us and not our hosting provider. No ads, no trackers, no usage analytics, and we never sell your data or use it to train AI.

Responsible for your data (the “controller”) is Gábor Szentirmai, trading as Spiritwalker Studios, Jókai utca 232, 1196 Budapest, Hungary. Contact for anything on this page: admin@spiritwalkerstudios.com.

What only you and your partner can read

These are encrypted on your device before they leave it. Our servers only ever hold scrambled data and no key to open it:

• messages, replies, edits, reactions, captions and the GIFs you send;
• photos, videos, files and voice messages, including their names;
• everything in your shared “Us” space: memories, diary, dates, birthdays, lists, calendar and comments;
• scheduled messages, custom emojis and custom backgrounds;
• your secret notes, which only your own devices can open;
• calls, which go directly between your devices and are encrypted on the way.

What our servers can see

To deliver messages and run the app, the server needs some plain information:

• Your account: email address, display name, your pet's look, name and mood, your status, when you were last online, your time zone offset, and your settings (for example read receipts). Your password is handled by our sign-in provider; we never see it.
• Your pairing: who you are paired with, since when, pairing codes and requests, and anyone you blocked.
• Message details, not content: who sent a message, when, what kind (text, photo, voice…), its size and when it was read.
• Calls: who called, whether it was a video call, and when. We delete these after 30 days.
• Stars and items: star balance, star packs, and what you bought or gave your partner in the app.
• A few small app events that aren't encrypted yet: pet gestures (such as a wave) and short game and system notices in the chat.
• Feedback you send: your message, your email if you add it, the app version, your operating system and, only if you tick it, the app's log.
• Device details for delivery: each device's public encryption key, and on Android a notification token.

We don't collect your phone number, contacts or location.

Optional activity sharing (Windows)

If you switch it on, the Windows app lets your partner's pet react to what you're doing. It looks at the app in front, music playing and whether the microphone is in use on your computer, and shares only a broad category such as “gaming” or “listening to music”, never window titles, song names or content. It's off until you turn it on.

Android permissions

• Camera and microphone: for photos, voice messages and calls, only when you use them.
• Display over other apps: so the pet can walk on your screen.
• Usage access: only for the optional activity sharing, if you turn it on.
• Notifications: to tell you about new messages and calls.

Who else is involved

• Supabase hosts our database, sign-in, file storage and live updates. Supabase is a US company; the transfer is covered by its data processing agreement and the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android only) wakes your phone for a new message or call. The notification carries only its type (“message”, “call” or “game”), never the text, the sender or who you are paired with. Firebase analytics is switched off.
• Our email provider sends sign-up confirmations and password resets to your address.
• GitHub hosts app updates. When the app checks for or downloads an update, GitHub sees your IP address.
• GIPHY, if you search for a GIF: GIPHY receives your search words and IP address. The GIF you pick is then sent to your partner encrypted.
• Link previews are fetched by your own device, so the linked website sees your IP address, as if you had opened it.
• Calls use public connection helpers (STUN servers from Google and Cloudflare) that see your IP address to set up the direct connection. They never see the call itself.

No advertising, analytics or tracking companies receive anything from Murmkin.

On your device

The app keeps an encrypted copy of your chat so it works offline, and keeps your encryption keys and sign-in in your device's secure key store. Logging out removes the keys, the chat copy and opened media from that device. A small app log (at most 4 MB, without file paths) stays on the device to help fix problems; it's only sent to us if you attach it to feedback.

Why we may use this data (legal basis)

• To run the service you signed up for: everything above that the app needs to work (GDPR article 6(1)(b)).
• With your consent: optional activity sharing and the log attached to feedback (article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time in the app.
• To keep the service safe and fix problems, for example the daily limit on feedback (article 6(1)(f), our legitimate interest).

How long we keep it

• Your account and chat: until you delete them. Call records: 30 days.
• When you unpair, each of you chooses whether to keep or delete the shared chat. If either of you deletes it, it's gone for both.
• Deleting your account removes your profile, pairing, chat, files and everything shared with your partner, for both of you. Copies in our hosting provider's backups are kept only for a short, limited time and are then overwritten.

How to delete your account

Your rights

Under the GDPR you can ask to see a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, limit how it's used, take it with you, or object to its use. The app can export your chat and delete your account itself; for anything else, write to admin@spiritwalkerstudios.com from the email address of your account and we'll answer within a month. You can also complain to a data protection authority; in Hungary that's the NAIH (naih.hu).

Children

Murmkin is for adults and young people aged 16 or older. It isn't meant for children.

Changes

If this policy changes in a way that matters, we'll say so in the app before it applies. The date at the top shows the latest version.