Anonymous on text, not quite on video
On a text-only chat site, anonymous usually means a made-up username and nothing else: nobody knows what you look like unless you tell them. A video chat is different by design. The whole point is that you see each other, so your face, your voice and whatever is behind you are part of the conversation.
So the honest answer is that online chat on video is private, not invisible. The other person learns what they can see and hear. Everything else, the details that would let them find you after the call, stays with you, as long as you don't say it out loud.
What the other person can see
- Your video while your camera is on: your face, and anything in the frame behind you.
- Your voice, and any sound in the room around you.
- Your nickname, the name shown on your side of the call.
- Anything you say or type, including names, places and links.
What they never see
- Your email address, even if you log in with one.
- Your phone number. Guests never give one, and the call doesn't show it.
- Your coin balance, payments or card details. We don't receive card numbers at all; the payment provider handles them.
- Your exact location. Nothing on a call shows where you are, unless something in your room or your words gives it away.
What Online Chat itself keeps
Being private from the person you're talking to isn't the same as leaving no trace with the service. To run a guest session we keep an identifier for that session, your device and browser type, an approximate location from your connection, and how you use the service, such as when calls start and how long they last. If you log in, we also keep your email address, your coin balance and your purchase history.
We use that to run matches and calls, to process paid calls, and to stop fraud and abuse. We don't sell personal data, and conversations aren't read as a matter of routine. When someone reports a call, the reported part is reviewed by people to work out what happened. The full list is in our Privacy Policy.
Guest or logged in: what changes
As a guest you can match, pick someone from the online list, video chat, watch live streams and follow people, all without an email or a password. That is as anonymous as Online Chat gets: the account has no name or contact details attached to it.
Logging in with your email is needed to buy coins and use the wallet and settings. It doesn't change what the other person sees on a call; your email stays on our side. It does mean your account now has an address attached, which is also what lets you get it back on a new device.
How to stay more anonymous on a video chat
- Check your frame before you start. Mail, a school or work badge, a window with a view of your street and family photos all say more than you'd think.
- Keep your nickname generic. If you give yourself one, avoid your real name or a handle you use elsewhere.
- Keep the big four to yourself: full name, address, workplace or school, and social media accounts.
- Turn your camera off when you want to. You can switch it off during a call and keep talking.
- Stay on Online Chat. Moving to another app usually means sharing a phone number or a profile that is tied to your real name.
- Assume a screen can be captured. Recording other people is against our Terms, and we act on reports, but no website can physically stop someone pointing a second phone at their screen. Don't show anything you wouldn't want kept.
Anonymous doesn't mean anything goes
Privacy works both ways. The person you're talking to gets the same protection you do, and the rules don't relax because nobody knows your name. Accounts that break the community guidelines are suspended or removed, and a block works the moment you tap it. If a call makes you uncomfortable, end it, report it, and see the Safety Center for what happens next.
For how the rest of it works, guest sessions, matching and the online list, start at the Online Chat homepage.