Privacy policy

Nowza encrypts your voice on your device so that only your friend's devices can play it. Our relay passes it along without being able to hear it, and doesn't keep it. We collect only what the app needs to connect you with the friends you choose.

Effective October 9, 2026. Nowza is made by Cypress Oak Studios LLC.

What we collect

• Your account. When you sign in with Apple, we receive an identifier Apple creates for Nowza. We don't store your email address. We keep the screen name you give (or change in Settings), which your friends see and which appears when you ring them.
• Your picture. Either one of the app's built-in mascots, which we store as a name, or a small square copy of a photo you choose, without its location or other details. Only you and your friends can see it. Change or remove it any time in Settings.
• Your friends and safety settings. Who you're friends with, which of them you've starred as favorites, when each friend last talked to you (shown on their page in the app), the invites you create (deleted after 7 days or once used), the people you block, and any reports you file.
• Your devices. A random ID for each iPhone and Apple Watch you sign in on, the push tokens Apple gives us so they can ring (on the iPhone, through Apple's Push to Talk), and which device you want rings on. Also each device's public encryption keys, which your friends' apps use to encrypt messages to you (the private keys never leave your devices). Your friends' apps receive these keys, so your friends can see which kinds of devices you use, such as an iPhone and an Apple Watch.
• Diagnostics. How rings and conversations go (when they start, connect and end, whether they were answered, and how long each step took), plus when you open the app, changes you make (such as your picture, favorites or where rings go, and invites you send or accept), errors, crash and hang reports, and your device's model and its system and app versions, so we can make Nowza faster and more reliable. These records contain account and device IDs and times, never names, audio, encryption keys or what you say, and are deleted after 30 days.
• The diagnostics log on your devices. The app keeps a more detailed log of the same kind of events on your iPhone and Apple Watch, for about 14 days. It's sent to us only when you use Report a Problem or, while Nowza is in TestFlight testing, when we ask your app for it to look into a problem. We delete it after 30 days. In the App Store version, the app will ask you before sending it.
• Problem reports. What you write in Report a Problem, kept for 90 days.
• Server logs. Our servers log requests, including IP addresses and account IDs, to keep the service running and secure. Google Cloud deletes them after 30 days.

Your voice

Messages are end-to-end encrypted. Your device encrypts each message with a new key that only your friend's devices can unlock, and signs it so their app knows it came from your device. Audio goes from your device through our relay to your friend's device as you talk, still encrypted. If your friend hasn't answered yet, the relay holds the encrypted message in memory until they do, for up to about 35 seconds, then drops it. We can't decrypt or listen to your messages, and neither can Google or anyone else with access to our servers. Audio is never written to our disks or stored.

Our servers do tell your app which keys belong to your friends' devices. If a friend's keys change, for example when they sign in on a new iPhone, the app tells you, because a key you didn't expect is the one way someone controlling our servers could try to listen in. A way to check security codes with a friend directly is planned.

So a message plays the moment your friend taps the ring, their Apple Watch may download it while it's ringing. It stays encrypted on their watch until it plays: the app deletes it once it plays, or at the next ring if it never did, and when they sign out.

Our servers still see who talks to whom, when and for how long, and which devices are involved, because they need that to ring your friends.

The Test Bot is the one exception. It's run by us so you can try Nowza, so our relay decrypts what you say to it in order to say it back. It doesn't keep or listen to it.

How we use it

To run Nowza: signing you in, ringing your friends, enforcing blocks, responding to reports, and fixing problems. And to understand, in aggregate, how Nowza is used, so we can improve it: for example how many people use it each day, how many friends people have, and which mascots they pick. We keep daily totals for that, with no account IDs, names or audio. We don't show ads, track you across apps or websites, or sell or share your data with data brokers.

Who else handles it

• Google Cloud hosts our servers and database in the United States.
• Apple provides Sign in with Apple and delivers push notifications.

Reports and blocks

If you report someone, we review the report and may block or delete accounts that break the rules. Reports are kept for safety, with account IDs only, even after either account is deleted.

Deleting your account

In the iPhone app, open Settings and tap Delete Account. We delete your account, screen name, photo, friends, invites, blocks, devices, sessions, diagnostics logs and problem reports, remove you from your friends' lists, and revoke Nowza's Sign in with Apple access. Diagnostics and server logs expire within 30 days.

Contact

Questions about privacy: nowza@cypressoakstudios.com.