Privacy Policy

About this policy

Last updated: 27 September 2026. This policy explains how Cutla handles personal information and the choices available to you.

Operator and privacy contact

Cutla is operated by Chen Li Tu, based in South Australia, Australia.

For privacy questions or account-deletion requests, contact Cutlahelp@gmail.com.

Age and availability

You must be at least 16 years old to use Cutla, or meet the higher minimum age required by applicable local law. Cutla is not intended for anyone under 16.

Cutla is intended for an international audience. Availability depends on the countries and regions enabled for distribution and applicable local requirements.

Information the app handles

Cutla uses Clerk for authentication. Clerk may process sign-in identifiers and authentication data for Apple, Google, or email sign-in.

Cutla processes your user ID, display name, username, optional profile photo, friend connections and requests, invite records, safety choices, and message metadata such as sender, recipient, timestamps, duration, read state, and expiry.

The current app finds people by username and does not request access to your device contacts. Accounts that previously opted in to contact discoverability may still have that preference and related historical matching records stored by the service; removing the app’s contact-finding screen does not erase them.

If you allow notifications, the service stores a device push token. The app also stores preferences and limited cache data on your device.

Voice messages

Voice audio is encrypted on your device before upload. The service stores encrypted audio plus encrypted key-wrapping material so the participating devices can decrypt it. The service still handles message metadata needed to deliver and expire messages.

One-to-one messages expire 7 days after sending; first opening shortens access to no more than 24 hours, within that 7-day limit. In a Circle, each recipient has their own opening window: up to 24 hours from their first opening, never beyond 7 days after sending. One member opening a message does not shorten another member’s window.

A successful Circle reply clears only your opened incoming messages in that Circle, not unopened messages or other members’ access. Shared encrypted Circle audio may remain while another recipient still has access; expired data is removed by the service cleanup process, not necessarily immediately.

Temporary decrypted playback files are managed on the receiving device.

How information is used

Information is used to authenticate you, maintain your profile and friend network, deliver and play encrypted voice messages, send requested notifications, operate safety controls, and diagnose service failures.

Voice content is not used for advertising, analytics, or model training. Transcription is not available in the current version of Cutla.

Service providers and visibility

Authentication is provided by Clerk. Hosting, object storage, and push-delivery infrastructure process the data required to operate those features.

Your display name, username, profile photo, and connection-related information are visible where needed for discovery, invitations, requests, accepted friendships, and shared Circle membership. One-to-one voice messages are intended for the sender and recipient. Circle messages and replies are shared with the intended members of that Circle, not private replies to the sender. Access requires current membership and an unexpired delivery for that member. New members cannot access messages sent before they joined; leaving or being removed ends access, and rejoining does not restore earlier access.

Retention and choices

Voice-message retention is described above. You can permanently delete your account in Settings → Account → Delete Account. This is different from signing out or removing the app and cannot be undone.

Account deletion removes your sign-in account, profile and profile photos, friend connections and private messages, invitations, safety preferences, contact-discovery records, device registrations, and problem reports. It also removes your Circle messages, Circles you own, and your membership in other Circles. Other members’ messages in Circles you do not own may remain for those members under the normal message-retention rules.

Deletion includes associated stored audio and account-related cleanup on this device. If deletion or device cleanup fails, the app offers a retry; do not treat an error as confirmation that deletion is complete. Deletion coordination records and operational records may remain as needed to complete cleanup, prevent the deleted account from being recreated by pending requests, and operate the service. Deletion is not necessarily immediate and does not guarantee removal of every operational record or copy held on another device.

You can deny microphone, photo-library, notification, or biometric permissions in device settings, though related features may stop working. You can edit profile details, sign out, remove a friend, mute, and block in the app.

Privacy questions and requests

You can contact Cutlahelp@gmail.com to ask about your personal information, request access or correction, request deletion, or raise a privacy concern. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. Applicable local law determines your rights and any exceptions.

Changes

We may update this policy as Cutla or its data handling changes. The current policy is available in the app and on our public privacy-policy page. We will update the date above when the policy changes.