Your device is the center of Ratspeak.

Privacy at a glance

Who and what this policy covers

This policy applies to the Ratspeak application, ratspeak.org, and services explicitly operated by Ratspeak LLC. It does not govern independently operated Reticulum infrastructure, channel hubs, websites, or other third-party services. Those operators may process network data under their own terms and policies.

When this policy says “Ratspeak,” “we,” or “us,” it means Ratspeak LLC.

Information stored on your device

Depending on the features you use, Ratspeak stores information locally such as:

• Reticulum and LXMF identities, keys, addresses, and display names;
• contacts, trust decisions, blocked peers, paths, and peer observations;
• messages, attachments, voice messages, channel history, game state, and call history;
• interface, propagation-node, theme, accessibility, privacy, and channel settings; and
• diagnostic and activity information shown inside the app.

This local information is not automatically uploaded to Ratspeak LLC. Anyone with access to your unlocked device, device backup, exported identity, or recovery material may be able to access some of it. Protect your device and recovery material.

Direct messages, media, and calls

Direct communications

Ratspeak uses Reticulum and LXMF to route direct communications. Message content is encrypted for the destination identity, but network participants may observe limited routing and timing information needed to deliver traffic. Recipients receive their own copy and may retain, copy, or share it. Ratspeak cannot recall content from a recipient or their backups.

Calls and voice messages

Audio is processed when you choose to place or answer a call or record a voice message. Live call traffic is transported over the network; voice messages are delivered like other message content. Ratspeak does not use microphone audio for advertising or analytics.

Propagation nodes and relays

A propagation node can temporarily store encrypted LXMF payloads so a recipient can retrieve them later. Ratspeak LLC operates some propagation nodes listed in the app’s node directory. Those nodes may process encrypted payloads and the protocol metadata needed to queue, route, limit abuse, and expire traffic. Where an interface uses IP networking, the node can also process the connecting IP address and it may appear in operational logs. Independent propagation nodes are controlled by their own operators.

Ratspeak-operated propagation nodes are not intended to read the content of end-to-end encrypted direct messages or use network addresses to profile users. Queued traffic is removed as it is delivered, expires, or is removed under operational limits. Exact network copies may also exist on independently operated infrastructure outside our control.

Public and shared channels

Channel messages do not have the same privacy model as direct messages. A channel hub relays and can read messages submitted to its channels. Other channel participants may also retain or redistribute them.

Unless a hub is clearly labeled as an official Ratspeak hub, it is independently operated. Ratspeak LLC does not select its participants, review all content, guarantee its availability, or control its moderation and retention practices. Independent hubs may expose you to offensive, misleading, harmful, or illegal content. You can leave a hub, block participants locally, and report safety concerns from the app.

Ratspeak does not currently operate a public channel hub. If we begin doing so, official hubs will be clearly identified and their moderation rules will be published. A hub merely appearing in discovery does not make it an official Ratspeak service or an endorsement by Ratspeak.

Website, downloads, and support

Ratspeak.org uses Vercel Web Analytics to measure aggregate website usage, including pages and routes visited, referrers, country, browser, operating system, and device type. This website measurement is separate from the Ratspeak app and is not linked to your Ratspeak identity, contacts, messages, or in-app activity.

Vercel and our website hosting and security providers may also process ordinary request information such as IP address, time, requested page, browser details, and security signals to deliver, measure, and protect the site. We do not use this information to build advertising profiles.

The public network map publishes node records from discovery and manual submissions. These can include node identifiers and labels, endpoint IP addresses or hostnames and ports, approximate or self-reported locations, advertised services, and observation times. A map entry does not establish a precise location or current reachability. Dated records expire under the map’s publication rules; some manual records may remain. Contact mail@ratspeak.org about a listing or location concern.

The private rsNode beta uses an essential, secure session cookie to remember password access and eligibility confirmations for up to eight hours. It is used to protect beta downloads, not for advertising. Locking the beta removes it from your browser.

If you email mail@ratspeak.org, submit a safety report, or send beta feedback, we receive the information you choose to provide, your email address, and related correspondence. Channel reports are prepared for your review and are not sent automatically.

Optional holder portal

You do not need a wallet or token to use the Ratspeak app. If you use the holder portal, we process the wallet address you connect and the information you submit for its features:

• Identity pairing: your wallet address, LXMF address, verification-code exchange, signed pairing message, signature, and timestamps. Pairing is recorded by the portal, not submitted as a blockchain transaction. The full pairing is not published as a public directory; the portal can return registration status and a shortened LXMF address for a wallet.
• Badges and perks: your badge tier, signed enrollment, LXMF address, alert preferences, access credentials, mailbox reports, and related timestamps. If you enroll, authorized Ratspeak infrastructure receives your LXMF address and badge tier to provide the service. Relay behavior may allow others to infer that an address belongs to a badge holder.
• Voting: your wallet address, proposal and choice, snapshot block, signed vote message, signature, and timestamps. The portal publishes aggregate results and retains the signed vote record.

Eligibility and badge checks read public token holdings through a Base blockchain RPC provider, which receives the wallet address being checked. Your wallet provider handles connection and signing under its own policies. The portal encrypts stored identity-pairing, badge, and enrollment records; that protection does not make your public blockchain activity private.

Unlinking an identity disables the active pairing. Unenrolling disables participation in the current perks feed, subject to synchronization by the infrastructure. These actions do not erase historical records or copies already synchronized to infrastructure. Stored versions and signed records may remain. To request access or deletion, contact mail@ratspeak.org and identify the portal feature involved. Do not send wallet recovery phrases or private keys.

Device permissions

Ratspeak requests platform permissions only when needed for a feature. Depending on your device, these can include local network access, Bluetooth, microphone, camera access for QR scanning, photos or files for attachments and exports, and notifications. You can change permissions in system settings, although the related feature may stop working.

Retention, deletion, and security

Local app data remains until you delete it through Ratspeak or clear application data. Whether uninstalling removes it depends on the operating system and installation method; device backups may retain copies. Deleting local data does not delete copies already delivered to other people or stored by independent infrastructure.

Support correspondence and safety reports are retained only as reasonably needed to respond, protect users, document action, and meet legal obligations. You may ask us to delete support information associated with your email, subject to safety, fraud-prevention, and legal retention needs. Official node data follows operational expiry and capacity limits.

We use technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information we operate, but no device, radio link, network, or storage system is perfectly secure.

Your choices and controls

• Use Ratspeak without creating a centralized Ratspeak account.
• Choose your interfaces and propagation node, or operate compatible infrastructure.
• Decline optional permissions or public-channel access.
• Block peers, leave channels, and prepare a report for safety review.
• Delete local conversations, channel history, contacts, identities, or app data using the available controls.
• Contact us to access or delete information you intentionally sent to Ratspeak support.

Age eligibility

Ratspeak is intended for adults age 18 and older and is not designed for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through official Ratspeak services. If you believe a child provided information to an official service, contact us so we can investigate and delete it where appropriate.

Questions or requests

We may update this policy as Ratspeak and its official services change. Material changes will receive a new effective date and, when appropriate, an in-app notice.