Download

Documents

Terms of service

Last updated: August 15, 2026

This is a courtesy translation: if the two versions differ, the original Italian text prevails. Read the original

Important and binding legal notice

Hidesay: License Agreement and General Terms of Service

Last Updated: August 15, 2026 · Document Version: 2.5 (Legal Edition)

Official Website: hidesay.com · Legal Contacts & Support: [email protected] | [email protected]

This document constitutes a legally binding agreement between the user ("User" or "Customer") and the manager and operator of the application and platform called "Hidesay" ("Hidesay", "Provider", "We"). Please read these Terms of Service carefully before accessing, downloading, installing or using the Hidesay platform. Use of the service is conditional upon full acceptance of every clause contained herein, with particular regard to the clauses excluding and limiting liability and to the zero-knowledge encryption architecture.

1. Preamble and Acceptance of the Terms

1.1 Subject. These Terms and Conditions of Service ("Terms" or "TOS") govern access to and use of the mobile application, desktop clients, APIs, Relay servers and any related service provided under the Hidesay brand (collectively, the "Service").

1.2 Binding Acceptance. By downloading, installing, creating an account or using the Service, the User declares to have read, understood and fully accepted these Terms and the Hidesay Privacy Policy, giving informed and binding consent. Should the User not intend to accept even one of the provisions contained in these Terms, the User must immediately stop any use of the Service and uninstall the related application.

1.3 Changes to the Terms. Hidesay reserves the exclusive right to modify, supplement or update these Terms at any time. Changes take effect upon their publication on the official website (hidesay.com) or within the application. Continued use of the Service after the publication of the changes constitutes explicit and unconditional acceptance of the updated Terms.

2. Service Architecture and "Zero-Knowledge" Model

2.1 Native PGP End-to-End Encryption (E2EE). Hidesay provides a messaging infrastructure based on the OpenPGP standard. All messages, attachments, images and multimedia content transmitted through the Service are encrypted directly and exclusively on the sending User’s device before being transmitted over the network, and can only be decrypted by the legitimate recipient’s device.

2.2 Data Minimization Principles and Zero-Knowledge Server. The User acknowledges and expressly accepts that the Hidesay servers operate under a strict "Zero-Knowledge" architecture. The Hidesay servers:

  • ONLY RECEIVE AND RELAY data packets already encrypted with the OpenPGP standard;
  • DO NOT POSSESS, store or generate the User’s OpenPGP private key, and have no way of accessing it;
  • DO NOT STORE account authentication tokens in plain text, storing only the cryptographic hash generated with the Argon2id algorithm;
  • DO NOT COLLECT or keep phone numbers, contact lists, geographic/GPS data, IP addresses, biometric data or advertising identifiers;
  • DO NOT RECEIVE the content of messages or of senders/recipients through third-party push notification services (such as Google Firebase Cloud Messaging - FCM), which carry only an invisible technical signal to wake up the application.

3. Account Creation, Custody of Credentials and Private Keys

3.1 Anonym-First Access Credentials. The Hidesay account is generated through the automatic creation of a random identifier and a unique access token. The User is the sole and exclusive custodian of their access token and of their two-factor authentication (2FA/TOTP) or recovery codes.

SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CUSTODY OF THE PRIVATE KEY AND TOKEN: The User expressly acknowledges that their OpenPGP Private Key, its encryption Passphrase and the Access Token reside EXCLUSIVELY in the local memory of their hardware devices. Hidesay holds no backup, keeps no emergency copies and has no technical means, master password or backdoor to recover, reset or restore the User’s private keys or decrypted data.

3.2 Consequences of Inaccessibility or Loss. In the event of loss, destruction, theft or damage of the User’s device, or in the event of loss of the access token, the passphrase or the PGP private key, THE USER’S DATA AND MESSAGES WILL BE IRREVERSIBLY AND IRRECOVERABLY LOST. Hidesay disclaims any legal, civil, criminal or financial liability for the permanent loss of data resulting from the User’s negligence, loss or failure to safeguard their credentials.

3.3 Age Requirement. The User declares and warrants to be at least 16 years of age (or the different minimum age set by the laws of their country for independently entering into digital contracts). Use of the Service by minors without the necessary parental consent is strictly prohibited.

4. Acceptable Use and Code of Conduct (Acceptable Use Policy)

4.1 Lawful Use. The User undertakes to use Hidesay solely for lawful purposes and in strict compliance with all applicable local, national and international laws, regulations and treaties. It is strictly prohibited to use the Service to:

  • Carry out, promote, facilitate or plan criminal, terrorist, unlawful or fraudulent activities;
  • Distribute child sexual abuse material, material exploiting minors, or content likely to incite violence, hatred or discrimination;
  • Distribute malware, viruses, trojans, ransomware, phishing or any code of a destructive or harmful nature;
  • Carry out Denial of Service (DoS/DDoS) attacks, attempt unauthorized intrusion (hacking) or overload the Hidesay server infrastructure;
  • Send unsolicited mass communications (Spam), automated commercial messages or harassing messages;
  • Infringe the intellectual property, industrial property, confidentiality or image rights of third parties.

4.2 No Preventive Monitoring. Due to the E2EE encrypted nature and Zero-Knowledge architecture of the platform, Hidesay does not perform, and has no technical ability to perform, any monitoring, filtering, moderation or preventive or subsequent control over the content transmitted or received by Users. The User assumes full and exclusive legal and criminal responsibility for any content transmitted through their account.

5. Limitation of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranties (Disclaimer of Liability & Warranties)

5.1 Provision "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE". THE HIDESAY SERVICE, INCLUDING ALL SOFTWARE, SERVER EQUIPMENT, APIS AND RELATED SERVICES, IS PROVIDED "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HIDESAY AND ITS DEVELOPERS, ADMINISTRATORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AFFILIATES AND LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, FORMAL OR INFORMAL, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BY WAY OF EXAMPLE AND WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS, CONTINUITY, ACCURACY, ABSOLUTE SECURITY OR FREEDOM FROM ERRORS.

5.2 Exclusion of Liability for Loss of Data, Keys and Non-Delivery of Messages. Hidesay shall in no way be liable to the User or to third parties for:

  • The loss, corruption, deletion, failed decryption or delayed delivery of any message, attachment, profile data, channel or conversation;
  • The permanent and unrecoverable deletion of data carried out on the User’s command ("delete for everyone") or upon the expiry of self-destruct timers;
  • The loss or compromise of the PGP private key, passphrase, access token or 2FA codes by the User;
  • Any vulnerabilities, bugs, security flaws or cryptographic errors present in the open-source encryption libraries used (e.g. OpenPGP, Argon2id) or in Users’ operating systems and devices.

5.3 Maximum Limit of Damages and Compensation (Art. 1229 of the Italian Civil Code). Without prejudice to the mandatory provisions of article 1229 of the Italian Civil Code for cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence:

IN NO EVENT SHALL HIDESAY, ITS FOUNDERS, DEVELOPERS, OPERATORS OR PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BY WAY OF EXAMPLE AND WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF EARNINGS, LOSS OF DATA, DAMAGE TO REPUTATION, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, STOPPAGE OF OPERATIONS, UNAUTHORIZED THIRD-PARTY ACCESS TO THE USER’S DEVICES, OR ANY OTHER FINANCIAL OR COMMERCIAL DAMAGE ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE. SHOULD ANY COMPETENT JUDICIAL AUTHORITY HOLD HIDESAY LIABLE FOR DAMAGE, THE TOTAL AND AGGREGATE COMPENSATION PAYABLE BY HIDESAY SHALL IN NO CASE EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY THE USER FOR THE USE OF THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE HARMFUL EVENT, OR (B) THE SYMBOLIC SUM OF EUR 50.00 (FIFTY EUROS).

5.4 Network Interruptions, Maintenance and Third-Party Services. Hidesay does not guarantee that the Service will always be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free. Hidesay reserves the right to suspend access to the Service at any time for reasons of maintenance, updates, security or force majeure. Hidesay assumes no responsibility for malfunctions or outages attributable to telecommunications network providers, internet service providers (ISPs), third-party push notification systems (e.g. Google Firebase Cloud Messaging) or Application Store operators (e.g. Google Play Store, Apple App Store).

6. Obligation to Hold Harmless and Indemnify (Indemnification)

6.1 User’s Obligation to Hold Harmless. The User undertakes to indemnify, defend and hold Hidesay, its developers, administrators, contractors, licensors and suppliers fully harmless from and against any claim, legal action, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost, penalty or expense (including reasonable legal fees and court costs) arising from or connected with:

  • The User’s use or misuse of the Service;
  • The violation of any provision of these Terms or of the Privacy Policy;
  • The violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property, privacy or confidentiality rights;
  • Any content, message or data sent, transmitted or stored through the User’s account;
  • The violation by the User of applicable laws or regulations.

7. Intellectual Property and License of Use

7.1 Ownership. All intellectual and industrial property rights relating to the Hidesay software, trademarks, logos, source code (except for the components released under an open-source license), interface design and texts on the hidesay.com website are and remain the exclusive property of Hidesay.

7.2 Limited License. Hidesay grants the User a personal, worldwide, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable license to download and use the client software for the sole purpose of using the Service in accordance with these Terms.

8. Account Deletion and Termination of the Contract

8.1 Withdrawal by the User and How to Exercise It. The User has the right to withdraw from this contract and delete their Hidesay account at any time and without notice, entirely on their own and without the need for any request to or action by Hidesay, through the dedicated function of the application (Access and security → Account → Delete account). Exercising the withdrawal is subject to the prior authentication of the User through: (a) the active session on the device; (b) the account access token, typed in full, as a credential the device does not already hold by itself; and (c) where enabled, two-step verification. Recovery codes are not a valid factor for the purposes of this procedure, as they are a tool for getting back into the account, not for closing it. To prevent unauthorized attempts, the application limits the number of authentication attempts allowed within a given time interval.

8.2 Effect on Sent Messages: Full Deletion or Anonymization of the Account. At the time of the deletion request, the User must choose between two distinct options, with no default option, which have different legal effects on the data:

  • Full deletion: the account and all messages sent by the User are deleted from the Hidesay servers, including private chats, groups and channels. Since a private conversation is made up of the positions of both participants, exercising this option entails the deletion of the entire conversation for the other party as well, who acknowledges and accepts this consequence by agreeing to these Terms;
  • Messages kept by the recipients: messages already sent remain readable by those who received them, while the User’s account is made anonymous through the irreversible deletion of name, username, bio, images, public key, access token and authentication factors, which are replaced by a random identifier with no identifying value. The account thus anonymized is shown to other Users with the label "Deleted account" and cannot in any way be accessed, reactivated or recovered, not even by the User.

8.3 Effects on Groups and Channels Owned by the User. The deletion of the account, under either of the options referred to in Art. 8.2, entails the full and immediate deletion of every group or channel owned by the User, with effect for all of their members, regardless of their consent, and without any possibility of transferring ownership after the deletion request. It is the User’s sole responsibility, if desired, to transfer ownership of a group or channel before starting the procedure. With regard to groups and channels of which the User is merely a member, the deletion of the account has the same effects as voluntarily leaving, without prejudice to the other members.

8.4 Immediacy and Irrevocability. The deletion of the account takes effect immediately upon the successful completion of the authentication procedure referred to in Art. 8.1: the User’s access token ceases to be valid at the same instant, and the deletion of the data from the production database takes place within the same operation, without any grace period, precautionary suspension or possibility of revocation. In accordance with Art. 3.2, Hidesay keeps no backup copies or technical means capable of restoring a deleted account, even one deleted by the User’s mistake.

8.5 Impossibility of Deletion Without Credentials. Since the procedure referred to in Art. 8.1 requires possession of the access token and, where enabled, of the second authentication factor, the User acknowledges that, if these credentials are lost, HIDESAY HAS NO TECHNICAL MEANS OF VERIFYING OWNERSHIP OF THE ACCOUNT AND IS THEREFORE UNABLE TO CARRY OUT THE DELETION UPON WRITTEN REQUEST OR BY ANY OTHER MEANS, CONSISTENT WITH THE ZERO-KNOWLEDGE ARCHITECTURE AND THE EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY REFERRED TO IN ART. 3.2.

8.6 Termination for Breach by Hidesay. Hidesay reserves the right to suspend, revoke or delete the User’s account and access token at any time, without notice and at its own discretion, in the event of a suspected or established violation of these Terms or of applicable laws, or in the event of improper or harmful use of the server infrastructure.

9. Privacy and Processing of Personal Data

9.1 Reference to the Privacy Policy. How the technical data necessary for the operation of the Service is managed, processed and, where applicable, temporarily retained is described in detail in the official Hidesay Privacy Policy (available at https://hidesay.com/privacy), which forms an integral and substantial part of this agreement. The User acknowledges that the Service complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR - EU Reg. 2016/679).

10. Governing Law, Jurisdiction and Dispute Resolution

10.1 Governing Law. These Terms of Service, and the interpretation, validity and performance of the agreement, are governed by and construed in accordance with Italian law, excluding its conflict of laws rules and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

10.2 Jurisdiction. Any dispute arising in relation to the interpretation, validity, effectiveness, performance or termination of these Terms falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Rome (Italy). Where the User qualifies as a "Consumer" under Legislative Decree 206/2005 (Italian Consumer Code), the mandatory jurisdiction of the User’s place of residence or domicile shall apply, if located within Italian territory.

11. General Provisions and Savings Clause

11.1 Severability. Should any clause or provision of these Terms be held null, invalid or ineffective by a competent court, such invalidity shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining clauses, which shall remain fully valid and effective.

11.2 Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the legal notices published on the hidesay.com website, constitute the entire agreement between the User and Hidesay regarding its subject matter and supersede any prior understanding, agreement or statement, whether written or oral.

11.3 No Waiver. The failure or delay by Hidesay in exercising any right or power provided for in these Terms shall in no way constitute a waiver of that right or power.

Contacts and Legal Assistance

For any question, clarification or formal communication regarding these Terms and the Hidesay platform, you can contact the legal department and the support team at the following email addresses:

12. Specific Approval of Onerous Clauses (under articles 1341 and 1342 of the Italian Civil Code)

Pursuant to and for the purposes of articles 1341 and 1342 of the Italian Civil Code, the User declares to have read with particular attention, and expressly and unconditionally approves, the following clauses of these Terms of Service:

  • Art. 1.3: Right of Hidesay to unilaterally modify the Terms of Service;
  • Art. 3.2: Exclusion of liability for the loss of credentials, tokens and PGP private keys, and impossibility of data recovery;
  • Art. 5.1: Total exclusion of warranties ("AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE");
  • Art. 5.2: Exclusion of liability for loss of data, non-delivery of messages and vulnerabilities;
  • Art. 5.3: Maximum limit on compensation for damages and total exclusion of indirect damages and loss of profits;
  • Art. 5.4: Suspension of the service for maintenance and limitation of liability for third parties (FCM, ISPs, Stores);
  • Art. 6.1: User’s obligation to hold harmless and indemnify;
  • Art. 8.2: Deletion of the entire private conversation for the other party in the event of full account deletion;
  • Art. 8.5: Impossibility of deleting the account without the access credentials, consistent with the exclusion of liability referred to in Art. 3.2;
  • Art. 8.6: Right to unilaterally suspend or terminate the account for violation of the Terms;
  • Art. 10.2: Choice of the exclusive competent Court.

Hidesay, as Operator of the Service: document digitally signed and published on hidesay.com.
The User, for express and full acceptance: electronic acceptance through download/use of the Service.