Privacy policy

Effective 16 October 2026. Freehands is operated by Wilddolphin LLC. Contact info@wilddolphin.us.

The short version

Freehands is a messenger. Your messages are end-to-end encrypted. Speech is recognized on your phone by default. Wilddolphin does not run a server that receives the text of your chats to analyze it. This website does not use tracking or advertising cookies.

Who this covers

This policy covers the Freehands iOS app and the website at freehands.app. You choose the homeserver your account lives on. That homeserver has its own operator. If that operator is not Wilddolphin LLC, their policy applies to what their server stores, in addition to this one.

Microphone and speech

Freehands asks for the microphone and for speech recognition so you can dictate replies and voice commands.

By default, recognition runs on the device. Freehands sets on-device recognition and does not upload that audio to Wilddolphin. Spoken replies are turned into text on the phone, then sent as an encrypted message only after you confirm.

There is a setting, off by default, called “Allow Apple’s speech service.” If you turn it on, and on-device recognition is not available, Apple’s speech recognition service may process the audio. Wilddolphin does not receive that audio. Apple’s handling of it is described in Apple’s privacy policy.

Reading messages aloud uses the phone’s speech synthesizer. That audio is played on the device.

Messages and encryption

Direct chats that Freehands creates are encrypted on the device before they are sent. The app uses the Matrix protocol’s end-to-end encryption. The homeserver stores ciphertext, not the message text, for those chats. A room that is not encrypted is labeled in the app. In that case the homeserver can store the message in a form its operator can read.

After a message is decrypted, the text is in the app so it can be shown and read aloud. A short spoken digest of recent lines is made on the phone. Freehands does not send that text to a Wilddolphin service for a cloud model.

If a future feature offers a server-side summary or a bot, the app will ask first and will say that the forwarded copy is no longer end-to-end encrypted. That feature is not in the app today.

What the homeserver stores

The homeserver you sign in to stores the account data the Matrix protocol needs to deliver messages:

• Your user id, display name, and password check (the password itself is not stored in the app’s documents; the server stores a verifier).
• Device records for your phones.
• Encrypted message history for encrypted rooms, and readable history for any room that is not encrypted.
• Who you talk to, and when, as delivery metadata. Encryption does not hide that metadata from the homeserver.
• Your ignore list when you block someone, and reports you submit, including the reason you write.

The app stores a session and encryption keys on the phone, in the Keychain and an encrypted local store. Those keys are what let the phone decrypt history. Wilddolphin does not keep a copy of them.

The website

freehands.app is a static site. It does not set analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or a mailing-list form. If you email info@wilddolphin.us, we receive the address you send from and whatever you write, so we can reply. We keep that correspondence to handle your request and then delete it when we no longer need it for that purpose.

Account deletion

In the app, Settings includes Delete account. You enter your password and type DELETE. Freehands then asks the homeserver to deactivate the account and erase data, and it deletes the local session and encryption store on that phone. Saying “delete my account” by voice only opens that screen. Voice alone does not delete the account.

Deactivation is performed by the homeserver. If Wilddolphin does not operate that server, we cannot erase it ourselves. We can tell you the steps. Signing out removes the session from the phone and leaves the account on the server.

Children

Freehands is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. Do not create an account for a child under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, email info@wilddolphin.us and we will delete it.

What we do not do

We do not sell personal information. We do not use the website or the app for cross-app advertising. We do not ask the homeserver for a copy of your decrypted messages.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Continued use of the app after the new date means the new policy applies to new use.

Contact

Wilddolphin LLC
info@wilddolphin.us
freehands.app