Legal pages stay in English for accuracy.

Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 25, 2026

GCENA ("we", "us", "our") operates the GCENA mobile application and the website at gcena.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, where it is stored, who else processes it, and the choices you have.

1. Who we are

GCENA is a social app that includes an AI companion (Ciel), personal profiles (Profile/Storage), friend connections and calls (Messages), a community feed (Social), community pages (GCENA Pages), the Camera button (shots stay on your phone until you post or share them), and private chat spaces (AI TALK). Ciel is a companion, not a doctor, therapist, or emergency service. You can type to Ciel or place an optional live voice call with her.

For privacy questions and data requests, contact [email protected].

2. Information we collect

Account information

• Your email address and the sign-in method you use — email and password, Google Sign-In, or Apple Sign-In.
• Your display name and profile photo.
• Your birth year (not a full date of birth). We ask this once after sign-in so we can confirm you are 13 or older, and so Social ads stay non-personalised if you are under 18. The account remembers the year you gave.
• For a new email-and-password account, a short verification code sent to that inbox. We hold the address, the password, and the code only until the code is confirmed. The account is created after a correct code — not before. Google Sign-In and Apple Sign-In do not use this step.

We do not ask for your phone number. The "location" on your profile is free text you type yourself, and you can leave it empty. Your device's GPS location is used only for Location circles, described next, and only if you choose to use them.

Location circles

Location circles let you create a private circle — for example Family — and invite people with an 8-letter code, so the members can see each other on a map and send an SOS. This feature is optional and is for people aged 13 and over.

• What we collect. Your device's latest position (latitude, longitude, and how accurate it is), and with it your speed, direction, and battery level, so your circle can see whether you are driving or your phone is about to run out. We keep only your latest position, replacing it each time. We do not keep a history of where you have been.
• Your circles. The circles you create or join, their names and invite codes, who is in them, and when each person joined.
• Pause. If you pause sharing (for 1 hour, 8 hours, or until you resume), we do not keep positions sent during the pause, and your circles do not see you.
• SOS. When you hold SOS, we record when it started and when it ended (at most 30 minutes, or when you tap "I'm safe"), and send a notification to the people in your circles. During an SOS your circles see your latest position even if you paused. SOS is not an emergency service — see our Disclaimer.

When your location is collected. While the location map is open in the app. If you turn on "Share when GCENA is closed", also while the app is in the background or closed. That setting is off by default. Before you turn it on, the app explains what happens, and then your phone asks you for permission to use location "all the time" (Android) or "Always" (iPhone). While it is on:

• Your phone always shows that sharing is on: on Android, a notification with a Stop button; on iPhone, the location indicator in the status bar.
• Updates are frequent only while you move, and rare when you stay still, to save battery.
• Every 30 days the app asks whether you still want it on.
• It stops by itself when you leave your last circle, sign out, or delete your account.

To send your position while the app is closed, your phone uses a separate key that can only send that phone's own position and cannot read anything. We store only a fingerprint (hash) of that key, never the key itself, and we cancel it when sharing stops.

Who sees it. Only the members of the circles you joined, each of whom joined with an invitation code. When someone new joins a circle, everyone already in it is notified. Your location is never public, never sold, never shared with advertisers, and never used for advertising, analytics, or personalisation.

The map. Map images come from OpenFreeMap. To draw the map, your phone asks OpenFreeMap for the area on screen, which shares your IP address and the map area being viewed with them. It does not share your account or the positions of your circle.

Profile and content

• Your Profile/Storage wall — cover background, profile music, mood and about text, colours, and whether your profile is public, friends-only, or private.
• The audience of each post — Public, Friends only, Private (only you), and TRUST ME (accepted friends, not shown on Social).
• Posts, photos, short videos (including GCENA Reels on your Profile/Storage profile), comments, reactions, and likes.
• My Day photos and videos — they expire after 24 hours and are then removed from the app and from our media storage.
• GCENA Pages you create or join — the page name, purpose, rules, a location you type yourself, cover and background, whether the page is public or private, its members, invites and join requests, and the posts, comments, and reactions on that page.
• Your friend list, follower counts, friend requests, and the list of accounts you have blocked.
• Messages you send, including images, voice messages, files (up to 25 MB each), reactions, and replies.
• AI TALK Duo and Trio conversations, which are shared with the friends in that space.

Camera

The Camera button takes photos and videos inside GCENA. You can also move photos and videos from your phone gallery into this private storage. They stay inside the app. Your phone’s photo library does not show them unless you tap Save to phone, which puts a copy in a gallery album named GCENA. We do not receive a shot unless you post it in GCENA. Sharing uses your phone’s own share sheet. If you move photos in from your phone, the app can ask whether to remove the originals from your phone gallery. You can delete a shot in Camera. Deleting your account does not erase that private storage. Uninstalling the app does.

Private storage cloud backup

You can turn on a cloud backup for your private storage. When it is on, your photos, videos and files are encrypted on your phone with a key that is yours before they leave the device, and the encrypted copies are kept on our storage in Germany. We cannot open them. Each phone gets 1 GB free: accounts that back up from the same phone share that free 1 GB. To know it is the same phone, the app sends an install id for the phone (Android’s per-app id, or a random id kept in the iPhone’s Keychain); we only keep a one-way scrambled form of it, use it for nothing else, and delete it with your account. You can buy more room for your own account with an optional monthly plan — 100 GB for €1.99/month or 250 GB for €3.99/month — through the App Store or Google Play. The plans renew monthly until you cancel, and you manage or cancel them in your store account. Unlike the on-device private storage, deleting your account also deletes this cloud backup.

“Shared with GCENA” folder

Inside private storage there is a separate folder called Shared with GCENA. It is empty until you choose to put something in it. Anything you place there is not encrypted with your private key and can be seen by the GCENA team — for example if you want to show us something or report a problem. The rest of your private storage stays locked and we cannot see it. You can remove an item from this folder at any time, which also removes it from us, and deleting your account removes it too.

AI companion messages

• What you type or say to Ciel, the recent conversation history, and any photo you attach, so a reply can be generated.
• In Messages writing help, the last message from your friend plus the instruction you give, so a suggested reply can be generated.

AI TALK "Just us" history is kept on your device only. Duo and Trio history is stored with the conversation so the other people in it can see it.

Voice and video calls

Calls with another person are not recorded or stored by us. To set a call up we store short-lived signalling data such as who is calling whom, call state, and connection details, and we keep a small call history entry (who, when, how long) so you can see it in your chat. A live voice call with Ciel is separate and is described in section 6. We do not keep a recording of that call either.

How the sound and picture travel depends on the type of call. One-to-one voice calls are sent directly between the two people wherever the network allows it; when a direct connection cannot be made, the encrypted audio passes through a relay server, which forwards it without keeping a copy. Video calls are carried by our own video server in Germany, so the picture and sound always pass through it rather than going directly between the two phones. It forwards the call live and keeps no copy. Group calls — voice with up to 20 people, or video with up to 5 — are carried by that same server in the same way, and are not recorded either.

Purchases and payouts

• Whether you have an active Premium, Ultra, or storage subscription (and, for Ultra and storage, the store receipt we check so your cloud space matches your plan), your Fun Points and Paid Points balances, and your tip history, as confirmed by Apple or Google. We never receive your card details.
• If you take part in Creator tips: your earnings and the payout details you give us — payment method (PayPal, Wise, bank, other), the account handle or IBAN, and optionally the account holder name and bank or country notes. We use these only to pay you and to keep the records we are legally required to keep.

Device and technical data

• Push notification tokens from Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification service, so we can alert you to calls, messages, and page invitations.
• A "last active" timestamp so friends can see whether you are online.
• How long the app is open in the foreground, counted from the heartbeat the app already sends. Friends only see that you are online, not the total time.
• When you email us a support or problem report, the app attaches your device model, operating system version, and app version, plus any screenshot you choose to include.
• When ads are shown, Google AdMob may collect device and advertising identifiers, IP address, approximate location derived from IP, device and app information, and ad interaction data (such as views and clicks), as described in Google's policies linked below.

Advertising (Social)

GCENA shows third-party advertisements in Social (Feed and Reels) and may offer optional rewarded ads you choose to watch to earn Fun Points. Rewarded ads never grant Paid Points and never create cash. Ads are served by Google AdMob (Google LLC). We do not place ads inside AI TALK chats, Messages private messages, or voice/video calls.

AdMob may use cookies, mobile advertising IDs (such as Google Advertising ID on Android and the Identifier for Advertisers on iOS where permitted), and similar technologies to deliver and measure ads, including personalised ads where allowed by law and your device settings. In the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and similar regions, a consent / privacy choices prompt may appear before personalised ads are shown.

You can limit ad personalisation in your device settings (for example, reset or limit the advertising ID on Android, or restrict App Tracking Transparency / Apple Advertising on iOS). See Google's advertising and privacy materials: Google Privacy Policy, How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services, and AdMob & privacy.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use the content of your private conversations with Ciel or Messages friends to build advertising profiles.

3. How we use your information

• Create and secure your account, including checking the birth year you gave so we can enforce the 13+ rule and keep ads non-personalised for people under 18
• Provide chat, social, profile, and community features
• Generate AI companion and writing-help responses, including spoken replies on a live voice call with Ciel
• Store and display your posts and media across your devices
• Connect voice and video calls when you choose to call
• Show your location to the members of your Location circles, and send an SOS to them when you ask for help
• Send notifications you have allowed
• Show friends when you are online, and keep a count of how long the app is open
• Process subscriptions, token purchases, tips, and payouts
• Show and measure Social advertisements and optional rewarded ads (through Google AdMob)
• Review reports, enforce our rules, and keep users safe
• Fix bugs, prevent abuse and fraud, and keep the service reliable

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on: performance of a contract for running your account and the features you ask for; legitimate interests for safety, anti-fraud, and keeping the service working; consent for device permissions such as camera, microphone, location (including location while the app is closed), and notifications, and for personalised advertising where required by law, which you can withdraw at any time; and legal obligation for records we must keep, such as those relating to payments.

4. What we do not do

• We do not sell or rent your personal data.
• We do not use AI TALK or Messages private conversations to build advertising profiles.
• We do not access your camera, microphone, or photo library in the background.
• We do not use your location in the background unless you turn on "Share when GCENA is closed" in Location circles, and we never keep a history of where you have been.
• We do not use your location for ads, and we never sell or share it with advertisers.
• We do not record your voice or video calls, including a live voice call with Ciel.
• We do not upload photos or videos from the GCENA camera album unless you choose to post or share one.

5. Where your data is stored, and who processes it

GCENA runs on a small number of providers. Each one only receives what it needs for its part of the service.

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Messaging) — your sign-in identity and the delivery of push notifications to your device. Cloud Firestore holds older conversations and acts as a standby for features that now run on our own server. Your subscription itself is billed and confirmed by Apple or Google, listed further below.
• Our own server at Hetzner, in Nuremberg, Germany — a PostgreSQL database holding profiles, posts, comments, reactions, friends and blocks, creator and token records, your Messages and AI TALK conversations, GCENA Pages (name, purpose, rules, members, invites, posts, and comments), Location circles (circles, members, your latest position, pause, SOS times, and background-key fingerprints), call set-up and call history, whether you are currently online, how long the app has been open in the foreground, the device tokens used to send you notifications, and a mirror of your subscription status so creator features work. The same server runs the relay that helps calls connect when a direct link fails.
• LiveKit, running on our own Hetzner server in Germany — carries the picture and sound of Messages one-to-one video calls and group calls (voice and video), the sound of an optional live voice call with Ciel, and optional Live sessions (a separate live room from friend calls). Media is passed through live and is not recorded or stored as a replay.
• OpenRelay, operated by Metered — a backup relay used only when a call cannot connect directly or through our own server, usually on restrictive networks. It forwards the encrypted call traffic and does not store it.
• Cloudflare (R2 storage and Workers) — profile photos, cover images, profile music, post photos and videos, My Day media, and the images, voice messages, and files sent in Messages, plus the service that passes AI requests along, sends push notifications, and hosts this website.
• OpenRouter and Google Gemini — AI processing for Ciel, including the text of a live voice call, and Messages writing help, described in section 6.
• Groq — only if we have enabled it for live voice calls with Ciel, to turn that call's speech into text for the turn. Otherwise that conversion stays on the voice service we run. Groq does not receive your account, and we do not send it a saved recording.
• Wikipedia and Open-Meteo — when your message to Ciel looks like a factual or weather question, the topic or city from your message is used to look up public information so the answer is accurate. No account details are sent.
• OpenFreeMap — map images for Location circles. Receives your IP address and the map area on screen, not your account or anyone's position.
• Google Play services (Android) — your phone's own location service, which works out your position on the device for Location circles.
• Apple App Store and Google Play — subscription and token billing, and purchase validation.
• Google AdMob (Google LLC) — third-party advertisements and optional rewarded ads in Social, including ad delivery, measurement, and (where permitted) personalisation. See Google's privacy policy linked in the Advertising section above.

These providers act as our processors and handle data only as needed to deliver the service, under their own security and privacy obligations.

6. AI features and your messages

When you send a message to Ciel, the message, the recent conversation turns, the instructions that give Ciel its personality, and any photo you attach are sent through our Cloudflare service to our AI provider (OpenRouter, which runs Google Gemini models) so a reply can be generated. Messages writing help sends only your friend's last message and the instruction you typed.

Before any typed Ciel reply or Messages writing-help draft is sent, the app asks you to tap Allow or Not now. The dialog states what is sent and who receives it. You can decline. A live voice call does not use that dialog. It starts when you place the call, after the phone asks for the microphone, as described below.

Your name and email address are not part of that request. We do not keep Messages writing-help prompts or replies on our servers. Ciel conversations are stored as described in section 2 — on your device for "Just us", and with the conversation for Duo and Trio. Our AI providers process the content to return a reply and handle it under their own terms.

The microphone button while you are typing to Ciel, and the text recognition used when you share a photo with Ciel, run on your device.

A live voice call with Ciel is different. Your microphone audio is carried live through our LiveKit server in Germany to a voice service we operate. That service turns what you say into text for the turn. When Groq is enabled, Groq does that conversion; otherwise it stays on our voice service. The text of the turn — not a saved recording — is then sent through our Cloudflare service to OpenRouter (Google Gemini) so Ciel can answer. Our voice service speaks the reply back to you. We do not write the call audio to disk, we do not keep a recording, and we do not use the call for ads. Your name and email address are not part of that request. The phone asks for the microphone before the call starts. You can hang up at any time, which stops the microphone for that call.

Please do not send Ciel information you would not want processed by a third-party AI service, such as passwords, payment card numbers, or government identification numbers.

7. Live

Going live in Social is optional. Viewers watch inside GCENA. The picture and sound are carried by LiveKit on our own Hetzner server in Germany, in a separate live room from Messages calls. GCENA does not connect a YouTube account and does not host lives on YouTube.

• While you are live we store session details — who is hosting, title, who is watching, and comments or emoji sent in that live — so the feature can work.
• Live video and audio are forwarded in real time and are not recorded or stored by us as a replay.
• You can end the live at any time. Ending stops the camera and microphone for that live.

8. Permissions

GCENA asks for a device permission only when you use the feature that needs it:

• Camera — the Camera button, taking a photo or video to post, Messages video calls, and optional Live
• Photos — choosing images or videos from your gallery (including My Day, and moving photos into Camera), and saving a public photo or video to your library only if you tap Save on that post. Friends-only and private posts, text posts, Reels bookmarks, My Day, and chat images are not saved to your library that way. Inside Camera, Save to phone puts a copy in a gallery album named GCENA.
• Tracking (iOS, optional) — Social ads only, via App Tracking Transparency. You can decline. The app still works; ads may be less personalised.
• Microphone — a live voice call with Ciel, the on-device microphone button while typing to Ciel, Messages voice and video calls, recording a voice message you send in Messages, and optional Live
• Screen capture — only if you tap Share screen on Live, so friends can watch your screen
• Speech recognition — turning what you say to Ciel into text
• Notifications — alerting you to incoming calls, messages, page invitations, activity on your posts, an SOS or a new member in your Location circles, and the "Still sharing your location?" check every 30 days. On Android, it also shows the notice that location sharing is on. If you leave the app, the phone may also schedule a few local reminders and cancel them when you return. Those reminders are written on the device. They do not tell us whether you saw them, and they do not claim that a friend posted.
• Location — Location circles: showing your position to the members of your circles while the map is open, and with an SOS. Asked when you first open the map.
• Location all the time / Always (optional) — only if you turn on "Share when GCENA is closed" in Location circles, after the app explains it. You can say no and still use the map while the app is open.
• Bluetooth — using a headset or car audio during a call
• Battery optimisation exemption (Android, optional) — so calls and messages still reach you when the phone is idle

You can change or revoke any of these at any time in your device settings.

9. Sharing with other people

Much of GCENA is social by design. Please keep in mind that:

• A public Profile/Storage profile and public Social posts can be seen by any signed-in GCENA user, and appear in Discover.
• A public GCENA Page, and the posts on it, can be read by any signed-in user. A private page is limited to people the page has let in. Invites and join requests are visible to the people involved and to the page's admins.
• Friends-only posts are limited to your friends.
• Private posts are visible to you alone in the app.
• TRUST ME is a friends-only space on Profile/Storage. Posts there are for people you accepted, and they do not appear on Social.
• Duo and Trio conversations are visible to everyone in that space.
• People you chat or call with will see your name, photo, and online status.
• Members of your Location circles see your name, photo, latest position, when it was updated, your speed (for example "Driving"), your battery level, whether you paused, and any SOS. You see the same about them.

You can make your profile private, choose the audience for each post, and block accounts at any time. In Location circles you can pause sharing, turn off sharing while the app is closed, or leave a circle at any time.

Private in the app means other members cannot open that photo or post. The operator who runs GCENA may still review photos and videos already stored on the service — including private posts and the images, voice messages, and files sent in chats — to handle reports, safety, and abuse. That review uses the same files already on the service. We do not make extra copies for that purpose.

9a. Copyright and content reports

If you or someone else sends us a copyright complaint, a counter-notice, or an in-app report about a post, video, message, or profile music, we process the contact details and information included in that report — such as your name, email, and a description of the content — to review it, decide whether to remove or restrict the content, and keep a limited record of what we did and why. We may also contact the person who uploaded the content. See our Terms of Service (section 5, "User content, copyright, and notice-and-takedown") for how this process works. Copyright notices can be sent to [email protected].

10. Data retention and deletion

We keep your data while your account is active and for as long as we need it to provide the service.

You can hide your account without deleting it under Settings → Account & Security → Deactivate Account. While you are deactivated we keep your data. Your Profile/Storage wall, Social posts, Discover listing, and online status are hidden. Friends can still message you. Nothing is erased. Everything comes back when you reactivate.

You can delete your account yourself in the app under Settings → Account & Security → Delete Account. When you do, we remove your profile, your posts and their comments and reactions, your My Day items, the comments you left under other people's posts, your friend connections and requests, your Location circle memberships, your latest position, your SOS records, and your background-location keys, and the AI TALK history stored on your device, and we remove your name from messages you left in shared conversations. Messages you sent to other people may remain in their copy of the conversation, shown without your name. Posts you wrote on a GCENA Page may remain on that page without your name, the same way.

Photos and videos in the GCENA camera album live only on that phone. Deleting your account does not erase that album by itself. Delete the shots in the camera album, or uninstall the app, to remove them. Copies the app kept on the phone so screens open faster — photos you already viewed, and the last answer for a screen you opened — stay inside the app and are dropped as they age, or when you uninstall.

Leaving a Location circle removes you from it at once, and its members stop seeing you. When you leave your last circle, your phone stops sharing.

Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription bought from Apple or Google — cancel that in your store account settings.

Some records are kept longer where we must: for example, records of payments, payouts, and tax or accounting obligations, and limited safety records relating to reports of serious harm. Backups are overwritten on a rolling basis. If you would like written confirmation that your data has been erased, email [email protected] and we will confirm and complete any remaining removal.

11. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Receive a copy of your data in a portable form
• Withdraw consent you have given, at any time

Email [email protected] for any of these and we will respond within the time the law allows. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. Because GCENA is operated from France, you may also complain to the French authority, the CNIL. If you are in California, you may exercise your rights under the CCPA/CPRA. We do not sell personal information. Advertising partners such as Google may process identifiers for ads as described above; you can use device and Google ad settings to limit personalisation.

11a. Who is responsible for your data

GCENA is run by one independent developer working as a sole trader based in France. That person is the data controller for the information described in this policy — there is no company behind it, and no team with access to your data.

For any privacy question, or to receive the registered name and postal address of the operator, write to [email protected].

12. Children

GCENA is intended for users aged 13 and older, or the minimum age required in your country. We ask for a birth year once after sign-in to enforce that. Users under 18 should use the app with parental or guardian guidance, and we keep their Social ads non-personalised. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below the applicable minimum age. Location circles, including sharing while the app is closed, follow the same 13+ rule. If you believe a child has provided us data improperly, contact us and we will take appropriate action.

13. International transfers

Our own database and call relay are hosted in Germany. Our other providers — Google, Cloudflare, OpenRouter, Groq (only for a Ciel voice call when that transcription is enabled), OpenFreeMap (map images only), Apple — operate globally, so your information may be processed outside your own country, including in the United States. Where data leaves the European Economic Area, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and, where applicable, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.

14. Security

We protect your data with authenticated access to our services, database rules that restrict each account to its own data, encrypted connections to our cloud services, and access controls on the systems we run.

One-to-one voice calls are encrypted between the two people using the standard WebRTC protections. When they need the relay described above, it forwards that traffic without being able to read it.

Video calls and group calls are different, and we would rather say so plainly: because the picture and sound pass through our own video server so it can forward them, they are encrypted on the way to and from that server rather than end-to-end. The server handles the live media in order to pass it on, and keeps no copy of it.

To be clear about what we do not claim: Messages and AI TALK messages are not end-to-end encrypted. They are protected in transit and by access controls, but they are stored in a form we could technically access, which also allows us to act on abuse reports. Please keep that in mind when sharing sensitive information.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work continuously to reduce risk. If you believe you have found a security problem, please tell us at [email protected].

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and change the effective date above. If changes are material, we may also notify you in the app. Continued use of GCENA after changes means you accept the updated policy.

16. Contact us

Privacy questions and data requests: [email protected]