chatonfile.com

What happens to your chat

Your chat is private. This is where it goes at each stage, who handles it, when each part is deleted, and what we can't promise.

A brass padlock and key beside a pile of shredded paper strips, on a green desk.

Stage by stage

  1. 1

    You open your export

    On your device only

    The file is read inside your browser. Searching, filtering and playing voice notes all happen there, and nothing is sent to us. Your browser keeps the file until you close the chat or your order goes through, so you don't lose your place if the page reloads. On a shared computer, use Close chat when you finish.

  2. 2

    You order a record

    On your device and our server

    Only now do we receive anything: the chat text, the voice notes and copies of the photos made smaller in your browser. Videos and other files are never sent. An order you don't pay for is deleted after about a day.

  3. 3

    Voice notes are written out

    Our server and Google's Gemini API

    Each voice note goes to Google to be written out. We ask Google not to store the request. Longer recordings are uploaded to Google's file storage first, and we delete them from there once they're written out. If Google is down or too slow, the note goes to OpenAI instead. We delete each audio file from our server as soon as its text comes back.

  4. 4

    The summary is written

    Our server and Anthropic's Claude API

    The chat text and the written-out voice notes go to Anthropic, so Claude can write your summary and key highlights. Photos and audio aren't sent. Anthropic's terms for paid use say it doesn't train its models on this, and that it keeps requests for a limited time. If Claude is down or too slow, the same text goes to Google, then to OpenAI.

  5. 5

    Your PDF is made

    Our server

    We make the PDF, then delete the chat text, the transcripts and the photos. If making it fails, the files stay so we can try again, and they're deleted with the order 30 days after you paid.

  6. 6

    You download it

    Our server until you delete it, and your device

    You can only open the PDF after payment. It opens straight away in the browser you paid in. Any other browser needs a private link and a 6-digit PIN, which we send to the email you paid with. After 5 wrong PINs, we stop accepting PINs for an hour.

  7. 7

    30 days after it's ready

    Your device only, if you saved it

    The PDF and the rest of the order are deleted automatically: the title, the names of the people in the chat and the counts. You can delete them yourself at any time, and that takes effect immediately. Backups of our database roll off within 30 days.

We delete your chat as soon as your PDF is made

  1. While you read

    Your chat stays on your device. We can't see it.

  2. When you order

    We get your chat, voice notes and photos, only to make your PDF.

  3. When your PDF is ready

    We delete your chat, voice notes and photos. The PDF goes after 30 days, or whenever you delete it.

Who else handles it

CompanyWhat it receivesWhy
Google, Gemini APIThe audio of your voice notes, and the text of your chat if Claude can't write your summaryWriting them out, and writing the summary in that case. Google's terms for paid use say it doesn't use this to improve its products, and that it logs requests for a limited time to detect abuse.
Anthropic, Claude APIThe text of your chat and the written-out voice notesWriting your summary and key highlights. Anthropic's terms for paid use say it doesn't train its models on this, and that it keeps requests for a limited time.
OpenAI APIThe audio of a voice note if Google can't write it out, and the text of your chat if Claude and Google can't write your summaryDoing those jobs when the others can't. OpenAI says it doesn't train its models on this. It says it keeps no logs of audio sent to be written out, and keeps text for up to 30 days to detect abuse.
StripeYour email address, the price and the private link to your orderTaking payment. Stripe never receives your chat or your record's title.
ResendYour email address, and a private link and PIN for your recordSending you those. The email leaves out your record's title.
CloudflareTraffic on its way to our serverCarrying and protecting that traffic, and storing our encrypted database and PDF backups.

What we do to protect it

  • Traffic to our site uses HTTPS.
  • There are no accounts, so we have no passwords to leak.
  • Each record has its own long, random link and its own PIN, so nobody can reach someone else's by guessing.
  • A PDF can't be downloaded until it's been paid for.
  • We don't write the content of your messages to our logs.
  • These pages don't load advertising or analytics scripts.

What we can't promise

  • While your chat is on our server, it isn't end-to-end encrypted. The server has to read it to make your PDF, so anyone with administrator access to that server could reach it in that time. That's why we keep it for as short a time as we can.
  • Files on our server aren't encrypted with a key that only you hold.
  • Once you've downloaded the PDF, its safety is in your hands. Anyone you give it to can copy it.
  • Your export file stays wherever you saved it. Deleting your record doesn't touch it, or the chat on your phone.

Found a security problem

Please email [email protected] with the details and we'll look into it. The privacy page covers the same ground in more formal terms.

A closed manila folder with printed pages inside, a binder clip on it and a blue pen beside it, on a green desk.

Read your chat without sending it anywhere

Opening and reading your export happens on your own device, and it's free. If you'd like to look around first, our sample chat works the same way.

Try a sample chat or see how to export yours.