Last updated: 14 July 2026 · Draft — pending legal review.
Espero (“we”, “us”) is an encrypted, multilingual messenger. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have. We built Espero to share the least data needed to deliver translation and messaging — and to be honest about the parts that, by design, the server can read.
The Espero app and the espero.live service are operated by the Espero team. For any privacy question or request, contact hello@espero.live. Our backend is hosted in the European Union (Ireland).
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Email address (at sign-up) | To create and secure your account — we send a one-time sign-in code. We do not display it to others. |
| Profile: display name, username, optional bio, avatar, preferred language | So others can recognise you and so messages are translated into your language. |
| Message content & media (text, voice, images) | To deliver messages and translate them for each recipient. Encrypted in transit and at rest; processed by our translation provider to translate. |
| Minimal messaging metadata: who is in a conversation, timestamps, read state and device push tokens | To route messages, sync devices and send notifications. |
| Call metadata: participants, call type, state, timing, native call-notification tokens and network/relay diagnostics | To signal, connect, secure and troubleshoot voice and video calls. We do not record or store call audio or video. |
| Subscription status (tier, renewal date) | To unlock Espero+ features. Payment itself is handled by your app store or our card processor — we never see your card details. |
We do not sell your data, show ads, or build advertising profiles. We do not collect your contacts without explicit permission.
If you choose "Find friends", the app asks for contacts permission and then, on your device, converts the email addresses in your address book into one-way cryptographic hashes. Only those hashes are sent to our server, which compares them against the (equally hashed) account emails of Espero users and returns any matches. The hashes from your request are used only to answer it and are not stored — your address book (names, numbers, emails) is never uploaded or retained by Espero, in hashed form or otherwise. You can turn the feature off by denying or revoking contacts permission in your device settings. If you don't want others to find you this way, switch off "Contact discovery" in Espero's privacy settings.
Message text (and transcripts of voice notes, and descriptions of images) is sent to a third-party AI translation provider to be translated into each recipient's language. It is processed only to produce the translation and is not used by us to train models or for advertising. A single message is translated into all recipient languages in one request. Because translation requires reading the text, the server can read your messages — we are explicit about that rather than claiming end-to-end encryption we don't provide.
One-to-one voice and video calls use WebRTC. Media travels directly between the participants' devices when the network permits. When a direct connection is unavailable, an encrypted media connection may be relayed through a TURN service. Establishing a call necessarily exposes limited network information, such as IP addresses and connection timing, to the participants' devices and relevant network providers. Espero stores call state and timing needed for call history and abuse prevention, but does not record or store call audio or video. Call translation or captions are not enabled unless the app clearly offers them as a separate feature.
We rely on a small number of service providers to run Espero. We describe them by the category of service they provide rather than by brand, so that we can change or replace a provider without weakening the protections below. We keep an up-to-date internal record of the specific providers and will tell you about any material change (for example a new category of processing or a new country of transfer).
Each provider processes data only to provide its service to Espero, under a data-processing agreement that requires confidentiality and a level of protection equivalent to this policy. We do not sell your content or use it for advertising, and none of these providers uses your messages to train their own models.
All traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS), and message content is encrypted at rest. To translate a message, our servers process its text — so by design they can read it; we don't sell it or use it for ads. Full details are in our security model.
Messages are kept so your conversations are available across your devices, until you delete them or close your account. You can delete your account at any time — in the app (Settings → Account) or by emailing us — which removes your profile and the messages we can identify as yours. Full details and what is retained: Delete your account & data.
The espero.live website uses no advertising or tracking cookies. The app and web app store a little data on your device (e.g. your sign-in token, theme and language choice) so the product works — not to track you.
Subject to applicable law (including the EU GDPR), you can access, correct, export or delete your data, and object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise these rights, email hello@espero.live. You can also withdraw consent (e.g. contact access, notifications) in your device settings.
Espero is not directed to children under the age required in your country (at least 13, or higher where local law requires). We do not knowingly collect data from them.
Our primary storage is in the EU. Some sub-processors (e.g. translation, payments) may process data in other regions under appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.
We will update this policy as Espero evolves and note the date above. Significant changes will be announced in-app.