Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to provide a phone and messaging service:

Account information — your name, email address, phone number(s), the one-time codes you use to sign in (eFone does not use passwords), and billing details.
Service and usage records — because we operate a telephone service, we process call and message metadata such as the numbers dialed, date, time and duration of calls, and message routing information. We do not listen to or record the content of your calls unless you explicitly enable a feature (for example, voicemail or call recording) that requires it.
Voicemail and recordings — if you use voicemail or call recording, the resulting audio and any transcriptions are stored on your behalf so you can access them. Voicemail transcription runs on eFone’s own servers.
Call screening — if you turn on call screening, what an unknown caller says to the screener is transcribed and analyzed by a third-party AI service provider acting on our instructions, so we can tell you who is calling and why. It is not used to train their models.
Device and technical data — IP address, device type, operating system, app version and diagnostic logs, used to deliver calls reliably and to secure the service. If the app crashes, a crash report (the error, device model, OS and app version — not your messages or call audio) is sent to our own crash-reporting server so we can fix it.
Payment information — handled by our third-party payment processor. We receive confirmation and limited details (such as the last four digits of a card) but do not store full card numbers on our systems.
Support communications — messages you send us through the contact form, help desk, the in-app support chat or by phone. The in-app support chat is run on Chatwoot, a customer-support platform acting on our instructions; it receives your eFone account identifier and what you type in the chat.

2. How we use your information

To set up your account and connect, route and deliver your calls and messages.
To provision phone numbers, port numbers you bring to us, and manage your plan and add-ons.
To bill you and prevent fraud, abuse and toll fraud.
To provide customer support and respond to your requests.
To maintain, secure, troubleshoot and improve the service.
To meet legal, regulatory and lawful-access obligations that apply to telecommunications providers.
To send you service and account notices, and — only with your consent — marketing messages.

3. Social, Circles, Moments, location and contacts

eFone has two different sharing layers, and they are not equally private. Social is public: what you post there can be seen by anyone on eFone Social. Circles are private: what you post to a Circle is seen only by that Circle’s members. Posts go to the layer you post them to; check which one you are posting to before you publish.

Social (public) — if you use Social, you have a public profile with a handle, and other eFone users can find you, follow you, and see the posts you publish publicly and who follows whom. Public posts can also be seen by people who do not follow you, including in a ranked public feed. Anything you publish publicly can be screenshotted, copied or re-shared by the people who can see it, and we cannot retract those copies — so please treat a public post as permanent and public. We store your public posts, profile, follows, and the signals we use to order your feed.
Circles (private) — we store each Circle’s name, its members, and the invitations and approvals between them. Only members see a Circle and what is shared in it. A Circle’s contents are not published to Social.
Moments — photos, videos and voice notes. A Moment posted to a Circle goes to exactly one Circle, chosen when you post, and only that Circle’s members can see it; a Circle can set how long its Moments are kept, after which they are deleted. A Moment or post you publish to Social is public, as described above.
Deleting what you posted — you can ask us to delete a post, Moment or your public profile by contacting support (section 11), and we will work to remove it from eFone, including from other people’s feeds. An in-app delete control is being rolled out and is not yet in every app. Deletion removes the content from eFone; it cannot recover copies other people already made of a public post.
Reporting abuse — if a post or a person on eFone breaks our rules, contact support (section 11) and we will review it and take the action we consider appropriate. In-app reporting is not yet available on every screen, so support is the route that always works.
Location — off unless you start a share with a Circle. Shares are temporary (15 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, or until you arrive somewhere; never longer than 8 hours), and you can share an approximate area instead of your exact spot. You can pause or stop a share at any time. We store only your latest position, overwriting it each time, and delete it as soon as no share is live. Members removed from a Circle lose access immediately. We keep no location history. We keep a record that a share happened (when, with which Circle and how it ended), and for “until you arrive” shares the destination you chose, until you delete your account.
Contacts — if you allow it, the app reads your device’s address book on your device, to show names and photos for callers and to let you pick people to call, text or invite. Your address book itself is not uploaded. If you choose Find people from your contacts, the app sends one-way scrambled (hashed) copies of your contacts’ phone numbers and email addresses so we can tell you which of them are on eFone and chose to be found; the hashes are checked once and then discarded. When you call a number, we check that one number to see whether it belongs to an eFone user, so the call can go free over eFone. Contacts you add inside eFone itself are stored on our servers so they sync to your other devices. We do not sell contacts or use them for advertising.
Calls, messages and voicemail — handled as described in section 1. Messages and Moments are stored so they can be delivered to your Circle and synced across your devices.
Blocking and reporting — if you block or report someone, we keep a record of it to protect you and to act on abuse.

4. Consent and your choices (CASL)

We rely on your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes above, and you may withdraw consent at any time (subject to legal or contractual limits, and recognizing that withdrawing consent may mean we can no longer provide the service). We send commercial electronic messages only in compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL); every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out without affecting your service.

5. When we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed to run the service:

Telecommunications partners — to originate and terminate calls and texts, and to port numbers, we must exchange routing information with carriers and interconnect partners.
Service providers — vendors who process payments, send transactional email, provide cloud hosting, or help us deliver support, acting on our instructions under confidentiality obligations.
App stores — Apple and Google, when you download or subscribe through their platforms.
Legal and safety — when required by law, a valid legal demand, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our users, the public or eFone, including responding to lawful requests from authorities and to emergency-service operators when you place a 911 call.
Business transfers — if eFone is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

All of the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties. See section 6 below for how we handle mobile numbers and SMS opt-in data.

6. Text messages (SMS) and phone numbers

We collect your mobile phone number so we can verify it and send you the one-time verification codes you ask for — for example when you sign in, or when you verify or attach a phone number to your eFone account. These codes are sent by text message from our verification number (“eFone Verify”, +1 437-291-9756) only when you request one. If you choose “Call me instead”, an automated call reads you the same code. We do not send marketing or promotional text messages to your number.

Mobile numbers and SMS opt-in data and consent are not shared with or sold to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

We will not share your opt-in to an SMS program with any third party for purposes unrelated to providing you with that program. We may share your mobile number, and your SMS opt-in or consent status, with third parties that support our messaging services — including our messaging platform provider, phone companies and carriers, and any other vendors who help us deliver text messages — solely so that they can deliver the message to you. We keep your number, and the records of the codes we send (such as the time and delivery status), as described in “How long we keep it” below. You can ask us to access, correct or delete your number at any time — see “Your rights” below, or delete your account from the app. You can stop text messages at any time by replying STOP to a message; see our Terms of Service for how the eFone Verify messages work.

7. Emergency calling (911)

eFone is a Voice over IP (VoIP) service. To handle a 911 call we provide the address you have registered with us to emergency operators. It is important that you keep your registered service address current. Please review our Terms of Service for the important limitations of VoIP 911, including how it differs from traditional landline 911 and its dependence on power and internet connectivity.

8. Where your information is processed

We aim to process and store personal information in Canada where practical. Some of our service providers may process data in other countries, in which case the information may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions. Where we transfer information outside Canada, we use providers that are bound to protect it with safeguards comparable to those required under PIPEDA.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described here or as required by law. You can delete your account from the app (You → Privacy & safety → Your data → Delete account). Your account is locked for 30 days, during which you can sign back in to cancel; after that we erase your Circles content, Moments, messages and contacts, except records we must keep by law. Some records — such as call detail records and billing records — must be retained for defined periods to meet telecommunications, tax and regulatory obligations. When information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymize it.

10. How we protect it

We use technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including encryption in transit, access controls, and least-privilege internal access. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to notify affected users and regulators of any breach that poses a real risk of significant harm, as required by law.

11. Your rights

Under PIPEDA you have the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you and ask how it has been used and disclosed.
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
Withdraw consent, subject to legal and contractual limits.
Make a complaint to us, and to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you are not satisfied with our response.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

12. Cookies and analytics

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies needed to make the site work and to understand, in aggregate, how it is used. We honour browser “do not track” and consent choices where applicable and keep non-essential tracking to a minimum.

13. Children

You must be at least 13 years old to use eFone. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes we will update the “last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by email. Your continued use of eFone after an update means you accept the revised policy.