Terms of Service
These terms govern use of Recursion, an encrypted messaging app with anonymous public IDs, optional usernames, private messages, chat rooms, invite links, and paid features.
Last updated: May 9, 2026
Agreement
By using Recursion, you agree to these Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the app or service.
Developer: Recursion. Support contact: support@recursion.se. Privacy contact: privacy@recursion.se.
The Service
Recursion provides encrypted messaging features. The app generates local cryptographic keys, creates a random public ID, and uses a backend relay to deliver encrypted messages, encrypted attachments, public key material, usernames, room metadata, join requests, invite links, and paid feature status.
Recursion is designed to avoid collecting real-world identity information. You are responsible for keeping your device, app, recovery materials, and local keys secure.
Privacy And Security Limits
Recursion cannot guarantee absolute anonymity, perfect security, or freedom from all metadata correlation. The app is designed so the service does not require identifiers that tie messages to your real person or physical device, but network providers, app stores, payment processors, operating systems, and hosting infrastructure may still process technical metadata needed to operate online services.
End-to-end encryption protects message content from the relay server, but it does not protect against every risk, including compromised devices, screenshots, malicious recipients, malware, rooted or jailbroken devices, social engineering, weak device locks, or mistakes by users.
Your Account And Public ID
Recursion accounts are represented by random public IDs and local keys. You may delete your local identity and create a new public ID. Deleting local keys can make previous encrypted content unrecoverable.
You may not attempt to impersonate another person, interfere with another user’s account, exploit username reservation, or bypass rate limits or purchase checks.
Usernames
Usernames are optional paid or premium features where enabled. A username is unique while reserved. You may not reserve usernames that infringe trademarks, impersonate others, contain illegal content, harass others, or violate app store rules or local law.
Recursion may suspend, rename, or release usernames that violate these terms, are obtained through abuse, are required by law to be removed, or create operational/security risk.
Chat Rooms
Chat rooms may be private, invite-based, public, searchable, or approval-gated depending on the feature settings. Public room titles, topics, membership or join request state, and activity metadata may be visible by design. Approval-gated public rooms require approval before a user can join and receive room keys.
Room creators and members are responsible for the rooms they create, join, approve, moderate, and use. Recursion may restrict, hide, or remove rooms based on abuse, security issues, legal obligations, app store policy, or operational safety.
Acceptable Use
You may not use Recursion to:
- Break the law or help others break the law.
- Threaten, harass, exploit, abuse, stalk, or dox others.
- Distribute child sexual abuse material or sexual content involving minors.
- Distribute malware, phishing, fraud, spam, or credential theft.
- Coordinate violence, terrorism, trafficking, or serious physical harm.
- Infringe intellectual property or impersonate others.
- Attack, scan, scrape, overload, reverse engineer, or bypass security controls of the service except where permitted by a written security testing agreement.
- Use public rooms, usernames, invite links, or paid features to evade moderation or app store rules.
Encrypted Content
Because Recursion is designed not to read encrypted private message contents, you understand that the service may be unable to recover messages, restore lost keys, inspect private content, or resolve disputes about encrypted content.
You are responsible for your own messages and for deciding what to send, receive, store, export, screenshot, or share.
Paid Features And Purchases
Paid features, including usernames and room creation where enabled, are purchased through Apple App Store or Google Play in-app purchases. Your purchase is also governed by the applicable app store terms.
Prices, feature availability, renewal terms, trial terms, refunds, taxes, and cancellation flows may be controlled by Apple or Google. Recursion validates purchases with the app stores before enabling paid features. Recursion does not receive your full payment card number.
Unless required by law or app store policy, purchases do not create ownership of usernames, public IDs, rooms, invite links, or service infrastructure. They grant access to the paid feature while the entitlement remains valid and while you comply with these terms.
App Stores
If you downloaded Recursion from Apple App Store or Google Play, Apple or Google is not responsible for Recursion’s encrypted messaging service, content, support, claims, or backend. The app store provider may still process purchase, download, device, crash, refund, and compliance data according to its own policies.
Service Availability
Recursion may change, suspend, or discontinue features at any time for security, legal, maintenance, business, or operational reasons. We do not promise that the service will always be available, error-free, or compatible with every device, network, operating system, rooted device, jailbroken device, VPN, or hosting environment.
Disclaimers
Recursion is provided “as is” and “as available” to the maximum extent permitted by law. We disclaim warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, uninterrupted operation, perfect security, and absolute anonymity.
Limitation Of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Recursion and its operators will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost profits, lost data, lost keys, lost messages, loss of privacy caused by your device or recipient behavior, service interruptions, or unauthorized access beyond our reasonable control.
Termination
You may stop using Recursion at any time. Recursion may suspend or terminate access to features, usernames, rooms, or service infrastructure if we believe you violated these terms, created legal risk, caused security risk, abused the service, or created operational harm.
Changes
We may update these terms as the app, backend, paid features, store requirements, or legal obligations change. The updated terms will show a new “Last updated” date. Continued use after an update means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
For support, contact support@recursion.se. For privacy requests, contact privacy@recursion.se.