Anonymous, on purpose
Anonymity is the foundation of Haven, not a setting. The people you talk to cannot learn who you are or reach you outside the app, and you cannot be reached by them. This page explains what that means in practice, and just as plainly, what it does not mean.
All the other person ever sees
You each only ever see a name the other chose, never the real person behind it. The names are handles, built into the platform, not just a promise. The person you talk with only ever sees a name you choose, never your real name, your address, or your phone number: our app is built so that information cannot reach them, in either direction.
And names are just names. No one can put an email, a link, or a phone number in the name people see, because that is how someone would try to move a conversation off Haven. The platform checks it at the door, every time.
Built into the floor, not painted on the walls
Haven's anonymity is not a screen the app politely draws over your details. It is enforced underneath the app, in the system that stores identities itself, which refuses to hand either side the other's. A misbehaving phone, a modified app, a clever request: none of them can ask their way past it, because the answer simply is not served.
Real names, numbers, addresses, and social profiles stay out of every conversation, and conversations stay on Haven.
Even the call itself carries nothing
Every conversation happens in a fresh room with a made-up name, used once and never again. Neither phone is ever handed the other's identity, and nothing about the connection can be kept and used to find or reach the other person afterwards.
Even the ring is anonymous: when a Companion's phone rings, it says only that someone would like to talk. The only thing that passes between you is the name each of you chose to go by.
Where you are stays with us
We keep only a rough area for matching, and the people you talk with never see where you are. Your exact location is kept locked and never shown to Companions, family, or funders. If our on-call team is alerted, the person handling it can see it for a short time so they can reach you, and every look is recorded.
If someone helps pay
A funder can help pay, and never sees how you use Haven; you decide what little they see, and you can change your mind. The full picture of what a funder can and cannot see lives on the funders page.
What anonymity does not mean
Three things worth knowing. First, anonymity is privacy from other people, not from Haven itself: every call on Haven is recorded and monitored, to keep everyone safe, and everyone agrees to that up front as a condition of using Haven. See the recording notice for exactly what that means.
Second, the name you show is yours to choose. If you decide to go by your real first name, that is your choice to make. Haven will not pass your identity across to the other person, but it does not overrule what you choose to say out loud.
Third, being recognized is a good thing, not a leak. When you return to a Companion you like, they know you by the name they have come to know, and that is how a familiar voice becomes part of your week. Recognition is deliberate; your identity is the part that never passes between you.
Company, on your own terms
Real conversation, and your life stays your own. That is the deal, and it is built to hold.
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