Bob privacy policy

Last updated 1 October 2026

Bob turns your own Mac into the server for small apps that you and the people you invite open on your phones. This covers the Bob app for Mac, Bob for Android, and the few small services at chitransh.dev that Bob uses. Bob is made by Chitransh Joshi.

Your data stays on your Mac

Everything you and the people you invite put into Bob lives on the Mac that runs it, in that Mac's own storage: names, email addresses, profile photos, messages, the apps you build and everything in them. There is no Bob cloud account and no central copy. The Mac's owner decides who gets in and can remove people and their data at any time. We, the makers of Bob, cannot see it.

What passes through our services

To work outside your home Wi-Fi and to send sign-in codes and notifications, Bob uses a few services we run. They pass data along and do not store it:

• Public link (bob-<name>.chitransh.dev): when you open Bob away from the Mac's Wi-Fi, traffic goes through our relay server in Mumbai to the Mac. The secure connection from your phone ends at the relay, which forwards it to the Mac. We don't record or keep what passes through.
• Email sign-in codes: the Mac sends us your email address and a one-time code, and we email you the code through Resend.
• Google sign-in: we pass Google's sign-in answer (your name, email address and photo) back to your Mac.
• Notifications (Bob for Android): the Mac encrypts each notification for your phone before sending it. We and Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging only ever see the encrypted message and your phone's notification token.

Bob for Android

• It remembers which Mac you paired with and keeps you signed in to it.
• The camera is used only to scan your Mac's pairing code, through Google Play services. Bob does not get camera access or keep any picture.
• Photos you pick for your profile or in an app go only to your Mac.
• Apps you install from Bob are made on your phone and signed with a key that never leaves it.
• No ads, no analytics, no tracking, and nothing is sold or shared for advertising.

Deleting your Bob account

Your Bob account lives on the Mac of the person who added you, so they are the one who deletes it:

1. Ask the owner of that Mac to remove you, from Bob's Users pane on the Mac.
2. That deletes, straight away and for good, your account: your name, email address, profile photo, sign-in methods (passkeys, Google), your messages and your notification settings. What you added inside the Mac's apps stays in those apps until the owner deletes it; ask them to.
3. On your phone, choose End connection in Bob's Settings, or uninstall Bob for Android, to remove what it kept there.

Nothing is kept afterwards: there are no backups on our side, and our services never stored your data. If you can't reach the Mac's owner, email us at the address below and we'll help.

Children

Bob is not directed at children under 13.

Contact

Questions: chitransh.joshi99@gmail.com