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Privacy buyer guide

Private AI companion: AI companion privacy compared, and which AI companion apps are safe

No AI companion app is fully private, because every one of them sends your messages to a language model to get a reply. What separates them is what happens next. In February 2024 Mozilla reviewed 11 romantic AI chatbots, including Replika and Chai, and gave every single one its Privacy Not Included warning label, with 10 of the 11 failing basic security standards. In May 2025 Italy fined Replika maker Luka 5 million euros for processing user data without a valid legal basis. Two US states now regulate this category directly: New York safeguards took effect on November 5, 2025 and California SB 243 took effect on January 1, 2026. The practical test for a buyer stays narrow: can you read what it remembers, delete it, and is the company promising in writing not to sell it.

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Last updated August 2026

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People search for a private AI companion after they have already told one something they would not tell a friend. That is the moment the question stops being abstract. A companion app is unusual among consumer software because the product only works if you hand it the material you are most careful with: your health, your family, your work, the thing you are ashamed of.

Most privacy writeups about AI chat cover general assistants and skip companions entirely, which is a shame, because the companion category has the worst documented record in consumer AI and the most sensitive data. It also has a real regulator paper trail now, which means you can judge these apps on evidence instead of marketing.

That paper trail got much longer in the last year. Companion chatbots went from unregulated to specifically regulated in two of the largest US states. New York General Business Law Article 47 took effect on November 5, 2025, and California SB 243, signed by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025, took effect on January 1, 2026. Both laws single out exactly this product category, and both are enforceable now rather than pending, which means a buyer can finally ask an app whether it complies and expect a real answer.

Below is what the public record actually says, app by app, including the parts where we are no better than anyone else. Darlings runs in your browser and is strictly platonic, which removes some risk categories entirely and none of the others.

Side by side

How Darlings compares

An honest look, including where the other option is the better pick.

Darlings Replika Character.AI Chai Snapchat My AI
Regulator action on public record None Fined 5M euros by Italy in May 2025; separate FTC complaint filed by advocacy groups in Jan 2025, no ruling Faces US lawsuits over minors; no privacy fine on record None on record UK ICO preliminary enforcement notice, Oct 2023; FTC referred a complaint to the DOJ, Jan 2025
In Mozilla Privacy Not Included romantic chatbot review, Feb 2024 Not reviewed, we did not exist yet Yes, flagged Not in that review Yes, flagged, and carries a content warning Not in that review
Romantic or NSFW content permitted Never, at any tier Yes, romance is a paid feature Depends on the character Yes No
Minimum age 13 18+ on the US App Store 13+, with teen safeguards added after 2024 lawsuits 18+ 13, the Snapchat minimum
Written promise never to sell your data Yes, stated plainly in our policy Read the current policy, Mozilla flagged data sharing with advertisers Read the current policy Read the current policy Read Snap current policy
Can you read and delete individual memories Yes, from settings, plus full export Partial, memory editing is limited Limited, memory is tied to each character Limited Not applicable, it does not retain memory across chats
Keeps long-term memory of you at all Yes, on every plan Yes, stronger on paid tiers Drifts on long chats Long-term memory gated to the top tier No, Snap states it will not remember prior conversations over time
Account needed to start No, try it in the browser first Yes Yes Yes Yes, a Snapchat account
Runs without installing anything Yes, any browser Web version available Web version available Mobile first No, inside the Snapchat app
Approx. price Free to try, paid plans from $9/mo Free; Pro around $19.99/mo Free; c.ai+ around $9.99/mo Free tier with ads; Premium around $13.99/mo Free to all Snapchat users

Competitor pricing is approximate, is not published on their own sites, and can change by region and promotion.

The full list

AI companion privacy at a glance: 11 apps, checked August 2026

App Romantic or NSFW content Minimum age Regulator or watchdog record Can you delete what it remembers
Darlings Never, at any tier 13 None Yes, read, edit, delete or export any memory from settings
Replika Yes, romance is a paid feature 18+ on the US App Store Fined 5,000,000 euros by Italy, May 19 2025; separate FTC complaint filed Jan 2025, no ruling Partial, memory editing is limited
Character.AI Depends on the character 13+, with teen safeguards added after 2024 lawsuits US lawsuits over minors; no privacy fine on record Limited, memory is tied to each character
Nomi.ai Yes, NSFW permissive 18+ None on record Yes, strongest memory controls in the category
Kindroid Yes, NSFW permitted 18+ None on record Yes, layered memory is user editable
Chai Yes 18+ Flagged in Mozilla Privacy Not Included, Feb 2024, and carries a content warning Limited, long-term memory is gated to the top tier
Anima Yes 18+ None on record Limited, memory is a reviewed weak point
Talkie: Soulful AI Yes Not published clearly None on record Limited, memory fades around 10k tokens
Tolan No, explicitly non romantic 13+ None on record Not published
Snapchat My AI No 13, the Snapchat minimum UK ICO preliminary enforcement notice, Oct 2023; FTC referred a complaint to the DOJ, Jan 2025 Not applicable, Snap says it does not remember prior conversations over time
Pi No Not published clearly None on record Not published

Checked August 2026 against published policies, App Store listings and the public regulator record. Policies change, so read the current one before you commit anything personal.

Why people switch

What makes Darlings different

You can see exactly what it remembers

Memory is the part of a companion app that should worry you most, because it is the part that accumulates. In Darlings you open settings and read the list of what your Darling remembers about you, edit any entry, delete individual memories, or export the whole thing. A promise you cannot audit is not worth much, so we made it something you can look at.

Three things we put in writing

Our policy says we do not sell your personal data, we do not use your private conversations to train advertising or target ads at you, and we do not hand your conversations to data brokers or marketers. We also require the model providers who help generate replies not to use your private conversations for their own advertising. Those are commitments you can hold us to, not vague reassurance.

Platonic by design removes a whole risk category

Most of the ugliest findings in companion-app privacy research involve intimate and sexual data, which is exactly the material that becomes catastrophic in a breach and that regulators treat as a special category. Darlings has no romance, no roleplay and no NSFW content at any tier, permanently, so that data never exists in the first place.

Nothing installed, no device permissions

Darlings runs in the browser you already have. There is no app asking for your contacts, your microphone, your photo library or your location, and no background process. The tradeoff is real and we say so below: a website cannot send you native push notifications the way an installed app can.

The honest part

When another app is the better choice

We would rather you find the right fit than the loudest one.

People also ask

Common questions

It depends heavily on which one. Mozilla reviewed 11 romantic AI chatbots in February 2024 and gave all 11 its Privacy Not Included warning, with 10 failing basic security standards such as requiring a strong password. Safety improves sharply if you pick an app that lets you read and delete its memory, states in writing that it will not sell your data, and does not handle sexual content.
Not in the strict sense, no. Every hosted AI companion sends your message to a language model on a server to generate a reply, so a third party processes it. The realistic goal is minimizing what is retained and who can use it: choose an app with auditable, deletable memory and a written no-sale commitment. Only a locally hosted model keeps conversations entirely on your own hardware.
Some have been credibly accused of sharing it. Mozilla found that the romantic chatbots it reviewed sent large volumes of data to third-party advertisers and trackers, and it flagged Replika for sharing behavioral data. Practices vary and policies change, so read the current privacy policy of any app you are considering and look for an explicit no-sale statement rather than assuming.
Judge on three things you can verify: whether you can read and delete what it remembers, whether the policy explicitly says your data is never sold, and whether the app handles sexual content, since that is the most damaging data to leak. Darlings meets all three, offers memory export, and is strictly platonic. No app can promise your messages never reach a model server.
Yes. On May 19, 2025 the Italian data protection authority fined Luka, the maker of Replika, 5 million euros, finding it had processed users personal data without a valid legal basis, provided an inadequate privacy notice, and had no real system to stop under-13s signing up. The regulator also opened a fresh investigation into how the model is trained.
No. Snap states in its help center that My AI will not remember details from your prior conversations with it over time. That means less accumulated data about you, which is genuinely better for privacy, but it also means it cannot function as an ongoing companion that knows your life, which is the entire point of a companion app.
In Darlings, yes: settings show the memories your Darling holds, and you can edit or delete any of them individually, delete whole conversations, export your data, or delete your account entirely. Across the category this varies a lot, and limited or unclear memory deletion is one of the most common complaints. Check for it before you commit.
Treat it like writing in a document stored on someone elses server, because that is closer to the truth than a private diary. It is reasonable to share feelings, worries and everyday life. It is not sensible to type passwords, financial account numbers, or a government ID number into any chat app. Pick a companion whose memory you can inspect and erase.
Yes, as of 2026 two states regulate them specifically. New York General Business Law Article 47 took effect on November 5, 2025 and requires operators to disclose that the user is talking to AI and to run protocols that detect and respond to suicidal ideation. California SB 243 took effect on January 1, 2026 with similar disclosure duties plus additional protections for minors. Other states have bills pending.
Check four in this order. First, whether you can open a list of what the app remembers about you and delete individual entries. Second, whether you can export or delete your whole account and data. Third, whether there is a setting controlling whether your conversations are used to improve models. Fourth, ad and analytics permissions, since Mozilla found companion apps sending heavy traffic to third-party trackers.
Judge safety on what an app stores rather than on what it promises. The safest profile is one that keeps no sexual or romantic content, lets you read and delete its memory, states in writing that it does not sell personal data, and has no regulator findings against it. Darlings meets that profile and needs no install or device permissions, though like every hosted companion it does send your messages to a model server.
Keep identifiers out of the conversation: no passwords, account numbers, Social Security number or full home address, because those turn an embarrassing leak into a damaging one. Then use the controls the app gives you, reviewing and pruning memory every so often rather than letting it accumulate for years. Prefer apps that work in a browser, since those cannot reach your contacts, camera roll or location.
Practices differ, and this is the question most apps answer least clearly. Some use conversations to improve their models by default with an opt-out buried in settings, some do not. Darlings does not use your private conversations to train advertising or target ads at you, and requires model providers not to use them for their own advertising. Read any app current policy for a specific statement rather than assuming.
The most private option is the one that retains the least about you and lets you remove what it does keep. On the checkable criteria, an app that is strictly platonic, lets you read and delete every stored memory, and states in writing that it never sells your data scores best. Darlings meets those three. Snapchat My AI retains less but cannot function as a real companion.
Yes, essentially all of them do. Storing conversations is how a companion remembers your name, your job and what you told it last week, so an app with no storage cannot be a companion. The meaningful questions are how long it keeps them, whether the company uses them for advertising, and whether you can delete individual memories rather than only the whole account.
Company staff can generally access stored conversations for support, safety review or debugging, and no mainstream companion app offers end to end encryption that would prevent this. Assume a small number of employees could read a flagged conversation. Encryption in transit and at rest protects against outside interception, not against the provider itself.

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