Who is responsible
The website or app where you chatted is the controller of your conversation: they decide why it is kept and how long, and their agents reply to you. AskCub is their processor: we run the chat software and store conversations only on their instructions. The chat window links to the website's own privacy policy, which is the first place to look.
Before you open the chat
While the chat bubble sits in the corner, nothing is written to your device. The bubble tells the website which page you are on, where you came from and your browser language, so an agent can see that someone is browsing and may say hello. No identifier is stored in your browser for this.
What is stored on your device
When you open the chat window, one random session token is saved in your browser's local storage so the conversation is still there after a refresh, in another tab or when you come back. It contains nothing about you. It expires after 24 hours without chatting, or after 30 days if you tick "Remember my conversation for 30 days".
"Clear history" at the bottom of the window hides earlier messages on this device. It does not delete them from the website's records — for that, see "Deleting your conversation" below.
What the website keeps
- the messages, images and files you send, and the replies you receive;
- the email address you leave if you ask to be contacted later;
- a record of the notice you saw before your first message;
- your rating, if you give one;
- context that helps the agent help you: your approximate country or region, device type, browser language, the page you are on, where you came from and the pages you viewed during this visit.
Your IP address is used briefly to work out your approximate location and to prevent abuse, and is not stored in clear. Agents see a code that changes every day, not your IP address. Card-number-like patterns are masked in the agent's inbox by default.
AI replies and translation
Some websites let an AI assistant (Cubby, or a name the website chose) answer first. Its replies are always labelled as AI, and you can ask for a person at any time. To write a reply, the AI receives your current question and the help articles that match it — not your whole conversation or your browsing details.
If the website turned on translation, your messages are translated into the agent's language and the replies into yours; the text being translated is sent to the translation model. AI and translation providers are not allowed to use your messages to train their models.
How long it is kept
Each website chooses how long conversations are kept, between 30 days and 12 months depending on their plan, and can choose a shorter period. When that time is up, messages, attachments and the notice record are deleted together. The website can also delete a conversation at any time.
Seeing or deleting your conversation
Contact the website where you chatted — the privacy link in the chat window points to their policy and contact details. They can export your conversation or delete it from their console straight away. If you cannot reach them, write to hello@tapcub.com with the website address and roughly when you chatted, and we will pass your request on and help them respond.
What we never do
- sell your conversation or share it with advertisers;
- use it to train AI models;
- link you across different websites that use AskCub;
- show your conversation to other visitors.
Chat links
Some businesses send a link to a chat page at chat.askcub.com instead of using a bubble on their website. The same rules apply there: the business is responsible for the conversation and AskCub runs it on their behalf.