Stay safe, stay anonymous

Our built-in protections

• Anonymous by default. You're identified only by a random session id in your browser. No email, name or account is ever required.
• Peer-to-peer video. Your camera and microphone connect directly to your partner via WebRTC. Your video is never stored on our servers.
• One-tap reporting. Report anyone with a reason and optional note. The chat ends immediately and a record of the report — including the recent conversation — is saved for review.
• Permanent blocking. Block a stranger and our matchmaker will never pair you with them again.
• Abuse prevention. Rate limits and server-side validation stop spam, flooding and connection abuse.
• Idle cleanup. Abandoned rooms are automatically closed so nothing lingers.

Golden rules for chatting with strangers

1. Never share personal information. No real name, address, phone number, email, school, workplace, passwords or banking details — ever.
2. Never send money. Anyone asking for money, gift cards, crypto or payment is almost certainly a scam. End the chat and report them.
3. Be suspicious of too-good-to-be-true requests. Scammers move fast. Be careful before moving a conversation to another app or messaging service — staying in the chat keeps you protected by our report and block tools.
4. Keep your face private if you're under 18. The internet is public. Once a video or image is out there, you can't take it back.
5. Trust your instincts. If a conversation makes you uncomfortable, use Next to skip or Stop to leave. You never owe a stranger anything.
6. Report, don't argue. You won't win a fight with a troll. Report them and move on to a better conversation.

Community guidelines

To keep Stranger Chat welcoming for everyone, we ask that all users follow these guidelines. Breaking them can lead to a report and a ban.

• No nudity, explicit sexual content or solicitation.
• No harassment, bullying, hate speech or discrimination.
• No spamming, links to scams, or advertising.
• No impersonation of other people or organizations.
• No illegal activity or coordination of illegal acts.
• Minors should not use video chat and should never share identifying information.

Recognizing online safety risks

Chat rooms and video chat sites attract a small number of bad actors. Being able to recognize the signs keeps you and everyone else safer:

• Scammers build trust fast, then ask for money, crypto or "urgent help". They often claim to be soldiers, stranded travelers or wealthy investors.
• Catfishers pretend to be someone they're not and pressure you to move to private messaging or share photos.
• Harassers use insults or threats to get a reaction. The best response is no response — report and skip.

How to report someone

If someone breaks the guidelines or makes you uncomfortable, reporting takes two taps:

1. Tap the Report button in the chat.
2. Choose a reason and optionally add a short note. The chat ends right away.

Reports are saved with context — the anonymous session identifiers of both people, hashed IPs and the recent messages — so the site operator can review them and take action.

How to block someone

If you never want to meet someone again, use the Block button. Blocking is immediate and permanent: the matchmaker will not pair you with that person again, and the block list is kept on your device.

What happens after a report

Here is what actually happens, step by step:

1. The chat ends immediately. You and the other person are disconnected and returned to the queue.
2. A record is saved. The report — including the reason, your note and the recent conversation — is written to a private log that the site operator reviews.
3. You stay in control. You can also block the person so they never match with you again.

Reports help the operator spot and remove people who repeatedly break the guidelines. We can't guarantee a human reviews every report the second it arrives, but every report is logged and none are silently ignored.