Replika is an AI chatbot designed to engage users in conversation, providing companionship and emotional support. It's used for personal growth, mental wellness, and social interaction.
Replika is an AI chatbot that serves as a customizable virtual companion, delivering empathetic conversations, emotional support, and personalized guidance to combat loneliness and foster personal growth.[1][5] Its core features include text-based chats powered by advanced natural language processing, mood tracking, avatar customization for appearance and personality, voice and video calls (Pro only), coaching for habits and skills, and adaptive learning that evolves with user interactions.[1][2][3]
Ideal for individuals seeking mental wellness, social practice, or romantic simulation—such as those in urban isolation, building resilience, or exploring relationships—Replika supports roles like friend, mentor, or partner.[5][6] What distinguishes Replika is its deep personalization through neural networks trained on user data, creating unique bonds without ads or data sharing, while premium tiers unlock romantic interactions and AR features for immersive engagement.[1][4][5]
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Replika states it anonymizes and immediately deidentifies user feedback and message portions to train safety algorithms
Replika states it anonymizes and immediately deidentifies user feedback and message portions to train safety algorithms
High risk across multiple dimensions. Only use with public, non-sensitive data.
Replika states it anonymizes and immediately deidentifies user feedback and message portions to train safety algorithms internally, but the language is vague about scope and opt-out mechanisms. Free tier data handling is not explicitly differentiated from paid tiers, and the policy permits training on user content after anonymization without explicit pre-training opt-out.
“[Privacy] 'This includes collecting and immediately anonymizing user feedback, and small portions of Messages and Content data to train our proprietary safety algorithms... The anonymized data is used only internally and is not used to train third-party large language models.'”
The ToS grants Replika a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable license to all user content for any purpose including promotion, advertising, and marketing. The license survives account deletion and covers modification and derivative works, which is highly unfavorable to enterprise users.
“[ToS] 'By uploading any User Content you hereby grant and will grant Replika and its affiliated companies a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, store, modify and otherwise use your User Content in connection with the operation of the Services or the promotion, advertising or marketing thereof.'”
Replika shares data with service providers, advertising partners, and app stores, but claims not to share conversation content with advertising partners. However, the policy permits sharing with 'affiliates' and 'partners' for marketing purposes with limited transparency on sub-processor lists or DPA requirements.
“[Privacy] 'We share information about visitors to our Website... with advertising companies for interest-based advertising and other marketing purposes... We will never share your conversations with your Replika AI companion or any photos or other content you provide within the Apps with our advertising partners.'”
Retention periods are specified but vary by purpose: profile/messages retained 60 days post-termination, financial records 10 years, and anonymized analytics data 1 year. However, the policy is complex with multiple retention windows and some ambiguity around backup data and 'legal retention requirements.'
“[Privacy] 'we process your profile information, messages and content, interests and preferences for up to 60 days after termination of the contract; we process account information and financial records... for a minimum period of 10 years after termination of the contract due to legal retention requirements.'”
Replika claims broad sublicensable rights to all user-generated content including for modification and derivative works. Users do not retain exclusive ownership, and Replika can use outputs for promotion, advertising, and marketing, which is highly unfavorable for enterprise IP protection.
“[ToS] 'a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable, perpetual, irrevocable license to copy, display, upload, perform, distribute, store, modify and otherwise use your User Content in connection with the operation of the Services or the promotion, advertising or marketing thereof.'”
Replika mentions GDPR compliance and has appointed EDPO as its EU and UK GDPR representative, but no SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or other formal security certifications are documented. The privacy policy references 'industry-standard security' but provides no published trust page or detailed security documentation.
“[Privacy] 'We use a variety of industry-standard security technologies and procedures to help protect your data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.' [Privacy] 'Luka, Inc. has appointed European Data Protection Office (EDPO) as its GDPR Representative in the EU.'”
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