Privacy
Lotus, the texting service. Effective 8 October 2026.
Lotus is a messaging service operated by Tony Chow, a student at UC Berkeley, as a small pilot for adults aged 18 and over. You text Lotus, a bot named Lotus answers, and it says it is a bot in its first message. This page says what Lotus keeps about you, why, who can see it, and what it will never do with it.
We do not share, sell, or provide your mobile phone number or messaging consent data to third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
Where Lotus runs
During the pilot, Lotus runs on Telegram: you message the Lotus bot inside Telegram, and your messages pass through Telegram's servers under Telegram's privacy policy. When Lotus moves to a phone number, messages will travel over carrier SMS or iMessage and through the services that deliver them (for SMS, Twilio). This policy covers both.
What we collect
- How to reach you: your Telegram account ID and username, or your mobile number once Lotus is a phone number. It is how Lotus replies to you.
- The messages you send to Lotus, and the messages it sends you.
- What you tell Lotus during sign-up: a first name, your birthday (to check that you are 18 or over), a school email address (to confirm you are a student), what you like doing, and whether you are open to meeting friends, dates, or either.
- Your answers to Lotus's daily questions, the plans you ask it to set up, whether you confirmed and came to a hangout, and who you say you would like to see again afterwards.
- Messaging consent: the fact that you messaged first, when, and whether you later sent STOP.
Lotus does not ask for photos, your location, your contacts, or your last name, and does not read anything on your phone.
Who sees what
- The people you are put with on a Thursday see your first name and the answer you share with them. Nothing else. Your phone number, Telegram username, email, school, birthday and what you said you are open to are never shown to another participant. Introductions happen through Lotus.
- The place and time of a hangout are sent only to the people who confirmed for it.
- Who you would like to see again stays private unless that person says the same about you. One-sided interest is never revealed: not as a name, not as a count, not as a hint. Whether you were open to friends, dates, or either is used only to decide what can be shared after you have met, and is never shown to anyone.
- A small team running the pilot can read conversations to handle reports and crises. This is not a private chat with a person, and it is not therapy or an emergency service.
Reports
One message reports anyone. The person you report is paused at once and removed from any upcoming hangout, and is not told who reported them. A person reads every report. Records tied to a report may be kept as long as the report needs.
Who processes it
Telegram delivers your messages while Lotus runs there; carriers and Twilio will when Lotus is a phone number. Ordinary replies may be drafted by an AI model provider (Anthropic) that sees the current conversation and your first name, with the rest of your sign-up details removed; it never sees your phone number, email or birthday, and may not use what it sees to train its models or for its own marketing. No provider may use your information for marketing. We do not sell data to anyone, and we do not show ads.
The website
This website sets no cookies, runs no analytics and loads nothing from advertising or tracking companies. Its fonts are served from the site itself, so opening it sends a request to no one but us. The "Text Lotus" button opens Telegram.
How long we keep it
For the pilot, and up to 90 days after it ends, so that a report can still be handled. Send STOP at any time and all messages end immediately. To have your records deleted, email [email protected] from the account or number you used, or send DELETE and then confirm by email. Deletion removes your name, answers, messages and who you wanted to see again; records tied to a safety report may be kept as long as the report needs.
Who can use Lotus
Adults 18 and over. Lotus checks the birthday you give before anything else happens, and it is not intended for anyone under 18. If we learn that someone under 18 has used it, their records are deleted.
Your choices
- Send STOP to end all messages. Send START to resume.
- Send HELP for help, or email the address below.
- Ask what we hold about you, or ask for it to be deleted, by email. You will hear back within a week.
Changes
If this policy changes, the effective date above changes with it. Material changes will be announced by message before they take effect.
Contact
Tony Chow · [email protected] · Berkeley, California. Lotus is an independent student project and is not affiliated with UC Berkeley, with Telegram, or with any dating service.