How to request deletion in the app
- Open Circlus and open the Circle whose data you want to delete.
- Open Settings and scroll to the danger zone.
- Tap Delete my data from Circle.
- Read the permanent-deletion notice, choose whether to keep a local view-only copy on this device, and tap Delete data permanently.
Circle owners: If other members remain, open People, select an active member, and tap Transfer Circle ownership. You can then follow the steps above. If you are the only member, choose Delete Circle and my data in Settings and confirm.
The request is authenticated by your Circlus device and processed by the server for that Circle. If a self-hosted Circle server is no longer reachable in the app, contact that server's operator about server-held data.
Data deleted from the Circle server
When deletion is confirmed, Circlus deletes the user's server-side data for the selected Circle, including:
- Circle identity, profile name and avatar, registered devices, temporary access records, and notification bindings.
- Encrypted vault data, saved recovery backups, and server-hosted encrypted message archives owned by the user.
- Messages involving the user in direct chats, messages authored by the user in group chats, and their stored files or uploads.
- Call history, call sessions and links associated with the user, invitation records, delivery and synchronization state, and key envelopes associated with their access.
On the requesting device, you may choose to delete the locally stored copy too, or keep it as a local view-only copy. A kept copy can still show already stored messages, files, and call history, but it cannot send messages, place calls, synchronize with the deleted profile, restore access, or recreate server-deleted data.
If you choose to remove local data and this is the device's only Circle, the local app profile is erased because Circlus has no profile-without-circles mode.
On any other device already holding this profile, Circlus reports that server access is unavailable and asks whether to delete that device's local copy. Local data is not deleted on another device unless the user confirms that deletion there. If the user keeps it, the app provides an option to recheck access later and restore normal server actions if the server accepts that device again.
When the owner deletes a Circle
If the Circle owner is its only registered member, Delete Circle and my data deletes the entire Circle. This permanently removes all active Circlus data stored for that Circle, including the owner's data listed above.
If other members exist, the owner must first transfer ownership. This ensures each member can ultimately request deletion of their own Circle data without deleting a Circle still used by other people.
Data that may remain
Deleting data from a Circle server cannot delete information that has already been delivered to or saved outside that server. The following may remain:
- Messages, files, and call information already synchronized to another participant's device or saved in that participant's encrypted archive.
- Operational logs or backups separately maintained by a self-hosted server operator according to that operator's policies or legal obligations.
A deleted Circle cannot be restored with a recovery package or Profile Key. Rejoining later requires a new invitation and does not recover deleted data.
Retention period
Requested deletion is processed immediately when the user confirms it: active Circle database records are deleted in the deletion operation, and Circlus removes stored file payloads during processing of that request.
Before a deletion request, Circle data is kept according to that Circle's server settings and its operator's retention policy. Self-hosted operators may separately retain infrastructure backups or security logs; their retention periods are controlled by those operators, not by the Circlus app.
Related policy
See the Circlus Privacy Policy for more information about encryption, optional services, and self-hosted server responsibilities.