Privacy

Last updated 10 October 2026

EarnSMS checks whether test text messages reach real phones. This page explains, in plain words, what the app collects, why, how long we keep it and how to have it deleted.

Your messages

• Outside a test, your messages never leave your phone. The app ignores them completely. It does not open your inbox and does not read older messages.
• While a test is running for you (a few minutes at a time), the app checks each incoming SMS on your phone itself and sends our server only the test message: one that comes from the sender the test was sent with or contains the test's code. For that message it sends the sender, the text, the time it arrived, the message centre number, the raw message data and which SIM it arrived on, because the test checks whether the sender or the text was changed on the way. Your personal messages never leave your phone.
• To make this check, our server sends the app only one-way fingerprints (hashes) of the test's sender and code.
• Our server keeps a message only if it matches the test sent to you. Anything else that reaches it (for example from an older app version) is discarded right away and not stored.
• If your phone is offline, the test message waits in a private queue inside the app until it can be sent, for at most 48 hours, and is then removed. Only test messages go into this queue.
• The app does not keep the text of test messages on your phone. It only shows how many test messages you received.
• When you sign in, the app reads the one-time code from the sign-in SMS on your phone to fill it in for you.

Your account

Your phone number (and a second number if you add one), and the name, email and country entered when you were registered as a tester. We also keep your test count, your earnings and your payouts.

Phone and network information

• Network and SIM: operator name and code, SIM state, number of SIM slots, signal strength, network type (for example 4G), Wi-Fi or mobile data, roaming, SIM and network country, and the phone's local IP address on its current network.
• Phone: make and model, Android version, app version, battery level and whether it is charging, a device identifier, and a push token so our server can wake the app.
• App state: whether the permissions and background settings the app needs are on, and how far the phone's clock is from ours.
• Crash reports: if the app runs into an error, technical details of that error (where in the app it happened), the phone model, Android version and app version are sent to Google Firebase so we can fix the bug. They never contain your messages or your phone number.

We use this to send tests only to phones that can receive them, to tell whether a missed test was caused by the phone (no signal, SIM removed, battery saver), to help you fix problems, and to prevent fraud such as emulators or duplicate accounts.

The app never asks for your contacts, call log, location, camera, microphone, photos or files, and it never sends SMS from your phone.

Why we use it

• To run tests and confirm that test messages arrived.
• To credit your earnings and make payouts.
• To keep the service working and secure, and to prevent fraud.
• To answer you when you contact us.

We do not sell your data and we do not use it for advertising. The businesses that order tests see the results of their own tests (whether and when a message arrived and how it looked). The app uses Google Firebase for push messages, for a record of each sign-in (device identifier, model, app version) and for crash reports (technical error details, no messages or phone number); hosting and SMS providers process data on our behalf.

How long we keep it

• Messages that do not belong to a test: never leave your phone. Any that reach our server anyway (older app versions) are not stored.
• Test messages that match a test: kept as part of that test's result for as long as the test record is needed.
• Account, earnings and phone information: while you take part, and deleted when you ask us to delete your account, except records we must keep by law.

Your choices and rights

Taking part is voluntary. You can stop at any time by logging out or uninstalling the app; collection stops at once. You can ask to see, correct or delete your data.

Deleting your account

You can ask us to delete your account and data at any time: open our support chat on Telegram and send “Delete my account” together with your phone number. In the app, Settings › Privacy & how it works › Request account deletion opens the same chat. We confirm in the chat when it is done. Records we must keep by law (for example payout records) are kept only as long as required.

Changes

If we change how we handle data, we update this page and the date at the top.