Skip to main content
All CollectionsSecurity & PrivacyPrivacy
How does enabling phone contacts permission affect my privacy?
How does enabling phone contacts permission affect my privacy?

Will my contact list be stored on Shakepay servers?

Updated over 3 months ago

Do I have to enable contacts permission to use Shakepay?

No. If you enable the phone contacts permission, you will have the added ability to send money to your phone contacts on Shakepay. If you don’t, no big deal, all other Shakepay features will work as expected.


Does Shakepay store my phone contacts on their servers?

No. The Shakepay app, when given phone contact permissions, converts your contacts' phone numbers into cryptographically hashed and truncated forms before sending them to its servers. These hashes are difficult to reverse, ensuring that the actual phone numbers remain private.

Shakepay's servers then attempt to match these hashes with other users who have enabled the discovery feature. Once the matching process is complete, the list of hashes is discarded and not stored.

This process, inspired by the privacy-focused app Signal, allows Shakepay to find your friends without accessing or storing your contact list directly!


No. We always ask for consent before making you discoverable by phone number.

You also have the option to enable/disable this feature at any by following these steps:

  1. Log into your Shakepay account using the mobile app

  2. Click the "Settings" icon at the bottom right of the app

  3. Click on "Security & privacy"

  4. Under "Privacy", turn "Discoverable" on or off

If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Customer Support Team and we will be happy to help!


Related articles:
How to shakepay a friend?

Did this answer your question?