Privacy Policy – ReceiveSMS.com

Last updated: March 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how ReceiveSMS.com (“we”, “our”, “us”) collects, uses, and protects information when you browse our website, view public SMS inboxes, rent temporary numbers, use our receive SMS online tools, or contact our support team.

By using our website and services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please stop using our site and services.

1. Our Privacy Commitment

We built ReceiveSMS.com to help you protect your personal phone number and improve your online privacy. We collect only the data we need to operate, secure, and improve our receive SMS online service, and we do not sell your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of information when you use our website or services:

2.1. Technical and Usage Data

• IP address and approximate location (country or region).
• Browser type, device type, operating system, and language settings.
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, referring URLs, and general usage patterns.
• Error logs and basic diagnostic data to improve performance and security.

2.2. Account and Payment Data (If Applicable)

Most public features on ReceiveSMS.com can be used without creating an account. However, if you choose to create an account or purchase premium/private numbers, we may process:

• Email address and username provided during registration.
• Billing information handled by our payment processors (such as card brand, masked card number, transaction IDs, and billing country).
• Subscription details, order history, and number rental information (country, duration, product type).

Payment data is processed through trusted third-party payment providers and is subject to their privacy policies. We do not store full payment card details on our own servers.

2.3. Communication Data

When you contact us (for example by email or support form), we may collect:

• Your email address and the content of your message.
• Metadata such as time, date, IP, and technical context of your request.
• Any troubleshooting screenshots or logs you voluntarily provide.

2.4. Public SMS Content

For public and shared temporary numbers, SMS messages received on those numbers are displayed publicly on our website. This content is visible to everyone and may be indexed by search engines or third-party crawlers.

You should never ask third parties (such as banks, hospitals, or government services) to send sensitive information to public numbers, because we cannot control what they send and we cannot guarantee confidentiality for public inboxes.

3. What We Do NOT Collect

In the normal operation of ReceiveSMS.com, we do not intentionally collect:

• Your real personal phone number (unless you explicitly provide it in a support request).
• Your passwords, full authentication codes, or private credentials.
• Bank account numbers or full payment card numbers on our own servers.
• Personal data from third-party services you verify, beyond what is needed to deliver SMS.

4. How We Use Your Information

We process collected data for the following purposes:

• Service delivery: to operate the website, display SMS messages, provide temporary numbers, and handle your requests.
• Security and abuse prevention: to detect suspicious activity, block abusive IPs, and protect our infrastructure from fraud and attacks.
• Service improvement: to analyze usage trends, fix bugs, and optimize routes for faster SMS delivery and better reliability.
• Legal compliance: to comply with applicable laws, tax obligations, and enforce our Terms of Service.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may use cookies, local storage, or similar technologies to remember your preferences, maintain sessions, and collect anonymous analytics about how the website is used.

You can disable or limit cookies in your browser settings. However, some features of the site may not work correctly if cookies are disabled.

6. Public vs Private Numbers and Data Visibility

Public numbers: All SMS messages are publicly visible on the number’s page. Anyone can view them. We cannot remove individual messages sent by third parties unless there is a clear legal or security reason.

Private or premium numbers: SMS messages are only visible to the account that purchased or activated the number, within the logged-in dashboard. However, message content is still provided by third-party senders, and we recommend never using our numbers for extremely sensitive communications.

7. Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, our processing of personal data is based on:

• Contractual necessity: to provide services you request (for example, account creation, number rental).
• Legitimate interests: to maintain security, prevent abuse, and improve our services.
• Legal obligations: to comply with tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
• Consent: where required for cookies or specific marketing communications.

8. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We may share limited data with the following categories of recipients:

• Payment processors to process your transactions.
• Infrastructure and hosting providers that operate our servers, databases, and content delivery networks.
• Analytics and error-monitoring tools that help us improve performance and stability.
• Competent authorities or regulators, if required by law or to protect our rights and users’ safety.

We do not sell your personal information to data brokers or third parties for advertising campaigns.

9. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to provide our services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

• Technical logs are typically kept for a limited period to support troubleshooting and security.
• Account and billing data may be stored for several years where required by tax and accounting laws.
• Public SMS messages on free numbers may remain visible as part of the service design, unless removal is required for legal reasons.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information against unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction. This includes HTTPS encryption, access controls, monitoring, and regular updates to our systems.

However, no system is 100% secure, and you should always be careful about the types of information you ask third parties to send to any temporary phone number.

11. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention obligations.
• Object to or restrict certain types of processing.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on your consent.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Us” section below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

12. Children’s Privacy

Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 13 (or a higher age where required by local law), and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it where required.

13. International Data Transfers

Because our infrastructure and service providers may be located in different countries, your information may be transferred and processed outside your country of residence. We take steps to help ensure appropriate protection in line with applicable data protection laws.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, or legal requirements.

When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of ReceiveSMS.com after changes are posted means you accept the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or our data practices, you can contact us at:

• Email: support@receivesms.one
• Subject line: “Privacy Request – ReceiveSMS.com”

We will review your message and respond as soon as reasonably possible, in line with applicable data protection laws.