Start without signing up
A /start link or its QR code gives you an encrypted chat identity in seconds — no email, no phone, no name. What it can do, and where it lives.
Private.Ki has a public entrance that skips sign-up entirely. Open it and, a few seconds later, you have a working encrypted chat identity with a random handle — no email address, no phone number, no name, no password. It exists so that somebody who has been sent a link can answer a message without first creating an account.
This article is what that identity is and what it can do. Turning it into a permanent account is Keep your anonymous identity.
An anonymous identity has no password, so there is nothing to sign in with anywhere else. It is held in the storage of the browser — or, in the Android app, of the app — that created it. Clear that storage and the identity and its chats are gone for good, for you and for the people you were talking to. The app says so: Clear this browser and this identity is gone.
How you get there
There is no button for it on the sign-in screen. The only way in is the address itself:
- the link
https://app.privateki.net/start, or https://app.privateki.net/start?to=<handle>, which drops you straight into a chat with the person who sent it, or- the QR code that encodes one of those two — this is what somebody shows you from their own Private.Ki screen.
- Open the link (or scan the QR code). The screen says Setting up your anonymous chat… while your encryption keys are generated on your device, and tells you what you are about to get: You'll get a random handle. No email, no phone number, no name.Web & desktop screenshotOpening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.
Opening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotOpening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Opening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.iPhone Android screenshotOpening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.Opening /start: the keys are generated on the device while the screen explains what you are about to get.Android - Wait a moment. There is nothing to fill in. When the keys are ready you land on a chat home of your own.
- You have a handle. It looks like
ki.9q2m4x— the prefixki.and six characters — and the card at the top of the screen shows your full address with Anonymous · lives in this browser underneath.Web & desktop screenshotThe anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.The anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.Web & desktop iPhone screenshotThe anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.The anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.iPhone Android screenshotThe anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.Same screen as on the web, single column. This capture is produced by the screenshot pipeline and will appear here.The anonymous home: your handle, 'Anonymous · lives in this browser', the Chat with anyone field, and the two ways to be found.Android
If the link named someone (?to=…), the chat with that person is already open. Otherwise use the Chat with anyone field — it takes a handle or a full Private.Ki address — or let people find you: Share link and Show QR open Let someone chat with you, which gives you your own /start?to= link and its QR code. Whoever opens it lands straight in a chat with you, anonymously too if they have no account.
What it can and cannot do
| Works | Locked |
|---|---|
| Encrypted 1:1 and group chats with anyone on Private.Ki, anonymous or not | Email — no address to send from or receive at |
| Photos, videos, voice messages, stickers, reactions, self-destruct timers | Signing in on another device — there is no password to sign in with |
| Your own share link and QR code | Invitation links for people outside Private.Ki — you can still send them your /start link |
| Keeping everything when you later save the identity |
The locks are enforced by the server, not just hidden in the app. When you touch one, a sheet explains it in the same words every time — for example Email needs a saved account — and offers the two ways out: Set a password or Pair a phone instead. You can also close it with Not now and carry on chatting.
The mail half of the app is not shown at all while the identity is anonymous, so the app opens on Chats and stays there.
Is this available in the Android app?
Yes. The /start screen is part of the Android app, not just the web app, and app.privateki.net is a verified Android App Link for it. Tapping a /start link or scanning its QR code on a phone that has Private.Ki installed opens the app on the Setting up your anonymous chat… screen and creates the identity there. As in the browser, there is no button for it anywhere in the app — a link or a QR code is the only way in.
One difference worth knowing: on Android the identity lives in the app's own storage on that phone. Clearing the app's data or uninstalling it loses the identity exactly as clearing a browser does. The app still uses the wording lives in this browser on that screen.
If you already have an account and are signed in, opening /start does not create a second identity — it simply takes you to your chats (and opens the chat with ?to=… if the link named one).
What our server sees
Cannot see
- Your chats — an anonymous identity has the same end-to-end encryption as any other account
- A name, an email address or a phone number — none was ever asked for
Can see
- The handle, because it is the address other people chat with
- That this account has no password and no email, which is what the locks above are decided from
- Your IP address for the duration of the connection, as for any visitor, and a limit on how many new identities may come from one connection
Common questions
Can someone tell who I am from my handle?
Not from the handle itself: it is six random characters after ki., drawn on your device, with no connection to anything about you. What can identify you is what you say and who you talk to — an anonymous identity is a blank name, not a disguise.
Can I chat with people who are not on Private.Ki?
Not from an anonymous identity — minting an invitation link for an outside email address needs a saved account. You can send them your own /start link instead, and they arrive as an anonymous identity too.
I closed the tab. Is it gone?
No — closing a tab or the app is fine; the identity is in the browser's or app's storage. What loses it is clearing that storage: a browser "clear site data", a private window you close, uninstalling the app, or clearing the app's data.
How do I make it permanent?
Set a password. It keeps the handle, all chats and all contacts, and gives you an email address and sign-in on any device. See Keep your anonymous identity.
The link says anonymous chat is paused
Anonymous chat is paused right now. Sign in or come back later. means the entrance has been switched off for the moment. Nothing is wrong with your link; try again later, or sign in if you already have an account. You may also see Too many new identities from this connection if several have been created from the same network in a short time — wait a little and try again.
Why is there no button for this in the app?
Because it is an entrance for people arriving from somewhere else — a link or a QR code from someone who wants to chat with them. Someone who opens the app on purpose is expected to sign in or sign up.