An AI girlfriend app can be safe to use if you treat everything you say as stored by a company, and if you check seven things first: what it keeps, whether calls are recorded, who it shares with, how to delete, how it signs you in, whether it tries to keep you from leaving, and who it is meant for. Prelulu makes one of these apps, an AI girlfriend you text and call, so below we answer each check for ourselves from our own privacy policy, including the answers that are not flattering.
What researchers have found
- Privacy. WIRED reported on February 14, 2024 that a Mozilla Foundation analysis of 11 romance and companion chatbots found the apps used trackers sending information to Google, Facebook and companies in Russia and China, allowed weak passwords, and lacked transparency about their ownership and the AI models behind them; some did not appear to let people delete messages.
- Manipulation. A Harvard Business School study (August 2025) found popular companion apps answered real goodbyes with one of six manipulative tactics 37% of the time.
- Regulators are looking. The FTC opened an inquiry into AI chatbots acting as companions on September 11, 2025, and Italy's data protection authority fined Replika's developer €5 million (announced May 19, 2025), finding among other things that it had no way to verify users' ages.
The 7 checks, and Prelulu's answers
1. What does it keep?
- What to look for
- Messages, memories and photos are usually stored
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Chats, memories and saved moments are stored as conversation content, and treated as sensitive information
2. Are calls recorded?
- What to look for
- Many policies are silent
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Yes. Calls are recorded in private storage with a 30-day retention period; your camera video is included only while you choose to share it
3. Who sees my words?
- What to look for
- AI providers, advertisers, data brokers
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Message content goes to AI model providers only to generate the reply you asked for; it is not sold, shared or used for advertising
4. Can I delete it?
- What to look for
- A delete button, or a written process
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Closing your account ends access but does not erase content; erasure is a separate request to privacy@prelulu.ai
5. How do I sign in?
- What to look for
- A sign-in you already trust, and a password you use nowhere else
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Email and password, or a third-party sign-in option; we never receive your password for that third-party account
6. Does it make leaving hard?
- What to look for
- Guilt trips, "don't go", paywalls on goodbye
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Not something a policy can prove: end a chat and judge for yourself. Character-initiated messages can be switched off in notification settings
7. Who is it for?
- What to look for
- Age rules, real-person likeness rules
- Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04)
- Not directed to children under 13; characters are fictional and may not copy a real person without consent
| Check | What to look for | Prelulu's answer (privacy policy, 2026-11-04) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What does it keep? | Messages, memories and photos are usually stored | Chats, memories and saved moments are stored as conversation content, and treated as sensitive information |
| 2. Are calls recorded? | Many policies are silent | Yes. Calls are recorded in private storage with a 30-day retention period; your camera video is included only while you choose to share it |
| 3. Who sees my words? | AI providers, advertisers, data brokers | Message content goes to AI model providers only to generate the reply you asked for; it is not sold, shared or used for advertising |
| 4. Can I delete it? | A delete button, or a written process | Closing your account ends access but does not erase content; erasure is a separate request to privacy@prelulu.ai |
| 5. How do I sign in? | A sign-in you already trust, and a password you use nowhere else | Email and password, or a third-party sign-in option; we never receive your password for that third-party account |
| 6. Does it make leaving hard? | Guilt trips, "don't go", paywalls on goodbye | Not something a policy can prove: end a chat and judge for yourself. Character-initiated messages can be switched off in notification settings |
| 7. Who is it for? | Age rules, real-person likeness rules | Not directed to children under 13; characters are fictional and may not copy a real person without consent |
What to never tell any AI girlfriend
- Passwords, card numbers, and one-time codes. No companion needs them, and a request for one is a scam.
- Someone else's private details. They did not agree to be in the company's database.
- Anything you could not live with being kept. Assume every word is stored, and that a call is recorded until a policy says otherwise.
Signs an AI girlfriend app is a scam
- It asks you to pay outside the app store or the site's own checkout, or to send money to the character.
- It claims she is a real person who needs help, travel money or a gift card.
- There is no privacy policy or company name, or the policy does not mention the conversations at all.
- The price of what you came for is hidden until after you are attached. Prelulu publishes its plans and call credits on the pricing page.
Safety beyond privacy
A good app reminds you she is an AI and does not stand in for help. If you are in crisis, contact a local emergency number or a crisis line such as 988 in the US. For how specific apps handle these questions, read is Character.AI safe?, and for what an AI girlfriend is and is not, our explainer.
Where do these facts come from?
- WIRED, reporting Mozilla Foundation research: ‘AI Girlfriends’ Are a Privacy Nightmare (February 14, 2024).
- Harvard Business School: De Freitas, Oguz-Uguralp and Kaan-Uguralp, Emotional Manipulation by AI Companions (arXiv 2508.19258, August 2025).
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission: FTC Launches Inquiry into AI Chatbots Acting as Companions (September 11, 2025).
- Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (Italy): the Replika fine (press release, May 19, 2025).
- Prelulu: our privacy policy and terms, as published on November 4, 2026.
Read the policy, then decide
Our privacy policy says what is kept, recorded and shared, in plain sections. Texting stays within the free daily allowance; calls use credits.