> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://z-text.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Viber vs Z-TEXT: Is Viber Actually Private? - URL: https://z-text.org/viber-vs-z-text-is-viber-actually-private/ - Published: 2026-05-04T17:02:14.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-27T09:13:31.000Z - Author: Eric Pierrot - Founder, Z-TEXT LLC — building privacy tools without phone numbers, email, or metadata. Privacy Comparison 2025 # Viber vs Z-TEXT: Is Viber Actually Private? May 2025 · 5 min read · [z-text.com](https://z-text.com/?ref=z-text.org) Viber has over 1 billion users and claims to care about privacy. But it is owned by Rakuten — a Japanese e-commerce giant — collects extensive personal data, and serves personalised ads. [Z-TEXT](https://z-text.com/?ref=z-text.org) collects nothing. Here is the full story. ## What Is Viber — And Who Really Owns It? Viber is a free messaging and calling app owned by **Rakuten** — one of Japan's largest e-commerce and data companies. Like Meta and WhatsApp, the business model is simple: free app, paid for with your data. Viber does offer end-to-end encryption for one-on-one chats and calls. But its own privacy policy makes clear it **collects activity data** including groups you visit, messages you like, content you view, links you click, your device information, wireless network, mobile carrier and more. Personal information is shared for third-party marketing, and personalised advertising is displayed. **⚠️ Viber's Own Privacy Policy Admits**Viber collects data about the groups, communities, business accounts and channels you visit, follow or manage, messages you like, messages you send, the content you post or view, and links you click on. That is not privacy. That is surveillance with a chat feature attached. ## The Rakuten Problem Rakuten is not a privacy company — it is a data company. It runs one of the world's largest loyalty and advertising networks. Owning Viber gives Rakuten access to the messaging behaviour of over a billion people — who they talk to, when, how often, and what topics they engage with. Every time Viber updates its privacy policy — as it did in 2025 with new dating services and AI chat summaries — it expands the scope of data it can legally collect. The 2025 policy updates included collecting special categories of data for dating services and adding AI chat summaries. Your conversations are now feeding AI models. **📌 Worth Knowing**Z-TEXT has no privacy policy to update — because there is no data to protect. No company. No servers. No AI training on your messages. The blockchain does not care who you are. ## Quick Answers Does Viber require a phone number? Yes — Viber requires a phone number to register. Your entire conversation history is permanently linked to your real identity and SIM card. Z-TEXT requires no phone number, no email — just a cryptographic z-address. Does Viber sell my data? Viber shares personal information with third parties for marketing purposes and displays personalised ads. Whether that constitutes "selling" depends on legal definitions — but the practical result is the same: your behaviour funds their business. Is Viber end-to-end encrypted? For one-on-one chats and calls, yes. But encryption of content does not prevent metadata collection — and Viber collects extensive metadata. Z-TEXT uses zk-SNARKs to hide both content AND metadata on the [BitcoinZ blockchain](https://getbtcz.com/?ref=z-text.org). Can Viber be censored or shut down? Yes. Viber has been blocked in multiple countries. Being centralised means a single government order can cut off all users in a region instantly. Z-TEXT runs on a decentralised blockchain — no single country can shut it down. What makes Z-TEXT different from Viber at a technical level? Viber is a centralised app on corporate servers that collects your data. Z-TEXT is a decentralised app where every message is a shielded zk-SNARKs transaction on the BitcoinZ blockchain — permanently stored, owned by you, recoverable with 24 words, and cryptographically invisible to everyone else. ### 🕸️ Privacy Radar: Viber vs Z-TEXT █ = 1 pt | max 10 | ■ Viber ■ Z-TEXT | Category | Viber | Z-TEXT | | | ------------- | ----- | ---------- | ------- | | 🔒 Privacy | ███ | ██████████ | 3 vs 10 | | 📵 No Phone | ✘ | ██████████ | 0 vs 10 | | 🕵️ Metadata | █ | ██████████ | 1 vs 10 | | ⛓️ Blockchain | ✘ | ██████████ | 0 vs 10 | | ⚛️ Quantum | ██ | ████████ | 2 vs 8 | | 🌐 Decentral. | ✘ | ██████████ | 0 vs 10 | | 🚫 Censorship | ██ | ██████████ | 2 vs 10 | | 🧰 3-in-1 | ✘ | ██████████ | 0 vs 10 | ## Feature by Feature | Feature | Viber | Z-TEXT | | ---------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------ | | Phone number required | Yes | No | | Owned by Big Tech | Yes — Rakuten | No — community | | Metadata collected | Yes — extensive | No — zero | | Personalised ads | Yes | No | | Data shared with 3rd parties | Yes | No | | E2E encrypted by default | 1-on-1 only | Always — zk-SNARKs | | Blockchain-based | No | Yes — BTCZ | | Decentralised | No | Yes | | Can be censored/blocked | Yes | No | | Quantum resistant | No | Yes — AES-256-GCM | | Built-in crypto wallet | No | Yes — BTCZ | | Password manager | No | Yes — on-chain | | Recoverable via seed phrase | No | Yes — 24 words | | Lifetime licence | No | Yes — $129 | ## The Verdict Viber is a convenient, feature-rich messaging app. But it is built on a data collection model that is fundamentally incompatible with real privacy. Phone number required, metadata harvested, ads served, data shared with third parties — and all of it feeding a Japanese e-commerce giant's data machine. Z-TEXT is the opposite in every dimension. No phone number. No metadata. No company. No ads. Built on the [BitcoinZ blockchain](https://getbtcz.com/?ref=z-text.org) since 2017 — the infrastructure that powers the world's first zk-SNARKs shielded messenger. **🏆 Bottom Line**Viber is free because Rakuten profits from your data. Z-TEXT costs $129 once because your data is worth nothing to us — we cannot see it, collect it, or sell it. That is the difference. ## Stop Feeding Rakuten's Data Machine. No phone. No metadata. No ads. No Rakuten. One blockchain. One seed phrase. $129 — forever. [Get Lifetime Licence — $129](https://z-text.com/packages?ref=z-text.org) BTC · ETH · XMR · ZEC · BTCZ · USDT · [z-text.com](https://z-text.com/?ref=z-text.org) **Related:**Viber vs Z-TEXT · Viber alternative for privacy · private messaging app · secure messaging app · anonymous messaging app · no phone number messaging app · decentralized messaging app · blockchain messenger · encrypted messenger app · zk-SNARKs messenger · quantum proof messaging app · best private messaging app · censorship resistant messenger · shielded messenger · best message app for privacy · no IP no phone messaging app · decentralized encrypted messenger · blockchain messaging privacy · WhatsApp alternative for privacy · Signal alternative [Want to see how Signal and Z-TEXT stack up against Telegram, SimpleX, and Session too? Here's the full 5-way comparison.](https://z-text.org/z-text-only-messenger-three-things-2026/) [Curious how Z-TEXT stacks up against the full field? Here's the complete 29-app privacy ranking.](https://z-text.org/29-messengers-blockchain-privacy-route-2026/)