Last Updated: 18.06.2026
Transparency is not a policy section. It is about giving you the information to verify our claims. This page publishes everything that matters about:
- Who owns LeafPlaza
- Where your data lives
- How we make money
- How is the platform is being build
- What is pending work to do
We have gaps, we do not hide it. We aim to cover them all, but we will do it only with your support.
Who owns LeafPlaza
LeafPlaza OÜ is a private limited company registered in Estonia under company number 17390867. It is owned by two European entrepreneurs: Jacob Ringler (Czech-Canadian) and Pablo Soria-Rojas (Spanish-Ecuadorian). There are no anonymous investors, venture capital, or undisclosed institutional backers. We are funded by you, the user.
Why this matters: Some platforms describe themselves as "backed by Europeans" without disclosing names or institutions. Our ownership can be looked up by anyone, in under a minute, for free.
Where your data lives
LeafPlaza uses two hosting providers. Both are registered and operated within the EU/EFTA. We will never move data to infrastructure outside EU or EFTA, or change providers without disclosing it to the community first and on this page right after.
| What | Provider | Jurisdiction | What it stores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website | Infomaniak Network SA | Switzerland, EFTA | Public website only |
| Website analytics | Independent Analytics | Open source and self-hosted on Infomaniak | Cookie-less anonymous user behaviour |
AT Protocol PDS (app.leafplaza.eu) | Hostinger | Company: Lithuania, EU Data Centre: Germany, EU | All social data: posts, profiles, media |
| DNS nameservers | Infomaniak (ns11.infomaniak.ch, ns12.infomaniak.ch) | Switzerland, EFTA | Domain resolution |
| Email infrastructure | Infomaniak (mta-gw.infomaniak.ch) | Switzerland, EFTA | Account and system mail |
We do not use Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle, Cloudfare, or any US-headquartered company, or EU-based subsidiary of any US company. All DNS authority, email, and hosting sits with Infomaniak, a Swiss-registered and Swiss-operated company.
Your social data lives in Lithuania through Hostinger, an EU-owned company.
Our domain uses DNSSEC, which protects against domain hijacking and ensures the integrity of our DNS records.
User analytics: on the website, we collect anonymous user behaviour as you can see in the details above. In the app, we do not collect any at the moment. We aim to introduce user analytics in the app in the future with a similar approach: anonymous & open-source.
Our commitment: We aim to keep hosting always always within EU or EFTA. If we ever change providers, we will update this table and notify users before the change occurs. Moving outside EU or EFTA will only happen with complete disclosure from our side and full consent from our users.
What LeafPlaza is built on
LeafPlaza is built entirely on Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS). There is no proprietary platform layer controlling your data.
| Component | Based on | Repository | Our modifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile app (iOS + Android) | Bluesky open-source app | github.com/bluesky-social/social-app | Minor UI and branding changes |
| AT Protocol | AT Protocol (atproto) | github.com/bluesky-social/atproto | None — compatible instance |
| PDS (Personal Data Server) | AT Protocol PDS | github.com/bluesky-social/pds | Configuration only |
What we have not fully resolved yet: The Bluesky-derived codebase includes third-party libraries we have not yet fully audited. Some of these may interact with services outside the EU or EFTA, including Google Firebase components that are part of the upstream Bluesky code and Apple's iOS many services we must consume so our app works in their platform.
We are working through these systematically and will update this table as each dependency is resolved. Until then, we also recommend reviewing the Bluesky Privacy Policy and the AT Protocol Privacy Notice.
We consider this work in progress on permanent basis and hence not resolved. We say so because hiding a known limitation would undermine the entire purpose of this page.
How LeafPlaza makes money
LeafPlaza is subscription-funded. That is our only revenue source at the moment.
| Tier | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | €2.99 | Full access to the LeafPlaza app and AT Protocol instance |
| 3 years | €5.99 | Full access at a reduced rate |
We do not sell advertising. We do not sell data. We do not monetise attention. We do not earn commission from third party publishers. Our sustainability depends directly on users trusting us and not on harvesting attention or pleasing undisclosed investors. This alignment is intentional.
We plan to add further sources of income in the future. Any of these new sources must respect the principles represented above.
We may apply for public funding through grants. We will do it only if this allows to advance our in our roadmap priorities without compromising in any of our values and commitments.
Governance and legal framework
LeafPlaza OÜ is a private company. Decisions are made by its two founders. There is no external board, no investor committee, and no entity with voting rights over the product direction other than the founders.
We are incorporated in Estonia and operate under Estonian and EU law, including GDPR and the Digital Services Act (DSA). We are subject to enforcement by the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate.
Contact: info@leafplaza.eu
Bluesky: @leafplaza.eu
Our six public commitments
These are falsifiable. You can hold us to each one.
- We will always disclose who owns us.
- We will always disclose where your data is stored, with named providers.
- We will always build on open-source components.
- If proprietary or compromised elements are part of the open source components, we will aim to replace or remove them.
- We will never sell your data.
- That's why we have a transparent monetization strategy
- We will never take money from anonymous investors.
- Or public investors that require commitments non-aligned with our vision and our users interest.
- We will never move your data outside EU or EFTA without your explicit knowledge and consent.
What we have not solved yet
Most platforms hide their limitations. We publish them because transparency only has value if it includes the uncomfortable parts.
1. Third-party dependencies in the app codebase
Our mobile app is based on Bluesky's open-source code. That upstream code includes third-party libraries, some of which may interact with non-EU services including Google Firebase and plenty of Apple's iOS services. These two are the most challenging in terms of data sensitivity.
Our plan is:
- Minimize the use cases where Firebase is used until the point of full removal
- Minimize the use cases where iOS services are used. However, full removal will never be possible to the closed nature of Apple's OS.
This table will be updated as each is resolved. We also aim to provide further granularity on the use cases.
2. AT Protocol federation
LeafPlaza runs an AT Protocol instance. By design, AT Protocol is a federated, open protocol. That means posts made on LeafPlaza are technically visible to and replicable by other nodes on the network, including Bluesky. We control what we do with your data. We cannot fully control what other nodes do with content once it propagates. This is a property of the open protocol, not a bug we can fix. However, it is a trade-off users deserve to understand.
3. Web access
LeafPlaza currently does not have a dedicated web interface. You can access the platform via the mobile app or any compatible AT Protocol client. A web interface is on our roadmap but does not have a confirmed delivery date yet.
4. Roadmap funding dependency
Some roadmap items, for example the a European-owned AT Protocol firehose (relay) and a blogging layer via Leaflet, depend on growing to a sustainable user base. We do not take investor funding to accelerate this. We grow at the pace our community supports. If a roadmap item becomes infeasible, we will say so publicly.
Changelog
This page is a living document. When anything material changes: provider, ownership, stack, known issues we update it here and note the change.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 19.06.2026 | Small update on the hosting, clarifying that Hostinger is a Lithuanian company but we use their Frankfurt Data Centre (Germany) |
| 18.06.2026 | Page published |
For journalists and researchers
If you are a journalist, researcher, or digital rights advocate and want to verify anything on this page, we welcome direct contact. We are reachable at info@leafplaza.eu and at @leafplaza.eu on the Atmosphere.
If you find something on this page that is incorrect or incomplete, please tell us. We will fix it and note the correction in the changelog above.