ChanceChat
Random video chat where video only starts if both people say yes
A prototype for one-to-one random video chat, designed around consent and safety. You start with text, and the server won't pass any video signal until both people have accepted. It is a working prototype, not a public service.
- Client: Personal
- Year: 2026
- Status: Prototype
- Service: Product Design & Safety
- 2 People must agree before any camera turns on
- 21 Automated tests, plus a two-browser video test
- 18+ Age-gated, with reporting and bans built in
Challenge: The usual design puts the camera first
Random video chat apps usually switch the camera on the moment two strangers are matched, and moderation catches up afterwards. That is the part that goes wrong, and it is a product decision, not an accident.
Goal: Consent before video, enforced by the server
Build the safety into the protocol rather than the interface: an age check before matching, text first, video only when both people accept, and reporting, blocking and bans that work without a moderator watching every call.
Result: A prototype that refuses to cut corners
People are matched one to one and chat in text. Either can ask for video; the camera is only requested once both have accepted, and the server drops every video signal until then, so a modified app can't skip the step. While video is on, each browser sends a still frame to a moderation hook every five seconds, and a flag ends the call. Reports keep the last 30 lines of chat, and three reports from different devices within a day trigger a 24-hour ban. The server refuses to start in production until a real age check and a real moderator are connected.
- Text first, video only after both people accept
- Consent enforced on the server, not just in the interface
- Age gate before matching
- Report, block and automatic bans
- Moderation hook for live video
- Production guard: won't run publicly with placeholder safety
- 21 automated tests and a two-browser video test

