Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 18, 2026

Splitwisely ("we," "us," or "our") is an application developed by Dhruv Singh, available as a mobile app (Android) and a web app. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your information when you use Splitwisely (the "App"). This Privacy Policy applies to all versions of Splitwisely and any associated online services that link to or reference this policy. By using the App you agree to the practices described below. If you do not agree with any of the practices described in this Privacy Policy, please do not use the App.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

1.2 Information Collected With Your Permission

• Contacts (mobile only): When you choose to add friends from your contacts, the App reads your device contacts (names, phone numbers, email addresses) to find registered users or to create pending friend invitations. You can also enter an email or phone number manually. We do not bulk-upload or store your full address book on our servers. Contact data is processed on your device to match against registered users.
• SMS invitations (mobile only): If you invite someone by phone, the App may open your device’s default SMS app with a pre-filled draft message. We do not send SMS on your behalf, read your text messages, or access SMS history.
• Camera & Photos: Used only when you choose to upload a profile photo or attach a receipt image to an expense.
• Push Notifications: If you opt in, we store a device-specific Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token to deliver notifications about expense activity.

1.3 Information Collected Automatically

• Device Identifier: A locally generated UUID used solely to key your push-notification token. It is not used for advertising or cross-app tracking.
• Preferences Cache: Onboarding status, theme, currency, and locale are cached locally on your device via SharedPreferences.
• reCAPTCHA (web only): When using the web app, Google reCAPTCHA v3 is used to verify that requests come from legitimate users and to protect our services from abuse. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information (such as device and application data) and sends it to Google. This information is used to provide, improve, and maintain Google's reCAPTCHA service. See Google's Privacy Policy for more details.
• Install Referrer (Android only): When you install the app via a referral link, the Android Install Referrer API provides a referral token used solely to credit the referring user with a reward. No personal data from the referrer is shared with you or vice versa.

2. How We Use Your Information

• Provide Core Features: Create and manage your account, groups, expenses, friends, settlements, pending friend invitations, and self expenses.
• Enable Expense Sharing: When you share an expense with a friend or group, the details of that expense (description, amount, category, splits, payer, notes) are visible to all participants. Anyone shared on an expense has the ability to view, edit, or delete that expense.
• AI Category Suggestions: When enabled, the expense description text you enter may be sent to Google's Gemini API to suggest a category. Only the description text is sent — no personal, financial, or identifying information is included.
• Currency Conversion: When enabled, the App fetches live exchange rates from ExchangeRate-API. No personal data is sent in these requests.
• Push Notifications: Notify you about new expenses, settlements, friend requests, and group activity (if you opt in).
• Friend Discovery: Your name, email, and phone number may be used so that other Splitwisely users can find you and add you as a friend, enabling shared expense tracking.
• Improve the App: Understand feature usage through aggregate, non-identifying metrics to improve performance and reliability.
• Detect and Prevent Abuse: Monitor for fraudulent, unauthorized, or suspicious activity to protect our users and the integrity of the service.

3. How We Share Your Information

3.1 With Other Users

Splitwisely is designed to help people share expenses. When you add an expense involving other users, those users can see the expense details. Your name, email address, and profile photo are visible to your friends and group members so they can identify who they are sharing expenses with. If you leave or delete your account, non-personal expense records (amounts, descriptions) may remain visible to other participants as part of their records.

3.2 With Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy governing data it processes:

Our service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and may only use it to provide the services we have engaged them for. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third parties for advertising or marketing purposes.

3.3 For Legal Reasons

We may disclose personal information when required by applicable law. For example, we may disclose information:

• To respond to subpoenas, court orders, or other bona fide legal processes;
• To investigate, prevent, or take action regarding violations of our Terms of Service, illegal activities, suspected fraud, or situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person;
• In an emergency, to protect the health and safety of our users;
• As otherwise required by any applicable law.

3.4 Business Transfer

If the App or its assets are acquired by or transferred to another company, your information may be included in the transferred assets. In that case, the acquiring party will assume the rights and obligations regarding your information as described in this Privacy Policy. We will notify you of any such transfer through the App or by email.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR & Applicable Laws)

We process personal data only when we have a valid legal basis under applicable data protection laws. This includes:

• Consent: When you authorize us to access your contacts, camera, or enable notifications. You may withdraw your consent at any time through your device settings.
• Contractual Necessity: When processing is required to provide the services you request, such as creating your account, recording shared expenses, and managing groups.
• Legal Obligations: When processing is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
• Legitimate Interests: When processing is needed to maintain the security and integrity of our services, to prevent abuse, or to improve the App, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

No matter where you are located, we apply appropriate safeguards and honor the rights available to you under the data protection laws that apply in your jurisdiction.

5. Data Storage & Security

• Your data is stored in Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore and Firebase Storage), which provides encryption in transit and at rest.
• Authentication credentials are managed by Firebase Authentication and are never stored in plain text by the App.
• Local data (preferences, onboarding flags) is stored on-device via SharedPreferences.
• We use technical and administrative security measures to maintain the security of your data.
• We implement reasonable technical safeguards but cannot guarantee absolute security. No transmission of data over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential.
• We will contact you as required by applicable law in the event of a data breach.

6. Data Retention

• Your account data and associated records are retained for as long as your account is active.
• Deleted expenses are soft-deleted (marked as deleted) and may be retained for a limited period to support undo functionality and dispute resolution before permanent removal.
• When you delete your account, we will permanently remove your personal data (name, email, profile photo, phone number) from our systems within a reasonable timeframe, subject to legal obligations.
• Even after account deletion, non-personal expense records (amounts, descriptions, categories) involving other users may remain visible to those users as part of their own records, similar to how deleting an email account does not delete emails from recipients' inboxes.
• We may retain limited data as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our terms.

7. Your Rights & Choices

• Access & Correction: You can view and update your profile information (name, email, phone, photo) within the App's Settings at any time.
• Permissions: You can revoke camera, contacts, and notification permissions at any time through your device settings.
• Friend Discovery: Your email and phone number may be used by other users to find you. You control which information you provide in your profile.
• Notifications: You may opt out of push notifications through the App's settings or your device settings. Certain service-critical communications (such as password resets) cannot be opted out of.
• Account Deletion: You may request permanent deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time through the App or by contacting us at the email below. Once deleted, your data cannot be recovered.
• Data Export: You can export your expense data to CSV from within the App, or request a copy of your data by contacting us.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have additional rights under applicable data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, DPDPA), including the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to object. To exercise any right, please contact us using the details in Section 11.

8. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or the applicable minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal data without parental consent, we will take steps to delete it promptly. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has provided us with data, please contact us at the email below.

9. International Data Transfers

Your data may be processed and stored on servers located outside your country of residence (including in the United States) through our use of Firebase and Google Cloud services. Some of those jurisdictions may not provide the same level of data protection as your home jurisdiction. By using the App, you consent to this transfer. We rely on Google's data processing agreements and standard contractual clauses where applicable. Regardless of location, we apply technical, organizational, and contractual safeguards designed to protect your personal data and ensure it is processed in line with this Privacy Policy.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting the updated policy within the App or on our listing page and updating the "Effective Date" above. Changes are effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact:

• Developer: Dhruv Singh
• Email: splitwisely@dksdev.com