Kotipalli built the Cost Share app as a free application with optional paid features. This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Where applicable law requires a legal basis for processing (for example, under the GDPR), we rely on: performance of our contract with you (providing the app); legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention, and improving the service); your consent where required; and compliance with legal obligations.
Your information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers host infrastructure (including Supabase, Google, Apple, and Expo). Those locations may not offer the same data protection laws as your home country. We use contractual and technical safeguards appropriate to the data we process.
1. Information We Collect
We collect the following information to provide and improve the Cost Share service:
- Account Information: Your name, email address, and profile photo when you create an account via Apple Sign-In or Google Sign-In (we do not offer a separate email-and-password login).
- Expense & Group Data: Expenses you log, amounts, descriptions, categories, notes, settlement records, groups you create or join, recurring expense templates (premium), edit history for expenses, and balances between you and other users. Data in a group is visible to members of that group; friends you share with can see relevant expenses.
- Camera & Photos: If you use receipt scanning, we access your camera or photo library. Images are sent to Google Gemini for text extraction. If you attach a receipt to an expense, we may store the image file in our cloud storage and link it to that expense. Stored receipt images are access-restricted to members of the associated expense and are served through short-lived, signed links. Profile and group images you upload are stored in our storage service and may be accessible via a public URL.
- Receipt Scan Data: We store parsed receipt data (merchant, line items, amounts) in your personal receipt history to power re-scanning and expense suggestions. We do not collect payment card numbers and we do not sell or share your receipt data with third parties for their marketing.
- Biometric Data: On supported devices, Face ID or Touch ID may be requested only to confirm account deletion. Biometric verification is performed by your device's operating system; we do not receive or store biometric templates.
- Referrals & Invites: If you share an invite link or QR code, we process identifiers needed to attribute sign-ups and apply referral benefits. Invite links may include your user ID.
- Device Identifiers & Notifications: A push notification token and related delivery metadata so we can send you alerts (for example, when a friend adds an expense, settles up, or sends you a payment reminder). We also store reminder schedules you configure (for premium automated group reminders) and a log of reminder events to enforce rate limits and investigate abuse.
- Purchase & Subscription Data: If you subscribe to Cost Share Pro, your subscription status and purchase history are managed by RevenueCat and the App Store / Google Play. We receive confirmation of your entitlement status but do not store your payment card details.
- Usage & Diagnostics: We use Google Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, and Performance Monitoring. These services may receive app version, device type, interaction events, crash logs, and performance traces. Crash reporting may be associated with your account identifier and email to help us investigate issues. We do not use Firebase for third-party advertising.
- Local Device Storage: The app may store preferences on your device (for example, push notification opt-in, theme, and reminder cooldowns) using secure or standard device storage.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the collected information exclusively to operate the Cost Share service:
- To create and manage your account
- To enable expense splitting, group management, balance tracking, and recurring expenses
- To process receipt images using AI and return extracted data to you
- To send you push notifications about expense activity relevant to you, including manual and scheduled payment reminders initiated by other users
- To enforce reminder rate limits, prevent abuse, and respond to reports of harassing reminders
- To manage your subscription and premium feature access
- To allow other users you invite to find you by name within the app
- To diagnose and fix bugs and crashes
- To operate referral and invite flows
- To deliver over-the-air app updates where supported
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising.
3. Push Notifications & Reminders
Cost Share uses push notifications to keep you informed about shared expenses. Other users may send you manual payment reminders, and premium subscribers may schedule automated reminders for group members who owe them money according to in-app balances.
What we process: Your device push token, notification preferences, reminder schedules you create, and metadata about reminder events (such as sender, recipient, group, and timestamp). Reminder notifications may include the sender's display name and the amount owed as shown in the app.
Why we process it: To deliver notifications you expect from the service, to operate scheduled reminders you authorize, and to protect users through rate limits and abuse investigation. Our lawful bases under the GDPR are performance of our contract with you and legitimate interests in operating a safe service; where local law requires consent for certain notifications, you may withdraw consent through your device settings.
- Opt out: You can disable push notifications at any time in your device's system settings. This stops delivery to your device but does not delete expense data visible in the app.
- If you receive unwanted reminders: You may contact us at support@cost-share.app to report harassment or abuse. We may investigate, apply rate limits, or restrict reminder features for the sender. We are not able to mediate personal disputes, but we take misuse of our notification system seriously.
- Third-party delivery: Push messages are delivered through Apple Push Notification service (APNs), Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), and Expo's notification infrastructure, each subject to their own privacy policies.
4. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services to operate Cost Share:
- Supabase — Cloud database and authentication provider. Your account data and expense records are stored securely in Supabase's infrastructure. Supabase Privacy Policy.
- Google Gemini AI — Used to process receipt images and extract expense data. Receipt images are sent to Google's Gemini API for analysis and are subject to Google's data handling policies. Google Privacy Policy.
- RevenueCat — Subscription and in-app purchase management. RevenueCat processes your subscription status and purchase events. RevenueCat Privacy Policy.
- Apple Sign-In — If you choose to sign in with Apple, Apple authenticates you and may share a pseudonymous identifier with us. Apple Privacy Policy.
- Google Sign-In — If you choose to sign in with Google, Google authenticates you and shares your name, email, and profile photo with us to create your account. Google Privacy Policy.
- Expo / Expo Notifications — We use Expo's push notification infrastructure to deliver in-app alerts. Expo Privacy Policy.
- Google Firebase — Analytics, crash reporting, and performance monitoring. Firebase Privacy.
- Pixabay — Optional stock images when you pick a group icon; we query Pixabay and store the chosen image on our servers. Pixabay Privacy.
- Brevo — Email delivery provider. When enabled, we send summary and notification emails (which may include your name, email, and expense balance figures) through Brevo. Brevo Privacy Policy.
- Resend — Email delivery provider for transactional and account-related emails (which may include your name and email address). Resend Privacy Policy.
5. Data Retention & Account Deletion
We retain your personal data while your account is active. Reminder schedules and safety logs are kept only as long as needed for those features.
When you delete your account, we delete your profile and sign-in record and remove your participation from friendships and groups. Expenses in shared groups may remain for other members (with your splits removed and payer references cleared where applicable) so their balances stay correct. Your personal receipt history tied to your account is deleted. Uploaded files in cloud storage may take additional time to purge. Subscription records held by Apple, Google, or RevenueCat are governed by their retention policies.
6. Your Rights & Choices
- Access & Correction: You can update your name and profile photo at any time from the app settings.
- Delete Account: You may delete your account from app settings. See Section 5 for what is removed vs. what may remain visible to other group members. Contact support@cost-share.app if deletion fails or you need help.
- Export: You can export group expense data as CSV from the app (PDF export requires a Pro subscription).
- Push Notifications & Reminders: You can disable push notifications at any time via your device's system settings. If you receive harassing reminders, contact us at support@cost-share.app. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests where applicable (see Section 3).
- Camera Access: Camera permissions can be revoked at any time in your device settings.
- GDPR / CCPA Rights: If you are located in the European Economic Area or California, you may have additional rights including the right to access, portability, restriction of processing, and objection to processing. Contact us at support@cost-share.app to exercise these rights.
7. Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
- All data is transmitted over HTTPS/TLS encryption
- Sign-in is handled via Apple, Google, and Supabase Auth — we do not store a separate password for your account
- Database access is protected by Row-Level Security (RLS) policies
- Sensitive app data is encrypted at rest using hardware-backed secure storage on supported devices
- API keys and secrets are stored server-side and never exposed to the client
However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security and encourage you to secure your Apple ID or Google account and enable device-level security features.
8. Website (cost-share.app)
Our marketing website displays this policy and may show your current app version in the footer. The site does not require a Cost Share login. If we add analytics cookies or similar technologies to the website in the future, we will update this policy and, where required, ask for consent.
9. Children's Privacy
Cost Share is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at support@cost-share.app.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notifying you via push notification or email. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Kotipalli
Email: support@cost-share.app