Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 30, 2026

Bupples ("Bupples", "we", "us") is an expense-splitting and hangout coordination app operated by Yousof Selim, an individual developer based in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who sees it, and your choices. Questions: ygshuh@gmail.com.

Important: Bupples is a record-keeping tool. It does not move, hold, or transfer money.

1. Who we are

• Data controller: Yousof Selim, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
• Contact: ygshuh@gmail.com
• Bupples runs on Google Firebase and Google Cloud. Your data may be processed and stored on Google Cloud servers, including in the United States.

2. What we collect

a. Account and identity

• A Firebase user ID is created for each user, including guest users.
• If you sign in with Apple, Google, or email, we receive the account information needed for that method, such as your email address and display name. If you use Apple’s Hide My Email, we receive Apple’s private relay address instead of your personal email.
• You may add or edit profile details such as your name, username, profile picture, avatar, and display preferences.

b. Friends, hangouts, and expense content

We collect the information needed to make Bupples work, including:

• Friend, group, and hangout records.
• Hangout/session names, members, roles, invites, QR/join links, and activity history.
• One-off expense allocations and recipient-bound invitations, including who sent and received an invitation, its safe preview, proposed share, delivery state, and whether it was accepted, declined, cancelled, or expired.
• Expense descriptions, amounts, currencies, item assignments, quantities, tax, service, tips, discounts, notes, and balance calculations.
• Settlement and record-payment information, including who paid whom, the amount, method labels, notes, uploaded proof, confirmation status, and disputes or resubmissions.
• Transfer details you choose to add, such as payment instructions or account handles, so other members know how to pay you outside Bupples.

A pending one-off expense recipient can see only a safe preview needed to decide whether to accept or decline. The full one-off expense, transfer details, and proof features become available to that recipient only after accepting. The creator can see invitation delivery and response states so they can revise or resend the split.

c. Photos, profile pictures, and receipts

If you upload a profile picture, hangout photo, receipt image, payment proof, or other image, it may be stored in Google Cloud Storage and shown to the relevant people in the app.

For receipt scanning, a receipt image and related context may be sent to Google Cloud Vertex AI / Gemini to extract merchant names, items, quantities, amounts, taxes, service charges, tips, discounts, and totals. You can review and edit scan results before using them. Receipt extraction is used to provide the feature and is not used by us for advertising.

d. Pip assistant and automated messages

When you ask Pip for help, Bupples may process your question, relevant app context, and generated response so Pip can answer in context. Pip messages may relate to the screen or task you are using, such as splitting an expense, reviewing a receipt, settling up, or understanding balances. Do not enter sensitive information into Pip unless it is necessary for the question.

e. Purchases and Pip Pro

If you subscribe to Pip Pro, the purchase is processed by the Apple App Store or Google Play. We do not receive your card, bank, or wallet details. We use RevenueCat to manage subscriptions and receive entitlement information linked to your Bupples user ID, such as whether Pro is active, the plan, product identifier, store, renewal or expiry status, and purchase events needed to unlock Pro features.

f. Device, diagnostics, notifications, and analytics

• Firebase App Check attestation tokens help verify requests come from the genuine app and reduce abuse.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging tokens are stored if notifications are enabled, so Bupples can send reminders and app updates. You can turn notifications off in your device settings.
• Firebase Analytics collects usage and technical information such as screens viewed, features used, app version, device type, approximate region, language, and app instance identifiers.
• Crash or diagnostic data may be collected through Google Firebase services to help us fix bugs and improve reliability.

Product analytics use stable feature identifiers and technical states. We do not intentionally place names, usernames, expense titles, receipt text, transfer details, or money amounts in analytics events.

g. On-device preferences

Some preferences may be stored on your device, such as appearance, accent colour, haptics level, onboarding progress, and cached feature hints. Some account-scoped preferences, such as Pro customisation or transfer details, may sync through Firebase so they work across devices.

We do not collect your phone contacts, precise GPS location, advertising identifiers, or card/bank credentials. We do not sell your personal data and we do not use third-party advertising or cross-app tracking SDKs.

3. How we use your data

• Provide, sync, secure, and maintain Bupples.
• Create and manage accounts, friends, hangouts, invites, expenses, balances, receipts, photos, and settlements.
• Let members see the information needed for shared hangouts and payments outside the app.
• Power receipt scanning, Pip assistant responses, notifications, reminders, and Pro entitlements.
• Prevent fraud, abuse, spam, and unauthorised access.
• Understand feature usage, diagnose issues, and improve the app.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.

4. Legal bases

Where GDPR, UK GDPR, or similar laws apply, we rely on:

• Performance of our agreement with you, to provide the app.
• Legitimate interests, such as security, abuse prevention, analytics, support, and product improvement.
• Consent, where required, such as certain notifications or optional access.
• Legal obligations, where applicable.

5. Sharing

• Other members: Information you enter in a shared hangout, friend relationship, receipt, split, settlement, or profile surface may be visible to the relevant people in that context. Pending one-off expense invitees receive only the safe preview; accepted participants receive the full data needed for that expense.
• Service providers: Google Firebase and Google Cloud provide Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging, App Check, Analytics, crash/diagnostic services, and Vertex AI / Gemini for receipt scanning or assistant features. RevenueCat manages Pro subscriptions. Apple and Google process in-app purchases.
• Legal and safety: We may disclose information if required by law, to enforce our Terms, to protect rights and safety, or to investigate abuse.

6. Retention

• Account, profile, friend, hangout, expense, receipt, settlement, and transfer-detail data is kept while your account is active or while it is needed for shared hangout history.
• Hosted hangouts and related data may be deleted when the host deletes them or when account deletion removes them under the app’s deletion rules.
• Payment and settlement records may remain in shared history where needed so other members keep an accurate record.
• Local preferences remain until you clear app data or uninstall the app.
• Backup, log, and security records may remain for a limited period where needed for reliability, security, or legal reasons.

7. International transfers

Bupples uses Google Firebase, Google Cloud, RevenueCat, Apple, and Google services that may process data outside your country, including in the United States. Where required, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards such as contractual protections.

8. Your rights and deleting your data

You can delete your account in the app from Settings → Delete account. This is free and self-serve. Deletion is permanent. It removes your account and deletes or anonymises data according to the app’s deletion rules, while preserving shared records where needed so other members do not lose their expense history.

You may request a copy of your account data, ask us to correct it, or ask questions about deletion by emailing ygshuh@gmail.com from the address connected to your account. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your data, and to object to or restrict processing. Malaysian users may have rights under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA); EU/UK users under the GDPR; and California residents under the CCPA/CPRA. We do not sell personal information.

9. Children

Bupples is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has provided data to Bupples, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

10. Security

We use Firebase Authentication, App Check device attestation, security rules, membership-scoped access controls, and platform security features to protect data. No internet service can be guaranteed perfectly secure, so please use strong account security and only share transfer details or photos you are comfortable sharing with the relevant members.

Transfer details are not included by default when you share your profile. Including them requires an explicit privacy choice, and they remain intended only for people who need to pay you outside Bupples.

11. Changes

We may update this policy as Bupples changes. We will update the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, provide additional notice for material changes.

12. Contact

Yousof Selim
ygshuh@gmail.com