Privacy Policy

Flatly: Roommate & Flat Share (“Flatly”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) provides a modern shared living, roommate coordination, and expense management platform accessible via our mobile application and web services. We believe that living together requires mutual trust, and that begins with protecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, use, and safeguard your data when you use Flatly, and details your privacy rights in compliance with global data protection standards, including the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Google Play Developer Data Safety requirements.

Summary: The Key Commitments

• Strict Household Scoping: Your financial ledgers, chore schedules, grocery lists, and maintenance tickets are strictly accessible only to confirmed members of your flat.
• Zero Data Selling: We do not sell, rent, monetize, or broker your personal information or household spending data to data brokers or advertising networks.
• Native Google Sign-In & Security: We support one-tap native Google Sign-In and industry-standard TLS encryption for all data transmitted between your device and our servers.
• No AI Model Training on Private Data: Text submitted to Flatly AI Copilot is processed solely to generate real-time household recommendations and is never used to train generalized foundation models.
• Transparent Account Deletion: You can delete your account and remove personal identifiers at any time directly within the mobile app or via our web deletion portal.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the minimum information necessary to provide seamless co-living and expense-splitting services:

A. Information You Provide Directly

• Account & Profile Credentials: When you register using Native Google Sign-In or email, we receive your name, email address, profile avatar URL, and an encrypted identifier.
• Flat & Household Profiles: Home name, apartment nickname, preferred primary currency (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP, BDT), and system-generated 6-digit home invite codes.
• Shared Expenses & Balances: Expense descriptions, amounts, date of transaction, payer identification, participant splits (equal, exact dollar shares, or percentages), and settlement records.
• Chores & Household Tasks: Task titles, assigned flatmates, rotation schedules (weekly, bi-weekly, custom), due dates, and completion status timestamps.
• Shared Shopping Lists: Item descriptions, quantities, member claims, and purchase checkboxes.
• Maintenance Reports & Photo Attachments (Optional): Titles, issue descriptions, urgency levels, and optional camera/gallery photos you choose to upload to document repair needs or store expense receipts.
• Flatly AI Prompts: Inquiries you submit to the Flatly AI Copilot (e.g., drafting polite roommate messages or troubleshooting household maintenance).

B. Information Collected Automatically

• Device & Technical Identifiers: Operating system version (Android / iOS), device model, app version, IP address, and network connectivity state.
• Push Notification Tokens: Expo/FCM push tokens stored to deliver real-time notifications for assigned chores, newly logged bills, and settlement confirmations.
• Diagnostic & Crash Logs: Aggregated system crash logs and performance telemetry to identify bugs and ensure server stability.

2. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal and household data for the following legitimate purposes:

• Core Co-Living Functionality: Calculating group net balances, performing mathematical debt simplification to minimize transfers, and keeping chore calendars in sync.
• Automated Task Alerts: Sending friendly automated reminders to flatmates when cleaning tasks are due or when bills need review.
• Real-Time Synchronous Updates: Updating grocery lists and settlement statuses instantly across all flatmates’ devices.
• Flatly AI Copilot Intelligence: Generating contextual suggestions for chore division, household rules, and appliance troubleshooting based on your specific prompts.
• Account Authentication & Security: Verifying user identity, preventing unauthorized home access, and protecting user accounts against fraudulent activity.

3. Data Sharing & Third-Party Service Providers

We do not share your private information with third parties except with reputable cloud sub-processors required to deliver the service:

• Authentication: Google Identity Services (Native Google Sign-In) to securely authenticate your credentials without storing raw third-party passwords.
• Cloud Infrastructure & Database: Microsoft Azure Container Apps and Azure Flexible MySQL databases, hosted in encrypted enterprise data centers with automated firewall rules.
• AI Advisory Processing: Google Gemini API for real-time prompt generation in Flatly AI Copilot. Prompts are transmitted securely via TLS and are not retained or utilized to train general AI models.
• Mobile Push Notifications: Expo Notification Services and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to dispatch alert payloads to your phone.

We do not allow any third-party advertising tracking SDKs inside the Flatly mobile application.

4. Data Storage & Security Standards

We implement robust physical, administrative, and technical security safeguards:

• Encryption in Transit: All communications between the Flatly app and backend APIs enforce HTTPS / TLS 1.3 encryption.
• Encryption at Rest: Production databases are encrypted at rest using industry-standard AES-256 encryption.
• Access Controls: Database connections are restricted to containerized microservices behind private IP subnet firewall rules.
• Household Isolation: Application logic strictly validates home membership tokens on every API request. A user cannot view or query records from flats they do not belong to.

5. Mobile App Permissions

Flatly requests only the permissions necessary to provide features you explicitly use:

• Camera & Media Gallery (Optional): Used only when you choose to snap or upload a photo of a store receipt or a maintenance defect. You may revoke access in phone Settings at any time.
• Push Notifications (Optional): Used to notify you of due chores, newly logged expenses, and settlement receipts.
• Internet & Network Access: Required to sync flat data with the server.

6. Data Retention & Account Deletion

We retain your personal information only for as long as your account remains active.

• Deleting Your Account: You can delete your account at any time directly in the mobile app by navigating to Profile > Settings > Delete Account, or through our web deletion portal at flatly.app/delete-account.
• What Happens Upon Deletion: Your personal credentials, name, email address, profile avatar, push tokens, and private session tokens are permanently wiped within 30 days.
• Household Financial Continuity: To protect remaining roommates from corrupted accounting or broken balance sheets, historical expense entries created prior to departure remain in the flat’s ledger with the creator labeled as “[Former Flatmate]”.

7. Your Privacy Rights (GDPR, CCPA & Global)

Regardless of your geographic location, Flatly provides you with the right to:

• Access & Export: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Correct inaccurate or outdated profile information in the app.
• Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Permanently delete your account and associated personal data.
• Withdraw Consent: Revoke optional permissions (such as camera access or push notifications) at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, submit a request via our Account Deletion Page or email us at support@flatly.app.

8. Children’s Privacy

Flatly is designed for shared household living and is strictly intended for individuals aged 13 and older (or 16 in certain European jurisdictions). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we become aware that a child has registered, we will promptly delete their information.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy periodically to reflect product updates or legal compliance requirements. The “Last updated” date at the top of this document indicates the effective date. For significant changes, we will post an in-app notice prior to changes taking effect.

10. Contact Information

For inquiries, concerns, or data protection requests, please contact our privacy team:

Flatly Privacy & Compliance Team
Email: support@flatly.app
Web Portal: flatly.app/delete-account