Privacy Policy
Last Updated: October 2026
Bato (“we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share your information when you use the Bato mobile application and any related services. If you do not agree with any of the practices described in this Privacy Policy, please do not use our services.
Quick Overview
Bato is a bill-splitting app for friends. You choose who you share your bills with — whether it's a dinner group, a weekend trip, or a shared household. When you add a bill or split, the details of those transactions (items, amounts, and who owes whom) are visible to the people you share them with. Anyone added to a bill can view and confirm the split details. Bills you add in Bato are not made public — they're only visible to the friends you've shared them with.
To use Bato, you'll need to create an account with your name, email address, and phone number. We use this information to manage your account, send notifications about splits, and help your friends find you on Bato.
We also collect some additional information to improve your experience, such as:
- Receipt images you upload (for text extraction via OCR)
- Device information (to ensure compatibility and performance)
- Food and drink preferences (to suggest fair splits)
- UPI ID / VPA (optional) — encrypted, and used only to help facilitate your payment through a third-party UPI application.
We use this information to provide the service, improve the app, and keep your data secure. We don't share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes without your consent. We also don't sell your data to anyone. Your bills and splits remain private to the groups and friends you choose to share them with.
Bato and its service providers operate infrastructure in the United States and may process your personal information outside the country where you are located. Regardless of location, we apply technical, organizational, and contractual safeguards designed to protect your personal data.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Account Information
- Name, email, phone number: provided during sign-up via Google, Apple, or phone authentication. If you sign up using Google or Apple, we receive your name and email from those providers. Your password is hashed and securely stored; we never store it in plain text.
- Email address: required so we can contact you about your account (like password resets or security alerts), allow you to access your data from any device, and help your friends find you on Bato.
- Phone number: optional but recommended. Providing a phone number helps friends add you to bills and adds an extra layer of security (for account recovery and two-factor authentication).
- Date of birth: to verify age (13+ required by law).
- Country and currency preference: for bill formatting and splitting correctly for your location.
- Profile photo: optional; stored securely in Firebase Storage.
- Food/drink preferences: optional, used to calculate fair bill splits.
- UPI ID / Virtual Payment Address (VPA): optional. If provided, your UPI ID is encrypted and used solely to help pre-fill or facilitate your payment when you choose to open a third-party UPI application. We do not store your UPI ID in unencrypted form, and we do not process, route, or have access to any funds transferred through it.
You can review and update your account information at any time from your Profile screen in the app, or by emailing us at privacy@bato.app.
1.2 Usage Data
- Splits and bills — titles, item names, prices, and split calculations.
- Comments, notes, and edits added to bills or items.
- Payment requests — when you ask a friend to pay you back for their share.
- Currency and categories (restaurant, groceries, travel, etc.).
- Receipt images — uploaded for OCR processing, stored in Firebase Storage.
- Friend connections — to enable group bill splitting.
- Settlement records — for payment confirmations between users.
You are solely responsible for which friends you share your bills and splits with. We don't control who you add to your groups.
1.3 How You Use Our Services
We collect information about how you interact with Bato, including the types of bills you add, features used (receipt scanning or manual entry), actions taken, and the frequency/duration of activities, to fix bugs and improve features.
1.4 Information Shared by Others
Other Bato users may share information with you using your contact details (such as email or phone number), which will be stored in the service.
1.5 Device Information
We collect FCM tokens (for push notifications), crash reports via Firebase Crashlytics (device model, OS version), and performance metrics via Firebase Performance Monitoring.
1.6 Billing Information
If you choose to subscribe to paid services (such as Bato Pro), payment processors collect billing information. For security and fraud prevention, we may verify identity information as required for regulatory compliance.
1.7 Third Party Integrations
If you connect optional third-party integrations, we may receive identifiers to display status to you and handle support inquiries.
1.8 & 1.9 Other Information & Sources
We may use publicly available information to address fraud/security, and collect user-submitted feedback and questions to improve the app.
1.10 Contacts (Optional)
If you choose to sync contacts, phone numbers are matched on our server to find existing Bato users. We do not store your contact list.
2. How We Use Your Information
- To provide bill splitting and settlement features.
- To process receipt images using Google Cloud Vision API for text extraction.
- To send push notifications about friend requests, splits, and settlements.
- To improve app performance and fix bugs (Crashlytics, Performance Monitoring).
- To enforce security (Firebase App Check).
- To prevent fraud, verify identity, and enforce our Terms of Service.
3. Third-Party Services
We work with third-party service providers (cloud hosting, OCR extraction, crash monitoring). These providers receive only the information necessary to perform their specific function and are contractually required to protect your information consistent with this policy.
4. Data Storage and Security
- All data is stored in Firebase (Google Cloud) infrastructure.
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest.
- Firestore security rules enforce strict access control — users can only access their own data and shared split data.
- Firebase App Check prevents unauthorized API access.
While we implement industry-standard safeguards, no transmission of data over the Internet or public networks can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
5. Data Retention
Your account data is retained while your account is active. You can request deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us. Upon deletion, your personal information (name, contact info) is erased and will not appear to others. Split records created with friends remain visible to other participants without your personal identity attached.
6. Your Rights & Choices
- Access & Correction: View and edit your profile and preferences in the Profile screen.
- Portability: Contact us to request an export of your data.
- Deactivation & Deletion: You may close or permanently delete your account at any time in Profile settings.
- Notifications: Opt out of optional marketing/activity notifications in settings.
7. Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use session tokens and basic tracking technologies to maintain your login session and monitor traffic to improve service stability. You can adjust browser settings to decline cookies if preferred.
8. Disclosure for Legal Matters & Business Transfer
We may disclose personal information when required by applicable law (court orders, subpoenas, or emergencies involving threats to safety). In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, customer information may be transferred subject to this Privacy Policy.
9. Children's Privacy
Bato is not intended for users under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact privacy@bato.app for prompt removal.
10. Legal Basis for Processing
For users in India, we process your personal data in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP), based on consent and legitimate uses. For users in the EEA/UK, we process based on consent, contractual necessity, legal obligations, and legitimate interests.
11. Grievance Officer & Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise your rights under applicable data protection laws, contact our Grievance Officer: