Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Nidhi collects only the information you provide directly:

• Account information: your name, email address, and a password, used to create and sign in to your account. Your password is handled entirely by Firebase Authentication's own secure hashing — we never see or store it in plain text.

• Business data: member details, chit fund records, payment transactions, hand loans, and auction results that you enter into the app.

• Crash diagnostics: if the app crashes or freezes, we automatically collect technical information to fix the problem — your device model, app version, and the technical stack trace of the error. This never includes your business data, member details, or any personal information you've entered.

• Performance timing: how long the app takes to start up and render screens, so we can find and fix slowness. This is purely technical timing data, never anything you've entered into the app.

We do not collect location data, contacts, photos, phone numbers, or any other device information beyond what's needed for crash diagnostics above.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your data is used solely to provide the Nidhi service:

• To store and sync your business records across your devices, including between the Android app and the web app.

• To authenticate your identity and protect your account.

• To restore your data when you sign in on a new device or browser.

• To detect and fix crashes.

• To understand which parts of the app are actually used — which screens are opened, and that a chit, payment, member, hand loan, or auction was created, or a subscription started. These events never include your business data — no names, phone numbers, amounts, or notes, and nothing that identifies which record was involved.

If you are on Nidhi's free tier after your trial has ended, you may see occasional ads served through Google AdMob in the Android app — see "9. Advertising" below for exactly what that involves. We never sell or share your business data with data brokers or ad networks.

3. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in two places:

• On your device (Android app): in an encrypted local database, accessible only by the app. Even if your device is lost, this data cannot be read without the app's own encryption key. Your MPIN — a local app-lock PIN, separate from your account password — is hashed and stored only on your device; we cannot access it. If your device supports it, you may also unlock the app using your fingerprint, which is handled entirely by your device's own operating system — Nidhi never sees or stores your fingerprint data.

• In the cloud: in Google Firebase, stored under your unique account ID. Firebase uses industry-standard encryption at rest and in transit.

Your account password is never visible to us in plain text — it's handled entirely by Firebase Authentication's own secure hashing.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or share your personal data with any third parties.

Your business data (members, chits, payments) is accessible only to you — each manager's data is isolated under their unique account ID. No other user, including other managers using this app, can access your data.

5. Member Passbook

Each member you add can receive a personal link to view their own chit details, without needing to create an account or sign in.

This link shows that member their own payments, dues, and auction history clearly. To keep group auctions fair and transparent, the passbook may also show limited, non-sensitive group information — such as how many members have paid in a given month, or the first names of members eligible for the next auction.

A member's phone number, exact payment amounts, or any other personal detail belonging to a different member is never shown to anyone other than that member and their manager. You can deactivate any member's passbook link at any time.

6. Community & Referrals

If a manager chooses to take part in Nidhi's community and referral features (currently available in the Android app), a unique referral code is generated for their account. This code is derived from the account and does not reveal any personal information on its own.

If a manager refers another manager to Nidhi, a record is kept showing that a referral took place. Their name may appear on a community leaderboard visible to other managers using Nidhi, alongside their referral count. No financial or business data is ever shared as part of this feature. Taking part is entirely optional.

7. Support Nidhi

The Android app includes an entirely optional way to support its ongoing development through a voluntary UPI payment. When a manager chooses to do this, Nidhi does not process, see, or store any payment or banking information — the payment takes place entirely within their own UPI app, completely outside of Nidhi. Using Nidhi never requires making a payment, and this feature does not unlock any part of the app.

8. Subscriptions & Billing

Nidhi offers an optional paid subscription for extended usage after the free trial. On Android, all payment is handled entirely by Google Play Billing — Nidhi never sees, processes, or stores card, UPI, or other payment details. The web app does not process payments at all; upgrading is always completed inside the Android app.

To confirm a subscription is genuine, our server checks the purchase directly with Google's Play servers and stores only the resulting subscription status (such as active, trial, or expired), the chosen plan, and renewal date under the account.

9. Advertising

Nidhi shows ads in two separate, unrelated places:

• In the Android app: once the free trial ends, Nidhi's free tier shows a limited number of ads, served through Google AdMob, in a small number of designated places. Trial and Premium users never see ads. AdMob may use an advertising identifier and other technical signals to select and measure ads — this is handled entirely by Google's SDK, and Nidhi never passes business data (member names, phone numbers, chit records, amounts, or notes) to AdMob or any advertiser.

• On this public website (outside the signed-in manager app and outside every member's passbook): ads served through Google AdSense, which may use cookies and similar technology to select and measure ads. The signed-in manager app, the web app, and every member passbook page never show AdSense ads.

Where required (for example, for visitors in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland), we ask for consent before showing personalized ads. In the Android app this choice can be changed at any time from Settings → Legal → "Ad Privacy Choices"; outside those regions, that option does not apply and will say so. AdSense does not have access to your Nidhi account data, business records, or anything entered into the app.

10. Managing Your Own Data

Nidhi gives you direct tools, right inside the app, to manage your own data at any time:

• Clean up outdated or unused records.

• Remove a specific chit group entirely, along with its records.

• Export a complete backup of your data.

• Reset your account completely, if you wish to start fresh.

These actions are entirely within your control and are never performed without you directly choosing to do so.

11. Data Retention

Your data remains in our systems as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, all associated data is permanently removed from our servers within 30 days.

You can export a complete backup of your data at any time using the Export Data feature.

12. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access all your data via the Export Data feature.

• Delete your account and all associated data at any time.

• Update your name and email through the app.

13. Children's Privacy

Nidhi is designed for use by adult business professionals (chit fund managers). We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under the age of 18.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of Nidhi after changes constitutes acceptance of the new policy.

15. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, visit our Support page, or email us at nidhiapp.help@gmail.com.