Gabanya privacy policy
Last changed 16 October 2026. Gabanya is published by Tugabane. This policy covers the Gabanya app (called Tab until October 2026) and the pages at app.gabanya.com that the app links people to. Kakasa, a separate app from the same team, has its own policy.
In one paragraph. Gabanya splits a bill and keeps a book of who owes whom. It never holds or moves money: people pay each other on Mobile Money, and the app only records what they say and what the owner confirms. To do that it keeps your phone number, the bills you make, the names and numbers you type for the people on them, and receipt photos. A receipt photo you scan is sent to a reading service to turn it into lines. We do not sell data, show adverts, or track you across other apps or sites. You can delete your account from inside the app or at app.gabanya.com/delete-account.
What we collect, and why
- Your account: your phone number, verified by a code sent by SMS — it is how you sign in; a display name if you give one, shown on the bills you make; the Mobile Money number and name you want people to pay, shown only to people on your bills and only while you choose to show them; and which plan the account is on.
- Your bills and your book: each bill's name, items, prices and category; the names and phone numbers you type or pick for the people on it (a number makes that person a contact in your book, with a running balance); what each person claims, says they have paid, and what you confirm; entries you add by hand; and the links a bill or a statement makes. We never read your phone's contact list: when you pick from it, your phone hands us the one name and number you chose. These are records of what people said and confirmed, not payments — no money passes through us.
- Receipt photos: a bill made from a scan keeps a copy of the receipt so you, and the people on the bill if you allow it, can look at it later. When you scan a receipt it is sent to a reading service to turn it into lines, with nothing about you attached; the lines come back for you to check, and nothing is ever charged from a photo automatically. We keep scanned photos and what was read from them to improve the reading; they are not shown to other users. If you choose to send receipt photos to help the app read handwriting, the screen says so before you send any, and those photos go to our team for that purpose only.
- Your phone and your connection: diagnostic details about the app's version and your phone's operating system and model, sent with each request so we can find out why something did not work — no identifiers, numbers or names are in it; a notification token if you allow notifications, removed when you sign out; and the usual web server records, including your IP address, used for keeping the service running and finding faults.
Who else sees it
- People on your bill see the bill: its name, items and prices, the names people chose for themselves, what each person owes and has paid, your display name, your pay-to number and name if you show them, and the receipt photo if you share it. They open it from a link you send; they install nothing and we never message them.
- A customer you send a statement to sees their own lines in your book and your pay-to details.
- Staff you add to your account see the account's bills and book under their own sign-in. They cannot change the account's settings or plan.
- Three services we use: an SMS verification service receives your phone number to send and check the sign-in code; a receipt-reading service receives a receipt photo you scan and the instruction to read it; a notification service receives your notification token and the text of each notification. Each sees only what it needs for that job, and nothing else about you.
- Our hosting provider runs the servers, which are in the United States.
Nobody else. We do not sell or rent data, we show no adverts, we use no analytics or tracking services, and the pages at app.gabanya.com set no cookies.
How long we keep it
- Your account, bills and book: until you delete your account, or we delete it at your request.
- A bill's receipt photo: 30 days on the Free plan; on a paid plan, for as long as the plan includes it.
- Sign-ins end when unused for a while; codes last minutes. Notification tokens go when you sign out or when they stop working.
- Backups: deleted data can remain in a backup for up to about two months before it is gone.
Your choices
- Show my number — off, and the people on your bills are told to pay you the way they normally would.
- Share the receipt — per bill, whether people on it can open the photo.
- Delete a bill — it is closed and marked settled; its links stop working.
- Remove a person from your book, or rename them.
- Take back a collection photo within 24 hours of sending it, from the collection screen.
- Notifications — your phone's settings; the app works without them.
- Delete your account — in the app, under Where people pay you, or at app.gabanya.com/delete-account. Your sign-in ends on every phone, your number and name are removed, every bill you made is closed and its photos removed, and your book, your links and your collection photos go. What other people recorded about you in their own books — a shop's record of what you owed and paid — stays, without a link to your account, because it is their record.
How we protect it
Every connection is encrypted. We never hold, move or have access to anyone's money: paying is done on Mobile Money between the people themselves, and the app records what they say and confirm.
Who this is for
Gabanya is for adults. A Mobile Money account in Uganda requires you to be 18, and so does this app. We do not knowingly keep an account for anyone younger; tell us and we will delete it.
Changes and contact
When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Questions, or a request about your data: privacy@tugabane.com.