Privacy Policy

Thub is a financial-literacy, community and expert-consultation app for Tanzania and East Africa, available in English and Kiswahili (Android package info.thub.app). Thub is developed and operated by Shadrack, an individual developer based in Tanzania ("Thub", "we", "us"). We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

This policy applies to the Thub mobile app and the website thub.info (together, the "Service"). For anything privacy-related, contact shadrackabely@gmail.com.

Information you give us

• Account details: your name, phone number, email address, password (stored only as a secure one-way hash), profile photo, and optional bio and language preference.
• Phone verification: your phone number and the one-time passcodes (OTP) we send to it by SMS.
• Social sign-in: if you choose to sign in with Google, Facebook or Apple, we receive your name, email address and an account identifier from that provider through Firebase Authentication. We never receive your password for those services.
• Posts and media: community posts, photos, videos and any articles you publish.
• Comments: comments and replies you write on posts and articles.
• Consultations: questions you send to experts, the documents or images you attach, and the answers you receive.
• Purchases: a record of each purchase, described under Payments and premium content.
• Reports and blocks: the reason and optional details you give when you report content, and the list of accounts you block.
• Support messages: anything you send us by email or in the app.

Information collected automatically

• Push notification tokens: a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token for each device you sign in on, so we can send the notifications you allow.
• In-app activity: reactions, bookmarks, follows, views and reading progress, used to run your feed and show counts.
• Usage analytics: screens viewed, features used and app version, through Firebase Analytics.
• Crash and diagnostics data: crash logs, device model and operating-system version, through Firebase Crashlytics.
• Technical data: IP address and server logs created when your device talks to our servers.

The app asks for access to your camera or photo library only when you choose to take or attach a photo, video or document. We do not collect your precise location or your contacts.

• To create and secure your account, verify your phone number and keep you signed in.
• To provide the Service: articles, the community feed, short videos, your profile, and consultations between you and experts.
• To process purchases, unlock premium content and handle refunds.
• To send the push notifications and service emails you expect, such as replies, consultation answers, receipts and security alerts.
• To personalise your feed based on your language and activity.
• To keep the community safe: review reports, apply blocks, filter abusive text, prevent fraud and enforce our Terms of Service.
• To understand how Thub is used, fix crashes and improve features.
• To comply with legal, accounting and tax obligations.

Premium articles, videos and expert consultations are paid for with mobile money. Payments are processed by our payment provider: you approve each payment on your own phone, and the provider tells us whether it succeeded.

For every purchase we record:

• what you bought, the amount and currency (TZS), and the date;
• the mobile-money operator and phone number used to pay;
• the payment reference or transaction ID, and the payment status.

We never see or store your mobile-money PIN or any card number. The payment provider handles those under its own terms and privacy policy.

Before you buy, Thub shows a free preview of premium content, such as the opening of an article or the first part of a video. Opening a preview does not charge you and does not create a purchase.

• Reporting: you can report a post, article, comment or account from its menu. We store the reason you choose, any details you add, and a link to the content. Reports are confidential: the person you report is not told who reported them.
• Blocking: you can block any account. We store who you blocked so that you no longer see each other's posts, articles or comments. You can unblock at any time from Settings → Blocked accounts.
• Automated checks: text you post is checked automatically for severe abuse, explicit content and scams. Some content is blocked before it is published; other content is sent to our moderators for review.

Moderators may remove content or suspend accounts that break our community rules. We keep moderation records to handle appeals and repeat abuse.

We process personal data in line with Tanzania's Personal Data Protection Act, 2022 and its regulations, on the following grounds:

• Contract: to provide the account, content and consultations you sign up for and pay for.
• Consent: for push notifications, optional profile details and anything else we ask your permission for. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests: to keep the Service secure, moderate content, prevent abuse, and measure and improve the app, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation: to keep financial records and respond to lawful requests from authorities.

We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it for advertising. We share it only with the service providers that help us run Thub, under terms that require them to protect it:

Content you post in the community (posts, comments, your name and profile photo) is visible to other Thub users, except people you have blocked, and may be visible through links you or others share. Consultation questions are shared with the expert who answers them.

We may also disclose data if required by law, to protect the rights and safety of users or the public, or as part of a transfer of the Service, in which case this policy will continue to apply.

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purposes above:

See Delete your account for exactly what is removed when you delete your account.

All data between the app and our servers is sent over encrypted HTTPS connections. Passwords are stored as one-way hashes, sign-in tokens are kept in secure device storage, and access to production systems is restricted. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your personal data we will notify you and the relevant authority as required by law.

Under the Personal Data Protection Act, 2022 you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data. Most details can be edited in the app under Profile.
• Delete your data. Use Settings → Delete account in the app, or request deletion by email without the app.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent at any time, for example by turning off notifications.
• Complain to the Personal Data Protection Commission of Tanzania if you think we have mishandled your data.

To exercise these rights, email shadrackabely@gmail.com from the email address or with the phone number linked to your account. We respond within 30 days.

Thub is intended for adults aged 18 and over and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Some of our service providers, including Microsoft Azure and Google Firebase, store or process data on servers outside Tanzania. When data leaves Tanzania we rely on providers that apply appropriate safeguards, such as contractual data-protection commitments, consistent with the Personal Data Protection Act, 2022.

We may update this policy as Thub changes. We will post the new version on this page with a new "last updated" date and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.

Shadrack (Thub), Tanzania. Email shadrackabely@gmail.com. For help using the app, visit Support.