1. Introduction
ZY Interactive respects your privacy and is committed to handling your data with care. This Privacy Policy explains what information Tally Together (一起记) collects, how it is used and stored, who can see it, and the rights you have over it.
By downloading, installing, or using Tally Together, you agree to the practices described in this Policy. If you do not agree with any part of it, please do not use Tally Together.
2. Your Account & Identity
Tally Together does not require you to register with an email address, phone number, or real name. When you first open the app, an anonymous account is created for you using Firebase Anonymous Authentication — this generates a random user ID that is bound to your installation.
You then choose:
- A nickname so friends can recognise you
- An emoji avatar as your visual identity
- An invite code is automatically generated so friends can connect with you
These three items are how people you choose to connect with recognise you inside the app. We do not link them to any real-world identity.
Optional account binding (email or Google)
At any time, you may choose to bind your anonymous account to an email address or a Google account. Binding makes it easy to sign in on a new device, recover your account if you lose access, and keep your data synced across multiple installs. You can keep using Tally Together without binding — the choice is yours.
When you bind, your sign-in identifier (your email address, or the basic account identifier Google provides during Google sign-in) is stored by Firebase Authentication. We never receive your password in plaintext — Firebase handles credential storage and verification under Google's security controls. We will never use your email address to send marketing emails.
3. Information We Store in the Cloud
Tally Together is a cloud-first app: by default, your data is stored in Google Firebase / Firestore so it can sync across your devices and so shared bills can work between you and your friends. The data we store includes:
- Profile — nickname, emoji avatar, invite code
- Bookkeeping entries — income and expense records (category, note, date, amount)
- Wallets — names, types (cash, credit card, etc.), and currencies you configure
- Social connections — friends and partner(s) you have linked via invite codes
- Shared bills — bill name, date, members, each expense, who paid, how it's split, settlement state
- Settlement records — friend-to-friend repayments you log between you and people you've settled with
- Sign-in identifier (only if you bind your account) — your email address, or the basic account identifier Google provides during Google sign-in. Stored and verified by Firebase Authentication; passwords are never visible to us in plaintext.
- Pro purchase status — a single flag indicating whether you have unlocked the optional Pro upgrade. The purchase itself is processed by the platform store, not by us (see Section 4).
This data syncs across every device you sign into with the same account, so your records stay consistent on phone, tablet, and so on.
Why cloud-first? Shared bills only work if both you and the friends you choose to connect with can see the same record. Cloud storage exists for this purpose — not for ads, not for analytics, not for resale.
4. Purchases (Pro Upgrade)
Tally Together offers a one-time, optional purchase to unlock the "Pro" upgrade. You can use Tally Together indefinitely without purchasing — Pro is entirely optional.
- All payment processing is handled entirely by Google Play (Android) or Apple App Store (iOS). We never see, touch, or store your bank-card number, card details, payment-method credentials, or billing address.
- On our side, the only thing we record in Firestore against your account is a single boolean flag — "Pro: unlocked" — so the app knows to enable Pro features for you across your devices.
- Refunds, payment disputes, and subscription management are governed by the Google Play refund policy and the Apple App Store policy respectively. Please contact those platforms for billing matters.
5. Information Stored Only on Your Device
The following preferences live locally on your device and are not uploaded to our servers:
- Language preference
- Currency symbol display setting
- Theme colour / appearance options
- Other UI preferences
Uninstalling Tally Together removes these local preferences from your device. Cloud-stored data described in Section 3 remains until you ask us to delete it (see Section 12).
6. Information We Do NOT Collect
Tally Together is intentionally minimal in what it collects. We do not collect:
- Your real name, phone number, postal address, or government-issued identifiers (you may optionally provide an email address or Google identifier by binding your account — see Section 2)
- Access to your contacts, SMS messages, call logs, photo library, or camera
- Your bank-account credentials, credit-card numbers, payment-method details, or billing address — payment is processed entirely by the platform store (see Section 4)
- Your precise GPS location
- Any advertising identifier (IDFA, GAID) — we do not show ads
- Anonymous usage analytics — no analytics SDK is integrated
- Crash reports or diagnostics — no crash-reporting SDK is integrated
If we ever add any analytics or crash-reporting tooling in the future, we will update this Policy first and obtain consent where required by law.
7. How We Use Your Information
We use the cloud-stored information from Section 3 only to operate Tally Together for you:
- To save your bookkeeping records and sync them across your devices
- To let your nickname / avatar / invite code appear to friends you've connected with
- To run shared bills correctly — calculating who owes whom and tracking settlements
- To verify your sign-in and let you recover your account if you have bound it to email or Google
- To enable Pro features for accounts that have unlocked the optional Pro upgrade
- To restore your data when you re-install the app and sign back in with the same account
- To respond to support requests you send us by email
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, ranking, or any purpose other than providing the app.
8. Who Can See Your Information
We do not sell your personal information and do not show ads. Within Tally Together, your data is visible only to the limited audiences described below:
Your nickname, emoji avatar, and invite code are visible to friends who have connected with you (this is needed so they can find and identify you).
The bill's name, date, members, every expense, who paid, how it's split, and settlement state are visible to every member of that bill.
When you mark an expense as a joint / split expense with a specific friend, the amount you attributed to them is visible to that friend so they know what they owe. The wallet you paid from is NOT shared — that stays private to you.
All other bookkeeping data — entries not part of a shared bill and not tagged as joint with any friend, your wallet balances, your categories, your private notes — is visible only to you.
Everything in your account syncs across the devices you sign into with the same anonymous account.
Outside the app, we share data only with:
- Service providers (Section 9) — strictly the processors we use to run the app's infrastructure.
- Legal compliance — where we are required by law, court order, or government request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of ZY Interactive, our users, or others.
- Business transfers — in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of substantially all assets, your information may be transferred to the successor entity, subject to this Policy.
9. Third-Party Services & Processors
Tally Together relies on the following third parties:
- Google Firebase — provided by Google LLC. We use Firestore to store the cloud data described in Section 3 (storage region: asia-southeast1, Singapore) and Firebase Authentication to issue and verify your sign-in (anonymous, email, or Google sign-in methods). Because Google operates a global infrastructure, your data may be processed on servers located outside your country of residence. See Firebase privacy & security and Google's privacy policy.
- Google Play (Android) / Apple App Store (iOS) — for app distribution, updates, and processing of any optional Pro purchase (see Section 4). We never receive payment-method details from these stores.
- No advertising networks — Tally Together does not contain ads and does not share data with any ad network.
- No analytics or crash-reporting SDK — none are integrated.
When your device communicates with Firebase, Google necessarily receives your device's IP address and standard connection metadata — this is required to provide the service and to protect against abuse.
10. Security
- All data exchanged between Tally Together and Firebase is transmitted over HTTPS / TLS (encryption in transit).
- Firestore Security Rules enforce access at the database level — only your account can read your private data, and only members of a given shared bill can read that bill.
- We do not rely on app-side checks alone for sensitive boundaries.
- Although we take reasonable safeguards, no system is 100% secure. Please keep your device protected with a passcode or biometrics.
11. Data Retention
Cloud-stored data (Section 3) is retained as long as your account is in use. If you ask us to delete your account (see Section 12), we remove your records from Firestore. Shared-bill content may remain visible to other members of that bill until they delete it from their own accounts. Local preferences (Section 5) are removed when you uninstall the app.
12. Your Rights & Choices
You may, at any time, request:
- Access — a copy of the data we hold about you
- Correction — most fields can be edited directly in the app; for anything you can't change yourself, contact us
- Deletion — full removal of your cloud-stored data and sign-in account. Use the in-app flow (Profile 「我的」 → Delete account 「删除账号」), or follow the email request path described on the Delete your account page.
- Disconnection — disconnecting from a friend or leaving a shared bill (you can do this in the app)
To exercise any of these rights, email us at zyinteractive@gmail.com with a description of your request. For anonymous accounts (with no email or Google identifier on file), we may need to ask follow-up questions or request your invite code to locate the right data. We will respond within the timeframes required by applicable law.
13. Children's Privacy
Tally Together is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in jurisdictions where this is the applicable threshold under GDPR). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
14. International Data Transfers
As described in Section 9, Firebase / Firestore operates on Google's global infrastructure. Your data is stored in our configured region (asia-southeast1 / Singapore) and may be processed on servers in countries other than your own, where data-protection laws may differ. Google maintains its own compliance measures (including Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable) for international transfers; see Google's privacy policy linked in Section 9.
15. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we offer, or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, surface a notice within Tally Together. Your continued use of Tally Together after the effective date of any updated Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.
16. Contact Us
For any questions, requests, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or your information, please reach out — we'd love to hear from you:
- Email: zyinteractive@gmail.com
- Website: https://zyinteractive.com
- Operator: ZY Interactive (independent solo studio)