1. What we collect
When you sign in and set up your profile, you give us:
- Your sign-in: your phone number, or your Google or Apple account. You never set a password with us.
- Your profile: your name, birth date (to check you are 18 or over), gender, job, the region of Tanzania you're from, the town or city you live in now (picked on a map or from a search), and a photo if you add one.
- Your email address, only if you add it.
When you use the app, we keep:
- Your posts, the photos and videos in them, your comments and your likes.
- Your direct messages.
- The reports and blocks you make, and reports made about your posts and comments.
- Your notification settings and a notification token for each phone you use, so we can send you notifications.
- Basic device and usage data (device type, app version, crash reports and how the app is used) to keep the app working and make it better.
The app asks for your phone's approximate location only if you tap “Use my location” while picking your town. It sends that point once, to find the nearest town, and doesn't keep it: only the town you pick is saved. The app does not ask for your contacts, camera or microphone. Photos and videos you choose are stripped of their hidden details, such as where they were taken, before they are uploaded. The app reads your phone's country only to fill in the country code when you sign in with your phone number.
2. How we use it
We use your information to run Bantu Town: to sign you in, to show your profile, posts and comments to other members, to deliver your messages and notifications, to check that members are adults, to act on reports and blocks, and to find and fix problems. If you add your email, we may send you news and offers from Bantu Town; remove your email in the app to stop them. We do not sell your information. We do not show you advertising, and we don't use your information to target ads anywhere else.
3. What other people see
Other members see your name, photo, gender, job, home region and town, and the posts, comments and likes you make under your name.
Nobody else ever sees your phone number, your birth date or your email. Members can't browse a list of everyone on Bantu Town, and if you block someone, neither of you sees the other again.
4. Anonymous posts
When you post or comment as Anonymous, other members, notifications and search results show “Anonymous”, never your name, photo or profile. The app shows it as Anonymous to you too.
We still store who wrote it. Our team can see the author when we need to act on a report, to keep members safe, or when the law requires it. Remember that a photo or video, or what you write, can still show who you are.
5. Messages
Direct messages are text only. In the app, only you and the person you write to can read them. They are stored on our servers so they reach both of you; they are not end-to-end encrypted. Deleting a conversation removes it from your inbox; the other person keeps their copy. When either of you deletes your account, the conversation is deleted for both.
6. Notifications
If notifications are on, a notification about a comment or a message shows its text, and a message shows the sender's name. Anything posted as Anonymous is shown as “Someone”. You can turn notifications off in the app or in your phone's settings.
7. Who we share with
We share information only with the services that help us run Bantu Town, and they may use it only to provide their service to us:
- Supabase: our database, file storage and servers.
- Google Firebase: sign-in (including the text message with your code), notifications, crash reports and app analytics.
- Google and Apple: if you sign in with them, and to deliver notifications.
- Google Maps: shows the map when you pick your town, so Google sees the area being shown.
- Cloudflare: hosts this website.
These services may store and process information in the United States and other countries. We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our members or the public.
Town and city names come from GeoNames, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence.
8. How long we keep it
- Your profile, posts, comments, likes and messages are kept while your account exists. Delete a post or comment and it's gone from the app.
- When you delete your account, your profile, posts, comments, likes, messages, photos, videos and sign-in are deleted straight away.
- Reports about a deleted account are kept for 30 days, so we can finish dealing with them.
- Our database backups are kept for up to 7 days, after which deleted information is gone from them too.
9. Your choices and rights
- Edit your profile, or remove your photo or email, at any time.
- Delete any post or comment you made.
- Block or report anyone.
- Turn notifications off.
- Delete your account and data from the app: Account, then Delete account. Full steps are on the Delete your account page.
Depending on where you live (for example the European Union, the United Kingdom or California), you may have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to correct it, to delete it, or to object to how we use it. Email support@bongotown.com and we'll answer within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
10. Adults only
Bantu Town is for people aged 18 and over. We check your birth date when you join. If we learn that a member is under 18, we delete the account and its data.
11. Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.
12. Contact
Questions about privacy: email support@bongotown.com. Bantu Town is operated by BayaTech LLC, 5960 S Land Park Dr #768, Sacramento, CA 95822, USA.