Privacy Policy

Last updated: 16 August 2026

At TipIns, your privacy is important to us. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you give us directly: your name, username, email address, occupation and bio, your profile photo, and the country and currency you receive tips in. We collect transaction records needed to deliver tips to you, and the groups you belong to. If you enable notifications, we store a device token so we can send them.

If you allow it, we also receive your device's advertising identifier, which is used only to measure whether our own ads bring people to TipIns. Section 11 explains this and how to turn it off.

We do not collect or store your card number, bank account details or identity documents. Those go directly to Stripe.

2. Camera and Photos

TipIns asks for two device permissions, and only uses them for the purpose you granted them:

Camera. We use it to scan a QR code when you tip someone, and to take a profile or group photo if you choose to. The camera is only active while the scanner or camera is open on screen. Scanning happens entirely on your device; we do not record video, take photographs in the background, or upload anything from the camera unless you deliberately take a photo to use as an image.

Photos. We use this to let you pick an existing image from your library as your profile picture or a group's picture. We only receive the single image you select. We do not read, scan or upload the rest of your photo library, and we do not use your images for anything other than displaying them in the app.

When you share a tip card to social media, the image is created on your device and shared through your phone's own share sheet. It is not uploaded to us.

You can withdraw either permission at any time in your device settings. QR scanning and photo selection will stop working, but the rest of the app continues to function.

3. How We Use Information

We use your information to provide the service: to route tips to the right person, to split group tips, to run payouts, to show your activity and earnings, to send notifications you have asked for, and to support you when you contact us. We also use it to detect fraud and to meet our legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information, and we show no advertising in the app. We do measure how well our own ads work, which is covered in section 11.

4. Sharing with Stripe and Other Providers

To pay you, we have to share information with our payment partner, Stripe. Stripe is a payment processor and, for identity checks and payouts, acts as its own data controller under its own privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy.

What we share with Stripe: your name, email address, country, the account we create for you, and the amount and currency of each tip and payout. What you provide to Stripe directly, and we never see: your card number, your bank account details, and any identity document you upload for verification. We receive back only your verification status, your payout account's last four digits, and your balance.

We also use a small number of other providers strictly to operate the service: cloud hosting for our servers and database, an email provider for account and receipt emails, and Expo's push notification service for alerts. Each receives only what it needs for that task, and none of them may use your information for their own purposes.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or to protect our rights or the safety of others.

5. Information Visible to Others

Your name, username and profile photo are visible to people who tip you and to members of any group you join. When you receive a group tip, other members of that group can see the distribution for that tip, including your share. This is what makes the split auditable. Senders can choose to tip anonymously, in which case you will not see who they are.

6. Data Retention

We keep your data while your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal data is permanently removed, except records we are legally required to keep, principally transaction and payout records, which financial and tax law requires us and Stripe to retain for up to seven years.

7. Your Choices and Rights

You can access, update or delete your personal information at any time from the Profile section of the app, and control which notifications you receive from Profile → Notifications. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to a copy of your data, to correct it, to object to certain processing, or to complain to your local data protection authority. Contact us at admin@tipins.net and we will help.

8. International Transfers

TipIns is operated from Australia, and our providers, including Stripe, process data in other countries. Where your information is transferred outside your own country, we take reasonable steps to make sure it remains protected to a comparable standard.

9. Security

We use industry-standard encryption in transit and at rest. Payment card details never touch our servers. They are handled directly by Stripe. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password and tell us immediately if you suspect a problem with your account.

10. Children

TipIns is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with information, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Advertising and Analytics

Our website (tipins.net) uses Google Ads conversion tracking to measure how well our advertising works. This sets cookies in your browser and shares limited, non-identifying data with Google. If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, these are disabled until you consent.

We also count visits to our website ourselves, so we can see which pages and which sources bring people to TipIns. This measurement stays with us: it records the page, the site or campaign that referred you, your device type and browser, and whether an app-store button was clicked. It sets no cookie and no advertising identifier, and it stores no IP addresses — visitors are counted using a hash that is discarded and regenerated every day, so it cannot be traced back to you or joined up across days.

In the app. TipIns shows no advertising, and nothing you see in the app is chosen or paid for by an advertiser. We do advertise TipIns elsewhere, and to know whether those ads are worth running we include Meta's measurement SDK in the app. It reports two things to Meta: that the app was opened, and that an account was created. It does not report your name, your email address, your tips, your balance or your payouts.

To connect an ad you saw to an app install, Meta uses your device's advertising identifier — a resettable number your phone provides for this purpose, not your name or your email address. Meta handles what it receives as an independent controller under its own policy at facebook.com/privacy/policy.

On iOS, we ask first. The first time you open TipIns you will see Apple's “Allow TipIns to track your activity” prompt. If you choose “Ask App Not to Track”, no advertising identifier is used and measurement falls back to Apple's own anonymous system. You can change your mind at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

On Android, you can reset the advertising identifier, or delete it entirely, in Settings → Privacy → Ads.

None of this is required to use TipIns. Opting out changes nothing about the app.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes through the app or by email, and the date at the top of this page always shows when it was last revised.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about your privacy, or want to exercise any of the rights above, contact us at admin@tipins.net.