Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies when you use the Cofori website, app (including Cofori Beta) and related support services. Cofori is operated by Emmanuel Rowland, who is the controller of the personal information described in this notice.

If another household member adds information about you, they are responsible for making sure they have a lawful reason to do so.

2. Information we collect

• Account information, such as your email address, preferred name, profile image, account identifier and sign-in information.
• Household content, such as household names, members, bills, amounts, categories, receipts, events, messages, reactions and settlement records.
• Optional payment details that you choose to share with household members so they can pay you. Cofori records shared expenses and settlement status; it does not move money between people.
• Technical information needed to provide and secure the service, such as notification tokens, device platform and security records generated by our infrastructure.
• Optional location information, including a Home address and area saved on your device, device location used for automatic Home/Away, and approximate area contributions only if you separately opt in. See section 2a below.
• Support information, including messages and files you send when asking for help or giving feedback.

Cofori does not currently use advertising, cross-app tracking or third-party analytics SDKs.

2a. Optional location and Home address

Location is optional and off until you enable it. In Settings → Location, enter a Home address, confirm the correct search result and turn on the switch. You can still use manual Home, Away and Do Not Disturb without location permission.

Home address search and storage

When you tap Find address, Cofori receives your typed address for that search and sends it to Photon, operated by komoot, which uses OpenStreetMap address data to return matching places. We do not send your account identifier, household content or current GPS position to the address-search provider. That provider receives the search text and connection information and may handle it under its own policies. Address searches are not sent as you type.

The selected address and Home area coordinates are saved in this browser’s local storage, scoped to your account and household. They are not saved to Cofori’s account database or shared with housemates. They remain on that device until replaced or the browser’s Cofori site data is cleared; switching location off does not erase your saved Home. Cofori handles the search request and results transiently and does not deliberately keep an address-search history.

Automatic Home and Away

With the switch on and your browser or device permission granted, Cofori uses device location while the app is open and visible to compare your position with the saved Home area. Exact GPS coordinates stay on the device for this comparison. Cofori sends the resulting Home or Away status and the account/member identifiers needed to update it. Housemates see your status, not your GPS position or Home address.

Automatic status may be delayed or unavailable when location is inaccurate, the app is hidden or permission is denied. It is not continuous background tracking or a safety-monitoring service. Choosing a manual status pauses automatic updates; Do Not Disturb is not overwritten. Turn the location switch off to stop device location checks, including new Dev insights contributions, or revoke permission in your browser/device settings. Your current household status is not automatically erased by turning the switch off.

Separate opt-in for Cofori Dev insights

The Share approximate area insights with Cofori Dev option under Privacy & location insights is a separate, optional consent. It is not required for automatic status. If enabled while location is on, the device converts a location sample to a broad one-degree latitude/longitude area before sending it. Cofori stores your latest area band, account identifier, contribution time and consent preference to understand broad usage areas and improve the product. This is account-linked personal information in Cofori’s backend, not anonymous raw data.

We do not collect exact GPS coordinates, your Home address or a route/history of movements for Dev insights. The Dev dashboard shows area counts only for groups of at least three contributors, along with overall opt-in/contributor totals; it does not show individual account identities. Only the latest contribution is kept per account. Contributions older than 30 days are excluded from insights and their area fields are cleared when insights are refreshed.

You can withdraw this consent using the same option at any time. Once the change syncs, Cofori clears your saved area contribution and stops further contributions, while retaining the consent preference so your choice can be respected. Turning off the main location switch stops new contributions but does not itself withdraw Dev consent or delete an existing contribution. Our lawful basis for these optional location uses is consent. Declining or withdrawing it does not prevent use of other Cofori features. Contact us using section 8 if you need help deleting location information.

2b. Optional ecosystem interest form

On Cofori.com you can share which future concept interests you, with an optional idea. No name, email or account is required. Please do not include personal or sensitive information. We store your choice, optional idea and submission time in the website’s own hosting database to inform product research. This is not a mailing-list signup or a commitment to release a product.

For spam prevention, the server uses a daily salted digest of your network address, rather than storing the raw address in the form database. These identifiers become eligible for deletion after 24 hours and are cleared on subsequent form activity; short-lived form challenges expire after 30 minutes and are cleaned up on subsequent activity. We use this information for our legitimate interests in product research and protecting the form from abuse. Our hosting provider may separately process network information to deliver and secure the site.

Only authorised Cofori administrators can access submissions. Ideas and choices are kept for up to 12 months, then removed on subsequent form activity. Contact support@cofori.com about an idea you submitted or to request its removal; without an account or email we may need the approximate submission time and wording to locate it.

3. How and why we use information

• To create and secure your account and provide Cofori’s features.
• To show shared household content to the people in the relevant household.
• To send service messages, reminders and notifications you have enabled.
• To prevent abuse, investigate errors and protect users and the service.
• To understand performance and improve Cofori.
• To answer support requests and meet legal obligations.

Our lawful bases depend on the activity. We generally rely on performance of our contract for core service features, legitimate interests for security and product improvement, legal obligations where applicable, and consent where required. You can withdraw consent for optional permissions such as notifications, location, camera or photo access through Cofori or your device settings.

4. Who can see or receive information

Information you add to a household can be seen by members of that household. Think carefully before sharing sensitive information, including bank details, in a shared space.

We use service providers for authentication, hosting, storage and notification delivery. They process information only to provide those services to us. We may also disclose information where the law requires it, to protect rights and safety, or as part of a business reorganisation with appropriate safeguards.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. International transfers

Some service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we use an approved safeguard or another lawful transfer mechanism required by UK data protection law.

6. How long we keep information

Specific storage and retention details for optional location features are in section 2a.

We keep information only for as long as needed to provide Cofori, meet legal or accounting requirements, resolve disputes and protect the service. Retention depends on the type of record and why we hold it.

If you delete your account, we delete or anonymise account information that is no longer needed. Some shared household records may remain so other members can keep an accurate household history, but we will remove or limit your personal attribution where reasonably possible. Limited backup or security records may remain for a short period before being overwritten.

7. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information. No online service can guarantee absolute security, so please use a strong, unique password and keep household invite links and account credentials private.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your information, and to restrict or object to some uses. You may also withdraw consent where we rely on it.

To exercise a right, use Help & Feedback inside Cofori or email support@cofori.com. We may need to verify your identity. If you are in the UK, you may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

9. Children

Cofori is not intended for children under 13. If local law requires parental permission for a young person to use an online service, they should use Cofori only with that permission.

10. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as Cofori changes. We will publish the updated date here and give additional notice when a change materially affects your rights.

Questions about privacy can be sent to Emmanuel Rowland at support@cofori.com, or through Help & Feedback inside Cofori.