Nkaa is a bookkeeping app for small and informal businesses that get paid through Mobile Money (MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money). This policy explains what data Nkaa accesses, how it is used, and — importantly — what Nkaa does not do with your data.
What data Nkaa accesses
- Mobile Money transaction SMS. With your permission, Nkaa reads the transaction messages your mobile operator sends you (money received, money sent, withdrawals, fees). It uses these to build your ledger automatically. Nkaa only interprets Mobile Money transaction messages; other SMS in your inbox are ignored and not stored.
- Manual entries you add. Cash sales and expenses you type in yourself (for transactions that don't generate an SMS).
- The ledger Nkaa builds from the above: amounts, dates, transaction direction, fees, counterparties as they appear in the message, and the labels you apply (for example Business or Private).
Nkaa does not access your contacts, your photos, your location, your microphone, or your camera.
Permissions Nkaa requests, and why
- Read SMS (
READ_SMS) — to read existing Mobile Money transaction messages already in your inbox, so your past business activity appears immediately. - Receive SMS (
RECEIVE_SMS) — to detect a new Mobile Money transaction message as it arrives and add it to your ledger automatically. - Internet (
INTERNET) — used for two things, both optional. First, a content-free download of updated parsing rules (the patterns Nkaa uses to read message formats), which never sends any of your data — it only fetches rules. Second, if you choose to back up to Google Drive, to upload your backup to your own Google account. If you never use backup and rule updates are off, Nkaa makes no network connections at all.
You can grant or revoke these permissions at any time in your device's Settings. If you deny SMS access, automatic capture is disabled and you can still use Nkaa for manual entries.
How your data is used
Your data is used only on your device to:
- build and display your ledger and dashboards (money in, money out, fees);
- let you filter and label transactions (for example Business vs Private);
- generate statements and a cash-flow summary that you can export.
Where your data is stored
All of your transactions and the labels you add are stored in a local database on your device. Nkaa works fully offline, and stays that way unless you use backup.
Backup and restore (optional)
Nkaa can save a copy of your ledger so that losing your phone does not mean losing your records. Backup is off until you use it. There is no automatic or background upload.
You choose where a backup goes:
- A file. Nkaa creates one file and you decide where it lands: your phone's storage, a memory card, or sending it to yourself on WhatsApp. This file is always locked with a passphrase you choose.
- Your own Google Drive. Nkaa asks you to pick a Google account, then stores the backup in a private folder in your Drive that only Nkaa can open. It is your account and your storage, governed by Google's own terms and privacy policy. We never receive it. Nkaa has no server for your records.
For a Drive backup you choose whether to lock it with a passphrase. We recommend that you do. If you do not, Google can read the contents, so in that case Nkaa leaves the original SMS messages out of the backup. Your ledger itself is still saved: amounts, dates, fees, and the name and phone number of the other person as they appeared in those messages. If you would rather none of that be readable, lock the backup with a passphrase.
There is no recoveryIf you forget your passphrase, the backup cannot be opened by you, by us, or by anyone. There is no reset and no recovery. Write it down somewhere safe.
Restoring adds entries to your phone. It never deletes or overwrites what is already there, and entries you have already recorded are recognised and not duplicated.
Android's own backup
Separately from the above, Android has a system backup feature that can copy app settings to your Google account. Nkaa's settings (such as your language and theme choice) may be included. Your ledger is excluded from it. Your transactions are never sent to Google's cloud by this route. Your ledger can still be carried across directly when you set up a new phone from your old one, which is a device-to-device transfer that does not go through a server.
What Nkaa does NOT do
- No collection. Nkaa does not transmit your SMS content or your ledger to us. We have no server that receives your records. Backups go to your own Google account or to a file you choose, never to us.
- No sharing or selling. We do not share or sell your data to any third party.
- No tracking. Nkaa contains no advertising, no analytics, and no third-party tracking software.
- No accounts. Nkaa has no sign-up or login, and we never receive your identity. If you use Google Drive backup you pick one of your own Google accounts for storage; that is between you and Google, and Nkaa learns nothing about you from it.
Data retention and deletion
Your data stays on your device until you delete it. You can delete individual entries in the app, or remove all data by uninstalling Nkaa, which deletes the local database. Because the data is only on your device, we cannot access or delete it for you.
Backups you have made are not removed when you uninstall Nkaa. To delete them:
- A backup file — delete the file wherever you saved or sent it.
- A Google Drive backup — it lives in your own Google account, so you remove it through Google, not through us. Open drive.google.com in a browser (on your phone or a computer), then go to Settings → Manage apps, find Nkaa, and choose Options → Delete hidden app data. You can do this at any time, with or without Nkaa installed, and it does not need our involvement. Note that Google can take a few days to show the freed space.
Children
Nkaa is intended for adults (18 and over) running a business. It is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from children.
Security
Your records are protected by your device's own security (screen lock, encryption), and Nkaa offers an optional app lock that requires your fingerprint, face, or screen lock to open it.
Backups are encrypted on your device before they are saved or uploaded, using strong encryption (AES-256) with a key derived from the passphrase you choose. Nobody who obtains the backup (including Google, and including us) can read a passphrase-protected backup without that passphrase. The trade-off is that a forgotten passphrase cannot be recovered.
Keep your device locked and up to date, and keep your backup passphrase somewhere safe.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update the effective date above and post the new version at the same URL. Significant changes will be reflected in a future app update.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: willie.chieukam@gmail.com