Dala Privacy Policy
Dala helps savings circles (tontines) and community associations keep track of members, contributions and meetings. This page explains what Dala collects, why, and who can see it.
What we collect
- Account details — your name, and your phone number or email, used to sign you in and to match you to an association that invited you.
- Profile details — date of birth, sex and marital status (required by associations for their rules and census), and optionally how many spouses and children are in your household, and a profile photo.
- Membership and money — which circles and associations you belong to, your dues, contributions, payments and receipts, and any credit you have paid ahead.
- Meetings — your RSVPs and attendance. When you mark yourself present at an in-person meeting, your location is read once, at that moment, only to confirm you are at the meeting place. Dala never tracks your location in the background.
- Shared location in chat — if you choose to share your location in a chat, that location is sent to the people in that chat.
- Notifications — a device token so we can send you payment reminders and association updates. You control these in Profile.
- Messages — the messages, photos, videos, files and voice messages you send in a chat inside the app.
Payments
Payments are processed by Stripe. Your card or bank details are entered directly with Stripe and never touch Dala's servers. Dala records the amount, date and status of each payment so your association's books stay correct.
Bank connections
An association may connect its own bank account so that dues a member has sent by Zelle or transfer can be matched to the money arriving, instead of the treasurer checking by hand. This is set up through Plaid, which collects the bank login in its own screen — the credentials never reach Dala. The connection is read-only: Dala can read the account's transactions and cannot move money. Plaid is only used for the association's own account. An officer can disconnect it at any time in the app.
Separately, a member can choose to link their own bank account to pay dues by bank debit. That link is made through Stripe, as described under Payments.
Who can see your information
- Officers of your association (head, treasurer, secretary, auditor) can see your dues standing and payment history for that association, as they would in a paper ledger. Amounts owed are shown to officers only.
- Other members can see your name and whether you are up to date, never your amounts.
- The community census shows totals only (for example how many families), never who.
- If you contribute through a public pay link, the amount and the name you choose to give are recorded for that collection.
Services we rely on
Google Firebase (sign-in, database, hosting, notifications), Stripe (payments), Plaid (read-only bank connections for associations that choose to connect one), Expo (push notifications), Twilio (text-message invites and reminders), Cloudflare (meeting audio and video) and Gmail (email delivery). Each processes data only to provide its service to Dala. When you upload a payment receipt, its image is read automatically by Google's Gemini AI to check the amount and date, so an officer can confirm it faster. The image is sent to Google only for that check.
What we don't do
We do not sell your information, show advertising, or track you across other apps or websites.
Your choices
- Edit your profile and notification settings any time in Profile.
- Turn off location for Dala in your phone settings; you can still be marked present by an officer.
- To delete your account, open Profile in the app and tap Delete account, or email legal@laawoldigital.com. Your association's financial records are kept as required for its books, with your personal details removed.
Children
Dala is for adults (18+) managing community finances and is not directed at children.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the date above will be updated. Questions: write to legal@laawoldigital.com.