Sosu Privacy Policy
Effective October 7, 2026.
1. Who we are
Sosu is a mobile app operated by Hintekk LLC, 9709 Byward Boulevard, Bowie, MD 20721, USA ("Hintekk", "we", "us"). This policy explains what personal information Sosu collects, how we use and share it, and the choices you have.
Sosu helps people run savings groups (njangi, tontine, susu): groups, rotating circles, rounds, records of who has paid, and an end-to-end encrypted group chat. This policy covers the Sosu app and the Sosu services behind it. It does not cover services run by others, such as your mobile carrier or a payment provider, which have their own policies.
2. Information we collect
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Mobile phone number, display name, language, the date you accepted these terms, and a password if your account has one | You |
| Sign-in codes | A one-way scrambled (hashed) copy of each code we text you, its expiry (10 minutes) and the number of wrong tries | Generated by Sosu |
| Groups and circles | Groups you create or join, your role, invitations, join requests, guarantor choices, your position in each circle, and the rounds and amounts you owe or are owed | You and other members of your groups |
| Payment records | Payments you record (method, amount, date), confirmations, disputes and their outcomes, and the payment details you choose to show other members (for example a mobile money number) | You and other members of your groups |
| Payment proofs | Screenshots or photos you upload to prove a payment | You |
| Chat | Encrypted messages in transit, plus who is in a conversation and when a message was sent. We cannot read message content (section 7) | Your device |
| Device and usage | IP address, app version, device type, timestamps and error logs, used for security, abuse prevention and fixing problems | Your device |
We do not collect your contacts, location, or card numbers. We do not use advertising trackers.
3. How we use information
We use your information only to run Sosu:
- Verify your phone number and sign you in, by texting you a one-time code.
- Run your groups: show members their circles, rounds, who has paid, and who is next, as the group's rules require.
- Record payments: keep each group's payment history and ledger, and handle confirmations and disputes.
- Keep Sosu safe: limit how many codes an address or number can request, detect abuse, and secure accounts.
- Support and fix problems: answer your requests and investigate errors.
- Meet legal obligations: keep records the law requires and respond to lawful requests.
We do not sell your information. We do not use it for advertising or to build marketing profiles.
4. Text messages (SMS)
Sosu texts you only one-time verification codes, and only when you ask for one. Example: "Sosu: your code is 123456".
- When you agree: entering your number and tapping to get a code is your consent to receive that code by text.
- How often: one message each time you request a code. Requests are capped at 3 an hour and 5 a day per number.
- Cost: message and data rates may apply, depending on your mobile plan.
- Help and stopping: reply HELP for help or STOP to stop texts. Contact info@hintekk.com at any time. If you stop texts, you cannot sign in on a new phone by code until you opt in again.
- No marketing: we do not send marketing texts.
We do not share or sell your mobile phone number or your text-message consent with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. We share your number only with the providers who deliver our texts (section 5). Members of your groups can see your phone number (section 5).
5. Who we share information with
- Members of your groups. Members see your display name, your phone number, your role, your place in each circle, and the group's rounds and who has paid. Members you pay, or who pay you, see the payment details you choose to show. Payment proofs are visible only to the payer, the person paid, and the group's admins. Admins see join requests and disputes.
- Service providers who run parts of Sosu for us, under contracts that limit their use of your data to that work:
- Amazon Web Services (hosting, storage, sign-in, text and email delivery), in the United States.
- Mobile carriers and text-message aggregators, to deliver your codes.
- Licensed payment partners, once in-app payments launch, to process the payments you start.
- Legal and safety. When the law requires it, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our users, the public or Hintekk.
- Business transfers. If Hintekk is merged, acquired or sells Sosu, under this policy's protections.
We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
6. Sosu never holds your money
Sosu records payments; it does not receive, hold or move members' money. Payments made another way (cash, Zelle, bank or mobile money transfer) go directly between members, and Sosu only keeps the record. When in-app payments launch, licensed payment partners will move the money and handle payment details, under their own privacy policies. Sosu will receive only what it needs to record the payment: amount, status and a reference.
7. Encrypted chat
Group chat is end-to-end encrypted: messages are locked on the sender's phone and unlocked only on the recipients' phones. Our servers pass on encrypted messages but cannot read them. They keep an undelivered message for at most 30 days, then delete it. We see only what we need to deliver messages: who is in a conversation, message size and timing. We keep only overall counts for statistics, never per-person message counts.
8. How long we keep information, and deleting your account
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Sign-in codes | Until used, or 10 minutes |
| Undelivered chat messages | Until delivered, at most 30 days |
| Account and profile | Until you delete your account |
| Payment records and group ledger | 7 years after the record, for the group's history and legal record-keeping |
| Payment proofs | 7 years after the payment is settled |
| Security and error logs | 90 days |
You can delete your account in the app (Account → Delete account). If you still have commitments in a running circle, such as a payout you have received but not yet paid back, deletion is scheduled for when they end. Other members' records of payments that involved you stay in their group's history, without your profile.
9. Security
We protect your information with encryption in transit and at rest, access limited to the people and systems that need it, private storage for payment proofs, and limits on code requests and wrong tries. Signing in on a new phone signs out your old one. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will tell you as the law requires.
10. Your rights and choices
You can see and change your profile in the app, and delete your account (section 8). Depending on where you live, including US states such as California and the EU, UK and Cameroon, you may also have the right to:
- access a copy of your personal information;
- correct it;
- delete it;
- object to or restrict some uses;
- receive it in a portable format.
To use these rights, email info@hintekk.com. We will verify your request, usually with a code to your Sosu number, and answer within the time the law sets. We will not treat you differently for using your rights.
International transfers. Sosu is run from the United States. Your information is stored in the United States wherever you use Sosu. Where the law requires it, we protect transfers with appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses.
11. Children
Sosu is for people 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child is using Sosu, contact us and we will delete the account.
12. Changes and contact
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.
Questions or requests: info@hintekk.com · Hintekk LLC, 9709 Byward Boulevard, Bowie, MD 20721, USA. For help with texts, reply HELP or email info@hintekk.com.