Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 October 2026

Shout is an iPhone app and web app for splitting shared expenses with a group: a trip, a house, a night out. It is made by SmilingEyes. To keep a group in step across everyone's phones, Shout has to keep that group's expenses on a server. This policy explains exactly what that server holds, why, and how to delete it.

The short version: Shout keeps what a shared expense list needs and nothing more. No advertising, no tracking, no third-party analytics, and we never sell or share your data. Signing in needs only an email address. You can delete your account data from inside the app.

What we do not collect

No advertising or tracking SDKs, and no tracking across other apps or websites.
No payment details. Shout records who owes whom; it never holds a card or bank account and never moves money.
No contacts, location, photos or microphone.
No passwords. You sign in with a one-time link or code sent to your email.

What a group keeps

When you share a group, its contents are stored on our server so every member sees the same list:

Names of the people in the group. Whoever sets up a group types these, so a name may be yours, written by someone else.
Expenses and payments: descriptions, amounts, currencies, who paid and how each one is split.
The group's history. Changes are recorded as a log, so corrections are visible to the group rather than silently overwritten.

Everyone in a group can see what is in it. A group that has never been shared stays on your phone and is not sent to us.

Your account

You need an account to share a group, and it is optional for joining one. An account holds:

Your email address, used to send sign-in links and codes, and to let a new phone find your groups again.
The name you go by and the picture you pick from Shout's set of pictures, shown to the other members of your groups.
Which groups you belong to, so they come back when you sign in on another device.

We never email you anything except the sign-in messages you ask for.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, your phone gives Shout a push token from Apple. We store it against the groups you are in so we can tell you when someone adds an expense. It is used for nothing else, and it is removed when you leave the group or sign out on that phone. You can turn notifications off at any time in iOS Settings.

Camera

The camera is used only to scan a group's QR code when you tap Scan. The image is read on your phone and is never stored or sent anywhere.

Keeping the service safe

To stop abuse, such as someone creating thousands of accounts or groups, the server applies limits:

Network address (IP). Counts of recent requests are kept per address for the length of each limit, from one hour to a few days, then discarded.
An install identifier. The app creates a random identifier stored in your phone's Keychain and sends it when you sign in, so we can limit how many email addresses one install signs in with. It says nothing about you or your phone and is kept for 30 days.
Email domain checks. When you sign in we check that your email's domain can receive mail and is not a throwaway address service. Only the domain is looked up.
Server logs. Our host records requests (time, path, status, network address) for a short period so we can find faults and abuse. Query strings are removed from these logs.

Usage counts

The app adds one to a small number of daily counters, such as how many groups were created today. These carry no identifier and no content, so they cannot be tied to you or your phone.

Using Shout in a browser

The web app at shout.smilingeyes.app keeps your group code, a random browser identifier and, if you sign in, your sign-in credential in your browser's local storage so you stay signed in. Clearing your browser's site data removes them. The site sets no cookies and loads nothing from other companies.

Who helps us run Shout

We use a small number of providers, each only for the job described, and none of them may use your data for their own purposes:

Cloudflare hosts the website and the server, stores group and account data and backups, keeps server logs, and answers the email domain check.
Resend delivers sign-in emails, so it receives your email address and the message.
Apple delivers push notifications and distributes the app through the App Store.

How long we keep it

A group is kept while it is in use. Its admin can delete it once everyone is settled up. A deleted group's backup is kept for 30 days so it can be brought back if deleted by mistake, then removed.
Your account is kept until you delete it.
Sign-in links and codes expire after 15 minutes.

Deleting your data

In the app, open Settings, tap Account and recovery, then Delete my account data. This removes your email address, your picture, your name and the list of your groups from our server straight away. Your groups stay on your phone, but a new phone will not be able to get them back.

Expenses you added to a shared group are part of that group's shared record and stay visible to its other members. To remove a whole group, its admin can delete it from the group's settings. If you need anything else removed, email [email protected] and we will help.

Reporting a group

If you are added to a group you want nothing to do with, open it and choose Report this group in its settings. This opens an email to us containing the group's name and identifier, so we can find it.

Children

Shout is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change affects what we collect, we will say so in the app.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email [email protected].