Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 2026 · Effective immediately · Applies to all Monby users

The short version: Monby collects only what it needs to work. Your receipt images and expense data are stored in your own Google Drive and Google Sheets — not on Monby's servers. We use third-party AI services to process your receipts, but we don't sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it for anything other than running Monby for you.

1. Who we are

Monby is a WhatsApp-based AI bookkeeping assistant for Canadian sole proprietors and micro-businesses. Monby is operated by Naima Akter, based in Canada. You can reach us at hellomonby@gmail.com.

2. What information we collect

We collect information in two ways: what you give us directly, and what is generated when you use Monby.

Information you provide:

Your name, WhatsApp phone number, and email address when you sign up for beta access
Your province, business type, and GST/HST registration status during onboarding
Receipt images and invoice documents you send via WhatsApp or email
Any messages and responses you send to Monby

Information generated automatically:

Expense records extracted from your receipts (merchant, amount, date, CRA category)
Conversation history used to provide context within your current session
Usage counts (number of messages and receipts per day) used for rate limiting

3. How we use your information

We use your information only to provide and improve the Monby service:

To process your receipts and categorize expenses for CRA purposes
To log expenses to your Google Sheet and file receipt images to your Google Drive
To answer your CRA and tax questions within the chat
To send you monthly summaries and relevant alerts via WhatsApp
To contact you about your beta access and service updates
To improve categorization accuracy over time

    We do not: sell your data, share it with advertisers, use it to train AI models for third parties, or use it for any purpose unrelated to providing Monby to you.
  

4. Where your data is stored

Monby is designed to minimize data held on our own servers:

Receipt images — stored in Google Drive, managed by Monby's Google account. You receive a shareable link giving you full access to your files at all times.
Expense records — stored in Google Sheets, managed by Monby's Google account. You receive a shareable link to view and download your data at any time.
Your profile and conversation context — stored securely in our database (name, phone, province, business type, recent conversation summary) to enable the service to function across sessions.
Receipt content during processing — temporarily passed through third-party AI services to extract merchant, amount, date, and category. This data is not retained by those services beyond the processing request.

5. Third-party services

Monby relies on the following third-party services to operate:

Google (Drive and Sheets) — your expense data and receipt images are stored in Google's infrastructure. Google's privacy policy applies: policies.google.com/privacy
Third-party AI services — receipt content is processed by AI services to extract and categorize expense data. These services are used solely to power Monby's functionality.
WhatsApp — messages sent through WhatsApp are subject to Meta's privacy policy. We recommend not sending sensitive personal information (SIN numbers, banking passwords, etc.) via WhatsApp.

6. Data retention

We retain your data for as long as your Monby account is active. If you request account deletion:

Your profile and conversation history will be deleted from our database within 14 days
Your Google Sheets and Google Drive files will be unshared — the files themselves remain in your possession via the links you received
Requests can be made by emailing hellomonby@gmail.com

7. Your rights (PIPEDA)

Under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you have the right to:

Know what personal information we hold about you
Request a copy of your personal information
Correct inaccurate information
Withdraw consent and request deletion of your data

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hellomonby@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including secure server infrastructure, access controls, and encrypted data transmission. No system is perfectly secure — if you believe your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately at hellomonby@gmail.com.

9. Children

Monby is intended for adults operating a business. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of 18.

10. Beta disclaimer

    Monby is currently in private beta. The service is provided as-is during this period. Features may change, and in rare cases, data may need to be reset as we improve the product. We will notify you by email before any action that affects your data.
  

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the product evolves. When we make significant changes, we will notify you via WhatsApp or email at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The date at the top of this page always reflects the most recent version.

12. Contact us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data? We're a small team and we respond personally.

📧 hellomonby@gmail.com
🌐 monby.netlify.app

Also see our Terms of Use.