Privacy policy

Last updated 1 November 2026

The short version. Kilowell keeps your household's meter readings, bills and costs so you can see where your money goes. Your data lives on your phone and, if you create an account, in a private database in the United Kingdom. We do not sell it, show ads, or track you. When you scan a meter, bill or statement, the photo or PDF is sent to Anthropic's Claude to be read, then thrown away unless you choose to keep it. You can export or delete everything yourself at any time.

1. Who we are

Kilowell is run by John Johnson trading as NettForge ("we", "us"). We are the responsible party under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and we follow the principles of the GDPR and UK GDPR for people in Europe and the UK. You can reach us, and our Information Officer, at support@nettforge.com.

2. What we collect and why

What	Why we need it
Account details. Your email address, the name you choose, and a password (we never see it: our sign-in provider stores only a protected hash).	To sign you in, back up your data and let you share with your family.
Household records. The homes, meters, readings, prices, bills (names, amounts, dates, notes), prepaid top-ups, fuel purchases, budgets and repeating bills you add, and photos you choose to keep.	To run the app and keep it in sync across your devices and the people you invite.
Photos, PDFs and statements you scan. A picture of a meter or a bill, or a bank statement. These can contain personal details, so we ask you to avoid photographing anything that is not needed.	To read the numbers for you. They are not stored by us after reading, unless you tick "Keep the photo with this record".
Household membership. Which household you belong to, your role (owner, member or view-only), and invite codes.	To make sure only the right people see a household.
Technical records. Standard connection details such as IP address and device type that our providers see, and a simple log of when you used the scanner (no content).	Security, fixing faults, and limiting scans per person so the service stays affordable.

We only collect what the app needs. We do not ask for your phone number, address, ID number, bank login or payment details. Bank statements in CSV form are read on your phone and are never uploaded.

3. How we use it

To provide Kilowell: store your records, sync them, share them with the people you invite, and read documents when you ask.
To keep the service safe, fix problems and prevent abuse.
To reply when you contact us, and to tell you about important changes to the service or these terms.
To meet legal obligations.

We do not sell your information, use it for advertising, or build profiles about you.

4. Who else handles it

We use a small number of service providers ("operators" under POPIA) who process information only to provide their service to us:

Provider	What they do	Where
Supabase	Database, sign-in and the small server functions behind the app.	London, United Kingdom
Anthropic	Reads meter photos, bills and statements when you press "Read it". We send the photo or PDF and a few hints (your country, currency and the last reading) so it can check the numbers make sense. We do not send your name or email address.	Processed by Anthropic, which may be outside South Africa, the UK and the EU. See anthropic.com/legal/privacy.
Our web host	Delivers the website and the app files to your device. It sees standard connection details, but not the contents of your household.	As set out by our hosting provider.

Everyone in a household can see and change what it contains (or only view, if you give them view-only access). Please only invite people you trust. We may also share information if the law requires it.

5. Keeping it safe

Connections are encrypted. Each household's records are protected by database rules so that only its members can read them. Passwords are stored as protected hashes. No system is perfectly secure; if something goes wrong that affects you we will tell you and the regulator as the law requires.

6. How long we keep it

For as long as you have an account. Delete your account in the app (Household → Account & sharing → Delete my account) and your account, your scan log and any household where you were the only member are removed straight away. A household with other members stays with them. The copy on your phone stays until you erase it.

7. Your rights

You can ask us to give you a copy of your information, correct it, delete it, or stop using it for a purpose. Most of this you can do yourself in the app: export spreadsheets, back up a file, edit or delete records, delete your account. For anything else write to support@nettforge.com. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa), or your local data protection authority (for example the ICO in the UK).

8. Cookies and tracking

We do not use advertising cookies or analytics trackers. Kilowell stores your data and sign-in on your device (local storage) so it works offline. That is necessary for the app to work.

9. Children

Kilowell is for adults. It is not meant for children under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their information.

10. Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it last changed.