Privacy Policy
Sowaka is a human resource management system (HRMS) — a workplace app licensed to employers to run attendance, leave, overtime, reimbursements, performance reviews and internal communication for their staff. It is not a consumer product and is not available to the general public. This policy explains what Sowaka collects, who sees it, how long it is kept, and how an account and its data are deleted.
Who we are
Sowaka is the developer named on the Google Play and App Store listings for this app, and the publisher of this policy. Questions about privacy, or a request about your own data, reach us at support@getsowaka.com; we reply to every enquiry.
Who is responsible for your data
Your employer decides what is collected in Sowaka and why; they are the data controller. Sowaka operates the app and processes that information on their instructions as the data processor. Requests about your own records are usually fastest through your HR team, and you may also write to us directly at the address at the end of this policy.
How your account is created
You cannot create a Sowaka account yourself. There is no public sign-up, and the app cannot be used without an employer.
- Your employer's HR team creates your account from their own employment records, entering your name, work email address, employee ID, department, designation, reporting manager, work location and joining date.
- You sign in with your work email address only. Sowaka emails you a one-time six-digit code; there is no password to set or remember, and we do not use social sign-in.
- Your employer decides who has an account, and what each person can see — an employee, a manager and an HR administrator see different things.
- Adding your profile photo, and everything you post on the Connect feed, is voluntary.
What Sowaka collects
| Category | What it includes | Source | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity & contact | Name, work email, employee ID, department, designation, reporting manager, work location, joining date, date of birth, profile photo | Your employer; photo from you | To sign you in, and to show you in the directory and org chart |
| Attendance | Punch-in and punch-out times, correction requests and their outcomes | You, and your employer's records | To record hours worked and process corrections |
| Location at punch-in | Your device's location (latitude and longitude) at the moment you punch in, saved with that attendance record | Your device, only when you tap punch-in and have allowed location access | To record where your attendance was marked |
| Leave & overtime | Requests, dates, reasons you type, balances, manager decisions and notes | You and your manager | To run the leave and overtime process |
| Reimbursements | Claim amounts, expense dates, notes, and receipt images you upload | You | To process expense claims |
| Performance | Review scores, written feedback, recognition nominations | Your manager and HR | To run your employer's review cycle |
| Connect posts | Posts, comments, reactions, poll responses, photos and videos you upload, and colleagues you tag | You | To run the internal feed |
| App activity & device | Push notification token, app version, device model and OS version, and server logs of requests including IP address | Your device | To deliver notifications, and to keep the service secure and working |
Location
Sowaka uses location for one purpose: geo-tagged punch-in. The app asks for location permission (while the app is in use) so that your attendance can show where you were when you punched in.
- Your location is read only at the moment you tap punch-in, while the app is open.
- Sowaka does not track your location in the background, when the app is closed, or between punch-ins. There is no live or continuous tracking.
- The location is saved with that attendance record. Your manager and your HR administrators can see it as part of your attendance. Colleagues cannot.
- Location is not used for advertising, is not sold, and is not used for any purpose other than recording where attendance was marked.
- Punch-in needs location access to work. You can allow or withdraw the permission at any time in your device's settings.
What Sowaka does not collect
No background location and no continuous tracking of where you are, no contacts, no calendar, no SMS or call logs, no health or financial account data, no biometric identifiers, and nothing from other apps on your device. Sowaka contains no advertising and no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.
Microphone: the app asks for microphone access only when you choose voice input to dictate feedback. Speech is converted to text by your device's operating system; the audio is not sent to us, and no recording is stored.
How it is used
- To provide the HR features described above to you and your employer.
- To record where your attendance was marked, using the location captured at punch-in.
- To notify you about things that concern you — a leave decision, a review shared with you, a request awaiting you — by push notification, in-app message and email.
- To keep the service secure, diagnose faults, and prevent misuse.
Sowaka does not sell personal data, does not share it with data brokers, and does not use it for advertising or for any purpose beyond the features described here.
Who it is shared with
- Colleagues at your employer — your name, photo, designation, team, and anything you post on Connect.
- Your manager — your attendance (including the location recorded at punch-in), leave, overtime and reimbursement requests, and your performance reviews.
- Your HR administrators — the above, across the organisation.
- Service providers that run the app on our behalf, under contract and only for that purpose:
- Amazon Web Services — application hosting and file storage
- MongoDB Atlas — database hosting
- Google Firebase Cloud Messaging — push notification delivery
- Our email provider — one-time sign-in codes and notification email
- Nobody else, unless we are required to by law, or to protect the rights and safety of users.
Data is processed on servers operated by those providers. Where information is transferred across borders, it is protected by the contractual safeguards those providers offer.
How it is protected
- Access requires a one-time code sent to your work email; there are no reusable passwords.
- All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit using HTTPS.
- Data at rest is stored on encrypted infrastructure at our hosting providers.
- Access inside the app follows your role — colleagues see only what is shared with everyone, managers see their own team, HR sees the organisation.
- Sowaka staff access production data only when needed to operate or support the service.
How long it is kept
Your records are kept while your account is active, and afterwards for as long as your employer must retain them — employment, attendance and payroll records are generally kept for the statutory period that applies to your employer, and are then deleted. The location saved with a punch-in is part of the attendance record and is kept and deleted with it. Server logs are kept for a short operational period and then discarded. Your employer sets retention within these limits.
How your account and data are deleted
Because accounts are created by your employer, they are also closed by your employer — normally when you leave the organisation. You can also ask for your account and personal data to be deleted at any time:
How to request deletion
- In the app: open Profile and tap “Sowaka data and privacy policy” at the bottom, which explains the request and the address to write to.
- By email: write to support@getsowaka.com from your work address, copying your HR team. Say that you want your Sowaka account and data deleted.
- On the web: use the account deletion request page, which works without the app installed.
What happens next
- We acknowledge your request within 7 working days.
- Because your employer controls the records, we confirm the request with them, and then delete within 30 days.
- Deleted: your account and sign-in access, profile and photo, Connect posts, comments and uploads, reimbursement receipts, performance reviews and written feedback, notification history and your device's push token. These records are erased, not deactivated or hidden.
- Retained: attendance and payroll-related records that your employer is legally required to keep, including the location recorded with each punch-in, for the statutory retention period, after which they are deleted. These are kept for legal compliance only and are not used for anything else.
You can request a copy of your data by the same route, and we will provide it in a machine-readable form.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to complain to a data protection authority. Since your employer controls this data, please raise these requests with your HR team; we support them in meeting the request, and you can also contact us directly.
Children
Sowaka is a workplace tool intended for employed adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that materially affects you, we will update the date at the top of this page and notify your employer, who will inform their staff. Continued use of the app after a change means the updated policy applies.
The 23 September 2026 update adds location collection for geo-tagged punch-in.
Contact
Sowaka — privacy enquiries: support@getsowaka.com
For anything about your own records, your employer's HR team is the fastest route.