uUniBudz

Terms of Service

Effective: 17 May 2026 · Last updated: 23 September 2026

Plain English first: By using UniBudz you agree to use it as intended (bill-splitting, settling up, finding events, looking out for your mates), not abuse it (no harassment, no SOS pranks, no fake reviews), and accept that it's provided "as is". We'll do our best but we can't guarantee perfection. You can save payment details so friends can pay you back, but UniBudz never moves money, it only shows the details and records what people say they paid, so check who you're paying (see §5). If you subscribe to Pro (R29/month or R199/year, each with a 7-day free trial), it auto-renews until you cancel.

1. Acceptance

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the UniBudz mobile application and related services ("UniBudz", "the Service"), operated by Ryan Daniel van Eeden ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be 18 years or older to use UniBudz. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and you must give your real one. By creating an account, you confirm you meet this age requirement and have full legal capacity to enter these Terms. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we will close it and delete its data (see the Privacy Policy, §11). UniBudz is designed for university students in South Africa but is available to any eligible user.

3. Your account

You sign in with a one-time code sent to your email address. You are responsible for keeping that email account secure and for all activity that happens under your UniBudz account.
You agree to provide accurate information at signup and to keep it up to date.
You may only have one account per person.
You must notify us immediately at unibudzapp@gmail.com if you suspect unauthorised use of your account.
You can delete your account at any time from the app's profile screen, or by emailing us.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

Use UniBudz to harass, stalk, threaten, defame, or invade the privacy of any person.
Misuse the SOS feature for non-emergency purposes. False SOS activations may result in immediate account termination and, if appropriate, reporting to authorities.
Submit false venue suggestions, deal submissions, event submissions, or reviews.
Attempt to scrape, reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract data from the Service in bulk.
Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law.
Impersonate another person or misrepresent your affiliation with any university or organisation.
Upload images that infringe copyright, contain nudity, or otherwise violate community standards.
Interfere with the operation of the Service or access it via automated means.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these rules, with or without notice.

5. Settling up and expense data: important disclaimer

UniBudz helps you track and split shared expenses and settle up with friends and housemates. We are not a bank, payment processor, financial institution, money-transfer service, or escrow service, and we are not regulated as one. We never hold, move, or transfer money, and we are never connected to your or anyone else's bank account. Every payment happens directly between you and the other person, in your own banking app, outside of UniBudz.

The settle-up feature only does two things: it displays payment details that a user chose to save (such as a bank account number or a PayShap cellphone number), and it records what users tell us they have paid. Because of this:

You are responsible for the payment details you save and for who you pay. We do not verify that a bank account number, bank, PayShap number, or account name is correct or belongs to the person shown. Check the details before you send money. If you pay the wrong account, that is a matter between you and the other people involved.
Marking a debt as paid, confirmed, disputed, or settled is a record of what users say, not proof that money changed hands. UniBudz cannot see whether a payment actually happened. Disagreements about whether, or how much, someone paid are for the users to resolve between themselves.
Reminders ("nudges") are messages between group members about outstanding debts. Do not use them to harass anyone; misuse may lead to account action under §4.
We make no warranty as to the accuracy of any balance calculation and recommend you treat the figures as a helpful summary rather than a binding accounting record.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, UniBudz is not liable for any loss arising from a payment made or not made between users, including payments to an incorrect or mistyped account, failed or reversed transfers, or any dispute between users about who owes what. See §12.

6. UniBudz Pro subscription

UniBudz Pro is an optional paid subscription that unlocks additional features: automatic payment reminders (Debt Autopilot), simplified group debts, receipt scanning (your first scan is free), recurring expenses and spending trends. The current list is always shown in the app. Settling up itself is free.
Pricing is shown in the app. As of the effective date, Pro is offered at R29 per month or R199 per year, each with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers, billed in advance.
If you start a free trial and do not cancel before it ends, it automatically converts to a paid subscription at the price shown and your payment method is charged. You can cancel during the trial at no cost from your Google Play subscription settings.
Subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each billing period (monthly or yearly) unless cancelled before the renewal date.
You can cancel at any time from your Google Play subscription settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. No partial refunds.
If you cancel, Pro features remain available until the end of the period you've paid for, then revert to the free tier.
We may change Pro pricing or feature lists in future. We will notify you at least 14 days before any change takes effect.
Billing is processed by Google Play and your subscription status is managed via RevenueCat. We never receive your card or bank details for the subscription. Refund requests for Google Play purchases must be made via Google's refund policy.

7. User-generated content

You retain ownership of any content you create or upload (reviews, event submissions, profile photos, expense notes, receipt photos, etc.). By submitting content, you grant UniBudz a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, and process that content as needed to run the Service.

You represent that the content you submit:

Does not infringe any third party's copyright, trademark, or other rights.
Is not defamatory, obscene, or otherwise unlawful.
Is your own work or is content you have the right to share.

This includes night-out photos ("jols"). Each jol is shared, at your choice per post, with your crew (your friends) only, or with your crew and everyone on UniBudz who has picked the same university as you. Tagged venues may only repost a photo if you tick "Tagged spots can repost this photo" on that post. If you do, you also allow us to give that photo, its caption and your name (for credit) to the venues you tagged, and you grant those venues a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to post it on their own pages, such as social media, with credit to you. You can change a post's audience or delete a post at any time. To withdraw repost permission for a photo you have already posted, delete the jol or email us; we then stop offering it. We can't recall a copy a venue has already posted, but we will ask the venue to remove it if you want.

Objectionable content. The following is not allowed anywhere on UniBudz and will be removed: nudity or sexually explicit content; harassment, bullying, or hate directed at any person or group; violence or threats; content that features an identifiable person who has asked to be removed; content depicting or promoting illegal activity; spam or impersonation. Photos of people require their consent; anyone who appears in a photo can report it in-app with "I'm in this photo", and in most cases it is hidden straight away while we review it.

Notice and takedown. If you believe content on UniBudz is unlawful or infringes your rights (for example a photo of you posted without your consent, something defamatory, or your copyright), email a takedown notice to unibudzapp@gmail.com with the subject "Takedown notice". In line with section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002, your notice should include:

your full name and address;
your written or electronic signature (typing your full name is enough);
the right you say has been infringed;
the content or activity you are complaining about, with enough detail for us to find it (for example a screenshot, the venue, the date and the name shown on the post);
what you would like us to do about it;
your phone number and email address;
a statement that you are acting in good faith; and
a statement that the information in your notice is, to your knowledge, true and correct.

We act on complete notices as soon as reasonably possible. We may hide the content while we look into it and we will let the person who posted it know. Anyone who sends a takedown notice knowing that it materially misrepresents the facts may be liable for the damage it causes (ECTA section 77(2)). If you appear in a jol you can see in the app, tap "I'm in this photo": in most cases it is hidden straight away while we review it. If you can't see the jol, or it is still up, send us a takedown notice as described above.

Reporting, blocking, and enforcement. Every jol and every review can be reported in-app, and you can block a friend, or the person who posted a jol you can see, in-app. Reported content may be hidden automatically pending review; we review reports and may remove content, restrict features, or terminate accounts that violate these Terms. The app screens reviews and campus captions with automated moderation (OpenAI's moderation API) when you submit them, and we may remove any user-generated content at our discretion.

8. Venue and event listings

Venue locations, hours, contact details, and deals are compiled from public sources (Google Places, venue websites, user submissions). We do our best to keep them accurate but make no warranty. Events are sourced from public APIs (e.g. Quicket) and user submissions; we are not the organiser of any event. Always check directly with the venue or event organiser before relying on details for plans.

9. Location features

Live location sharing and SOS features are off by default. You must explicitly opt in to each. You can turn them off at any time from within the app. Location shared with other users (members of groups where you switched sharing on, or the friends you choose) is handled as described in the Privacy Policy. Location sharing and SOS keep working with the app closed and your phone locked, and your phone shows a notification while they are on.

The SOS feature is a peer-to-peer alert tool. It notifies all your accepted friends and everyone in every group you belong to (except people you have blocked), and shares your live location with them, including with your phone locked, until you end the alert. It is not a substitute for emergency services. In a genuine emergency, contact South African emergency services on 10111 (police) or 10177 (ambulance).

10. Service availability

We aim to keep UniBudz available 24/7 but make no uptime guarantee. We may pause or restrict access for maintenance, security, or operational reasons. We may add, change, or remove features at any time without notice. Where reasonably possible we will give advance warning of significant changes.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

UniBudz is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, in no event will we be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with your use of (or inability to use) UniBudz, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of profits, or reliance on any balance calculation, venue listing, event listing, or location data shown in the app.

Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of these Terms or the Service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you have paid to us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) R500.

Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot be limited under South African law (including under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008).

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless UniBudz and its operators from any claim, demand, loss, or liability (including legal fees) arising out of (a) your breach of these Terms, (b) your misuse of the Service, or (c) any content you submit that infringes a third party's rights.

14. Termination

By you: delete your account at any time from the profile screen, or by emailing unibudzapp@gmail.com.
By us: we may suspend or terminate your account at any time if you breach these Terms, abuse the Service, or if we are required to do so by law. Where appropriate we will give notice and an opportunity to remedy.
Termination of your account does not refund any Pro subscription fees already paid.
Sections 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16 survive termination.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes we will notify you in-app and bump the "Last updated" date at the top. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated Terms. If you don't accept the new Terms, please delete your account before they take effect.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service will be resolved in the courts of South Africa, subject to any consumer protection rights that apply to you under South African law.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms, or about UniBudz in general:
unibudzapp@gmail.com