What this page is
This page explains how the Sorto software handles a shop’s data. It is written for shop owners, and for their customers and staff who want to know what happens to their details.
Sorto has not launched yet. No shop bills on it today. The first live shop is planned for late November 2026. Some things below are planned and not built yet; each one is marked “Planned”. We will update this page when they are built.
Each shop’s signed agreement with us is the binding version. If this page and the agreement differ, the agreement wins.
This page does not cover our payroll app, which is a separate app today, or this website (see our Privacy Policy).
Words used on this page
- Personal data: information about a person who can be identified from it, such as a name or phone number.
- Data Fiduciary: the business that decides why and how personal data is used. For the details of a shop’s own customers and staff, that is normally the shop.
- Data Processor: a company that handles personal data for someone else, on their instructions. Where we handle a shop’s data, we normally do it as the shop’s Data Processor.
- The books: the shop’s financial records in Sorto, such as bills, payments, cash and the end-of-day count.
The exact split of who is responsible for what is set in each shop’s agreement.
What Sorto keeps
| Kind of data | Examples |
|---|---|
| Sales and billing | Bills, items sold, discounts, taxes, how each bill was paid |
| Cash and day-end | Cash counted, cash in and out, the end-of-day count |
| Stock | What came in, what was used, what is left |
| Menu | Items and prices the shop sets |
| Customers | Only the details the shop chooses to record, such as a name or phone number |
| Connection log | A record of every call Sorto makes to a connected service (see below) |
Where it is kept
- Today: a shop’s books and billing are kept on that shop’s own computer.
- Planned: a copy in the cloud, kept by us, so the data is safe if the computer fails. Not built yet.
- Planned: a phone view for the owner. Not built yet.
Until the cloud copy is built, Sorto does not keep a copy of a shop’s books with us. Data leaves the shop’s computer only in the two ways described next: Insights, and the shop’s connected services.
Who can see it
- The shop: whoever the shop lets use Sorto on its computer.
- The AI model provider: only what Insights sends for a question (see below).
- Each connected service: only what that connection needs (see below).
- Us: today we hold no copy of a shop’s books. Our staff cannot see a shop’s data today. The planned design lets our staff see it only when the shop’s owner allows it.
Insights and the AI model provider
Insights lets an owner ask questions about the shop’s own numbers in plain words. To word the answer, Sorto sends the question, and the results of the data lookup needed to answer it, to an external AI model provider. The provider sends back the wording.
Please note:
- This data leaves the shop’s computer and is handled by that provider.
- If a question is about particular customers or staff, the results sent can include their details.
- The provider may process this data outside India. This page does not name the provider or say how long it keeps what it receives or whether it may train its models on it; ask us at hello@getsorto.in and we will tell you.
Connected services
A shop can connect Sorto to other services, such as card machines, payment gateways, delivery apps, WhatsApp and Tally (accounting software).
- Each service gets only what its connection needs. For example, a card machine needs the amount to charge.
- Every call Sorto makes to a connected service is written to a log that the owner can read.
- Once data reaches a connected service, that service’s own terms and privacy policy also apply. The shop chooses which services to connect.
Books cannot be changed or deleted
Sorto’s financial records are append-only: a new entry can be added, but an old entry can never be edited or deleted. Each entry also carries a fingerprint of the entry before it (this is called a hash chain), so any change to an old entry can be detected.
A mistake is fixed by adding a new, correcting entry. The original stays visible.
This protects the shop: the books cannot be quietly altered, by staff or by anyone else. It also matters for deletion requests, explained below.
How long data is kept
The law decides how long a shop must keep its business records. These are the shop’s legal duties. Sorto is built to keep these records, not to delete them.
| Record | How long the law says to keep it |
|---|---|
| GST records (bills, accounts) | Until 72 months after the due date of the yearly GST return for that year. Longer if the records are part of an appeal or investigation. |
| Books of a company | At least 8 financial years. This applies if the shop is run by a company. |
| Income tax records | For the period the Income-tax law requires; a shop’s accountant can tell it the exact period. |
| Customer contact details | Until the shop removes them, or the customer asks for removal (see below) |
| Connection log | 1 year |
The shop’s accountant should confirm which periods apply to that shop.
When a customer asks to be removed
A customer may ask a shop to delete their details, for example their phone number. Indian law gives people this right, except where a law requires the data to be kept.
Because the books cannot be edited (see above), removing a phone number from past sales records needs a special design, so that the number goes but the bill and its amounts stay correct. That design is planned, and its details are being finalised. It is not built yet.
Until it is built:
- A shop can stop recording a customer’s details on new bills.
- If a customer asks a shop to be removed, the shop can contact us at hello@getsorto.in, and we will tell the shop plainly what can and cannot be removed yet.
Children
Under Indian law, a child is anyone under 18. Before recording a child’s personal data, a shop needs the verifiable consent of the child’s parent or guardian. Shops should not record a child’s details, such as a phone number, without it.
If data leaks
If personal data is leaked or misused, the law requires the affected people and the Data Protection Board of India to be told. If we find a leak in anything we run that affects a shop’s data, we will tell the shop within 72 hours, so the shop can meet its own duties.
Taking your data and leaving
A shop’s data belongs to the shop.
- Export: a shop can take a full copy of its data out of Sorto. Excel files of the menu and stock can be taken out today. A full export of a shop’s books is planned.
- Data on the shop’s computer: stays on the shop’s computer. After a cancellation the shop’s copy stays usable read-only, so the shop can still look up and export old records. This is the plan and is not built yet.
- Data we hold: anything we hold for the shop (for example the planned cloud copy, or support records) is deleted 30 days after the cancellation takes effect. We keep only what a law requires us to keep, and only for as long as it requires.
Questions and complaints
Email hello@getsorto.in. Complaints about personal data go to our Grievance Officer.