Terms & Privacy
For students registering at a mess using MessMate · Last updated 6 August 2026
MessMate is software provided by Shrinidhi Technologies to the mess or canteen you are registering with. It replaces the paper attendance register. This page explains, in plain terms, what we collect and what we do with it.
Your photo
The photo you take during registration is used for one purpose only: confirming you are you when your mess attendance is marked. Your mess owner sees it beside your name so nobody else can eat on your plan.
It is never used for anything else. We do not publish it, share or sell it, show it to other students, use it for advertising, use it to train any face-recognition or machine-learning system, or send it to any third party. No automated facial recognition is performed on it at any point.
If you would rather not have a photo stored, tell your mess owner — they can register you without one and verify you by your student number or phone number instead.
What we collect
- Your name and phone number — required. Your phone number is how the mess finds you at the counter.
- Your photo — optional. Taken during registration and used only as described above. It is encrypted before it is stored, and can be read back by nobody but your own mess.
- Payment screenshots — the image you send when you pay, so the mess can record the payment against your name. Encrypted the same way as your photo.
- Your college, and for some colleges your department, course and division — so the mess can group students.
- Your attendance, plan and payments — the day-to-day record the mess needs to run your subscription.
Who can see it
- Your mess owner and their staff. They see what they need to run the mess: your name, number, photo, attendance and dues.
- You. Your own pass shows your remaining days, menu, attendance and payments.
- Nobody else. Other students cannot see your details. We do not sell or share your data with advertisers, data brokers or any other company.
How long it is kept
Your record is kept while you are registered with the mess, and afterwards as the mess's own record of attendance and payments — the same as a paper register would be. You can ask your mess owner to deactivate your membership at any time, or to delete your photo and details entirely. A deletion request will be honoured.
Keeping it safe
Data is stored on secured servers, transmitted over encrypted connections, and reachable only by your mess's own account. Images — your photo and your payment screenshots — are additionally encrypted before they are written to the database, with a key held outside it, so a copy of the database alone does not reveal them. We do not ask for your Aadhaar number or any other government identity number, and we do not store one.
Using the app
- Your QR code is your pass, and you also set a password when you register. Treat both as your own — anyone holding either can see your record and claim your meal.
- Attendance can only be set by you scanning, or by mess staff marking you. You cannot mark yourself present without one of those.
- Payments are made directly to your mess, not through this app. MessMate only records what your mess enters.
- Please keep your phone number up to date with the mess — it's how they find you.
Questions or a deletion request
Speak to your mess owner first — it is their register. To delete your account and data entirely, see Delete your account. For anything else about the software itself, contact Shrinidhi Technologies at connect.yugandhar@gmail.com.