Privacy Policy

Free, on-device use

You can use Budget Habit without an account. In this mode your budget data stays on your device — your transactions, categories, budgets and goals are not uploaded anywhere. The app does send anonymous crash reports and anonymous usage statistics so we can fix bugs and improve the app; you can turn this off anytime in Settings → “Anonymous crash reports & usage statistics” (see “Analytics and crash reporting” below). The account-related collection described below applies only when you choose to create an account to enable optional cloud backup, sync and family sharing.

Free trial and anonymous identity

Every new install gets a 7-day Premium trial without creating an account. To run it, the app creates an anonymous record on our server on first launch: a random identifier with no email, name or budget data attached. If you subscribe before creating an account, your purchase is linked to that identifier so it can follow you into an account later. The trial is granted once per device. To enforce that, on Android we read the Android ID (a device identifier that is specific to this app and resets on a factory reset) and store only a keyed cryptographic hash of it — never the identifier itself; on iOS we use Apple’s DeviceCheck service, which keeps two bits of state on Apple’s servers, so we never receive an iOS device identifier at all. Anonymous records that never became an account and have been inactive for 90 days are deleted; the device hash is kept so the trial cannot be claimed again. Creating an account attaches your email to the same record.

Account information

To enable cloud features you create an account. You can register with your email, or use Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple. We receive your email and, where provided, your name. With Sign in with Apple you may hide your email, and Apple provides a private relay address.

Budget data you provide

The app stores the incomes, expenses, categories, budgets, reminders, and notes you enter. This data is kept on your device and, when you enable cloud sync, synced to our cloud so it is available across your devices and, where you choose, shared with family members. We do not connect to your bank accounts.

Family sharing

If you share a budget with family members, the transactions and related data you add can be visible to the members you invite, and they may receive notifications about activity in the shared budget. Only share with people you trust.

Push notifications

If you allow notifications, activity alerts for shared budgets are delivered through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (and, on Apple devices, Apple Push Notification service). To route these messages we store a push token that identifies your app installation, along with the device platform. The token is deleted when you sign out or delete your account, and you can turn notifications off anytime in your device settings.

Subscriptions and purchases

Any subscriptions are processed by the Apple App Store or Google Play and managed with RevenueCat, which processes your purchase history, subscription status, an app-specific identifier, and device information on our behalf. We never receive your full payment card details.

Referral program

Signed-in users get a personal referral code and link. If you redeem a friend’s code, we record the link between your account and theirs, together with the status of the reward (redeemed, qualified, granted, or cancelled after a refund) and whether the subscription behind it was paid or refunded. We use this only to grant and, where required, withdraw the free Premium days on both sides, and to detect abuse of the program. Your friend never sees your name, email, or any of your budget data — only an anonymous entry with its status; the same is true of what you see about them. This data is deleted when either account is deleted.

Feedback board

The app includes an optional feedback board where signed-in users can post feature requests or bug reports, comment, and vote. Posts, comments, and any screenshots you choose to attach are sent to our server and are visible to other users of the app together with your display name. Don’t include sensitive personal or financial information in feedback. You can request deletion of your feedback content at support@budget-habit.com, and it is removed when you delete your account.

Analytics and crash reporting

To understand how the app is used and to fix bugs, we use two privacy-focused services, both hosted in the European Union (Frankfurt): PostHog for product analytics and Sentry for crash reports. PostHog receives a small, fixed set of in-app events (for example “transaction added” or “paywall shown”) tied to a pseudonymous identifier — never the amounts, titles, notes, or any content you enter. Sentry receives anonymous crash reports with technical context (OS and device model) that are not linked to your identity. We also use AppsFlyer for install attribution: when you install the app after tapping one of our links (for example a post by a creator we partner with), AppsFlyer tells us which campaign or link brought you here. For that it processes a device identifier (the advertising ID on Android, the vendor identifier on iOS), your IP address and the install referrer; the result is attached to the same pseudonymous analytics identifier. We never show an App Tracking Transparency prompt and we do not read Apple’s IDFA. You can switch all of this off at any time in Settings → “Anonymous crash reports & usage statistics”, and the app stops sending immediately. We do not use advertising SDKs, we do not build advertising profiles, and we do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.

Receipt scanning (Premium)

Premium subscribers can photograph a store receipt to pre-fill a transaction. When you use this feature, the photo you take or select is sent over an encrypted connection to our server, which passes it to an AI provider — OpenAI, Google and/or Anthropic — for one-time text extraction. The photo is processed in memory and is not stored or logged by us after the response is returned, and these providers do not use API data to train their models. Nothing is saved to your budget until you review and confirm the pre-filled transaction. The feature runs only when you explicitly tap “Scan receipt”.

AI assistant (Premium)

The app includes an assistant you can talk or write to (“add 40 for coffee”, “how much did I spend on groceries?”). It runs only when you open it and send something.

When you speak, the recording is made on your device and sent over an encrypted connection to our server, which passes it to a speech-to-text provider — ElevenLabs, with OpenAI as a fallback — and then to an AI provider (Google, OpenAI and/or Anthropic) to tidy up the text. The audio is processed in memory and is not stored or logged by us after the response is returned.

To answer a question or fill in a transaction, your message and a snapshot of the current budget — category, wallet and goal names, limits, this month’s figures and your most recent transactions — are sent to an AI provider (Google, OpenAI and/or Anthropic) together with the recent messages of that conversation. These providers do not use API data to train their models. We do not store the audio, the message, the budget snapshot or the reply; we keep only technical metadata about each request (time, whether it was voice or text, which model answered, token counts, cost and how many actions it proposed) to enforce usage limits and monitor cost. Nothing is written to your budget until you review and confirm it.

Device, permissions and website

To operate cloud features we process limited technical data such as device type, OS and app version, and language. Reminders are scheduled locally on your device; the app may ask permission to send notifications. Our website may use privacy-friendly, aggregate analytics without cookies that identify you. You can change permissions in your device settings anytime.

How we use your data

We use your information to create and secure your account; to store, sync, and display your budget; to enable family sharing and notifications; to process subscriptions; to provide support; and to meet legal obligations. We do not sell your personal data.

How we share data

We share data only with service providers who process it on our behalf (our cloud provider, RevenueCat, PostHog, Sentry, AppsFlyer, and — for receipt scanning and the AI assistant — OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and ElevenLabs), with the authentication provider you choose (Google, Apple), with family members you invite, and where required by law. They may use the data only to provide their service to us, not for their own purposes.

Storage, location and international transfers

Your data is stored on your device and on secure cloud servers operated by our providers, which may be located in the United States or other countries with different data-protection laws. Where we transfer data from the EEA/UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

Data retention

We keep your information while your account is active or as needed to run the app. When you delete your account we delete or anonymise your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we must retain it for legal reasons.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, delete, restrict, or object to processing, and to withdraw consent (EEA/UK GDPR); to know, access, delete, correct, and opt out of “sale”/“sharing” — which we do not do (California CCPA/CPRA); and to access and correct your data (Canada PIPEDA). You may also complain to your data-protection authority.

Account and data deletion

You can delete your account and its synced data directly in the app’s settings, or by emailing us at support@budget-habit.com. Deleting the app or clearing its data removes information stored only on your device.

Children, security and changes

The app is not directed to children and we do not knowingly collect their data. We use reasonable measures including encryption in transit, but no method is perfectly secure. We may update this Policy; we will revise the date above and, for material changes, notify you in the app or on the site.

Contact

Budget Habit is operated by Oleksandr Bezuhlyi, a sole proprietor (self-employed) based in Canada. Questions or requests about this Policy or your data? Email us — we reply within a few business days.

support@budget-habit.com