Privacy Policy
Last updated: December 14, 2025
Introduction
Welcome to Money Clarity! We're committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we handle your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.
Money Clarity is a personal budgeting application that helps you track your spending, manage your money, and achieve your financial goals. We understand that financial data is sensitive, and we take our responsibility to protect it seriously.
By using Money Clarity, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree with our practices, please do not use our services.
Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create an account, we collect:
- Your email address
- Your name (if provided)
- Password (stored in encrypted form)
- Account preferences and settings
Financial Information
To provide our budgeting services, we collect:
- Bank account and credit card transaction data (through secure connections via Plaid)
- Account balances and names
- Transaction history, including amounts, dates, and merchant names
- Budget categories and amounts you create
- Savings goals and progress
🔒 Important: We never store your bank login credentials
When you connect your bank accounts, we use Plaid, a trusted third-party service. Your bank username and password are entered directly into Plaid's secure system — we never see or store them.
Usage Information
We automatically collect certain information when you use Budget Buddy:
- Device information (browser type, operating system)
- IP address and general location (country/region)
- Pages visited and features used
- Date and time of access
How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide our services: Display your transactions, calculate budgets, track goals, and generate reports
- Improve your experience: Personalize features, remember your preferences, and suggest budget categories
- Communicate with you: Send important account notifications, security alerts, and (with your permission) helpful tips
- Maintain security: Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or unauthorized access
- Improve our product: Analyze usage patterns to make Budget Buddy better for everyone
- Comply with legal obligations: Meet legal and regulatory requirements
We do NOT:
- Sell your personal information to third parties
- Use your financial data for advertising purposes
- Share your data with marketers
Information Sharing
We only share your information in limited circumstances:
Service Providers
We work with trusted third parties who help us operate our services:
- Plaid: Securely connects your bank accounts and retrieves transaction data
- Cloud hosting providers: Store and process your data on secure servers
- Payment processors: Handle subscription payments (they do not have access to your budget data)
These providers are contractually bound to protect your data and only use it for the specific services they provide to us.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, such as in response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process. We will notify you of such requests when legally permitted.
With Your Consent
We may share information with other parties when you explicitly consent to such sharing.
Data Security
We take the security of your data seriously and implement industry-standard measures to protect it:
- Encryption in transit: All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security)
- Encryption at rest: Your data is encrypted when stored on our servers using AES-256 encryption
- Secure authentication: We use secure password hashing and support multi-factor authentication
- Regular security audits: We regularly review and update our security practices
- Access controls: Only authorized personnel have access to user data, and access is logged and monitored
- Secure infrastructure: Our services run on enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure with built-in security features
Your role in security
While we work hard to protect your data, security is a shared responsibility. We recommend using a strong, unique password and enabling two-factor authentication when available.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. Specifically:
- Active accounts: Your data is retained for the duration of your account
- Deleted accounts: When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law
- Backups: Data in our backup systems may take up to 90 days to be fully removed
- Legal requirements: We may retain certain information as required by law (e.g., for tax or legal compliance)
Your Rights and Choices
You have several rights regarding your personal data:
Access Your Data
You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
Correct Your Data
You can update or correct inaccurate information in your account settings.
Delete Your Data
You can delete your account and all associated data at any time.
Export Your Data
You can download your data in a portable format (PDF or Excel).
Disconnect Banks
You can disconnect your linked bank accounts at any time from Settings.
Opt Out of Communications
You can unsubscribe from non-essential emails using the link in any email.
For California Residents
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you have additional rights including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete, and the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information. Note: We do not sell your personal information.
For European Residents
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have rights including access, rectification, erasure, data portability, and the right to object to processing. To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email below.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or would like to exercise your rights, please contact us:
Budget Buddy Privacy Team
Email: privacy@budgetbuddy.app
We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For material changes, we will also send you an email notification. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.