Privacy and Security – Your Financial Data Stays Yours

Your bank tells you what you can afford. You tell every dollar its job—and you do it without handing over your login credentials to third-party aggregators.

We built our app for budgeters who want to stay in the driver's seat. You export your own CSV files, verify each transaction yourself, and maintain complete control over your financial information. No Plaid, no aggregators, no third-party access—just you commanding every dollar.

Why Privacy Matters in Budgeting

When you connect your bank account to a budgeting app, you're not just sharing transaction data—you're surrendering control. You're granting access to your entire financial profile: account balances, spending patterns, income sources, and more. This data becomes part of a third-party system that you can't fully control, and you can't easily revoke that access.

You stay in charge when you upload files yourself. You decide what data enters the system, when it enters, and how it's categorized. The app handles the repetitive work—importing, tagging, reconciling—but you maintain command over every line item.

The risks of auto-sync apps:

Data breaches: Third-party aggregators become targets for hackers seeking financial data
Privacy policies change: Companies can update their privacy policies, expanding how they use your data
Limited control: Once connected, you can't easily revoke access or know exactly what data is being shared
Account lockouts: Some banks lock accounts when they detect third-party access, leaving you temporarily unable to access your money

As security experts have noted, the more parties that have access to your financial data, the greater the risk of exposure. By keeping your bank credentials private and uploading files directly, you eliminate an entire class of security vulnerabilities.

Our Privacy-First Architecture

No Bank Connections Required

Unlike apps that use Plaid, Yodlee, or other aggregators, we never ask for your bank login credentials. You export CSV files from your bank's website and upload them directly to our app. This means:

Your bank credentials stay with you: We never see your username, password, or security questions
No third-party intermediaries: Your data doesn't pass through aggregator services
You control what enters: You decide exactly what data enters the system because you upload it yourself

Quick Tip: Most banks allow you to export transactions as CSV files from their website or mobile app. This takes just a few minutes and keeps you in command of your data.

Zero Third-Party Data Sharing

We don't share your financial data with advertisers, analytics companies, or data brokers. Your transaction history, account balances, and spending patterns remain private.

What we don't do:

No advertising based on your spending
No selling data to third parties
No analytics tracking of your financial behavior
No integration with external services that access your data

What you get:

Complete privacy for your financial information
No targeted ads based on your spending
No data sharing agreements you didn't explicitly approve
Peace of mind knowing your data isn't being monetized

Complete Data Isolation

Every user's data is completely isolated. Your accounts, transactions, budgets, and tags are never visible to other users, even if they're on the same server or database.

How it works:

Each user's data is scoped to their account
All queries automatically filter to your data only
No cross-user data access is possible
Authorization checks ensure you can only see your own financial information

This multi-tenant architecture ensures that even if another user's account were compromised, your data would remain completely separate and inaccessible.

Security Features That Protect Your Data

Encryption at Rest and in Transit

All your financial data is encrypted both when it's stored on our servers and when it's transmitted to your browser.

Encryption at rest: Your data is encrypted on our servers using industry-standard encryption. Even if someone gained access to our database, they couldn't read your financial information without the encryption keys.

Encryption in transit: All communication between your browser and our servers uses HTTPS (TLS encryption). This prevents anyone from intercepting your data as it travels over the internet.

Password protection: Your account password is hashed using industry-standard bcrypt, which means even we can't see your actual password. If our database were compromised, attackers couldn't use your password to access your account.

Access Control and Authentication

Multiple layers of access control ensure only you can access your financial data.

Email verification: Before you can make changes to your budget, you must verify your email address. This prevents unauthorized account creation and ensures you control the email address associated with your account.

Account lockout: After 5 failed login attempts, your account is temporarily locked. This prevents brute-force attacks where someone tries thousands of password combinations.

Session timeout: If you're inactive for 30 minutes, your session expires automatically. This prevents someone from accessing your account if you step away from your computer without logging out.

Password expiration: Your password expires every 90 days, encouraging you to use fresh, strong passwords regularly.

Password complexity: Your password must include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. This makes it much harder for attackers to guess or crack your password.

Defense-in-Depth Security Layers

We implement multiple security layers that work together to protect your data:

IP blocking: Known malicious IP addresses are blocked before they can even reach our application
Rate limiting: Login attempts and sensitive operations are rate-limited to prevent automated attacks
Email verification: Write operations require verified email addresses
Session management: Time-based session expiration and automatic logout for inactive sessions
Anomaly detection: Suspicious login patterns are flagged and may trigger additional verification
Inactivity re-verification: Accounts inactive for 90+ days require re-verification before access

This defense-in-depth approach means that even if one security layer fails, others continue to protect your data.

User Control Over Your Data

Export Your Data Anytime

You can export all your financial data in CSV format at any time. This includes:

All transactions across all accounts
All budgets and budget line items
All tags and categorization rules
All account information and balances

Why this matters: You're never locked into our platform. If you decide to switch budgeting apps or want to keep a local backup, you can export everything with a few clicks.

Delete Your Account and Data

You can delete your account and all associated data at any time. When you request account deletion:

All your financial data is permanently removed
All your budgets, transactions, and accounts are deleted
Your account cannot be recovered after deletion

Complete control: You own your data, and you decide when it's time to remove it from our system.

Manual Data Entry Means You Control What Enters

Because you upload CSV files manually, you decide exactly what data enters the system. You can:

Choose which accounts to import
Select date ranges for imports
Review transactions before they're categorized
Skip transactions you don't want to track

This manual control means you're never surprised by data appearing in your budget that you didn't explicitly choose to include.

Comparison: Privacy-First vs. Auto-Sync Apps

Feature	Auto-Sync Apps (Plaid, Yodlee)	Our App
Bank credentials	Required—you must share login credentials	Never required—you export CSV files yourself
Third-party access	Data passes through aggregator services	No third-party intermediaries
Data control	Limited—you can't easily revoke access	Complete—you control what data enters
Privacy policy risk	Aggregator can change policies	No third-party policies to worry about
Account lockout risk	Some banks lock accounts with third-party access	No risk—no third-party access
Data sharing	Often shared with analytics/advertising	Never shared—zero third-party data sharing
Encryption	Varies by provider	Industry-standard encryption at rest and in transit
Data export	May be limited or require special requests	Full CSV export available anytime
Account deletion	May retain data for legal/compliance reasons	Complete deletion on request

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is my data really secure if I'm uploading CSV files?

A: Yes. Your data is encrypted both when stored on our servers and when transmitted to your browser. We use industry-standard encryption, and your password is hashed using bcrypt. Additionally, because we never have your bank credentials, there's no risk of your bank account being accessed through our system.

Q: What happens if your servers are hacked?

A: Even if someone gained access to our database, your data would be encrypted and unreadable without the encryption keys. Your password is hashed, so it couldn't be used to access your account. We also implement multiple security layers (IP blocking, rate limiting, anomaly detection) to prevent attacks in the first place.

Q: Can other users see my financial data?

A: No. Every user's data is completely isolated. Your accounts, transactions, and budgets are never visible to other users. All data queries are automatically scoped to your account only.

Q: Do you sell my data to advertisers or data brokers?

A: No. We never share your financial data with third parties. We don't use your spending patterns for advertising, and we don't sell data to brokers. Your privacy is our priority.

Q: What if I want to stop using the app? Can I get my data back?

A: Yes. You can export all your data in CSV format at any time. If you delete your account, all your data is permanently removed from our system.

Q: Why should I trust manual imports over auto-sync?

A: Manual imports keep you in command. You review each transaction, verify categorization, and decide what to include. Auto-sync can introduce errors, delays, and privacy risks—and it takes control away from you. With manual imports, you maintain accuracy, mindfulness, and privacy while staying firmly in the driver's seat.

Conclusion – Your Budget, Your Data, Your Privacy

Privacy isn't just a feature—it's a fundamental principle. When you use our app, you're not trading your financial privacy for convenience. You're choosing a budgeting system that keeps you in command of every dollar.

Our privacy-first approach means:

No bank credentials shared: Your login information stays with you
No third-party access: Your data doesn't pass through aggregators
Complete data isolation: Your financial information is never visible to other users
You control what enters: You decide what data enters and when to export or delete
Industry-standard security: Encryption, access control, and defense-in-depth protection

Your financial data is yours. You assign every dollar its job. We just provide the tools that eliminate the repetitive work while keeping you firmly in the driver's seat.

Ready to start budgeting with complete privacy? Sign up for a free trial and import your first CSV file. Your bank credentials stay with you, and your data stays private.

Start My First Budget – Import My CSV Now

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