01 Information We Collect
Account information: Your full name and email address when you register. Your password is hashed and managed by Firebase Authentication — we never store it in readable form.
Financial data you enter: Expenses (title, amount, category, date, notes), budgets (name, limit, period), and assets (name, type, value history). This data belongs to you.
Group data: When you create or join a group, we store the group name, member list, shared expenses, and each member's contribution totals so the shared ledger works correctly.
What we do not collect: We do not collect your location, contacts, photos, device identifiers, or advertising IDs. The app does not request camera, microphone, or location permissions.
02 How We Use Your Information
- To authenticate you and maintain your session across devices.
- To store and sync your expenses, budgets, groups, and assets.
- To calculate totals, spending breakdowns, and group balances.
- To restore your data if you reinstall the app or switch devices.
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose beyond running the app.
03 Data Storage & Security
On-device (offline cache): The app uses MMKV encrypted local storage to cache your data so the app works without an internet connection.
Cloud storage: Your data is synced to Google Firebase Firestore with AES-256 encryption at rest and TLS encryption in transit.
Authentication: All authentication is handled by Firebase Authentication. Passwords are never stored on our infrastructure.
04 Group & Shared Data
When you are a member of a group, other members of that same group can see:
- Your display name and avatar color.
- Expenses you add to the group.
- Your total contribution amount within that group.
Your personal expenses, budgets, and assets that are not part of a group are private and visible only to you.
If you leave a group, your contribution history remains in the group ledger for other members' records, but you will lose access to that group.
05 Third-Party Services
Budget Circle uses the following third-party service:
- Google Firebase (Firebase Authentication + Firestore) — for account management and cloud data storage. Firebase is operated by Google LLC. See Firebase's Privacy Policy.
We do not integrate analytics SDKs, advertising networks, or any other third-party trackers.
06 Data Retention
Your data is kept as long as your account exists. If you request account deletion, all your personal records (expenses, budgets, groups you own, assets) will be permanently removed from our servers within 30 days. Shared group records created by you may be retained for other members.
07 Your Rights
- Access: All your data is visible in the app at any time.
- Correction: Edit your name, expenses, budgets, and assets directly in the app.
- Deletion: Delete individual records in-app, or contact us to delete your entire account.
- Portability: Contact us to request an export of your data.
08 Children's Privacy
Budget Circle is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has registered, contact us and we will delete the account promptly.
09 Changes to This Policy
If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. Continued use of Budget Circle after changes are posted means you accept the updated policy.