Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 2, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how MySpendJournal ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your information when you use our web application, mobile applications, Progressive Web App (PWA), installed app experiences, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

MySpendJournal is designed as a privacy-focused budgeting, transaction tracking, savings planning, and financial organization application. We only access your bank accounts if you choose to connect them through our bank connection provider, Plaid, as described in "Bank Connections" below. You can disconnect at any time.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly, information generated through your use of the Service, and limited technical information needed to operate, secure, and improve the Service.

Account Information

When you create or update an account, we may collect information such as:

Transaction and Budgeting Data

We collect the financial information you manually enter, import, generate, or approve within the app, including:

MySpendJournal does not collect or store online banking usernames or passwords, full bank account numbers, debit card numbers, credit card numbers, or card authentication information. When you connect a bank, we receive only the last four digits of each account number to help you tell your accounts apart.

Financial Document Imports

Users may upload CSV files, PDF bank statements, receipts, transaction exports, or other transaction-related documents to import or organize financial data.

Uploaded files may be processed to:

Uploaded documents may contain financial information such as balances, transaction history, merchant names, descriptions, statement dates, or partial account identifiers. You should review imported data before saving or relying on it.

Bank Connections (Plaid)

If you choose to connect a bank (a Premium feature), the connection is made through Plaid Inc. ("Plaid"). You sign in to your bank inside Plaid's secure window; MySpendJournal never sees or stores your bank username or password. By connecting, you authorize Plaid to share the following information from the accounts you select with MySpendJournal:

Plaid gives us an access token for each connection. We store it encrypted and use it only to bring in your balances and transactions: once a day, and when you choose to sync. When you first connect, we bring in transactions from the start of the previous month onward. Bank transactions are saved in your account as "Actual" transactions; we use them to categorize spending (including rules you teach us), keep your balance up to date, match them with payments you already recorded, find possible duplicates, and show your budgets, insights, and cash-flow forecast.

We do not use bank connections to move money, make payments, or open accounts, and we do not sell bank data or use it for advertising.

You can disconnect a bank at any time on the Bank Accounts page. When you disconnect, we ask Plaid to revoke our access and delete the encrypted access token and the account details we stored. Transactions already brought in stay in your account as your records until you delete them. If your Premium access ends, or you delete your account, your bank connections are disconnected in the same way.

Plaid's handling of your information is described in the Plaid End User Privacy Policy.

Bill Websites and Pay Online Links

You can save a website for a bill, such as your utility company's site. When you add a bill, we may suggest a website from a website you saved on an earlier bill with the same name, a built-in list of common billers, or the merchant website your bank provided. These suggestions are made inside MySpendJournal; the company name you type is not sent to any outside search service.

"Pay online" opens the biller's website in a new tab. MySpendJournal does not process bill payments and does not receive anything you enter on the biller's site, which is governed by that company's own terms and privacy policy.

Receipts and Attachments

Receipts and files you attach to a transaction are stored privately and are only shown to you when you are signed in.

Cash Flow and Business Features

If you use Cash Flow, we store the checking balance you enter (or use the balance from a connected bank account you choose) to forecast your balance from your planned and recorded transactions. If you have a business account, we store which transactions you mark as business and use them for profit and loss summaries, accountant exports, and estimated tax set-aside amounts.

Starter Budget and Savings Goal Data

If you use starter budget, savings goal, or spending limit features, we may collect and store information such as monthly income, household size, ZIP code, housing status, income frequency, income source name, selected financial priorities, suggested budget categories, spending limits, recurring budget transactions, savings goals, savings target amounts, and monthly savings allocations.

This information is used to generate, display, update, and manage your budgeting plan, charts, savings goals, and related analytics.

Calendar Integration Data

If you choose to connect calendar services such as Google Calendar, we may create, update, or manage calendar events associated with reminders, recurring transactions, due dates, and other budgeting activities you choose to sync.

If you export calendar files, we may generate calendar data based on your transactions, reminders, due dates, or recurring schedules.

Subscription and Billing Information

If you start a trial, purchase a premium subscription, cancel a subscription, or interact with billing features, we may collect limited subscription-related information such as:

Payment processing is handled by third-party providers. MySpendJournal does not store full payment card details.

2. Automatically Collected Information

Usage Data

We may collect information about how you interact with the Service, including:

Device and Technical Information

We may collect technical information about the device, browser, or platform you use to access the Service, including:

Analytics and Performance Data

We may use analytics and diagnostic tools to improve app performance, reliability, advertising effectiveness, and user experience.

Analytics, advertising, and performance providers may include:

3. Notifications, Alerts, and Reminder Features

If you enable alerts, notifications, reminders, weekly recaps, or calendar syncing, we may process information necessary to provide those features.

You may disable certain alerts, notifications, or email preferences through the Service, your browser, your device settings, or applicable platform settings.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to provide, secure, maintain, and improve the Service, including:

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share limited information with trusted service providers that help us operate, secure, and improve the Service, including:

We share only what each provider needs to perform its service for us, and we do not sell or rent your financial data or use it for third-party advertising.

Subscription payments may be processed through third-party services such as:

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights, to prevent fraud or abuse, to investigate security issues, to enforce our agreements, or as part of a business transfer such as a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, or sale of assets.

6. Gamification, Rewards, and Community Features

MySpendJournal may offer optional engagement features such as:

These features may process activity data such as logins, transaction activity, imports, alerts, budget setup, coin balances, achievement progress, badge status, leaderboard ranking, and prize entry activity.

The leaderboard is opt-in. If you turn it on in your profile, the nickname you choose, your rank, your lifetime coin total, and the month you joined are visible to other users. Your name, email address, and financial information are not shown.

7. Platform Permissions and Device Access

Depending on your device, browser, platform, and enabled features, MySpendJournal may request access to:

These permissions are used only to provide requested app functionality and can typically be managed through your device, browser, operating system, or platform settings.

8. Automated Processing and Smart Features

MySpendJournal may use automated systems to assist with:

Journal, the AI assistant

Journal is an optional assistant you can talk to in plain language. It uses an artificial intelligence model provided by Anthropic. Journal stays off until you turn it on, and nothing is sent to Anthropic unless you use it.

When you send Journal a message, we send Anthropic your message, the earlier messages in that conversation, and the parts of your MySpendJournal information needed to answer it, such as transaction names, amounts, dates, categories, plan totals, savings goals, and spending limits. We do not send your password, your sign-in codes, or bank access tokens.

Under Anthropic's commercial terms, information sent through its API is not used to train its models, and Anthropic keeps it only for a limited time for safety and legal purposes. Journal's totals and charts are calculated by MySpendJournal's own features; the AI model explains them and helps you find and record information.

Journal never adds or changes anything on its own. When it suggests a new entry, a change, a savings goal, a spending limit, or a change to your email settings or profile, it shows it to you first, and nothing is saved unless you tap Save. Journal conversations are stored in your account so you can return to them, and they are deleted when you delete your account.

If you rate one of Journal's replies as helpful or not helpful, the MySpendJournal team can see that reply and the message it answered, so we can improve Journal. Replies you don't rate are not reviewed this way.

Automated features may be inaccurate or incomplete. Users should review imported, categorized, suggested, or automatically generated data for accuracy before relying on it.

9. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures designed to help protect your information, including secure server environments, hashed passwords, optional two-factor sign-in with one-time codes sent by email or text (stored only in hashed form and valid for 10 minutes), access controls, private storage for attachments, and encryption of bank connection access tokens.

However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for promptly notifying us if you believe your account has been accessed without authorization.

10. Data Retention

We retain information as long as necessary to provide the Service, maintain your account, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent fraud or abuse, and maintain backup or recovery systems.

When you delete transactions, we keep a copy for up to one day so that you can undo the deletion; after that it is removed.

When you disconnect a bank, we delete the encrypted access token and stored account details as described in "Bank Connections"; transactions already brought in remain until you delete them.

Journal conversations are kept in your account until you delete your account.

If you delete your account from your profile, we disconnect your banks, revoke our Plaid access, and delete or de-identify the information associated with your account, subject to legal, security, billing, backup, or operational retention requirements.

11. Your Choices and Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights regarding your data, including access, correction, deletion, portability, objection, restriction of processing, and withdrawal of consent.

You may also be able to update certain account information, notification preferences, savings goals, budgets, transactions, and other app data directly within the Service. You can disconnect a bank, turn the leaderboard off, export your transactions as a CSV file, and delete your account at any time.

To exercise privacy rights or request help with your data, please contact us using the contact information below.

12. Third-Party Links and Services

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services, or integrate with third-party platforms such as payment processors, calendar providers, analytics providers, app stores, notification providers, Plaid for bank connections, and the websites of billers you choose to open.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, availability, accuracy, or content of third-party services. Your use of third-party services may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

13. Children's Privacy

MySpendJournal is not intended for children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us so we can take appropriate action.

14. International Users

MySpendJournal is operated from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information may be processed and stored in the United States or other locations where our service providers operate.

By using the Service, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions that may have different data protection laws than your location.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When changes are made, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.

Continued use of the Service after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.myspendjournal.com

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