Budgie Last updated: 12 September 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Budgie (“the App”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, stores, and protects your information.
Budgie is available in multiple countries, and we are committed to protecting your privacy regardless of where you live. Depending on your location, different privacy laws may apply to you, and you may have additional rights under your local law (see Section 7).
Budgie is a personal budgeting app. By default your budgeting data is kept locally on your device, but the App also offers optional features — signing in, cloud sync, AI‑generated insights, and a paid Budgie Pro subscription — that involve sending or storing data on third‑party servers, and it displays advertising. This policy describes all of those cases. By using the App, you agree to this policy.
Budgie does not require an account to use its core budgeting features. If you choose to sign in (to enable cloud sync), you authenticate through Apple or Google. In that case we receive a basic account identifier and an email address (which may be Apple’s private relay address if you choose to hide your email). We do not create, see, or store any password.
Data you enter into the App, which may include:
This data is stored locally on your device by default. It is only transmitted off your device if you enable cloud sync (see 2.3), turn on AI insights (see 2.7), or use the export/backup feature.
Cloud sync is off by default and requires an active Budgie Pro subscription (see 2.6). If you sign in, subscribe to Budgie Pro, and turn on “Sync to cloud,” your budgeting data (entries, budgets, recurring series, custom categories, and settings) is stored in Google Firebase Firestore under your account so it can sync across your devices. You can turn sync off at any time in Settings, and sync stops automatically if your subscription lapses.
The App displays advertisements served by Google AdMob. To deliver and measure ads, Google may collect device identifiers, IP address, and usage data. On iOS, the App uses App Tracking Transparency to ask your permission before any tracking that requires it. Users in the EEA and UK are shown a consent form (via Google’s User Messaging Platform) and can choose personalized or non‑personalized ads. Advertising is removed entirely for Budgie Pro subscribers (see 2.6).
When you use cloud sync or see ads, standard technical information (such as device type, operating system, and IP address) may be processed by the relevant third‑party service to operate that feature securely.
Budgie Pro is an optional paid subscription that unlocks cloud sync and an ad‑free experience. Purchases and subscriptions are processed through the Apple App Store or Google Play and managed with RevenueCat. To validate your purchase and keep your Pro access up to date, RevenueCat processes information provided by Apple or Google such as your transaction receipt, an app‑user identifier (linked to your Budgie account), your device identifier, and your region/store country.
We do not receive or store your full payment details, such as credit card numbers — all billing is handled by Apple or Google. RevenueCat only stores the information needed to confirm your purchase and maintain your entitlements. You can learn more in RevenueCat’s Privacy Policy.
We do not collect or store your bank account or payment card details, and Budgie does not connect to your financial institutions.
Budgie can generate short “insight cards” about your spending — a surprising total, a change since last month, a suggestion tied to one of your goals. Writing those cards requires sending a summary of your finances to OpenAI, which acts as a processor on our behalf.
This feature is off by default. It is a per‑device opt‑in: nothing is sent to OpenAI unless you turn on Profile → AI insights → Write insights, and it also requires that you are signed in. Insights are available to all users — free users unlock each card by watching a rewarded ad, and Budgie Pro subscribers get a higher daily allowance without ads (see 2.6).
What is sent. When you generate insights, the App builds a summary on your device and sends it, via our own secure server function, to OpenAI. That summary contains aggregated figures covering roughly the last six months:
Because goal names, budget names, and any custom category names you create are your own words, please keep in mind that whatever you type into those fields forms part of what is sent.
What is never sent. Your entry notes, your individual transactions, and the dates and details of any single purchase never leave your device. Neither does your name, email address, account identifier, device identifier, or location — OpenAI receives the financial summary only, with nothing identifying you attached to it.
How OpenAI handles it. We use OpenAI’s business API. Under OpenAI’s platform policy, data submitted through the API is not used to train their models, and is retained by OpenAI for a limited period (currently up to 30 days) for abuse monitoring before deletion. OpenAI’s own handling is governed by their Privacy Policy and API data usage policies. Processing takes place on OpenAI’s servers, which are located in the United States (see Section 10).
What we store. The cards that come back are stored on your device only — we do not keep a copy, and they are not written to cloud sync. On our servers we keep a simple daily counter of how many times you have generated insights (a date and a number, linked to your account), purely to enforce fair‑use limits and control costs. That counter contains none of your financial data. Our server logs may record an account identifier and technical error details when a generation fails, so that we can diagnose problems.
Your control. You can turn insights off at any time in Profile → AI insights. Turning the switch off deletes the cards already generated on your device and stops anything further being sent. Deleting your account (Section 8) also removes the usage counter described above.
We use the information described above solely to:
All budgeting calculations and charts are produced on your device. The only feature that sends your budgeting information off your device for processing is AI insights, and only if you opt in (see 2.7).
Budgie relies on the following third‑party services, each governed by its own privacy policy:
| Service | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Firebase Authentication | User sign‑in (via Apple or Google) |
| Firebase Firestore | Optional cloud data storage and sync |
| Firebase Cloud Functions | Our own server function, which relays AI insight requests |
| OpenAI | Generating AI insight cards from an aggregated summary (opt‑in) |
| Google AdMob | Advertising |
| Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) | Ad consent management |
| Sign in with Apple / Google Sign‑In | Account authentication |
| RevenueCat | Subscription validation and entitlements |
| Apple App Store / Google Play | Subscription billing and payments |
Google’s handling of data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. Apple’s handling of Sign in with Apple is governed by the Apple Privacy Policy. OpenAI’s handling of data sent for AI insights is governed by the OpenAI Privacy Policy.
We do not sell your personal or financial data for money, and we do not allow any third party to use your budgeting data to train AI models. However, when personalized advertising is enabled, our advertising partners may receive advertising identifiers and app usage data. Under some US state privacy laws — including the CCPA/CPRA in California — this kind of cross‑context behavioural advertising is treated as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. You can opt out at any time; see Section 5.
You can manage how ads are personalized:
If you are a US resident, you can opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for cross‑context behavioural advertising at any time via Profile → Settings → Privacy options in the App. Opting out does not remove ads; it means the ads you see are not personalized. You can remove ads entirely by subscribing to Budgie Pro.
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you:
To exercise any of these rights, use the in‑app controls (for example Profile → Settings → Delete account) or contact us (see Section 12). Some rights, and the way they apply, depend on the privacy laws of your country — see Section 7.
Budgie is offered internationally. The privacy laws that apply to you depend on where you live.
We handle your information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). If you are in Australia and have a privacy complaint, you may contact us (see Section 12) and, if unsatisfied, lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.
We handle your information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). If you are in Canada and have a privacy complaint, you may contact our Privacy Officer (see Section 12) and, if unsatisfied, lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) at priv.gc.ca.
If you live in Quebec, you also have rights under the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (“Law 25”). These include the rights to be informed about, access, correct and delete your information, to withdraw your consent, and to receive a copy of the information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used technological format — you can export your data yourself at any time via Profile → Settings → Export in the App.
Budgie shows advertising that uses profiling. You can deactivate this at any time by declining tracking when prompted on iOS, or by turning tracking off for Budgie in your device’s Settings at any time afterwards. Section 5 describes these choices in more detail.
Quebec complaints may be directed to the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (CAI) at cai.gouv.qc.ca.
Depending on your state of residence, you may have rights under state privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) and comparable laws in other US states. These may include the right to know what personal information we process, to request a copy of it, to correct it, to request its deletion, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for targeted or cross‑context behavioural advertising.
We do not sell your personal information for money. As explained in Section 4, personalized advertising may nonetheless constitute a “sale” or “sharing” under these laws. To opt out, use Profile → Settings → Privacy options in the App, or decline tracking when prompted on iOS. You can also limit ad personalization using the other choices described in Section 5.
To exercise access, correction or deletion rights, contact us (see Section 12). You can also delete your account and its synced data yourself at any time via Profile → Settings → Delete account in the App. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
Many countries have their own privacy laws, most of which provide rights similar to those in Section 6. Where such laws apply to you, we will honour the rights they grant. If you have questions about your rights, or wish to reach the privacy regulator in your country, please contact us (see Section 12).
Step‑by‑step instructions, and what is deleted versus retained, are set out on the Delete your account page.
Budgie is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it.
This age refers to the collection of personal information and is separate from the minimum age to accept our Terms of Use and from the age‑suitability rating shown for the App on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Data handled through Google Firebase / Firestore is encrypted in transit (using TLS) and encrypted at rest on Google’s servers, using the security measures provided by Google. This is standard server‑side encryption; it is not end‑to‑end encryption, which means the providers that operate these services are technically able to access the data in order to run them. On your device, budgeting data is protected by your device’s standard operating‑system protections.
Summaries sent for AI insights travel over an encrypted (TLS) connection to our server function and on to OpenAI, and are processed on OpenAI’s servers in the United States.
Because Google, Apple, OpenAI, and our other providers operate globally, your information may be stored or processed on servers located outside your country, including in countries whose data‑protection laws differ from your own. Specifically, cloud sync data is stored in Google’s United States multi‑region, and both our own server function and OpenAI’s processing of AI insight summaries take place in the United States. We use established, widely‑used providers and take reasonable steps to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically. Any changes take effect once posted within the App or on this page. The “Last updated” date above reflects the latest revision.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
📧 support@tap-app.com.au
📮 Etienne Petrel
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Privacy Officer. Budgie’s Privacy Officer is accountable for our compliance with this policy and with applicable privacy laws, and can be reached at support@tap-app.com.au.