Privacy Policy

Effective Date: September 27, 2025

Last Updated: September 27, 2025

1. Introduction

AI Budget Coach ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal and financial information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Financial Information

Through our integration with Plaid Inc., we securely access and collect:

  • Bank account information (account numbers, balances, transaction history)
  • Credit card account information and transaction data
  • Investment account holdings and transaction history
  • Loan and liability information
  • Income verification data

2.2 Personal Information

We collect personal information you provide directly to us:

  • Name and contact information (email address, phone number)
  • Profile information and preferences
  • AI coach personality preferences
  • Financial goals and budgeting preferences
  • Customer support communications

2.3 Usage Information

We automatically collect information about your use of our Service:

  • App usage patterns and feature interactions
  • AI chat conversations and coaching interactions
  • Device information (device type, operating system, app version)
  • Log data and error reports
  • Analytics data to improve our Service

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

  • Provide AI Budget Coaching: Analyze your financial data to provide personalized budgeting advice, spending insights, and goal recommendations
  • Account Management: Create and maintain your user account, process transactions, and provide customer support
  • AI-Powered Features: Enable chat functionality with your AI budget coach using OpenAI's services
  • Smart Notifications: Send proactive alerts about budget limits, unusual spending, and goal progress
  • Service Improvement: Analyze usage patterns to enhance our features and develop new services
  • Security: Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
  • Legal Compliance: Comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

4.1 Third-Party Service Providers

We share your information with trusted third-party providers who assist us in operating our Service:

Plaid Inc.: Provides secure bank account connectivity and financial data aggregation. Plaid's privacy policy governs their handling of your financial institution credentials and data.

OpenAI: Powers our AI budget coach chat functionality. We send anonymized financial summaries and your chat messages to provide personalized coaching responses.

Cloud Infrastructure Providers: We use secure cloud services for data storage, processing, and application hosting.

4.2 We Do Not Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal or financial information to third parties for marketing purposes.

4.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information when required by law, court order, or government regulation, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

  • Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2+ and at rest using AES-256 encryption
  • Access Controls: Strict access controls limit who can access your data within our organization
  • Authentication: Multi-factor authentication protects our systems and your account
  • Monitoring: Continuous security monitoring and threat detection
  • Regular Audits: Regular security assessments and penetration testing

Important: We never store your banking credentials or login information. Plaid handles the secure connection to your financial institutions.

6. Your Privacy Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

6.1 Access and Portability

You can request copies of your personal information and export your data in a portable format.

6.2 Correction

You can update or correct your personal information through the app or by contacting us.

6.3 Deletion

You can request deletion of your account and personal information. Financial data will be deleted within 30 days of account closure.

6.4 Opt-Out

You can opt out of non-essential communications and certain data processing activities.

6.5 California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have additional rights including the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to delete personal information, and the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for the following periods:

  • Financial Data: While your account is active and for 30 days after account closure
  • Personal Information: While your account is active and for 90 days after closure
  • Anonymized Analytics: May be retained longer for service improvement
  • Legal Requirements: Some data may be retained longer to comply with legal obligations

8. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete such information.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by:

  • Posting the updated Privacy Policy on our website
  • Sending you an email notification
  • Providing an in-app notification

Your continued use of our Service after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

Security Issues: [email protected]
General Support: [email protected]

12. Additional Information for EU Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Union, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data based on:

  • Consent: For marketing communications and optional features
  • Contract: To provide our budgeting services
  • Legitimate Interest: For service improvement and security
  • Legal Obligation: For compliance with applicable laws

Data Protection Officer

For GDPR-related inquiries, please contact our Data Protection Officer at: [email protected]

Supervisory Authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on September 27, 2025. We are committed to transparency and protecting your privacy. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.