FinWise Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 2026

FinWise helps you track your money. This policy explains exactly what we collect, what stays on your phone, and what we never do.

1. What Stays Only On Your Phone

The following never leaves your device and is never uploaded to any server:

• SMS message content. Mobile Money and bank messages are read and analysed entirely on your phone. We never upload, store or transmit message text.
• Your app lock PIN. Stored only as a salted, irreversible hash — never as readable text.
• Fingerprint / face data. Android verifies you in secure hardware and tells the app only "yes" or "no". FinWise never receives, sees or stores biometric data.

2. Mobile Money SMS Detection (Optional)

If you enable auto-detection, FinWise uses SMS permissions to record your transactions automatically.

• Purpose: to read financial alerts from Mobile Money providers and banks so transactions are recorded without manual typing.
• Only financial messages are used. Personal messages are ignored.
• Only the extracted amount, direction, date and counterparty name are saved as a transaction — never the raw message.
• Processing happens on your device, offline.
• You can turn this off at any time in Settings, and revoke the permission in your phone settings.

This use complies with Google Play's permitted use for SMS-based money management.

3. Information We Collect

• Account: email address and name (for sign-in and personalisation)
• Financial records: transactions you add or that are detected — amount, description, category, date and account type
• Goals: names, targets, dates and contribution history
• Preferences: currency, optional income target, app settings

We do NOT collect photos. FinWise has no photo upload and does not request camera or gallery access — your avatar is simply the first letter of your name.

4. Where Your Data Is Stored

• On your device: a local copy of your transactions and settings, so the app works offline and starts quickly.
• In the cloud (Firebase, operated by Google): your account details, transactions and goals — so your data survives a lost phone and syncs across devices.

Cloud data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Security rules ensure only your signed-in account can read your records.

5. Notifications & Background Activity

• FinWise shows a notification when a transaction is detected.
• While auto-detection is on, a persistent notification indicates that FinWise is monitoring for transactions. Android requires this for any app doing background work, and it keeps detection reliable.
• Background activity is used only to detect transactions. We do not track your location or your usage of other apps.

6. What We Never Do

• We never sell your personal information.
• We never share your financial data with advertisers or data brokers.
• We never upload SMS content.
• We do not move money, access your bank or Mobile Money account, or ask for your PIN or banking credentials.
• We show no advertising.

7. Third-Party Services

We use Firebase (Google) for sign-in and database services. Google's privacy policy applies to their handling of that data: https://policies.google.com/privacy

No other third-party service receives your data.

8. Your Rights & Control

• Access: view all of your data inside the app
• Export: download your transactions as CSV or PDF
• Delete: remove individual records, clear all data, or delete your account entirely from Settings → Delete account
• Withdraw consent: turn off SMS detection at any time
• Sign out: stops cloud sync on that device

9. Data Retention

Your data is kept until you delete it. Deleting a record removes it from your device and the cloud. Deleting your account removes your stored data permanently.

10. Children's Privacy

FinWise is not intended for anyone under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

11. Changes To This Policy

If this policy changes, the date above is updated. Significant changes affecting how your data is used will be announced in the app.

12. Contact

Last Updated: July 2026