Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 28, 2026

Budget Notebook does not collect your personal information. There is no account, and the developer runs no server. Your book stays on your devices and in your own iCloud.

1. What we don't collect

Identity information such as your name, email or phone number (there is no sign-up or login)
Location
Contacts, camera or microphone
Your photo library (when you send screenshots, you hand over only the photos you pick at that moment — §5)
Usage or analytics data (the app contains no analytics or ad modules)
Device identifiers or advertising identifiers

The only system permission the app may ask for is Calendars, and only when you turn on Show in Calendar under Settings → Recurring (§6). Photo selection uses the system picker, which runs outside the app, so no photo permission is requested.

2. Where your data is stored

What	Where
Transactions (date, amount, description, payment method, category, memo)	In the app's storage on the device, and, if you're signed in to iCloud, in your own private iCloud database
Accounts, cards (including the last four digits if you choose to enter them), debts	Same as above
Categories, budgets and recurring payments	Same as above
The Claude Link switch, the first-run flag, and which inbox items you've seen	Only in the app's settings on that device

No connection to banks or card companies. The app never asks for or stores bank IDs, passwords, certificates or full card numbers.
iCloud is optional. Without it, everything works on the device.
Data in iCloud goes into Apple's private database in your own account. The developer has no access to it.

3. The developer runs no server

There is no path for your data to reach the developer. The app uses only Apple frameworks (SwiftUI, SwiftData, CloudKit, Swift Charts, EventKit) and no third-party libraries. Data leaves the device only in these ways, all inside your own Apple account:

Path	What	Who can see it
iCloud sync	Your whole book	Only you
The app's folder in iCloud Drive	With Claude Link on: the `inbox.json` file, the book copy `state.json` (Mac only), and screenshots you send to Claude (§4, §5)	Only you
Your device's calendar	With Show in Calendar on: recurring payment due dates (§6)	Only you, and anyone you share that calendar with
Backup export	One JSON file saved where you choose	As you decide

4. Claude Link — off by default

A convenience feature for people who use the Claude desktop app. Unless you turn it on in Settings, the app opens no files.

When on, the app watches only the inbox.json file in its own iCloud Drive folder (shown as "Budget Notebook" in Finder and Files). It does not look at other files, photos or documents.
That file is written by your own Claude, not by this app. The app lists the lines and adds only the ones you choose.
On the Mac only, the app keeps a copy of your book, state.json, in the same folder so your Claude can read it (macOS doesn't let other programs open the app's storage). It contains transactions, accounts, cards and budgets, and is refreshed while the switch is on.
If that file includes account balances, the Mac app updates those accounts. iPhone and iPad don't change them.
Turning the switch off stops reading the file, and on the Mac the copy state.json is deleted.

To be precise: the folder is in iCloud Drive, so it travels through Apple to your other devices. What it never does is reach the developer.

5. Sending screenshots to Claude

If you use Claude Link, you can send card or bank screenshots so your Claude on the Mac turns them into transactions. Only the photos you pick are used, and the camera is never used.

The screenshots are uploaded to your own iCloud Drive (captures/ in the app's folder). Your Claude reads them and returns transactions through inbox.json.
The app itself has no code that connects to any AI service (§3). Only your own Claude, run by you on your Mac, sees the photos.
You can delete sent screenshots in the app by swiping, or in the Files app.

6. Calendar (optional)

When you turn on Show in Calendar under Settings → Recurring, the app asks for calendar access, creates a "Budget Note Recurring" calendar, and adds the due dates of your recurring expenses to it. When you edit a recurring payment, the event is updated. Events in your other calendars are not read or changed. The setting is per device and off by default.

7. Backup import and export

Import reads only the one file you pick.
Export saves your whole book as one JSON file where you choose.
The exported file is plain, unencrypted text. Keep it somewhere you trust.

8. Third parties, ads and tracking

The developer does not share or sell any data, because none is collected.
No ads, no analytics, no third-party SDKs, no tracking.
No in-app purchases.

9. Deleting your data

In the app, delete transactions, accounts, cards, debts and categories one by one, or remove sample data in one step with Remove Sample Data.
Deleting the app removes the book and settings on that device.
⚠️ Copies in iCloud remain after you delete the app. To remove them, go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage (on the Mac, System Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage) and delete the app's data. Delete the app's folder in iCloud Drive in the Files app or Finder to remove inbox.json and sent screenshots. Remove the "Budget Note Recurring" calendar in the Calendar app if you created it.

10. Children's privacy

The app is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone, of any age.

11. Changes to this policy

If anything changes, this page and its date are updated. If a change would collect more, we will tell you separately in the app.

12. Contact

impro0126@gmail.com