Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 25, 2026

Plain English summary: BudgetVault's core feature — local-only financial tracking — is completely private. We use Google Analytics (visits and feature usage) and Vercel Web Analytics (page views) to understand how the service is used and keep it reliable. Neither ever receives your financial data: no amounts, descriptions, categories or balances.

1 Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how BudgetVault ("we", "us", "our"), accessible at budgetvault.app, handles information when you use our service.

BudgetVault is an offline-first budget tracking application. By design, the app stores all financial data locally on your device using your browser's IndexedDB storage. This data is never transmitted to our servers — because we do not operate servers that receive financial data.

BudgetVault does use two third-party analytics services on its website and in the app. This policy explains exactly what they receive.

2 Data We Do Not Collect

BudgetVault does not collect, transmit, or store any of your financial data. This includes:

  • Your transactions, expenses, or income figures
  • Your budget categories or spending limits
  • Your account balances or net worth
  • Your personal identification information
  • Your IP address or device fingerprint (by BudgetVault)

All your transactions, budgets and categories are stored exclusively in your browser's local IndexedDB storage. This data never leaves your device unless you manually export it.

3 Analytics & Performance Monitoring

Google Analytics (GA4)

We use Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic on budgetvault.app — such as which pages are visited, time spent on the site, and where visitors come from — and to count how features are used. This helps us understand how the service is used and improve it.

  • GA4 anonymizes IP addresses by default — we do not collect full IP addresses.
  • Feature events: we record that certain actions happen — a button that leads into the app is clicked (on the homepage, in a blog article or on the install page), the app is opened for the first time in a browser, a choice is made on the first screen (add a transaction, explore sample data, restore a backup, import a file), sample data is loaded or removed, a transaction, budget, goal or recurring item is created, a CSV or backup is exported or imported, a backup reminder is shown or used, the install instructions are opened or the app is installed, the currency is changed. Some events carry one detail: which button was clicked and on which article, the first page of your visit and the referring website or campaign tag when the app is first opened, whether a transaction is income or expense, a recurring item's frequency, the number of recurring items processed, the type of browser for the install instructions (for example "Safari on iPhone"), the kind of file imported (for example "YNAB") with a rough row count such as "10–99", or the currency code. We also set two yes/no-style properties: whether the app runs installed or in a browser tab, and whether any transaction has been recorded. Amounts, descriptions, categories, payees and balances are never sent.
  • Google Analytics recognises a returning browser by a random ID stored in the _ga cookie, not by name or email. We have no accounts, so it cannot be linked to one, and we work from aggregated reports.
  • Terms of service: Google Analytics Terms
  • Opt out: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on

Vercel Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views — which page, the referring site, and your country, browser and device type — and one technical diagnostic event per session: whether Google Analytics loaded in your browser and whether the browser appears to be automated. This helps us understand traffic that Google Analytics misses, for example when it is blocked.

  • Privacy-focused by design — does not collect personally identifiable information (PII).
  • Does not use cookies.
  • Privacy policy: vercel.com/legal/privacy-notice

Important: The financial data you enter into BudgetVault is stored exclusively on your device. No amount, description, category, payee or balance is ever sent to Google Analytics, Vercel, or our servers. Analytics receive page views and the events listed above — never your financial content.

4 Advertising

budgetvault.app is registered with Google AdSense so that we can show ads on the public pages in the future. Ads are not currently shown, and no advertising code runs on the site.

If we turn ads on, they will appear only on public pages such as blog articles — never inside the budgeting app — and advertising code will have no access to your financial data. Before that happens we will update this section to describe how Google uses advertising cookies and how to opt out.

5 Cookies

BudgetVault itself sets no cookies. We use localStorage and IndexedDB solely to store your app preferences and financial data locally on your device.

Google Analytics uses the _ga and _ga_* cookies to tell returning browsers apart for aggregated reporting. They hold a random identifier, not your name or email.

Vercel Web Analytics does not use cookies.

6 Your Rights & Data Control

Since BudgetVault stores your financial data locally, you have full and complete control:

  • Access your data: All your financial data is visible directly in the BudgetVault app at any time.
  • Export your data: Use the CSV export feature in BudgetVault to download your data at any time.
  • Delete your data: Clear your browser's site data for budgetvault.app to permanently erase all local data.

7 Children's Privacy

BudgetVault is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has used the service, please note that BudgetVault does not collect financial data or ask for any personal details from any user, regardless of age.

8 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of BudgetVault after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9 Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

Email:support@budgetvault.app

Website:budgetvault.app

— BudgetVault Team