Privacy Policy

This policy covers the Budget Monitor India Android application and this website. The app is developed and published by Mohit Verma ("we", "us"). Contact: budgetmonitorindia@iamtac.com.

The short version There is no account, no login, no cloud sync and no server. Your income, expenses, categories, accounts and notes are written to a database on your phone and stay there. The app asks for no storage permission. It does show a Google AdMob banner, and that means Google receives some device information - never your financial data.

1. Summary

Plain-English answers to the questions people ask first.

Summary of how Budget Monitor India handles data
Question	Answer
Do you collect my income and expense data?	No. It is stored on your device and never sent to us.
Is there an account or a login?	No. No email address, phone number or password.
Is anything synced to a server?	No. There is no server behind this app.
Does the app request storage permission?	No. Not one. See section 5.
Does the app work offline?	Yes. Every money feature works with no connection.
Are there ads?	Yes. One Google AdMob banner. See section 7.
Is there analytics or crash reporting?	No. No analytics SDK and no crash-reporting SDK.
Is the local database encrypted?	No. Read section 10 before you decide that is fine for you.
Can I delete everything myself?	Yes. Entirely in your hands. See section 9.
Does this website use cookies?	No. No cookies, no analytics, no third-party scripts.

2. Information stored on your device

The app writes to a SQLite database inside its own private storage area on your phone or tablet. That area belongs to the app; on a normal (non-rooted) Android device other apps cannot read it. None of the following is transmitted to us or to anyone else.

Transactions

Type - income or expense.
Title - the description you type, for example "Shop rent".
Amount - in Indian Rupees.
Category - the category you assign.
Date - the date you assign to the entry.
Account / section - which account the entry belongs to.
Created timestamp - added automatically when you save an entry.
Last edited timestamp - updated automatically when you change an entry.

Accounts and sections

The account names you create, such as Personal, Office or Shop, and the balances the app calculates from your entries.

Notebook notes

Free-text notes and the date attached to each one.

App PIN

If you switch on the optional app lock, your 4-digit PIN is stored on the device so the app can check it. It is never sent anywhere. It protects the app screen, not the database - see section 10.

Profile photo reference

If you set a profile picture, the app stores a reference to the image you picked rather than collecting your photo library. The image itself stays where it already was on your device.

Cached "Upcoming Features" list

The Upcoming Features panel keeps a copy of the last list it downloaded, so it still has something to show when you are offline. It contains announcement text only - no personal data.

App settings

Your preferences: light or dark theme, whether the PIN lock is on, the automatic backup frequency and time, and the folder you chose for automatic backups (kept as an Android permission grant for that folder only).

3. Information we do not collect

We do not collect, receive, store or have any way to see:

Your transactions, amounts, balances, categories, accounts or notes.
Your name, email address, phone number or postal address.
Your contacts, call logs or messages.
Your photos, videos, documents or any other files on your device.
Your location, whether precise or approximate.
Bank, UPI, card or any other financial account credentials. The app never connects to a bank and cannot import statements.
Usage analytics, screen views, session recordings or crash reports. There is no analytics or crash-reporting SDK in the app.

Because there is no account and no server, we have no database of users. We cannot tell you how many entries you have, and we could not look up your data even if you asked us to.

About this website

This website is a set of static pages. It sets no cookies, runs no analytics, embeds no third-party scripts and loads no external fonts. The one thing it stores in your browser is your light or dark theme choice, saved in localStorage so the site remembers it on your next visit. That value never leaves your browser. Your hosting provider will keep standard server logs, which typically include IP addresses, in the ordinary course of serving the site.

4. Permissions the app requests

The app declares two permissions. That is the entire list.

Android permissions declared by Budget Monitor India
Permission	Why it is needed
`android.permission.INTERNET`	To load the Upcoming Features list, check Google Play for app updates, and load the ad banner. No financial data is sent over this connection.
`android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE`	To detect that you are offline, so the app can show saved content instead of failing with an error.

The Google AdMob SDK adds one more permission of its own, com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID, which lets it read the device's resettable Advertising ID. That is covered in section 7.

Not requested No camera, no microphone, no location, no contacts, no phone state, no SMS, and no storage permission of any kind - specifically not READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE or READ_MEDIA_IMAGES.

5. Storage access: how saving files works

The app needs to write files when you export a PDF statement or a JSON backup, and it needs to read a file when you restore a backup. It does all of that through Android's Storage Access Framework, the standard system file picker.

Practically, that means:

You tap Export or Restore, and Android - not the app - shows you a file picker.
You choose exactly one file, or one folder in the case of automatic backups.
The app receives access to that single item only. It cannot list, open or scan anything else on your device.
For automatic backups, the folder you pick once keeps working for later backups. You can revoke it at any time from Android's settings, or by picking a different folder.

Budget Monitor India requests no broad storage permission, and no storage permission declaration is required for it under Google Play's Storage Permissions policy. There is no "All files access" request, no media permission and no prompt asking to see your photos. This is unusual for a finance app that exports files, and it is deliberate: the less access an app has, the less there is to worry about.

One thing to keep in mind A file you export is a normal file. Once a PDF or JSON backup is saved to a folder you chose, it is outside the app's protected area and is subject to whatever else can read that location. If you save a backup into a cloud-synced folder, your cloud provider receives it. Save backups somewhere you are comfortable with.

6. Network connections the app makes

The app makes three kinds of network request. None of them carries your financial data.

Upcoming Features content. The app fetches a public JSON file containing the announcement list. It is a plain download: no identifier of yours is attached, and nothing is uploaded. The response is cached on the device so the panel still works offline.
Google Play update check. Through Google Play's in-app update mechanism, the app asks Play whether a newer version exists so it can prompt you. This is handled by Google Play services on your device and is subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
Ad requests. The AdMob SDK contacts Google to fetch the banner ad. See the next section for what Google receives.

Everything else - entries, filters, calendar, notebook, calculators, PDF export, JSON backup and restore, and the scheduled automatic backup - runs entirely on the device with no connection.

7. Advertising

The app is free and carries a single banner ad supplied by Google AdMob. We are not paid to show you specific products, and we do not hand any of your information to advertisers.

What Google receives

To serve and measure an ad, Google receives information from the device it is running on. Typically this includes:

Your device's resettable Advertising ID.
Your IP address, which gives an approximate location such as city or region.
Device and app information: device model, operating system version, app version, language and similar technical details.
Ad interactions: that an ad was requested, shown, viewed or tapped.

Google uses this under its own terms. See How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services and Google's Privacy Policy.

What Google does not receive None of your financial information. Not your entries, amounts, titles, categories, accounts, balances, notes, PIN or backup files. Those never leave the device, so there is nothing to pass on.

Controlling ad personalisation

You can change this from Android itself, without asking us:

Reset your Advertising ID - Android Settings → Privacy → Ads (on some devices Settings → Google → Ads), then "Reset advertising ID". Future ads are no longer tied to the old identifier.
Opt out of ad personalisation - in the same screen, turn on "Opt out of Ads Personalization". You will still see ads, but they will not be personalised.
Delete your advertising ID - Android 12 and later let you remove it entirely from that screen. Apps then receive a string of zeros instead.

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland

Google requires publishers to obtain consent before personalised ads are served to users in those regions, and to give a way to change that choice later.

TODO - confirm before publishing If the app is distributed in those regions, an AdMob consent message is required and this section must describe it, including how to reopen the consent choice. If distribution is limited to India, say so here instead.

9. Retention and deletion

Your data stays on your device for as long as you keep it there. We hold no copy, so we have no retention period to describe and nothing to delete on our side.

Deleting things yourself

A single entry - open the entry and delete it. It is removed from the database and from all totals.
An account and its transactions - delete the account from the account list. Its transactions go with it, so export a backup first if you might want them later.
A category - delete it from your category list.
A note - delete it in the Notebook.
The PIN - turn the app lock off in settings, which removes the stored PIN.
Everything at once - Android Settings → Apps → Budget Monitor India → Storage → Clear data. This wipes the database, settings and cache.
Uninstall - removing the app deletes its private data with it.

Clearing data cannot be undone There is no server-side copy to restore from. Export a JSON backup first if there is any chance you will want the records back. Files you exported earlier are not affected by clearing app data - they stay wherever you saved them until you delete them yourself.

Step-by-step screens for all of this are on the data deletion page.

10. Security

What actually protects your data:

It never travels. Financial records are not transmitted to us or to any third party, so they cannot be intercepted in transit or exposed by a server breach. There is no server to breach.
Android's app sandbox. The database sits in the app's private storage. On a normal, non-rooted device, other apps cannot read it.
No storage permission. The app cannot read your other files, so a problem in this app cannot expose them.
Scoped file access. Exports and restores go through the system file picker, one item at a time.
Optional PIN lock. A 4-digit PIN in front of the app, with a short grace period so returning from a share sheet or file picker does not make you type it again.

Two limitations, stated plainly

1. The local database is not encrypted at rest. It is protected by Android's app sandbox, not by encryption inside the app. On a rooted device, or a device where someone can extract app data, the contents are readable. Your phone's own screen lock and Android's full-device encryption are what really protect the file, so keep a screen lock switched on.

2. The PIN is a screen lock, not an encryption key. It stops someone casually opening the app on your unlocked phone. It does not encrypt the database and it is not a substitute for your device passcode.

You will not find claims about "bank-grade" or "military-grade" encryption anywhere on this site, because they would not be true. No system is perfectly secure; what we can promise is that we do not hold your financial data at all.

11. Children's privacy

Budget Monitor India is a general-audience personal finance tool. It is not directed at children, and it is not designed for or marketed to children under 13.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children - in fact we do not collect personal information from anyone, because the app has no account system and sends no personal data off the device. If a child has used the app on a shared device, everything they entered is on that device and can be removed with the steps in section 9.

12. Your rights over your data

Data protection rules, including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the GDPR for users in Europe, give people rights over their personal data: to see it, correct it, export it and have it erased.

With this app those rights are satisfied by design, because you hold the only copy:

How each right is met
Right	How it works here
Access	Open the app. Everything stored is visible in the Dashboard, All Entries, Calendar and Notebook.
Correction	Edit any entry. The last edited timestamp updates automatically.
Erasure	Delete entries, accounts, categories or notes, or clear all app data. See section 9.
Portability	Export a JSON backup, which is a complete machine-readable copy, or a PDF statement for a readable one.
Objection and restriction	There is no processing by us to object to. For ads, use Android's ad settings described in section 7.
Withdrawing consent	Uninstalling the app ends everything. Nothing of yours remains with us, because nothing was sent to us.

There is no data subject request to file with us, because we have no records of you to produce, correct or delete. If you want that confirmed in writing for your own records, email us and we will confirm it.

13. Changes to this policy

If the app changes in a way that affects this policy - a new permission, a new third-party service, a change to how ads work - this page is updated before or alongside that release, and the "Last updated" date at the top changes with it.

Material changes will also be noted on the What's new page. This URL stays live and stays at this address, because it is the policy link submitted to the Google Play Console.

14. Contact

Questions about privacy, or something on this page that reads as inaccurate to you:

Email: budgetmonitorindia@iamtac.com
Developer: Mohit Verma
App: Budget Monitor India for Android

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