BalanceWright is a checkbook register that runs on your phone. There is no account, there is no bank login, and there is no server of ours holding your entries. This page says exactly what happens to your information, in plain words.
Your register stays on your phone
Every account, entry, payee, category, statement and backup you create is stored on your own device. We never receive it. We could not look at your register if we wanted to.
There is no sign-in, so there is nothing to be signed out of. We never ask for your name, your email address, your bank, or your card.
Your phone's own backup, which is on your side
This is the one way a copy of your register can leave your phone, and it goes to you, not to us.
- On Android: if Google Backup is turned on for your phone, your register is included in it. That copy sits in your own Google account. It exists so your register comes back when you set up a new phone. You can turn it off in your phone's Settings, under Google and then Backup.
- On iPhone: if iCloud Backup is turned on, your register is included in it, for the same reason and with the same result. You control it in Settings, under your name, then iCloud.
We do not have access to either one. They are your backups, in your account, under your control.
The backup folder you choose
The app makes its own backups too, and keeps them on your phone. You can also point it at a folder you pick, so a copy lives somewhere you can see it.
- On Android that folder is one you choose yourself.
- On iPhone you can choose a folder, and the app also keeps a BalanceWright folder in iCloud Drive so a copy survives if the app is deleted. You can see that folder in the Files app.
If you choose an iCloud Drive folder, that copy is stored in your iCloud account, under Apple's terms, not ours.
What we do receive
Three services help keep the app working. None of them ever receive your register: not your balances, not your entries, not your payees, not your amounts.
- Crash reports (Sentry). If the app crashes, we get a technical report: the device model, the system version, and where in the code it broke. Personal information and screen recording are switched off.
- Anonymous usage (PostHog). We count things like "a statement was reconciled" so we can tell which parts of the app people actually use. These are tied to a random install number, never to you. Screen recording is switched off, and no personal profile is created.
- Purchases (RevenueCat). When you buy the one-time unlock, this service records that the purchase happened, so the app can recognize it again if you reinstall or change phones. The store handles the payment. We never see your card.
The switch that turns those off
Settings has one privacy switch. Turning it off stops both the crash reports and the anonymous usage, immediately, for the rest of that session. It is one switch on purpose, because a switch that only stopped half of it would be misleading.
One honest detail: if the app crashed the last time you used it, that earlier crash report may be sent while the app is starting up, before it has read your setting. After that, nothing.
Permissions
The app never shows you a permission prompt. It does not ask for your contacts, your location, your photos, your microphone or your camera.
On Android, the store page lists a few standard permissions that never prompt you: internet, used by crash reporting and by the purchase check and never to send your register anywhere; vibrate, for button feedback; and file access on Android 12 and older, so you can save a backup where you want it.
Ads, selling, and tracking
There are no ads. We do not sell your information to anyone. We do not track you across other apps or websites, and we do not use advertising identifiers.
Children
BalanceWright is made for adults managing their own money. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
How long things are kept
Your register stays on your phone until you delete it or delete the app. Crash reports and anonymous usage counts are kept for a limited retention period by the services named above and are not tied to your identity. Purchase records are kept for as long as needed to honor your purchase.
Deleting your information
Deleting the app removes the register from your phone. If you turned on your phone's backup, remove that copy in your phone's own settings. If you saved backup files to a folder, delete those files.
If you want the anonymous usage and crash data associated with your install removed, write to the contact address below and say so.
Changes
If this page changes, the date at the top changes with it.
Contact
support@balancewright.com