BudgetBucks

Privacy Policy

Effective October 17, 2026 · Version v12

This Privacy Policy explains how Tarpley Tech LLC, doing business as BudgetBucks (“BudgetBucks,” “we,” “us”), collects, uses, shares, and keeps information when you use budgetbucks.app or the BudgetBucks iPhone app (the “Service”). It is part of our Terms of Service. We never ask for your bank or card login: the only financial information we receive is what you enter and the alert emails you choose to forward.

Information we collect

  • Account information: your email address; your password, stored only as a one-way bcrypt hash (we cannot see it); when you accepted these terms and the IP address you accepted from; and when you last signed in.
  • Passkeys and Face ID: if you add a passkey, we store its public key and related details (a name you choose, the authenticator type, and when it was created and last used). If you turn on Face ID in the iPhone app, your iPhone creates a key inside its Secure Enclave that can only be used after Face ID or your passcode; we store only that key's public half, linked to that sign-in. Your face, fingerprint, and device passcode never leave your device and are never sent to us.
  • Security log: a record of security events on your account, such as passkeys added or removed, Face ID turned on or off, and identity confirmations, with the IP address, to protect your account.
  • Budget data: the budgets, categories, income, and transactions you enter or that are created from your alerts.
  • Forwarded emails: emails you forward to your BudgetBucks address, including card purchase alerts. These can include your card's name, its last four digits, merchant names, amounts, dates, and other content the sender included.
  • Billing information: if you subscribe, we receive limited information from Stripe, such as a customer ID, subscription status, billing dates, and the brand and last four digits of your card. We never receive your full card number (see Payments below).
  • Support messages: if you use Contact support in the app, your messages, any screenshot you attach, the page you were on, your browser or device type, and the app version. If you email [email protected], your email and our reply.
  • Notification data: only if you turn on purchase notifications. In a browser, a push subscription for that browser (an endpoint and keys issued by its push service). In the iPhone app, the device token Apple issues for that iPhone and the app version.
  • Technical information: your IP address, used for rate limiting, abuse prevention, and security (for example, limiting sign-ups per network); the country your connection comes from when you sign up, which Cloudflare provides and we use only to check that you are signing up from the United States (it is not saved with your account); a log of emails we send you, with the address masked; and server logs kept by our hosting providers.
  • Cookies and device storage: a session cookie that keeps you signed in, and a short-lived cookie (10 minutes) used during sign-in. The website and app also save a few settings on your device, such as whether Face ID is on. We do not use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies, pixels, or third-party analytics.

How we use information

  • To operate the Service: sign you in, keep your budget, and turn purchase alerts into transactions.
  • To add support for more cards: the BudgetBucks team may review alert emails you forward from cards we don't support yet. When one arrives from a new sender, we send ourselves an internal email naming the sender (such as the card issuer's address), without your email's contents.
  • To send purchase notifications to the browsers and iPhones where you have turned them on.
  • To answer support requests, secure the Service, prevent abuse, fix problems, and email you about your account and billing.
  • To comply with law and enforce our Terms.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We share it only with the service providers below, when required by law or to protect rights and safety, or in connection with a transfer of the Service, subject to this Policy. Our servers and backups are in the United States.

  • Amazon Web Services: servers, storage, receiving forwarded email, and encrypted backups (Amazon S3).
  • Amazon Web Services (Amazon Bedrock): reading the text of card alert emails you forward with an AI model, to pick out the purchase details (amount, merchant, date, card ending) and check our own parsing. The text is processed in the United States, is not used to train AI models, and is not kept by AWS. Purchases read this way from cards we can't read yet are added to your Inbox tagged “AI-read” for you to review, and are never filed automatically.
  • Resend: sending emails to you, such as sign-in, account, billing, and support replies.
  • Stripe: payments, if you subscribe (see Payments below).
  • Cloudflare: domain name (DNS) and network security. Traffic to the Service passes through Cloudflare, which also tells us the country a connection comes from when you sign up.
  • Push services run by Apple, Google, or Mozilla (depending on your browser or device): delivering notifications, only if you turn them on.
  • Google (Gmail): mail you send to [email protected] is forwarded to our Gmail inbox.

Payments. If you subscribe, on the website or in the iPhone app, your subscription is sold and processed by Stripe (through its Link checkout) as merchant of record. Stripe receives your payment and billing information (such as your name, billing address, and payment details) directly and uses it to process payments, collect sales tax, issue receipts, and provide payment-related support. Stripe's and Link's use of your information is governed by their privacy policies.

How long we keep information

  • Forwarded emails: the full text is deleted automatically after 7 days, and your Account > Mail tab shows the last 7 days. For purchase alerts, a minimal record (such as date, sender, and status) and the transaction we created stay with your account so the same alert isn't filed twice. Forwarded emails that aren't purchase alerts are deleted entirely, record included, after 7 days. Emails that clearly aren't card or bank alerts (such as newsletters) are discarded when they arrive, without being stored or read by a person; we keep only a daily count. For alerts from cards we don't support yet, a minimal record stays in our internal review queue until we dismiss it or add support. Email-forwarding confirmation codes and links are deleted after 7 days.
  • Deleting mail yourself: you can delete any email, or all of them, in Account > Mail. We remove the contents right away but keep a blank record so the same alert isn't added twice; transactions already created stay in your budget until you delete them.
  • Support: emails to [email protected] and our replies are deleted after 7 days. In-app support conversations and screenshots are kept while your account is open so you can see our replies in Account > Support.
  • Notification data: a browser push subscription is deleted when you turn notifications off for that browser or its push service reports it expired. An iPhone device token is deleted when you turn notifications off, log out on that iPhone, delete your account, or Apple reports it is no longer valid.
  • Logs: the masked log of emails we send is kept up to 40 days, and records of rate-limit events up to 90 days. Hosting providers' server logs are kept for a limited time.
  • Account and budget data: kept until you delete your account, including after a subscription is canceled or a trial ends, so you can pick up where you left off.
  • Billing records (such as subscription and payment history) may be kept longer where needed for tax, accounting, or legal obligations, including by Stripe.
  • Backups: encrypted off-site backups are kept for up to 30 days, and short-term copies made on our server before each update for up to 7 days. Deleted data is gone from all backups within 30 days.

Your choices and deleting your account

  • Stop forwarding emails at any time by removing your email filter or forwarding rule.
  • Turn notifications off for any browser or iPhone in Account > Notifications.
  • Turn Face ID on or off in the iPhone app in Account > Sign-in and security.
  • Delete your account yourself at any time in Account > Sign-in and security > Delete account, on the website or in the iPhone app. Your account, budget, forwarding address, mail, support conversations, passkeys, and security log are deleted right away, and any subscription is canceled. We keep a short record that the account was deleted (its email address, the date, any refund, and the Stripe customer ID) for billing and legal records, and Stripe keeps its own payment records as required by law.
  • To access, correct, or delete your information, you can also email [email protected] from your account's email address. We may need to verify your request, and we complete deletion requests within 30 days.

Security

We use reasonable measures to protect information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, optional passkeys, and automatic sign-out. On the website, and in the iPhone app without Face ID, you are signed out after 1 day of inactivity or 7 days after signing in. In the iPhone app with Face ID on, the app asks for Face ID or your passcode when it opens and when you return after more than 2 minutes away, and you stay signed in for up to 90 days, or until you go 30 days without opening the app. Each unlock is proven to our server with the Secure Enclave key, and without a proven unlock the sign-in stops working after 1 day. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children

The Service is for adults 18 and older. No one under 18 may use it. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18; if we learn we have, we will delete it.

Changes

We may update this Policy. If we make material changes, we will update the version and effective date and tell you in the Service or by email, as described in Section 17 of the Terms, and may ask you to accept the updated Policy.

Governing law and contact

This Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee. Questions or requests: [email protected] or Account > Support.