Privacy Policy for FinDet
Privacy by Design: Your Data Stays on Your Device
At FinDet, your privacy is our fundamental principle. We've designed our app to be completely offline, ensuring your financial data never leaves your device. Here's what makes FinDet different:
- ✓ No account or registration required
- ✓ No email or phone number needed
- ✓ All data stored locally and encrypted
- ✓ No internet connection required
- ✓ No data collection or external servers
1. Complete Offline Operation
FinDet operates entirely on your device:
- All financial data remains exclusively on your device
- No data synchronization with external servers
- No cloud storage or backup servers
- All processing happens locally on your device
- Your data is yours alone - we can't access it
2. App Features and Why They Matter
FinDet offers powerful features designed to make expense tracking effortless. Here's what makes FinDet essential for managing your finances:
Core Features
- Auto Expense Tracking: Automatically detects transactions from your bank SMS/RCS messages
- Receipt Image Linking: Attach receipt photos to transactions for complete records
- Local Data Backup: Export and backup your data to your preferred location
- Smart Budgeting: Set category budgets and track spending limits
- Historic Spends Analysis: View detailed spending patterns over time
- Multi-Account Support: Track banks, credit cards, and wallets in one place
- Home Screen Widgets: Quick access to your financial summary
2A. Essential Permissions - Why We Need Them
These optional permissions enhance automation, record keeping, reminders, and security. While technically optional, granting the relevant permissions enables you to:
- ✓ Automatically track 95% of your expenses without manual entry
- ✓ Get accurate insights from your transaction history in SMS/RCS messages
- ✓ Maintain complete transaction records with visual proof
- ✓ Receive reminders for bills, budgets, and recurring tasks
- ✓ Utilize FinDet's full potential for comprehensive financial management
2B. Permission Details (Complete Transparency)
📱 SMS/RCS Permission (Essential for Auto-Tracking)
Why It's Essential: This is THE core feature that makes FinDet powerful. Your bank already sent you transaction details via SMS/RCS. FinDet simply reads and organizes this information so you can analyze your spending patterns.
We read SMS data ONLY from financial institutions such as banks, credit card companies, and payment service providers. We do NOT access, collect, or store personal SMS messages.
ALL your data stays on your device. NOTHING is ever transmitted to any server.
- What We Access: Both SMS and RCS (Rich Communication Services) messages
- ONLY from financial institutions: Banks, credit cards, UPI services, payment providers
- Personal SMS are NEVER accessed: Messages from friends, family, or personal contacts are completely ignored
- Why We Need It: To automatically detect and categorize transactions from banks, payment apps, and merchants
- How It Works: All messages are scanned and processed 100% locally on your device
- Data Privacy: No SMS or RCS content EVER leaves your device or is transmitted to any server
- ZERO network transmission: All processing happens offline on your device
- What We Extract: Only transaction patterns (amount, merchant, date, account) from financial messages
- Your Control: Completely optional. You can revoke this permission anytime from Android Settings and use manual entry instead
- Best For: Users who receive bank transaction SMS/RCS and want automatic expense tracking
📷 Camera Permission (Essential for Receipt Records)
Why It's Essential: Link receipt photos to transactions for complete expense documentation. Perfect for business expenses, warranty claims, and tax records.
- What We Access: Camera to capture receipt images
- Why We Need It: To let you attach visual proof to transactions
- How It Works: Images are stored locally on your device, linked to specific transactions
- Data Privacy: Receipt images never leave your device - 100% local storage
- Your Control: Completely optional. You can revoke this permission anytime from Android Settings
- Best For: Users who need to maintain receipt records for business or personal use
🔔 Notifications Permission (Optional — Reminders)
Why It's Useful: If you enable notifications, FinDet can send on-device reminders for budget alerts, and recurring transactions so you never miss important payments.
- What We Use: System notification permission to display local reminders and alerts
- Data Handling: Reminder schedules and settings are stored locally on your device
- Privacy: Notification content and schedules never leave your device and are not shared with third parties
- Your Control: Completely optional. You can decline or revoke notification permission anytime from system settings
- Best For: Users who want timely reminders for bills, budgets, and recurring expenses
🔒 Biometric Authentication (Optional — App Access)
Why It's Useful: Biometric authentication (fingerprint) provides a quick and secure way to unlock the app and protect access to your financial data without entering a PIN.
- How It Works: Uses your device's native biometric
- Privacy: Biometric templates are managed by the OS and are NEVER accessible to FinDet. FinDet only receives a confirmation that authentication succeeded or failed
- Data Handling: No biometric data is stored by the app or transmitted to any server
- Your Control: Completely optional. You can enable, disable, or revoke biometric access anytime from your device settings
- Best For: Users who want convenient, secure access to the app without typing credentials
2C. Other Permissions (System Requirements)
- Internet & Network State: Used for limited app update checks and user-initiated external links only. Core financial tracking functionality works 100% offline.
- Wake Lock & Battery Optimization: Ensures SMS monitoring and widget updates work reliably in the background
- Boot Completed: Restarts SMS monitoring after device reboot (optional, for convenience)
Internet Access — App Updates
FinDet uses internet access only for limited, transparent purposes such as checking whether a newer version of the app is available on the Play Store and opening external links that you explicitly choose to open. All core financial tracking, SMS/RCS parsing, receipt handling, and local storage remain on your device.
App Update Checks
- If a newer release version exists.
- Update checks do not collect or transmit your SMS, transaction histories, or any personal identifiers.
- You control updates — the app will not download or install updates without your action through the Play Store.
Assurance: Internet access is not used to upload your financial data, SMS/RCS content, or receipt images to external servers. Sensitive financial data remains on your device.
2D. The Bottom Line
Without These Permissions: You can still use FinDet, but you'll need to manually enter every transaction.
With These Permissions: FinDet becomes a powerful automated expense tracker that saves you time and provides deep insights into your spending.
Our Guarantee: We read SMS data ONLY from financial institutions - NOT personal SMS messages. ALL your financial data stays on your device. NOTHING ever leaves your device. We NEVER share, sell, or transmit your transactions, SMS messages, or receipt images to any third party. Complete transparency, always.
3. Data Security
Your data security is ensured through:
- Strong on-device encryption for all stored data
- Protected by your device's security features
- No external attack surface (no server vulnerabilities)
- Regular security updates via app store
4. Your Data Control
You maintain complete control over your data:
- All data stored only on your device
- Data remains until you choose to delete it
- Uninstalling the app removes all data
- No hidden or cached data outside the app
- No account deletion process needed
5. Benefits of Our Approach
Our offline-first approach provides unique advantages:
- Complete immunity from data breaches
- Works without internet connection
- No service interruptions or downtime
- No vendor lock-in
- Superior privacy protection by design
5A. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
About SMS/RCS Message Parsing
Does FinDet read all my SMS messages?
NO. We read SMS data ONLY from financial institutions such as banks, credit card companies, and payment service providers. We do NOT access, collect, or store personal SMS messages. All processing happens locally on your device. No message content leaves.
What about my personal SMS messages?
Your personal SMS messages are completely safe and private. We only scan messages from recognized financial institutions. Messages from friends, family, or other personal contacts are completely ignored and never accessed.
Does any SMS data leave my device?
Absolutely NOT. ALL SMS processing happens 100% on your device. ZERO SMS data is ever transmitted to any server, cloud service, or third party. Your SMS data stays on your device permanently.
Are RCS messages also processed?
Yes. FinDet processes both SMS and RCS messages, but ONLY from financial institutions. Both are processed locally with the same privacy guarantees. Personal RCS messages are never accessed.
Can I use FinDet without SMS permission?
Yes! SMS permission is completely optional. You can manually enter all transactions without granting SMS access.
How do I know my SMS data is safe?
All SMS processing is done locally on your device with zero network transmission. We have no servers collecting SMS data. It's technically impossible for us to access your SMS data remotely. You can even use FinDet in airplane mode.
What SMS senders do you scan?
We only scan SMS from recognized financial institutions including: banks (SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, etc.), credit card companies, UPI services (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm), and other payment providers. Personal messages are never scanned.
What if FinDet can't parse an SMS?
If FinDet can't automatically parse an SMS transaction, you can manually add it using the transaction entry screen instead.
About Data Storage
Where is my financial data stored?
All financial data (transactions, accounts, balances, budgets) is stored locally on your device in encrypted storage. It never leaves your device.
Is my data synced across devices?
No. FinDet does not sync data across devices. All data stays on the device where you created it. This ensures maximum privacy.
Can FinDet see my transactions?
No. The developer cannot see your transactions, SMS messages, or any financial data. Everything stays encrypted on your device.
About Data Sharing and Third Parties
Does FinDet share my data with anyone?
FinDet does NOT share, sell, or transmit your financial data to ANY third party.
What about analytics or advertising?
FinDet has NO analytics, NO advertising networks, and NO tracking. We don't collect usage data or show ads.
Can I trust FinDet with my privacy?
Yes. FinDet is designed with privacy-first principles: All financial data stays on your device, no account creation required, no automatic data collection, no data sharing with third parties, complete transparency about optional permissions and features, and you control all permissions and data.
About Permissions and Control
Can I revoke permissions after granting them?
Yes! SMS, camera, notification, and biometric-related permissions can be managed anytime from Android Settings → Apps → FinDet → Permissions. Revoking permissions does not send any data to us.
Can FinDet send me reminders?
Yes. If you grant notification permission, FinDet can show on-device reminders for bills, budgets, and recurring transactions. Reminder settings and schedules are stored locally and can be disabled anytime in system settings or in-app.
Does FinDet store biometric data?
No. Biometric authentication uses the device's built-in biometric system. FinDet never accesses or stores biometric templates — the OS provides only a success/failure confirmation.
What happens to my data if I uninstall the app?
When you uninstall FinDet, all local data is deleted from your device. Since we don't store data on servers, there's nothing to delete from cloud storage.
How do I delete all my data?
Go to Menu → Settings → Clear All Data, or simply uninstall the app. All data is stored locally, so this removes everything.
6. Children's Privacy
FinDet's offline nature provides enhanced protection for users of all ages, as we collect no personal information from any user. However, we recommend that children under 17 use this app only under parental supervision, as it involves financial concepts and requires understanding of money management principles.
7. Changes to Privacy Policy
Since FinDet operates offline, privacy policy changes primarily affect the app's offline operation:
- Privacy policy updates delivered through app updates
- Major privacy changes will be highlighted in update notes
- No retroactive changes to data handling (since no data is collected)
- Continued use implies acceptance of updated policy
Contact Us
For questions about our privacy practices:
- Email: findetlab.app@gmail.com
Since we don't collect your data, most privacy concerns are inherently addressed by our offline design. However, we're always happy to clarify any aspects of our privacy approach.
Our Commitment to Complete Transparency
FinDet represents a new approach to financial management apps - one where your privacy is protected by design, not just by policy. We believe in complete transparency about how data flows in and out of the app.
What We Guarantee:
- ✓ We read SMS data ONLY from financial institutions - NOT personal SMS messages
- ✓ All your financial data (transactions, accounts, SMS/RCS messages, balances, budgets) stays 100% local on your device
- ✓ ALL data stays on your device - NEVER leaves or gets transmitted
- ✓ We do NOT share, sell, or transmit your financial data to any third party
- ✓ We do NOT store your financial data on our servers or any cloud service
- ✓ We process SMS and RCS messages entirely on your device
- ✓ ZERO network transmission of SMS or financial data
- ✓ Your data is protected with bank-level encryption
- ✓ No account creation, login, or personal information required
What We Disclose About Optional Permissions:
- ✓ SMS/RCS features are completely optional and processed locally on your device
- ✓ Camera access is used only when you choose to attach receipt images
- ✓ Notifications for reminders are optional and stored locally
- ✓ Optional biometric app access provides secure on-device authentication
Nothing Hidden:
This privacy policy reflects our commitment to hiding nothing from you. Every data flow, every third-party service, and every optional feature is clearly disclosed. Your financial privacy is not just important to us - it's fundamental to how we've built FinDet.
Thank you for choosing FinDet for your financial tracking needs. Your trust in our privacy-first, transparency-first approach drives our commitment to keeping your financial data exactly where it belongs - with you, on your device.