Privacy Policy
Last Updated: November 2025
Privacy First
Your financial data is stored locally on your computer. We don't have access to your transactions, budgets, or financial history. When you use AI features, data is processed but never stored on our servers.
Our Privacy Commitment
Cognito Money is built with privacy as the foundation. Your complete financial database stays on your device. We never have access to your full financial history.
What Data We DON'T Store
- Your financial transactions
- Your bank account information
- Your spending patterns or history
- Your budget data
- Your receipt images
- Any personally identifiable financial information
What Data We DO Collect
Subscription Information: When you subscribe to Standard, we collect your email address for account management and payment information through our payment processor (Stripe).
Website Analytics: When you visit our website, we collect anonymous usage data to understand how people use our site. This includes page views, browser type, and general geographic region.
Support Correspondence: If you contact us for support, we keep a record of our correspondence to help resolve your issue.
How AI Features Work
Standard subscribers: When you use AI features (chat, receipt scanning, auto-categorization), the relevant context from your request is sent securely to our servers. We process this through Google's Gemini AI models and return the results to you.
Important: We do NOT store the financial context sent for AI processing. Data is processed in real-time and discarded. We cannot access your historical transactions or build a profile of your spending.
Free Tier: The Free tier works entirely offline. No data leaves your computer.
Third-Party Services
Payment Processing (Stripe): We use Stripe to process subscription payments. Stripe collects and processes payment information according to their privacy policy. We never see your full credit card number.
AI Processing (Google Gemini): AI requests are processed through Google's Gemini API. Google's data usage policies apply to this processing. We use their API in a way that does not allow training on your data.
Hosting (Render): Our subscription and AI services are hosted on Render. They provide secure infrastructure but do not have access to your financial data.
Your Data Rights
- Data Ownership: You own all your financial data. It's stored on your device.
- Data Portability: You can export your data anytime to CSV, Excel, or PDF.
- Data Deletion: Delete your data by deleting the database file or uninstalling the software.
- Account Deletion: Contact us to delete your subscription account and associated email from our records.
Security
Local Data: Since your data is stored locally, you're responsible for securing your computer. We recommend:
- Using password protection in the app (available in Settings)
- Enabling database encryption (AES-256)
- Keeping regular backups on external drives or secure cloud storage
- Using standard computer security practices
Data in Transit: When using AI features, all data is transmitted over HTTPS with TLS encryption.
Children's Privacy
Cognito Money is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to This Policy
We'll update this policy if our privacy practices change. The "Last Updated" date at the top shows when changes were made. Continued use of Cognito Money after changes means you accept the updated policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at:
E-Comm Solutions LLC
Email: ecommsolutions@gmail.com