Privacy Policy

Introduction

Balance ("Balance", "we", "our", "us") is a personal finance app made by Clarzen Technologies. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the Balance mobile app and website, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have — wherever you live.

Clarzen Technologies is the data controller (in India, the data fiduciary) responsible for your personal data. Contact details are at the end of this policy.

The short version

• We don't sell your data, and Balance doesn't show ads.
• Bank SMS and app notifications are read on your phone. Their full text never reaches our servers — only the transaction details (amount, merchant, date and so on).
• Your financial records are stored with our database provider in Singapore.
• A few features send limited data to AI providers: receipt photos you scan, and questions you ask the assistant. Details are below.
• You can export your data or delete your account at any time from the app.

Information we collect

Account information

• Name, email address, and profile photo if you add one
• Gender and age, which you provide during sign-up
• If you sign in with Google: your Google account name, email and photo
• Your chosen currency and app preferences

Financial information you enter

Income, expenses, categories, notes, accounts and their balances, savings goals, budgets, fixed expenses, recurring bills, and receipts or other attachments you add. You provide this to track your own finances.

Bank SMS (Android, optional)

If you turn on automatic capture or import past SMS, Balance asks for permission to read and receive SMS on your Android phone, and uses it only to find transaction alerts from banks and mobile-money services.

• Messages are read on your device. The full text of your SMS is never uploaded to our servers.
• From a transaction alert we keep only the amount, currency, whether it was a debit or credit, the merchant or payee name, the date, the bank or service name, the last digits of the account or card, and the transaction reference.
• Personal messages, one-time passwords and promotional messages are ignored and not stored.
• You can stop this at any time by turning off automatic capture in the app or revoking the SMS permission in your phone's settings.

Notification access (Android, optional)

If you grant notification access, Balance reads notifications only from the banking, wallet and shopping apps you select, to find payments.

• Notifications from apps you haven't selected, and from chats and email, are ignored.
• Notifications are processed on your device. Only the transaction details (amount, currency, type, merchant, date and source app) are saved to your account.
• You can turn off notification access at any time in your phone's settings.

Receipt scans

When you scan a receipt, the photo is sent to our server and to an AI provider (Groq) to read the amount, merchant and date. If you save the receipt to a transaction, the photo is stored with your account.

AI assistant

When you ask the assistant a question (for example, “how much did I spend on cabs this month?”), the text of your question is sent to an AI provider to work out what you're asking. The answer is then calculated by our own servers from your records. Your amounts, transactions, balances and account details are not sent to the AI provider. Please don't include sensitive personal information in your questions.

If you use voice, speech is converted to text by your phone's built-in speech service (for example, Google on Android), under that provider's privacy terms. Balance receives only the resulting text.

Roasts and reminders

To write some “roast” notifications, we send an AI provider a spending category and a short description of the behaviour being roasted (for example, “over budget on food”). We don't send amounts, merchants or your name.

Device and diagnostic information

• Device model, operating system and app version
• An app installation ID and a push-notification token
• Crash reports and performance diagnostics

Usage information

Which features and screens are used, app interactions and session information, collected through Firebase Analytics to understand how the app is used and improve it. It never includes your amounts, merchants or account names. You can turn this off anytime in the app under Privacy & Security.

Purchases

If you buy Balance Premium, payment is handled by Google Play or the App Store. We receive your subscription status and purchase details, but never your card or bank details.

Support

If you contact us, we keep your messages and any details you include.

How we use your information, and our legal bases

Some laws, including the GDPR in the EU and UK, require us to tell you the legal basis for each use of your data:

• To provide Balance — your account, storing and syncing your records, calculations, reminders, receipt scanning, the assistant and Premium features. Basis: performing our contract with you.
• Automatic capture from SMS and notifications. Basis: your consent, which you give by turning it on and can withdraw at any time.
• Security, preventing abuse, fixing crashes and bugs. Basis: our legitimate interest in keeping Balance safe and working.
• Understanding usage to improve the product. Basis: our legitimate interest, or your consent where the law requires it.
• Service emails and notifications such as sign-in codes, bill reminders and account notices. Basis: performing our contract with you.
• Complying with the law and responding to lawful requests. Basis: legal obligation.

We don't use your data for advertising, we don't build advertising profiles, and we don't make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated processing.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. We share data only with service providers that help us run Balance, under contracts that limit how they can use it:

• Supabase — database and sign-in; stores your account and financial records (Singapore).
• Cloudflare — stores receipt photos and attachments.
• Google Firebase — push notifications, in-app messages, usage analytics and crash reporting.
• Google (Gemini API) — understands assistant questions. We currently use Google's free service tier, under which Google may use the questions it receives to provide and improve its products, and human reviewers may read them. Only the question text is sent.
• Groq — reads scanned receipt photos, writes roast text, and is a backup for understanding assistant questions.
• Resend — sends sign-in codes and account emails.
• Sentry — records server errors so we can fix them.
• Google — Google Sign-In, if you use it, and Google Play billing.
• Vercel and Google Analytics — host our website and, only if you accept cookies, measure website visits. See our Cookie Policy.

We may also disclose information if required by law or a valid legal request, to protect the rights and safety of our users or others, or as part of a merger or sale of our business — in which case this policy will continue to apply to your data.

International transfers

Balance is operated from India. Your account and financial records are stored in Singapore, and some of the service providers above process data in the United States and other countries. These countries may not have the same data protection laws as yours.

When we transfer personal data out of the EU, the UK or Switzerland, we rely on the safeguards offered in our providers' data processing agreements, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

How long we keep it

• Your account and financial records: for as long as your account is active.
• After you delete your account: your account and records are deleted. Copies in backups are overwritten as backups expire.
• Receipt photos you scan but don't save: not kept after the scan.
• Crash reports, error logs and analytics: for a limited period, then deleted or anonymised.
• Information we must keep by law (for example, purchase records): for the period the law requires.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit, and access to production systems is limited to the people who need it. No system is completely secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you and the relevant authorities of a data breach where the law requires it.

Your choices

• Automatic capture: turn off SMS or notification capture in the app, or revoke the permission in your phone's settings.
• Push notifications: turn them off in the app or your phone's settings.
• Export: download your records as a CSV file from the app.
• Delete: delete your account in the app's settings, or follow the steps on our account deletion page.
• Website cookies: change your choice at any time using “Cookie settings” in the website footer.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, and you can withdraw any consent you've given. Email support@balanceapp.in with the subject “Privacy request”. We may need to verify your identity first, and we'll reply within the time your local law requires — at most 30 days. You won't be treated differently for using your rights.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland

Under the GDPR and UK GDPR, you also have the right to:

• Object to processing based on our legitimate interests
• Restrict processing while a concern is being resolved
• Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format
• Complain to your local data protection authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Our representative in the EU and UK: [EU / UK REPRESENTATIVE — ADD BEFORE AN EU/UK LAUNCH]

United States

Residents of California and other US states with privacy laws can ask what personal information we have collected about them in the past 12 months, and ask us to delete or correct it. We collect the categories described in “Information we collect” above: identifiers, account and financial records you enter, device and usage information, and support messages. We use them only for the purposes described in this policy.

We do not sell or share personal information as those laws define it, and we use financial information only to provide Balance to you, so there is nothing to opt out of. You can make a request yourself or through an authorised agent.

India

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you also have the right to a summary of the personal data we process and the processing activities, the identities of those we have shared it with, and to nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated. Grievances can be sent to our Grievance Officer below. If you aren't satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Other countries

If you live elsewhere — for example in Brazil, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa — you have the rights your local data protection law gives you, and we will honour them. Contact us using the details below.

Children

Balance is intended for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have, we will delete it. Parents or guardians can contact us at the address below.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. We'll change the “Last updated” date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.

Contact us

Clarzen Technologies (Balance — Expense Tracker & Money Manager)
[REGISTERED ADDRESS — ADD BEFORE PUBLISHING]
Email: support@balanceapp.in
Website: balanceapp.in

Grievance Officer (India) and privacy contact
Email: support@balanceapp.in (subject: “Data Protection Grievance”). We acknowledge grievances within 48 hours and aim to resolve them within 30 days.