Privacy Policy
Effective June 1, 2026 · ShieldBudget
1. Who we are
ShieldBudget (“ShieldBudget”, “we”, “us”) provides the ShieldBudget household budgeting and debt-payoff app. We are the controller of the personal information described here. Contact: support@shieldbudget.com.
2. Our promises
We never sell or rent your personal information, and we never “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined by California law.
We never move your money. ShieldBudget only plans, tracks and asks you to confirm; payments happen at your bank.
We never see your bank password. Bank connections run through Plaid, and we receive read-only data.
We don’t show third-party ads and don’t use advertising trackers.
3. Information we collect
Account: name, email, password (stored only as a one-way bcrypt hash), optional two-factor (TOTP) settings, household role.
Financial data you add or connect: accounts and balances, transactions, budgets, debts, bills, goals, investment holdings, payoff plans, confirmations and notes.
Content you upload: receipt images and CSV imports.
Household activity: who added, edited or confirmed what (the Activity Feed), messages between members, invites (invite codes are stored only as a secure hash).
Support: messages you send us and your contact email.
Technical: IP address and device/browser information used for security, rate limiting and abuse prevention; basic error logs. We do not collect precise location, contacts, or advertising IDs.
4. How we use it
To provide the app (calculate budgets, payoff plans and forecasts; sync your household); to secure accounts (sign-in, fraud and abuse prevention); to send service emails you need (invites, weekly digest if enabled, security notices); to answer support requests; and to meet legal obligations.
Optional AI features (e.g. categorising transactions or reading receipts) send only the minimum text or image needed to our AI processors to return a result. They are not allowed to use your data to train their models.
GDPR legal bases: contract (providing the service), legitimate interests (security, product reliability), consent (optional features, which you can withdraw), and legal obligation.
5. Who we share it with
Service providers acting on our instructions, under contract and confidentiality: cloud hosting and database; Plaid (bank connections); RevenueCat, Apple and Google (subscriptions — we never receive your card details); our email delivery provider; AI processors for optional features; public market-price sources (only ticker symbols are sent, never your identity).
Members of your household see shared household data according to their role (Owner, Editor, Viewer) and account visibility settings.
Authorities, only when legally required, and successors in a merger or acquisition with this policy continuing to apply. Nothing else.
6. Security
Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS); hashed passwords and invite codes; short-lived sign-in tokens with rotation and reuse detection; optional two-factor authentication; rate limiting; role-based access inside households; least-privilege access for staff. No system is perfectly secure; we will notify you and regulators of a breach as the law requires.
7. Retention and deletion
We keep your data while your account is active. Activity history is shown for 12 months.
Delete my account (Settings): your account is deactivated immediately and permanently deleted after 30 days; sign in within that window to restore it. If you were the last member, your household’s data is deleted too; otherwise shared data stays with the remaining members with your name removed.
Backups roll off within 35 days of deletion. We may keep minimal records where the law requires (e.g. tax/billing records held by the app stores) or a pseudonymous log that a deletion occurred.
8. Your rights (everyone)
Access, correct, export (Reports → PDF/Excel), and delete your data; withdraw consent; disconnect bank links at any time in Linked banks. Email support@shieldbudget.com for anything you can’t do in the app. We respond within 30 days (45 days where California law allows) and will verify your identity first.
9. California residents (CCPA/CPRA)
Categories collected in the last 12 months: identifiers; customer records and financial information; commercial information (subscription status); internet/electronic activity (security logs); and inferences limited to in-app budgeting insights. Sources: you, your household members, Plaid, and app stores. Purposes: as described in Section 4.
We do not sell or share personal information and have not done so in the last 12 months. We use sensitive personal information (account login, financial account data) only to provide the service, as permitted by CPRA, so no “limit” request is needed.
Rights: know/access, delete, correct, portability, and non-discrimination for exercising them. You may use an authorized agent with signed permission. Requests: support@shieldbudget.com.
10. EEA, UK and Swiss residents (GDPR)
You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and to withdraw consent at any time, plus the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
Data is processed in the United States. Where required, transfers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or an equivalent lawful mechanism.
11. Children
ShieldBudget is not directed to children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us data, contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes
We’ll post updates here with a new effective date and tell you in the app or by email before material changes take effect.
13. Governing law and contact
This policy is governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without limiting any rights you have under the law where you live.
Questions or requests: support@shieldbudget.com.