TetherFree privacy.

TetherFree is a personal and family budgeting application for iOS (“the App”). This policy explains what information we collect, why, and what your rights are. The short version: we don’t sell your data, don’t show ads, and don’t train AI on your information.

Information we collect

• Account information. When you create an account, we collect your email address and display name.
• Financial data you enter. Transactions, budget categories, bills, debt accounts, savings goals, and family group memberships you create within the App.
• Bank-linked data (via Plaid). If you choose to connect a bank account using Plaid Inc., we receive transaction history, account balances, and account names. We never receive or store your bank login credentials. Plaid acts as a separate data processor; their practices are governed by the Plaid End User Privacy Policy.
• Device and usage data. Information your device automatically sends to our authentication and database providers (Firebase / Google Cloud Platform), including IP address, device identifier, and app diagnostic data. We do not use this data for advertising.
• Camera images. If you scan a receipt, the image is processed on-device using Apple’s Vision framework and is not uploaded to our servers unless you save it as part of a transaction.

How we use this information

• To provide core functionality — track your finances and sync data across your devices.
• To authenticate you and prevent unauthorized account access.
• To send service notifications you’ve opted into (budget alerts, bill reminders, savings-goal progress).
• To communicate with you about your account when you contact support.
• To diagnose and fix bugs.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not train AI models on your data.

Who has access to your data

• You — full read/write access to your own data, plus shared data within family groups you belong to.
• Your family group members — for data you’ve explicitly shared with the group (shared transactions, family categories, family savings goals).
• Google (Firebase) — as our authentication and database provider, subject to Google’s Cloud Data Processing Addendum.
• Plaid — as our bank-linking provider, subject to Plaid’s End User Privacy Policy.
• Apple — for App Store transactions, App Tracking Transparency compliance, and subscription billing.

Data retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account (Settings → Delete Account), we delete your data from our systems within 30 days. Backups may persist for up to 90 days.

Your rights

• Access. You can view your data in the App at any time.
• Correction. You can edit transactions, categories, and profile information in the App.
• Deletion. Delete your account via Settings → Delete Account, or email us at [email protected].
• Export. Email us for a JSON export of your data.

If you are a resident of California (CCPA), the EEA/UK (GDPR), or Virginia (VCDPA), you have additional rights — contact us to exercise them.

Children

TetherFree is not intended for children under 13. The “child” role within a family group requires an adult owner to set up the account; we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 directly. If we learn that we have, we will delete that information promptly. Family group owners are responsible for obtaining parental consent for any minor users they add.

Security

We use industry-standard encryption (TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest via Google Cloud) and the principle of least privilege. Plaid access tokens are stored server-side and are never sent to the client. Despite these protections, no system is perfectly secure; please use a strong password and enable device-level security on your iPhone.

Changes to this policy

We will notify you of material changes via an in-app message or email. The “Effective Date” above will be updated.

Contact

Questions about TetherFree and privacy? Email [email protected].