Privacy policy
Last updated: November 13, 2026
The short version. DeadCents keeps your budget on your own devices. There is no DeadCents server and no DeadCents account, and DeadCents never connects to your bank. The developer never receives your accounts, balances, transactions, bills, debts, sign-in details or passphrase. The app has no advertising and no analytics.
What DeadCents keeps, and where
Everything you enter or import (accounts and their balances, transactions, bills, income, debts and their terms, goals, photos, and the household members you name) is stored on the device you entered it on. Bank files and statements you import are read on your device; DeadCents keeps the figures from them, not the files.
If you share a budget between devices, or with another person, a copy is also kept in the storage service you choose (OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive or Google Drive), in a folder in your own account. That copy is encrypted on your device with a passphrase you set before it is uploaded. The storage service, and anyone else without the passphrase, cannot read it. The passphrase is never stored or sent anywhere; a key derived from it is kept in your device's secure storage (the Keychain on Apple devices, Windows data protection on a PC). Backups you make are encrypted the same way and saved where you choose.
What leaves your device
- Encrypted budget files, to the storage service you chose, only if you share a budget.
- Files you save or share yourself, such as a backup or an Excel or CSV export, go where you send them.
- Links you open, such as a bill's login page, open in your web browser under that website's own policy.
Nothing is sent to the developer. Reminders are set as notifications on your device.
Google user data
If you choose Google Drive, you sign in on Google's own page; DeadCents never sees your Google password. This is what it does with your Google account:
- What it can access. DeadCents requests two permissions: the files DeadCents itself creates (
drive.file) and a hidden app-data folder of its own (drive.appdata). It cannot see, list or change any other file in your Google Drive. It also reads your Google account's name and email address, to show you which account is signed in. - How it uses it. Only to store and retrieve your own encrypted budget files, so that your devices stay in step. Your name and email address are shown on your device's settings screen and used for nothing else.
- Where it is stored. The encrypted budget files are stored in your own Google Drive. The sign-in token Google issues is stored in your device's secure storage. Your account name is stored on your device. None of it is stored anywhere by the developer.
- Who it is shared with. Nobody. DeadCents does not transfer, sell or disclose Google user data to anyone, does not use it for advertising, and does not use it to train AI or machine learning models. No person other than you reads it.
DeadCents' use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Microsoft, Dropbox and Apple
The same applies to the other services. With OneDrive and Dropbox you sign in on the service's own page. With OneDrive the budget is kept in a folder you name, which you can share with another person through OneDrive; with Dropbox it is kept in DeadCents' own app folder. iCloud Drive uses the iCloud account your device is already signed in to, and DeadCents' own folder there. In every case the files are encrypted with your passphrase first.
Removing your data
- On a device: delete the app, and its data goes with it.
- In a storage service: choose "Stop using it here" in the app on each device, then delete the budget's folder in that service. In Google Drive, open Settings, then Manage apps, find DeadCents and choose "Delete hidden app data".
- DeadCents' access to your Google account: remove it at any time at myaccount.google.com/connections. The other services have an equivalent page.
Test versions
If you install a test version through Apple's TestFlight, Apple may collect crash reports and usage information under its own terms. DeadCents itself adds no analytics or crash reporting.
Children
DeadCents is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date. Questions: [email protected].