This page is the app-specific companion to our main Privacy Policy, written to line up with the App Store privacy label and the Google Play Data safety form. Where the two documents overlap, the Privacy Policy governs.
It applies to the Obol mobile app on iOS and Android, published under the identifier com.ObolApp.obol.
Permissions the app requests
Every permission below is optional and requested in context — at the moment you use the feature that needs it, never on launch. Declining one disables that feature and nothing else, and you can withdraw any of them later in your device settings.
| Permission | Why Obol asks | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Microphone | Only while you hold the record button, so you can log an expense by speaking. No audio is recorded or stored by us. | Optional |
| Speech recognition | Converts what you just said into text, using your device platform’s recogniser (Apple on iOS, Google on Android). | Optional |
| Camera | To photograph a receipt or invoice and keep it with the expense. The photo stays on your device — Obol does not upload it or read a total from it. | Optional |
| Photos | To attach an existing receipt image to an expense. Obol receives only the image you pick, it does not browse your library, and the picture is not uploaded. | Optional |
| Notifications | Bill reminders and budget alerts that you configure. Obol sends nothing promotional. | Optional |
| Face ID / Touch ID / biometrics | To lock the app behind your device biometric. The check happens on-device; we never receive biometric data. | Optional |
| Bank-message capture | Turns a bank message you hand Obol into a draft expense. Obol is never granted permission to read your SMS or notifications; you paste a message, or set up an Apple Shortcut that forwards them. Parsing happens on your device. | Off by default |
Data types
“Linked to you” means the data is associated with your account. Nothing in this table is used for tracking, and nothing is shared with data brokers or advertisers.
| Data type | Collected | Linkage | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address | Yes | Linked to you | Account creation, sign-in, password reset |
| Name | Yes | Linked to you | Display name in the app |
| Other financial info | Yes | Linked to you | The expenses, income, budgets and bills you record — this is the app |
| Other user content | Yes | Linked to you | Notes, questions you ask the assistant, and voice transcripts when AI features are on. Receipt photos are NOT collected — they stay on your device and only a reference to the file is saved. |
| Payment information | No | — | Purchases are handled entirely by Apple or Google; we never see your card |
| Precise or coarse location | No | — | Obol has no location feature and requests no location permission |
| Contacts | No | — | Never requested |
| Audio recordings | No | — | Voice entry produces text; the audio is not recorded or uploaded by us |
| Raw SMS / notification text | No | — | Only normalised transaction fields you approve are stored |
| Identifiers for advertising | No | — | Obol contains no advertising SDK and does no tracking |
Tracking
Obol does no tracking as Apple defines it. The app declares NSPrivacyTracking = false with an empty tracking-domains list in its privacy manifest, contains no advertising SDK, and never presents an App Tracking Transparency prompt because it has nothing to ask for.
Third-party processors used by the app
- Hosting, database and authentication provider — stores your account and records under row-level security.
- AI provider — parses what you type or say into a structured expense, and answers assistant questions. Content sent for these purposes is not used to train its models. Photos are never sent to it.
- Apple / Google speech recognition — only when you use voice entry.
- Subscription management provider — validates Pro purchases and notifies our server when a subscription starts, renews or ends. It receives a purchase identifier for your account and never your spending records.
- Crash reporting provider (EU region) — receives the error, code location, device model, OS version and an anonymous account identifier when the app crashes. Financial values, merchant names, your email and your IP are removed before transmission, and no screenshot is ever attached.
- Apple App Store / Google Play — distribution and, for any paid feature, payment.
Children
Obol is rated for adults and is not directed at children. It contains no child-directed content, no ads, and no social features. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has created an account, write to support@obolapp.com and we will delete it.
Deleting app data
You can export everything as JSON, delete individual records, or permanently delete your account from inside the app. Step-by-step instructions, and the email route if you have lost access to the app, are on Data Deletion Instructions.
Contact
App privacy questions: support@obolapp.com.