Pocket Scope Privacy Policy

Effective October 22, 2026 · Last updated October 30, 2026

Pocket Scope is a personal budgeting app for iPhone. This policy explains what information the app uses, why, and what control you have over it. In short: your financial data is used only to show it back to you. We do not sell it, rent it, or use it for advertising.

Information we collect

• Bank account information you choose to connect. When you connect a bank, you sign in on a secure screen provided by Plaid Inc. Pocket Scope never sees or stores your bank username or password. Plaid gives us read-only access to the accounts you select: account names, the last few digits of account numbers, account types, balances, and transaction history (dates, amounts, merchant names, and categories).
• Information you add in the app, such as budgets, category changes, merchant rules, renamed merchants, split transactions, savings goals, your canceled-subscription list, and display settings (like color theme and dashboard layout).
• Your Sign in with Apple ID. You sign in with Apple. We receive an anonymous account identifier from Apple. We do not ask for your name or email address.
• Subscription status. If you subscribe, Apple tells us your subscription's product, status, transaction identifier, and renewal or end date so the app knows whether you have access. Apple handles all payments; we never see your card or payment details.
• Reminders. If you turn on bill and renewal reminders, they are scheduled on your iPhone from the bills already shown in the app. No extra information is sent to us for them.
• Push alerts. If you turn on push alerts, your iPhone gives our server a notification address from Apple so we can alert you about things like a subscription price increase, a new subscription, or a bank fee. You can turn alerts off at any time in Settings, then Reminders & Alerts.
• Cancel pages. When you open a company's cancel page from Pocket Scope, it opens in a browser inside the app. You sign in to that company's website directly. Pocket Scope does not read, store, or fill in anything on those pages, and it never cancels anything for you. Website sign-ins are remembered only on your iPhone, and you can clear them in Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Clear Website Sign-Ins. That company's own privacy policy applies to its website.
• Face ID. If you turn on Face ID, it is handled entirely by your iPhone. Pocket Scope never receives your face data.
• We do not collect your location, contacts, photos, or advertising identifiers.

How we use it

• To show your balances, spending, budgets, and upcoming bills to you in the app.
• To keep your accounts up to date when you sync, and to alert you about things like new subscriptions, price increases, and upcoming bills.
• To check whether your free trial or subscription is active.
• We do not use your financial data for advertising, and we do not sell, rent, or trade it to anyone.
• Pocket Scope can only read your data. It cannot move money, make payments, or change anything at your bank.

Who we share it with

We share information only with the companies needed to run the app: Plaid Inc., which connects Pocket Scope to your bank; Apple, for Sign in with Apple, purchases, and notifications; and our hosting providers (Fly.io, which runs our server, and Neon, which stores our database), only as needed to operate the app. By connecting a bank, you also agree to Plaid's End User Privacy Policy, which describes how Plaid handles your data. We may also disclose information if required by law.

How we protect it

• All connections between the app and our server use encryption (HTTPS).
• The credential that lets us read your bank data is encrypted before it is stored, and our database is encrypted at rest by our hosting provider.
• Data saved on your iPhone uses Apple's built-in file protection. Home Screen widgets show information already saved on your iPhone; nothing extra is sent to us for them.
• CSV exports (Settings, then Data) are created on your iPhone, and you choose where to save or share them.
• Your budgets, category changes, merchant rules, renamed merchants, split transactions, savings goals, canceled-subscription list, and display settings are encrypted before they are stored on our server, so they come back if you get a new device or reinstall the app.
• Access to our systems is limited to the app's developer and protected with two-factor sign-in.

How long we keep it, and deleting it

• We keep data for a connected bank only while that bank stays connected.
• Information you add in the app (budgets, rules, goals, and similar settings) is kept until you delete your account, so it is still there if you subscribe again.
• Disconnect a bank in the app (Settings, then Bank Connections, then Disconnect). This immediately deletes that bank's accounts and transactions from our servers and tells Plaid to end the connection.
• When your free trial or subscription ends and is not renewed, we disconnect your banks from Plaid and delete their accounts and transactions from our servers 3 days later. You can reconnect them if you subscribe again.
• Delete your account in the app (Settings, then Account, then Delete Account). This immediately disconnects all of your banks from Plaid, deletes all of your data from our servers, and removes Pocket Scope's Sign in with Apple link. Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store subscription; cancel that in your iPhone's Settings (your name, then Subscriptions) or in the App Store.
• Or email us at the address below and we will delete all of your data within 30 days.
• Copies kept in our database provider's short-term backups are removed automatically, within 35 days.
• Deleting the app removes the copy stored on your iPhone.

Your choices

You decide which banks and accounts to connect, and you can disconnect them at any time. You can ask us for a copy of your data, a correction, or deletion by emailing us.

Do Not Track

Pocket Scope does not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and it has no advertising or analytics trackers. Because there is no tracking to turn off, it does not respond differently to "Do Not Track" signals; every user is treated as if Do Not Track is on.

Age requirement

Pocket Scope is for people 18 and older. In states whose laws require it, Apple tells the app whether a user is under 18, and Pocket Scope does not let them sign in or connect a bank. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18; if we learn we have, we delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, tell you in the app.

Contact

Questions or requests: pocketscope@novafieldstudio.com

Pocket Scope is published by NovaField Studio LLC, Denver, Colorado.