Privacy Policy

The short version

Your money stays yours. Every transaction, account, budget and category lives on your device and syncs only through your own iCloud. It never reaches a server belonging to Mona.
There is no account to create, and Mona works with no network at all.
Diagnostics do leave your device. Crash reports and anonymous usage events go to Google Firebase so the app can be fixed and improved. They are not linked to your identity and never contain your financial data.
No ads, no tracking across other apps or websites, and no use of your device's advertising identifier.

Who this is about

Mona is made by Anh Nguyen. In this policy, "Mona", "we" and "us" mean the developer of the app, and "you" means the person using it. This policy covers the Mona iPhone and iPad app and this website.

What stays on your device

Everything you actually put into Mona is stored locally on your device: transactions, amounts, notes, accounts, cards, cash balances, budgets, categories, recurring charges and the figures derived from them.

If you have iCloud switched on, that data syncs through your own iCloud account, using Apple's CloudKit in a private container tied to your Apple Account. We cannot read it, and it is not copied to any server we run. Apple's handling of it is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.

Backups you create are encrypted and stay wherever you put them. Exports are written as a spreadsheet to the location you choose. Neither is uploaded anywhere by Mona.

What leaves your device

Two things do, and it is worth being exact about them rather than claiming the app is silent.

Diagnostics and analytics

Mona uses Google Firebase (Analytics, Crashlytics, App Check and Cloud Messaging). When the app launches and as you use it, it sends:

Crash data — the error, where in the code it happened, and technical context such as device model and OS version.
Performance data — technical measurements about how the app is running.
Product interaction — anonymous events about which parts of the app get used, such as the app being opened.

These are the three categories declared in Mona's App Store privacy manifest. None of them is linked to your identity, none is used to track you, and none of them carries your transactions, amounts, balances, account names or notes. Firebase's handling is governed by Google's Firebase Privacy documentation.

Turning it off. Mona does not currently offer an in-app switch to disable analytics and crash reporting. If you would prefer to send nothing at all, deleting the app stops it. We would rather say this plainly than imply a control that is not there yet.

Notifications

If you turn notifications on, your device registers a push token with Apple and Firebase Cloud Messaging so reminders can reach you. The token identifies the installation, not you. Reminders you schedule yourself — the evening nudge, for instance — are local to the device.

Permissions Mona asks for

Each one is optional, asked for only when you use the feature, and revocable in iOS Settings.

Microphone and speech recognition — to add an expense by speaking. Where your device supports on-device recognition, Mona requires it, so the audio is transcribed locally. Otherwise iOS handles the transcription under Apple's Privacy Policy.
Camera — to scan a receipt and read the amounts off it. The photo stays on your device.
Notifications — reminders and alerts, as described above.

What Mona never does

No ads, and no advertising networks in the app.
No tracking of you across other companies' apps or websites. Mona's privacy manifest declares no tracking, and the app never asks for App Tracking Transparency permission.
No use of your device's advertising identifier (IDFA).
No selling or renting of personal data. There is nothing to sell.
No account, so no email address, password or profile is collected.

Children

Mona is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Your rights

Because your financial data never leaves your control, you already hold it: you can export all of it as a spreadsheet, back it up, or delete it by removing the app and clearing its iCloud data.

For the diagnostics described above, you can ask us what has been collected, or ask for it to be deleted, by writing to the address below. Depending on where you live you may have further rights under the GDPR, the UK GDPR or the CCPA; we will honour them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. If a change materially affects what leaves your device, we will say so in the app's release notes rather than quietly editing this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your data: support@get-mona.app.