Privacy policy

1. Who we are

ChequeYourself is a budgeting app run by Chethana Hasun Davidson, an individual based in New Zealand. We’re responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

2. What we collect

Information you give us

• Your account: your email address, password (stored only in scrambled, “hashed” form; we can’t read it), and your first and last name.
• Your pay: take-home pay amounts, how often you’re paid, your next payday, and any description you give each pay.
• Your budgets: incomes, expense categories, expenses, amounts, dates, notes and descriptions, savings goals and goal payments, and the history of changes you save (revisions).
• One-off budgets and bookings: what you expect to spend, the costs you plan, and booking details you add, such as the business you booked through, booking references, amounts, and when you paid.
• Your onboarding answers: such as what you want to use the app for and the spending areas you choose.

Passkeys (if you add one)

If you add a passkey, we store its public key, a name for it (usually your device or browser), and when it was added and last used. Your fingerprint, face or device PIN never leave your device; we don’t receive them.

Information collected automatically

• Sign-in sessions: when you sign in, we record your IP address and browser or device type against the session, to keep your account secure.
• Cookies: we use cookies that are needed to keep you signed in and to keep sign-in secure. We also remember display preferences, such as light or dark mode, on your device. We don’t use advertising or tracking cookies, and we don’t use third-party analytics.

3. Bank connections (not available yet)

You can’t connect a bank account to ChequeYourself yet, so we don’t currently receive any information from your bank. We plan to add this later. When we do, we’ll update this policy and tell you before it goes live, and connecting a bank will always be your choice.

When it’s available, if you choose to connect your bank, we’ll receive through our banking partner, Akahu:

• the names and numbers of your accounts, and their current and available balances; and
• a secure access token that lets us refresh those details and, when you choose to distribute your pay, make the payments you ask for between your accounts. We’ll store this token encrypted.

We won’t see or store your bank login details, and we won’t collect your bank transaction history. When you distribute your pay, we’ll keep a record of each payment we sent (the amount, the accounts, and whether it went through). You’ll be able to disconnect your bank at any time, and withdraw your consent through Akahu.

4. Why we use it

We use your information to:

• create and run your account and sign you in;
• work out your budgets, cash flow, calendar, goals and the other figures the app shows you;
• once bank connections are available, show your bank balances and make the payments you ask for when you distribute your pay;
• show logos for the businesses you book through;
• keep the app and your account secure, and prevent fraud and misuse;
• contact you about your account or important changes to the app; and
• meet our legal obligations.

We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t use it for advertising.

5. Who we share it with

We only share your information with service providers that help us run the app, and only what they need:

• Vercel hosts the app, so all information passing through the app goes through it.
• Neon hosts our database, so it holds all information stored in the app.
• Brandfetch finds business logos. It receives the names of businesses you book through, and your browser loads logos directly from it, which shares your IP address with it.

Once bank connections are available, we’ll also share information with Akahu (New Zealand), which connects to your bank: your bank account details and the payment instructions you give, under your consent with Akahu.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety, or if our business is sold or merged (in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information).

6. Storing information overseas

Some of our providers store or process information outside New Zealand. The app and its database are hosted in Sydney, Australia. Some providers, such as Vercel and Brandfetch, may also process information in other countries, including the United States. We choose providers that protect information in a way comparable to the New Zealand Privacy Act.

7. How we keep it safe

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, encryption of sensitive information such as access tokens, and limiting access to people who need it.

No system is perfectly secure. If a privacy breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we’ll tell you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as soon as we can.

8. How long we keep it

We keep your information while you have an account. If you close your account, we’ll delete or anonymise your personal information within 30 days, except where we need to keep some of it longer for legal, accounting or fraud-prevention reasons.

9. Your choices and rights

You can:

• See and correct your information: most of it is in the app, and you can change your name, pay and budgets yourself. You can also ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it.
• Remove passkeys at any time from Your details.
• Close your account by emailing [email protected].

We’ll respond to requests within 20 working days. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please talk to us first. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.

10. Age limit

ChequeYourself is for people aged 18 and over. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If we learn that we have, we’ll delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make a significant change, we’ll let you know in the app or by email before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it last changed.

12. Contact us

Privacy Officer: Chethana Hasun Davidson
Email: [email protected]