A private finance app is one that can tell you, specifically, where your data is stored, who can read it, what it measures about you, whether it sells anything and how you delete it. "Private" on its own is a claim. Specific answers to these five questions are evidence.
Updated October 2026
Common answers are on the app's own servers, in a cloud database the company runs, or on your device. Each has a different risk. A company database can be breached or subpoenaed, and it exists as long as the company keeps it. Data on your device and in your own cloud storage is held under your own account.
Ask for the specifics: balances, transactions and positions, and where each lives. Vague answers such as "securely in the cloud" do not answer the question.
Think about employees, contractors, advertisers and anyone who might receive data from a partner. Ask whether staff can see your balances, and under what conditions.
Many apps connect to banks through an aggregator, a third party that logs in to your accounts on your behalf. Ask which one, what it receives and what it keeps. Ask also whether the app ever sees your bank password, or whether you sign in directly with your bank.
Analytics tools count taps, screens and sessions, and sometimes more. The questions: is it on by default or off until you choose, what exactly is collected, and can it ever include financial data or account details. An app that offers a plain switch and says what is excluded is easier to evaluate than one that buries it in a policy.
Read this sentence in the privacy policy carefully. Look for a flat statement that the company does not sell personal information, and then check what it says about sharing, advertising and data brokers. "We do not sell your data" and "we share anonymized data with partners" are different claims.
A useful test is the business model. If the app is free, ask what pays for it. A subscription is a clear answer.
Look for a delete option inside the app, not only a support email. Then check the scope. Deleting your account may not remove copies held by an aggregator, backups or analytics providers. A good policy says what is removed, what is kept and for how long.
Also check what you can take with you. A data export in a readable format means you can leave without losing your history.
Privacy also depends on what happens on your phone: a lock that requires Face ID or a passcode, a privacy screen that hides balances in the app switcher, and an option to hide balances on screen when someone is nearby. These do not replace the five questions, but they matter in daily use.
No system is completely secure. The useful question is how much a company needs to hold, since data it does not keep cannot be lost from its systems.
Accounts, balances, transactions, budgets, positions and net worth history are saved on your phone and in your iCloud account. Apple handles iCloud data under its own privacy policy.
We never sell your personal information.
When you connect a bank or brokerage, you sign in through Plaid or your institution, and Stridefly never receives your login details. Your financial data passes through a service we operate on its way to your phone. That service does not keep copies of your balances, positions or transactions. It keeps encrypted connection credentials and cursors, plus limited identity and device information needed to operate connections and notifications.
Optional analytics help us see which features are useful. They are off until you say yes. They are anonymized and cannot include your financial data or account details.
Erase device data removes financial data from your phone and its iCloud copy. Delete Account removes your Stridefly account, disconnects your institutions and erases financial data from your phone and iCloud copy. Delete Account cannot be undone.
Read the full detail on the privacy and security page, or join the waitlist for the private beta.
Ask where your data is stored, who can read it, what analytics collect, whether it sells data and how deletion works. Specific answers are better evidence than the word private.
It depends on how they connect. Some connect through an aggregator or your bank's own sign-in, and the app never receives your login details. Ask which one.
It changes who holds the data. Data held in your own device and cloud account is not in a company database, but no system is completely secure.
Check what deletion removes, including connected institutions and cloud copies, and whether you can export your data first.
Stridefly is in private beta. Join the waitlist and we will email you when a spot opens. Prefer to look around first? Demo mode lets you explore sample data before you connect anything.