Kite — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 October 2026

Kite collects nothing. There is no account, no server, and no analytics.

What Kite stores, and where

Everything you enter — your pay schedule, bills, expenses, debts and payment history — is stored in a database file on your device, inside Kite’s own app container. It is not uploaded anywhere, because there is nowhere to upload it to: Kite has no backend.

What leaves your device

Nothing you enter, ever — and nothing at all unless you choose to send it, with one small exception described in the next section.

Kite has no tracking or analytics library, no crash reporter and no advertising identifier, and talks to no server of its own.

The one way data can leave your phone is the backup file. When you tap Save a backup, Kite writes a JSON file and hands it to the phone’s own share sheet. Where it goes from there is your choice — Files or Drive, iCloud, AirDrop or Nearby Share, email. That file contains your financial data in readable form, so keep it somewhere you consider private. Kite never sends it anywhere on its own.

The other way is one you type yourself. Email support in the app opens your own mail app with the message already started, addressed to kakodjenou@gmail.com. Whatever you write in it reaches me, along with two lines naming the app version and your operating system version — nothing from your budget, and nothing that identifies you beyond the email address you send from. Kite does not send the message; your mail app does, when you tap send. Please do not attach a backup file: it holds your finances in readable form.

Rate Kite opens Kite’s page in the App Store or Play Store. After you have closed a couple of end-of-period recaps, Kite may also show a short card in the app, never less than two weeks apart, asking you to share Kite, rate it, tell me how you budget with someone, or try the purchase planner. There are four of them; the two asking a question appear once each, and the other two can come back a second time after two months if you closed them. Each card has a button and a close (×); the button opens the share sheet, the store page, your mail app or a screen inside Kite. The store page and any rating you leave belong to Apple or Google, under their own privacy terms. Kite learns nothing about what you do with a card, not even whether you tapped it or left a rating.

Checking for updates

Once a day at most, Kite asks this website for a small file — the one you are reading this page on — that lists the latest version number for iOS and Android. If it says a newer version exists than the one installed, Kite shows a card offering to take you to the store page; closing it without updating just means it asks again the next day.

That request carries nothing about you or your budget: no account, no device identifier, no location, nothing you have entered. It is the same kind of request your browser makes loading any web page. This site is hosted on GitHub Pages, so GitHub, like any web host, can see the IP address of the request and may keep ordinary server logs under its own privacy statement. Kite does not store that address, and I do not collect or see it. If the request fails or times out — no signal, the file is unreachable — Kite behaves exactly as if no update were available; it never retries in the background or blocks anything in the app.

This is the one network request Kite’s own code makes.

What Kite asks permission for

Unlocking — Face ID or Touch ID on iPhone, fingerprint, face or screen lock on Android, used only to unlock the app on your device. The result is a yes or no from the operating system; Kite never receives your biometric data, and neither does anyone else. Optional, and off by default.
Notifications — used only for local reminders about bills you have entered and, if you turn it on, an evening nudge to log spending. They are scheduled on the device by the operating system. No push server is involved: Kite never asks for a push token, and the iPhone build has the push entitlement removed.

Share Kite in Help opens the phone’s share sheet with a line of text and the store link, and no figures from your budget. Where it goes is your choice; Kite learns nothing about it. Budget with someone? Tell me opens your mail app with a few questions and no figures, addressed to kakodjenou@gmail.com.

Planning a purchase

Plan a purchase works out, from the figures already in Kite, whether something you want to buy fits: paying now, setting money aside, or paying over time. It is arithmetic on your device. It looks nothing up, checks no prices or rates, and makes no network request. Nothing is saved unless you choose one of the options, and then only as a debt or a savings item in your own budget.

If you add Kite’s widget to your Home Screen, Kite writes a small summary into a folder that only Kite and its widget on your phone can read (an iOS App Group): the money left this period, the day of the period and your next few bills. The widget draws that summary and nothing else. It makes no network requests, just as Kite does not. On Android the same summary is kept in Kite’s own private storage, which only Kite and its widget can read. With Kite’s app lock on, the summary carries bill names and dates but no amounts. Erasing your data in Kite empties it.

Your data, and deleting it

There is no copy for anyone to hand over, correct, or delete on your behalf.

Export it at any time: Settings → Your data → Save a backup.
Delete all of it at any time: Settings → Erase all data (at the bottom of the Settings screen).
Delete everything permanently by deleting the app, which removes its container and the database with it.

Phone backups

Android’s automatic backup to Google Drive is switched off for Kite (allowBackup=false), so the database is never copied to Google’s servers. On iPhone, Kite’s data is included when you back up the phone to iCloud or a computer, as with any app; that backup is Apple’s feature and stays under your control. On iPhone the app’s files are encrypted while the phone is locked.

Children

Kite is not directed at children and collects no information from anyone.

Changes

If a future version ever collects anything, this policy will be updated before that version ships, and the change will be described in the release notes.

Contact

Questions about this policy: kakodjenou@gmail.com