Privacy Policy

The short version

• We don't store your financial data on our servers.
• Your expense data lives in your own Google Drive spreadsheet.
• We don't sell data. We don't show ads. We never will.
• Drive file operations use per-file access; Sheets access supports personal and shared app workbooks.
• You can export, delete or disconnect your data at any time.

What we collect

When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture to display in the app. We do not store this on a central server beyond a short-lived session cookie.

Your expenses, budgets, group data and all financial information are written directly to your Google Sheets spreadsheet in your Google Drive. We do not have a copy.

Google Drive permissions

Common Things requests these Google OAuth scopes:

• drive.file — allows Common Things to create and update files it creates, plus files you explicitly open with the app. It does not grant permission to browse your whole Drive.
• spreadsheets — allows spreadsheet reads and writes. This is broader than folder-only access and is currently required so invited members can use shared Circle and Group workbooks. Common Things uses it only with app workbook IDs.

The Common Things folder keeps app files organised; it is not itself a Google permission boundary. We do not request broad Drive browsing, and we do not use spreadsheet access to inspect unrelated files.

Local device storage

Common Things stores a local copy of your data in your browser's IndexedDB to enable offline use and fast loading. This data is stored only on your device and is not transmitted to our servers. You can clear it from the Settings page at any time.

No ads, no data selling

Common Things does not and will never show advertisements or sell user data to third parties. Our optional revenue comes from voluntary supporter donations and add-on features (AI receipt scanning, live FX rates). These are never required for core functionality.

AI receipt scanning (optional)

If you choose to use AI receipt scanning, a photo or image of your receipt is sent to a third-party OCR provider. You will always see an explicit consent notice before any image is uploaded. Manual receipt entry remains free forever.

Notifications

Recurring expense reminders are generated locally on your device. We do not send sensitive amounts or names in push notifications.

Deleting your data

To remove your data:

1. Go to Settings and tap Clear local data to remove the on-device cache.
2. Tap Open in Google Sheets and delete the spreadsheet file from your own Google Drive.
3. Go to your Google account permissions page and revoke Common Things access.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach us at support@commonthings.app.