Privacy and security in AceMoney Receipts

This page says plainly where each kind of data lives, what leaves your phone and why, and how to lock the app and change its permissions. The legal text is the privacy policy; this page describes what the app actually does.

What stays on this device

These stay on your phone unless noted otherwise:

Mileage trips and vehicles, including the recorded route of a drive. Location for a drive is processed and stored on the phone. With AceMoney Cloud, a phone connected to an AceMoney Studio document also sends its drives there, end-to-end encrypted, while Send my drives to AceMoney Studio is on.
Documents in the AceMoney Filing Cabinet, their pages and the text read from them. With AceMoney Cloud, a phone connected to an AceMoney Studio document also sends them there, end-to-end encrypted; see AceMoney Filing Cabinet.
Bill splits, the people in them and the payments you record. A split you share is also stored on our servers, so the people you invite can see it.
Your preferences: the three budget gauges, the sort order, the biometric-lock switch and the mileage settings.

Because they stay on the device, they do not appear in the web version or on a second phone, and they are removed from the phone if you uninstall the app or delete your account.

What is stored in your account, and why

Receipts: merchant, amount, date, category, account, comment, the picture (or PDF), and the location if you chose to record it. They are stored in your account on our servers so that the same receipts appear when you sign in on another phone or in the web version, and so that a paired AceMoney Classic can receive them. They are not end-to-end encrypted.
Names received from AceMoney Classic: account, payee and category names sent by a paired desktop, used for autocomplete and the AceMoney charts.
Your account: the e-mail address or the Google, Apple or Microsoft identity you signed in with, and your plan status.

Deleting your account removes all of this; see Sign in and your account.

Reading receipts: what is sent, and when

Free plan. The merchant, date and total are read on the phone. The picture is uploaded only to be stored with the receipt in your account; it is not sent anywhere to be read unless you tap Sharpen with Cloud on a saved receipt (see Sharpen a misread receipt with Cloud).
Receipts Pro. Each new receipt’s picture, together with what the phone already read, is sent to the reading service in the cloud so it can be read more accurately and the item list extracted. This runs within a monthly fair-use cap that Settings > Capture & OCR > Automatic cloud reading shows.
Voice Interaction (Pro). When you confirm a scan by voice, your recording goes to our servers, which use a speech service to understand it. Turn the feature off under Settings > Capture & OCR > Voice Interaction and nothing is recorded.

None of this is shared with advertisers.

Lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or your fingerprint

Open Settings > Account.
Turn on Biometric Authentication (“Use FaceID/TouchID to unlock”).

The app locks the next time it goes to the background (it does not interrupt the camera, a share sheet or an ad). The lock screen says AceMoney Locked; tap Unlock and confirm with your face, fingerprint or device passcode. Log Out on the lock screen signs you out instead.

Phones without a passcode or biometrics skip the lock. The web version never locks, and the switch has no effect there.

Crash and diagnostic reports

Nothing is reported unless you switch it on. Open Settings > About, section Privacy & diagnostics, and turn on Share crash & diagnostic reports. The section explains what it sends: crash reports and anonymized diagnostic signals, error types and counts only; never amounts, receipts, locations or anything that identifies you, and nothing shared with advertising or AI services. Turning it off stops error reports immediately; background crash reporting stops fully after the next app start.

Location

The app uses location for two things, both optional:

Geotagging receipts. Off by default. Settings > Capture & OCR > Record Geolocation (“Save location with new receipts”) records where you scanned; each receipt page also has its own Record Geolocation switch, an Open Map button and Delete Location.
Mileage. Starting a drive with Start trip uses location while the app is open. Automatic detection needs location “Always” so drives are recorded in the background; the app asks for that in steps from Settings > Mileage (see Mileage tracking). Motion and activity access helps it tell driving from walking.

The phone’s prompt explains the reason each time: “AceMoney Receipts uses your location to geotag receipts and to record a drive when you start one from the app.” Location for drives is processed and stored on the phone and is never sent to advertising or AI services.

Change the location permission later:

iOS (iPhone and iPad)

Open the iPhone Settings app > Privacy & Security > Location Services > AceMoney Receipts, and choose Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App or Always. Precise Location must be on for drives to be measured accurately. (On recent iOS versions the app’s page under Settings > Apps > AceMoney Receipts offers the same choices.)

Android

Open Android Settings > Apps > AceMoney Receipts > Permissions > Location, and choose Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app or Don’t allow; keep Use precise location on for mileage. Menu names vary a little between phone makers.

Web

The browser asks when you turn on Record Geolocation on a receipt. Change it later from the site-information icon next to the address bar, under that browser’s site permissions.

Microphone

Used only by Voice Interaction (Receipts Pro) to hear your confirmation or corrections. The iPhone prompt reads “AceMoney Receipts uses the microphone when you speak a command, such as filing a receipt. The recording is sent to AceMoney’s service to be turned into text.” If you decline, voice does nothing and shows no message; the rest of the app is unaffected.

iOS (iPhone and iPad): Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone > AceMoney Receipts.
Android: Settings > Apps > AceMoney Receipts > Permissions > Microphone.

Camera and photos

The camera is used to scan receipts, documents and the odometer. The iPhone prompt reads “AceMoney Receipts uses your camera to photograph receipts and to scan device enrolment codes. A receipt photo is saved to your AceMoney account.” The photo library is used only when you choose Photo Library on the scan sheet, and the phone’s own picker asks for no permission on iOS 14 and later. Change them under Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera or Photos on iOS, and under the app’s Permissions on Android (on recent Android versions the photo picker needs no permission at all).

Notifications

The app asks for notification permission at first launch. It sends occasional announcements and, only if you turn on Settings > Mileage > Notify me when a drive is detected, a note when a drive starts recording. Turn notifications off for the app in your phone’s settings at any time.

Ads on the free plan

On the free plan the phone app shows banner ads on the Home, Charts, Splits and Mileage tabs, on the receipt page, in Settings and in the Detailed Budget Overview, and a full-screen ad after you save or cancel a new receipt. The ads service receives device and advertising identifiers; it never receives your receipts. The app does not ask iOS for permission to track you across other companies’ apps.

In the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom a consent form appears at first launch; change your choice under Settings > About > Ad Privacy Options.
Any paid plan, Receipts Pro or the Mileage plan, removes every ad.
The web version shows no ads.

Common questions

Can MechCAD see my receipts?

Receipts are stored in your account on our servers and are not end-to-end encrypted, so they are readable by our systems; we use that access to run the service, not to advertise to you. Filing Cabinet documents, trips and splits stay on your phone, except what you send to your own AceMoney Studio document through AceMoney Cloud (end-to-end encrypted) or share on purpose (a shared split is stored on our servers).

Is my receipt sent to an AI service?

On the free plan, no: reading happens on the phone, unless you tap Sharpen with Cloud on a saved receipt. With Receipts Pro, new receipts are sent to the reading service in the cloud to be read; you chose that by subscribing, and you can cancel any time.

Does the app track my location all the time?

Only if you enable automatic mileage detection and grant location “Always”; then location is used in the background while you drive, on the phone. Geotagging receipts is off by default.

Can I use the app without any account at all?

Yes, with Continue as Guest. The guest’s receipts are still stored in a guest identity on our servers so the app can save them, but nothing identifies you.

How do I get my data deleted?

In the app, Settings > Account > Delete Account; without the app, the data deletion request page. Details are on Sign in and your account. For other privacy requests write to support@mechcad.net.

Troubleshooting

The lock screen appears but Face ID or the fingerprint is not offered. Biometrics are off for the app in the phone’s settings, or none is enrolled. Use your device passcode to unlock, then check the phone’s settings.
“Authentication failed. Please try again.” The face or fingerprint was not recognized; try again or use the passcode.
“Could not get location” when saving a receipt. Location is off for the app or unavailable indoors; the receipt saves without a location, and the switch turns itself off.
Automatic drive detection stays off. It needs location “Always” and precise location; Settings > Mileage shows which step is missing.
Voice does nothing. Microphone access was declined, or you are offline; the speech service needs a connection.
I turned off diagnostics but the text still says reporting stops after the next start. That is expected; force-quit and reopen the app to stop background crash reporting completely.