Privacy Policy — Paycheck Companion

Published by Cove Studio LLC · Effective date: June 21, 2026 · Last updated: June 21, 2026

In short: Paycheck Companion keeps your budget on your phone. We don't connect to your bank, we have no accounts, and we use no analytics, tracking, or advertising. The only information that ever leaves your device is your optional one-time purchase, handled by Google Play and RevenueCat.

1. Who We Are

Paycheck Companion is published by Cove Studio LLC ("Cove," "we," "us," or "our"), a limited liability company organized under the laws of New Jersey, USA. You can contact us at support@bycove.net.

2. What Data We Collect

Paycheck Companion is built with privacy as a core principle. Here is exactly what we collect — and what we don't.

Data stored ONLY on your device (we never see it)

Your paycheck schedule and pay dates
Your bills and which paychecks pay them
Your expense entries (amounts, categories, notes)
Your settings and preferences

This data lives on your phone's local storage in an on-device database. We never transmit it to our servers. We do not sync it to the cloud. If you uninstall the app, the data is permanently deleted from your device.

Data that leaves your device

The only information that ever leaves your device is your premium-unlock purchase (see Section 3). Paycheck Companion uses no analytics, tracking, advertising, or crash-reporting SDKs — no usage events, no behavioral tracking, nothing. We do not know when you open the app or what you do inside it.

Data we never collect

Your name, email, phone, or contact information (unless you voluntarily provide it via "Contact Support")
Your location
Your contacts
Your photos
Your microphone or camera
Your health data
Your bank account information, credit card details, or any financial credentials
Any data from other apps on your phone

We do not connect to your bank. Paycheck Companion is a manual-entry tool by design.

3. Premium Unlock & Payment Data

Paycheck Companion is free to download and use. An optional premium unlock ($4.99 one-time purchase) is available within the app.

Premium unlock billing is handled by Google Play Store (and, when available, Apple App Store) along with our purchase-management provider RevenueCat. We do not see your credit card number, billing address, or other payment information.

We do receive:

Your premium status (purchased / not purchased / refunded)
A pseudonymous user identifier tied to your purchase
Aggregated revenue metrics

We use this only to verify your premium status is active and to provide service. This purchase information is the single data type disclosed as "collected" in our Google Play Data safety section.

4. Third Parties

We work with the following third parties for the limited purposes described:

Third Party	Purpose	Data involved
Google LLC (Play Store)	Hosting, distribution, payment processing	As required by Google
Apple, Inc. (App Store, when available)	Hosting, distribution, payment processing	As required by Apple
RevenueCat	Premium unlock verification	Anonymous user ID, purchase state
Cloudflare	Hosting of this Privacy Policy and our landing page	IP addresses for security purposes only, deleted within 24 hours

We do not sell your data to anyone, ever, for any reason.

5. Your Rights

Access your data — all of it lives on your device. Use Settings → Export to CSV (premium feature) to download a copy.
Delete your data — uninstall the app to delete all device-stored data, or use Settings → Reset all data inside the app.
Request deletion of your purchase record — email support@bycove.net and we will delete the pseudonymous identifier tied to your purchase within 30 days (we may retain minimal transaction records where required by tax law — see Section 6).
Refund your premium unlock — managed via your Google Play (or Apple) account settings. Google Play allows automatic refunds within 2 hours of purchase; we honor any subsequent refund request you make through Google's standard refund process.

For California residents (CCPA)

You have the right to know what data we collect, request deletion, and not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Submit requests to support@bycove.net.

For EU residents (GDPR)

You have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. Submit requests to support@bycove.net. We will respond within 30 days.

For children under 13

Paycheck Companion is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe we have, contact support@bycove.net and we will delete it.

6. Data Retention

On-device data: retained until you uninstall the app or use Reset all data
Premium purchase records: retained for 7 years to comply with US tax and accounting laws

7. Security

Data on your device is protected by your phone's standard encryption (Android Encrypted File System; iOS Data Protection when available). Your premium-unlock purchase is transmitted over HTTPS. RevenueCat and our other third parties use industry-standard security practices. The app also offers an optional App Lock (Face ID / fingerprint) for extra privacy.

We are a small company and cannot guarantee absolute security against all threats, but we follow best practices and use reputable infrastructure providers.

8. International Users

Paycheck Companion is operated from the United States. By using the app, you consent to your data being transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country.

9. Cross-Promo and the "More from Cove" Tab

Paycheck Companion includes a "More from Cove" tab that displays cards for other Cove Studio digital products (such as our Excel spreadsheet templates sold on Etsy). When you tap a card, you are taken to the corresponding Etsy listing. Tapping a card simply opens that link — we do not track which cards you tap, and we share no personal information with Etsy through this flow.

If you choose to make a purchase on Etsy after tapping a card, Etsy's privacy policy governs that transaction. We are not party to your Etsy account or purchase data.

10. Not Financial Advice

Paycheck Companion is a tracking tool. We are not a financial advisor, bank, broker, or lender. The app does not provide personalized financial advice or recommendations. Information presented in the app (such as "free balance this paycheck") is calculated from data you manually enter and is meant as a budgeting aid only, not as financial guidance.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via an in-app notice and/or by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy? Email support@bycove.net.

Cove Studio LLC
New Jersey, USA

Paycheck Companion keeps your budget data on-device and uses no analytics or advertising. The only data collected is your optional one-time purchase, as disclosed in the Google Play Data safety section.