Privacy policy
- Your transactions, balances, investments and settings are stored only on your phone.
- There are no accounts, no ads and no analytics, and your data is never sold or shared.
- The only internet use is downloading public exchange rates and the gold price, and the statistics Google's text-recognition library may send about itself (see Receipt scanning).
What the app reads
- Text messages (SMS). In the version from our website, with your permission, Masareef reads payment texts from your bank to record transactions. Messages that aren't from a bank are ignored. The Google Play version doesn't ask for SMS access at all.
- App notifications (optional). If you turn it on, Masareef reads payment notifications only from the apps you choose, such as InstaPay or a wallet. In the Google Play version, which doesn't read SMS, it also reads your texting app's notifications to find your bank's texts: only messages from banks and payment services are read, and every other message is dropped at once, never stored.
- Photos (optional). Receipt photos you take or pick are copied into the app's private storage. When you scan a receipt, your phone's own camera app takes the photo, and the text on it is read on your phone to fill in the total, the date and the items. A profile picture you choose is kept there too, as a small square. Both go into your password-locked backups unless you turn receipt photos off; they never leave your phone otherwise.
- Things you share (optional). When you share a message, screenshot, photo or PDF to Masareef from another app, it is read on your phone to fill in a payment. A temporary copy sits in the app's private cache until the next share; an image stays with a payment only if you save it attached.
Where your data is kept
Everything Masareef records stays in the app's private storage on your phone. It is not uploaded to us or to anyone else, and the app opts out of Android's automatic backup to your Google account. A copy leaves the phone only if you make one: a password-locked backup saved where you choose, or moving everything to a new phone with Android's own transfer tool. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data, deletes what's on this phone.
Internet use
Masareef downloads exchange rates and the gold price from public services (open.er-api.com, and
cdn.jsdelivr.net as a backup). These requests contain no information about you or your money. Like
any website, those services can see your device's IP address when it connects. You can turn automatic updates off
in Settings → Exchange rates; the app then makes no requests for rates or prices.
Speaking to the app
Voice add and Ask use your phone's own speech service, usually Google's, to turn what you say into text. What you say may go to that service online, under its own terms. Masareef only receives the text, and sends nothing else. Typing never does this.
Receipt scanning
Reading the text on a receipt uses Google's ML Kit text recognition, which runs on your phone: your photos and what's written on them are not uploaded. Like other Google ML Kit features, it may contact Google's servers to receive updates, and send Google statistics about how the recognizer performs and is used. These don't include your photos, their text, or your transactions. See Google's ML Kit terms for details.
Backups and exports
Backups and CSV exports are created only when you ask for them (or when you turn on the monthly backup), and saved to a place you choose. If you choose a cloud folder, that provider's own privacy policy applies to the file.
Every backup is locked with a backup password you set (AES-256 encryption). Without that password the file can't be read by anyone, including the cloud provider or us, and it can't be recovered if forgotten. The password is kept only on your phone, protected by the phone's secure key storage, and is never put inside a backup. CSV exports are plain spreadsheets and are not locked, so share them with care.
Crash reports
If the app crashes, a report (app version, phone model, Android version and the error, with no transactions) is saved on your phone. It is sent only if you tap "Send report", which opens your own email or messaging app so you can review and send it yourself.
Permissions
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Read and receive SMS | To record payments from your bank's texts. |
| Notifications | To tell you about payments, budgets and reminders. |
| Notification access (optional) | To capture payment notifications from apps you pick. |
| Alarms & reminders | To ask about a payment at the time you set. |
| Run at startup | To set your reminders again after the phone restarts. |
| Internet | To download exchange rates and the gold price. |
Children
Masareef is not directed at children under 13.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.
Contact
Questions about privacy: masareef.egy@gmail.com