Privacy policy
Updated: 3 October 2026
Your finances work offline. iCloud and Apple Intelligence are optional. Northstar has no ads or advertising trackers and sends nothing to the developer. Depending on how you installed the app and on your iOS settings, Apple may share technical diagnostics with the developer.
Responsible for Northstar: Tarik El Ouahmani, Switzerland.
Contact: contact@northstarapp.ch
This link opens your email app without sending data automatically. Never send your iPhone passcode, passwords or backup key.
What data, and why?
Northstar processes what you enter or import: first name or nickname, income, expenses, merchants, dates, categories, budgets, debts, goals, notes, photos and PDFs. Members can also add data to a shared space. Technical identifiers, document fingerprints and history support sync, attribution of changes and duplicate detection. References and the score help track your goals; they are not a creditworthiness assessment or a financial decision. The app does not connect directly to your bank. The developer operates no Northstar server to receive these finances and has no intended access to your private spaces. They see what you voluntarily send them or share by inviting them.
Protection on this iPhone
Data is saved in the app’s private storage using iOS file protection. Photos and PDFs sent through Share remain in a protected local folder shared by Northstar and its extension until they are read successfully, you delete the batch, or you erase your data. They enter a space only after your review. Face ID or your iPhone passcode locks access whenever the app or the iPhone restarts, and after the inactivity delay you choose: on leaving the app, or after 1, 5 (default) or 15 minutes, at least 5 minutes while the app stays open. Screens showing a backup key or leading to an erase, an invitation or a space removal lock as soon as you leave. Exporting, restoring, erasing, inviting, joining, leaving or deleting a space asks for Face ID or the passcode again, as does lengthening the delay. Northstar receives neither your face data nor your passcode. This lock is not independent encryption of every item: after the iPhone’s first unlock, iOS can still permit background sync. No system guarantees zero risk; protect your device and Apple Account too.
Apple Intelligence: your choice
Apple Intelligence is off by default in Northstar. In Settings > Apple Intelligence, you separately choose document reading and score, trend, replay and goal-planning insights. The local model may receive your document’s image or text, categories and calculated observations. It helps interpret them, but you confirm additions. Calculations and the score do not depend on AI. Turning it off prevents new analyses and invalidates pending responses without deleting confirmed expenses. Category corrections are remembered on this iPhone; you can forget them in Settings > Remembered merchants. This version enables neither ChatGPT nor Private Cloud Compute analysis. Northstar does not send your documents for model training.
Camera, files and notifications
The camera is used for scanning. System pickers provide the photos and documents you choose, not general access to read your photo library. A file provider may download a document from its own cloud. Northstar requests neither contacts nor location. Household alerts are optional and configurable; the app shows a generic message without amounts or merchants on the lock screen. iOS may use Apple remote notifications to update iCloud. You can also manage permissions in iOS Settings.
Retention and deletion: the limits
Deleting an expense updates the lists, but older values remain in the sync history; this is not immediate physical erasure. Settings > Erase my data offers full deletion on this iPhone or also in iCloud. Local mode erases spaces, source files, drafts, history, identity and learning without deleting iCloud. iCloud mode deletes every Northstar space owned by the connected account, including your households for their members. As an invitee, you leave the household; its owner keeps the data, including your contributions. Sync stops before deletion. Errors leave a pending request without claiming complete success. Exports, older backups and copies on other devices must be handled separately. Uninstalling or disabling iCloud does not delete remote data.
Exports and backups
Northstar exports use Apple encryption and a separate key for each export. You choose where to save and send them. Keep the key separately: the developer cannot recover it. Exports may contain history and source files; later deletion does not change them. The local financial folder is excluded from new automatic app backups. Explicitly use iCloud or an encrypted export to back it up. Older backups and files saved elsewhere must be managed separately.
Apple diagnostics and developer contact
Northstar contains no advertising SDK or third-party analytics tool, and sends nothing to the developer. Apple may share usage and crash data with the developer: version, device, sessions and diagnostics. From the App Store, only if you share analytics with app developers in iOS Settings. If you received the app from the developer through an invitation or a public link, this happens automatically and cannot be turned off in Northstar. With an email invitation, the developer may see your name and email address; a public link alone does not show them. Voluntary feedback may include screenshots and financial data: redact anything unnecessary. It is used for support, fixes and improving Northstar, not advertising or sale. If you received the app through an invitation or a public link, Apple keeps your feedback for one year; diagnostics may remain until issues are resolved. Emails and copies received by the developer have no automatic purge; you can request deletion. Do not send a full statement to report a minor display issue.
Providers and processing countries
Apple provides iCloud, app distribution and system services under its own terms. For Switzerland, its policy identifies Apple Distribution International Limited in Ireland and describes transfers, including to the United States, governed by standard contractual clauses. Northstar does not choose Apple’s storage region and does not guarantee hosting in Switzerland. Messages sent to the contact address are hosted in Switzerland by Infomaniak Network SA. Your email, file and backup apps remain subject to their own policies. The links below explain Apple’s practices; nothing is loaded until you open them.
Your choices and rights
You can view and correct data in the app, export a backup, turn off AI, and manage sharing and notifications. These features provide the tracking you request; sharing and AI depend on your voluntary activation. Support and diagnostics help answer requests and make Northstar reliable. Subject to applicable law, you may request access, correction, deletion or a copy of data, withdraw consent and contact the competent authority, including Switzerland’s FDPIC. Use the contact at the top. The developer can act on data they hold, but cannot remotely inspect or erase all your private copies. For data held by Apple, also use its Data and Privacy portal. This policy describes how this version works; it is not a security certification.
This website
This website is hosted in Switzerland by Infomaniak Network SA, Geneva, acting as a processor. It sets no cookies, embeds no analytics tool and loads nothing from other sites.
Like any web server, Infomaniak’s server processes technical connection data, including the IP address and the page requested, to deliver and protect the site, and keeps it for a limited period. Links to Apple’s pages open sites that apply their own policies.
Apple sources and information
This policy is dated and bundled with the app. Changes to collection, recipients or AI must be described in an update before activation. Opening this page enables no sharing or consent. Except for the “This website” section, this text is word for word the one the app shows.