Effective Date: January 03, 2026
Last Updated: January 03, 2026
Our Privacy Commitment
Boukie, developed and operated in Kuwait, is built on a simple principle: your financial data belongs to you and only you. Unlike most finance apps, we've architected Boukie so that your transaction data never leaves your device and never touches our servers.
How We Use SMS Permission
Boukie collects SMS data from recognized Kuwait bank sender IDs (KFH, NBK, Boubyan, Gulf Bank, CBK) to enable automatic transaction extraction and expense categorization, even when the app is not actively in use.
What happens with your SMS:
- Transaction details (merchant, amount, date) are extracted and stored locally on your device only
- We filter messages by bank sender IDs — personal conversations and non-bank SMS are never accessed
- Your financial data is never transmitted to our servers or any third party
What we may collect (with your consent):
- Anonymized SMS templates — message structures with all personal data replaced by placeholders like [AMOUNT], [MERCHANT], [CARD]. When multiple messages match the same pattern, they are processed locally and only one anonymized template is uploaded.
- Merchant names (requires separate opt-in) — If you enable "Merchant Sharing" in Settings, merchant names are shared to improve categorization. This is optional and can be disabled anytime.
What we cannot do:
- See your actual transaction amounts, dates, or spending history
- Link any server-side data back to you or your device
- Access personal messages or non-financial SMS
What Data We Collect
Data Stored Locally on Your Device
The following data is stored only on your device and is never transmitted to Boukie:
- Transaction data extracted from bank SMS (merchant name, amount, date, transaction type)
- Categories you assign to transactions
- Bank account identifiers (last 4 digits only, for organizing transactions)
- Your preferences and app settings
Data We May Process (With Your Consent)
To improve our SMS parsing capabilities, we may collect fully anonymized data that contains no personal information:
Anonymized SMS Templates:
- When you import SMS, we identify message patterns and create reusable templates
- All personal data is replaced with placeholders before any data leaves your device
- Example transformation:
- Original: "Purchase of KD 45.750 at Carrefour using card *1234 on 15/01/2025"
- Template: "Purchase of [AMOUNT] at [MERCHANT] using card [CARD] on [DATE]"
- Once a template is identified, all similar messages are processed locally using that pattern — only one anonymized template is ever uploaded per message format
Merchant Names (Optional — Requires Separate Consent):
- If you enable "Merchant Sharing" in Settings, merchant names may be shared to improve our categorization database
- Merchant names are extracted and queued separately from templates
- Stored without any link to users, transactions, devices, or financial data
- Example: Knowing "Sultan Center" should be categorized as "Groceries"
- You can disable merchant sharing at any time in Settings
How It Works:
- Your SMS messages are processed locally on your device
- We identify the message pattern (template/skeleton)
- Personal data (amounts, dates, card numbers) is stripped and replaced with placeholders
- Only the anonymized template is uploaded (if template sharing is enabled)
- Merchants are extracted separately and only shared if you enabled merchant sharing
Important: This anonymized data cannot be traced back to you. We have no way to know which user submitted which template or merchant name.
SMS Permission
Boukie requests read-only SMS permission to:
- Read transaction notifications from recognized Kuwait bank sender IDs only
- Extract transaction details (merchant, amount, date) for local expense tracking
Bank Sender IDs We Recognize:
- Kuwait Finance House (KFH)
- National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
- Boubyan Bank
- Gulf Bank
- Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK)
We do NOT:
- Read personal conversations or non-bank SMS
- Access SMS from unknown or non-bank senders
- Send or write SMS messages
- Upload your SMS content to any server
- Share SMS data with any third party
- Use SMS data for advertising or marketing
Technical Implementation: Our app filters SMS by sender ID before any processing occurs. Messages from non-bank senders are never read or accessed.
Data Backup
Boukie offers optional backup to Google Drive. When enabled:
- Backups are stored in YOUR Google Drive account
- Backup files are encrypted
- Boukie cannot access your backups — they're stored in your personal Drive storage
- You can delete backups at any time from your Google Drive
Data Security
- Local database is encrypted using Android's security features
- No financial data is transmitted over the internet
- No cloud servers store your personal information
- App follows Android security best practices
Data Retention
Local Data (on your device):
- Your transaction data, categories, and preferences are stored on your device indefinitely until you choose to delete them
- Use Settings → Clear All Data to permanently delete all local data
- Uninstalling Boukie removes all local data from your device
Google Drive Backups (if enabled):
- Backups remain in your personal Google Drive until you delete them
- Boukie cannot access or delete your Drive backups — only you control them
Server Data:
- Anonymized templates and merchant names are retained to improve parsing accuracy for all users
- This data contains no personal information and cannot be linked to any individual
Account & Data Deletion
No Account Required: Boukie does not require account creation, registration, or login. There is no personal account to delete.
Deleting Your Data:
- In-app: Settings → Clear All Data permanently removes all transactions, categories, and preferences
- Uninstall: Removing the app deletes all local data from your device
- Google Drive: If you enabled backup, manually delete backup files from your Google Drive
Server Data: Anonymized templates and merchant names stored on our servers contain no personal information and cannot be attributed to any user. This data is retained to improve the service for all users.
Third-Party Services
Boukie integrates the following third-party services. These services may collect certain technical data as described in their respective privacy policies:
- Google Play Services — For app distribution and optional in-app purchases
- Google Drive API — For optional encrypted backup to YOUR personal Drive (only with your explicit permission)
- Data stored in your Drive is controlled by you, not Boukie
- Google Drive Terms
- Firebase Crashlytics — For anonymous crash reporting to improve app stability
- Collects: crash logs, device model, OS version
- Does NOT collect: financial data, SMS content, personal information
- Can be disabled in Settings
- Firebase Privacy Policy
SDK Data Handling: We ensure our third-party SDKs do not access, collect, or transmit your financial data or SMS content.
Your Rights
You can:
- Export your data — Download all your transactions as CSV/Excel
- Delete your data — Clear all data from the app at any time
- Revoke permissions — Remove SMS access from Android settings
- Disable analytics — Turn off anonymous usage tracking
Children's Privacy
Boukie is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the app or by email if you've provided one.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices:
- Email: privacy@boukie.app
- Website: boukie.app/contact