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Privacy Policy

Your data stays on your machine. That's the whole point.

The core promise

Open Accountant is built on one principle: your financial data belongs to you. The CLI runs entirely on your computer. Your bank transactions, categories, and analysis results never leave your machine.

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Zero data uploaded.

Zero telemetry collected.

Zero cloud accounts required.

What the CLI collects

Nothing. The Open Accountant CLI is fully local software.

  • ✓All data is stored in a local SQLite database at ~/.openaccountant/data.db
  • ✓AI inference runs locally via Ollama — no API calls to cloud AI providers by default
  • ✓No analytics, no tracking pixels, no usage reporting
  • ✓No network requests unless you explicitly configure a cloud LLM provider

Pro hosted tier

The optional Pro tier adds bank sync via Plaid and cloud AI processing. When using Pro features:

Stays local

Processed remotely

Your raw bank credentials

Plaid connection tokens

Full transaction history

Anonymized transaction data for AI categorization

Category assignments

Aggregated spending summaries

Skills output and analysis

Payment processing via Polar.sh

Consent and control

Free tier: We don't collect data, so no consent is needed. You import your own files into your own local database. No consent is recorded because no data leaves your machine.

Paid skills: Your license key is transmitted to our API only when you invoke a paid skill. Consent is implicit in your purchase through Polar.sh. Your purchase record and license key are stored by Polar.sh. You can revoke consent by deleting your license key from ~/.openaccountant/config and canceling your subscription via Polar.sh.

Pro tier (Plaid): Explicit consent is obtained before Plaid Link is surfaced. You click "Connect Bank," Plaid presents its own consent screen, and you authorize the connection. Consent is recorded locally in your configuration and on Plaid's servers via the access token. You can revoke consent and disconnect at any time via wilson plaid disconnect, which revokes the token on both your machine and Plaid's servers.

Information we collect from Plaid

When you connect a bank account via Plaid (Pro tier only), the following data types are retrieved and stored locally on your machine only:

  • ✓Account names and masks (last 4 digits of account numbers)
  • ✓Transaction history (merchant name, amount, date, and category)
  • ✓Account balances (current and available)
  • ✓Institution name and routing identifier

None of this data is transmitted to Open Accountant's servers. It flows directly from Plaid to your local SQLite database. We never receive, store, or have access to your bank credentials, account numbers, or transaction data.

Legal basis for processing

Legitimate interest

License key validation for paid skill access. When you invoke a paid skill, your license key is transmitted to our API to verify your entitlement. This is the minimum data necessary to deliver the service.

Contract performance

Delivering purchased skills and Pro tier services. When you purchase a skill or subscribe to Pro, we process your license key and subscription status to fulfill the agreement.

Consent

Plaid bank connection requires explicit, informed consent. You initiate the connection, authorize it through Plaid's consent screen, and can revoke it at any time. No bank data is collected without your affirmative action.

Your rights

Because Open Accountant is local-first, most of your data is already under your full control. Here are your rights under CCPA, GDPR, and other privacy regulations:

  • ✓Right to know — We process only license keys on our side. All financial data is local to your machine.
  • ✓Right to delete — Run 'wilson db reset' to delete all local data. Email us to revoke your license key from our records.
  • ✓Right to data portability — Your data lives in a local SQLite database. It's already portable — export, copy, or query it however you like.
  • ✓Right to opt-out of data sale — We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for commercial purposes. Ever.
  • ✓Right to restrict processing — You can stop using paid features at any time. The free CLI requires zero data processing on our end.
  • ✓Right to non-discrimination — We will not treat you differently for exercising any of your privacy rights.
  • ✓Right to erasure (GDPR) — Same as right to delete. Local data is yours to remove. Server-side license records can be erased on request.
  • ✓Right to object (GDPR) — You may object to processing at any time by contacting us. We will cease processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds.
  • ✓Data minimization (GDPR) — We collect the absolute minimum: license keys for paid features, nothing else. Financial data never reaches our infrastructure.

To exercise any of these rights, email human@openaccountant.ai. We will respond within 30 days.

Third-party services

Plaid (Pro only)

Bank account connection for automatic transaction sync. Plaid handles credentials through their secure infrastructure — Wilson never sees your bank login. Transactions are pulled to your local machine only. Plaid's access token is stored locally and can be revoked at any time.

Polar.sh

License key validation and subscription management for paid skills. Processes license keys and subscription status only — no financial data.

Coinbase (Pro only)

Crypto account sync via OAuth2. Coinbase handles authentication — Wilson only receives account balances and transaction history, stored locally. OAuth tokens are stored locally and can be revoked at any time.

x402 / Coinbase

HTTP-native micropayment protocol for per-skill purchases. Payments are verified on-chain (Base network). No financial data is involved — only wallet addresses and payment proofs.

Cloudflare

Hosts our API (Workers) and marketing site (Pages). Anonymized request logs are retained for 30 days. No consumer financial data is transmitted to or stored on Cloudflare.

Ollama

Local AI inference. Runs entirely on your machine. Makes zero network requests. Your financial data never leaves your computer.

Data deletion

Your data lives on your machine. You can delete it at any time:

# Delete all financial data

$ wilson db reset

# Delete everything including config

$ rm -rf ~/.openaccountant/

# Disconnect Plaid (Pro)

$ wilson plaid disconnect

For deletion requests related to license keys or Polar.sh subscriptions, email human@openaccountant.ai.

Open source transparency

Open Accountant is MIT licensed. The entire codebase is public. You can audit every line of code that touches your financial data.

If you find a privacy concern, open an issue or submit a PR. That's how open source works.

View the source code →

Children's privacy

Open Accountant is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at human@openaccountant.ai and we will promptly delete it.

This policy is maintained in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via GitHub release notes and announcements on the Open Accountant marketing site.

Continued use of Open Accountant after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Last updated: March 2026