Privacy policy

This policy explains how Ample Money (“Ample,” “we,” “us”) collects, uses, shares and protects information when you use the Ample app, this website, and related services (together, the “Service”). Ample Money is operated by its founder in Rancho Cucamonga, California. If anything here is unclear, write to us; contact details are at the end.

Ample is software for planning and understanding your own money. It is educational and informational, not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. See the disclaimer.

1. Information we collect

Account information. Your email address, a password or sign-in token, and the settings you choose in the app (paycheck details, buffer floor, preferences, goals, budgets, rules, saved reports, scenarios).

Financial account data, through Plaid. When you connect a financial institution, Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”) transmits to us the data you authorize: account names, types and balances; transactions (date, amount, description, category); and, for cards and loans, terms such as APR, limit, minimum payment and due date. Ample never receives your bank username or password; you enter those on Plaid’s screen. Plaid’s handling of your data is described in its End User Privacy Policy.

Information you enter. Bills, categories, notes, tags, splits, manual accounts and balances, home and mortgage details (appraisal, renovations, escrow lines, second liens), and anything you type into a Move, a goal or a letter.

Website information. If you join the early-access list or use the contact form: your email address, an optional first name, how you are paid, whether you want the pilot, the page you arrived on, the referring site if any, and campaign parameters in the address (utm_*). We set one first-party cookie (ample_utm) to remember those campaign parameters for 30 days. Our website analytics (Plausible) collect aggregate page views without cookies or personal identifiers.

Technical data. Server logs record IP address, browser type, the pages or endpoints requested and timestamps, for security and debugging. Form rate-limiting stores a one-way hash of your IP address for up to a day; the address itself is not stored.

Communications. Emails you send us and our replies.

We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. The Service is for adults in the United States.

2. How we use information

• To provide the Service: sync accounts, categorize transactions, build budgets and plans, compute verdicts and Moves, render reports, send you the emails you asked for.
• To operate it: keep it secure, prevent abuse, fix problems you report, understand which features are used (in aggregate).
• To communicate: confirm your email, send pilot invites and product updates you opted into, answer your messages.
• To meet legal obligations.

AI-assisted features. Some features send anonymized numbers to an AI model provider (currently Anthropic) to draft a suggestion or look up a public rate: category totals, a balance and rate, a bill amount. Account numbers, names, addresses and credentials are never included. You can turn AI-assisted suggestions off in Preferences.

We do not use your financial data to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell it.

3. How we share information

We share information only:

• With service providers that process it for us under contract, listed in section 4.
• With Plaid, to establish and maintain the connections you authorize.
• When required by law, such as a subpoena or court order, or to protect the rights, safety or property of Ample or others.
• In a business transfer, if Ample Money is acquired or merges; this policy continues to apply and you would be notified.
• With your direction, for example when you export your data or ask us to send it somewhere.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We take no payment from lenders, card issuers or other financial companies for placing or recommending products, and none of them receive your data from us.

4. Service providers

Each provider is bound to use the data only to provide its service to us.

5. Retention

• App data is kept while your account is active.
• Deletion. When you delete your account, your data, connection tokens and the connections at Plaid are removed immediately from the live database. Provider backups age out within 30 days.
• Subscription end. After the pilot, when a paid period ends without renewal, your account stays readable for the rest of the period; connections are then disconnected, and your data is deleted 30 days later unless you export or renew. You will be reminded before deletion.
• Early-access list. Kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you. Unconfirmed addresses are removed after 90 days.
• Contact messages. Kept for up to two years so we can follow up, then deleted.
• Server logs. Up to 30 days.

6. Security

Data moves between your device and the Service over TLS. Data at rest, including backups, is encrypted by our hosting provider. Every row of app data is tagged with your account and protected by database rules so a signed-in user can access only their own rows. Bank connection tokens are stored server-side only. Read the plain-language version on Security & privacy. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your information we will notify you as the law requires.

7. Your choices and rights

• Access and export. Download everything from Settings › Data at any time.
• Correct. Edit any setting, category, transaction note or account detail in the app.
• Delete. Settings › Data › Delete account, or write to us.
• Disconnect a bank in Settings › Connections.
• Email. Every marketing or update email has an unsubscribe link; transactional emails (confirmation, security notices) are sent as needed.
• AI features. Turn off in Preferences.
• Cookies. The single ample_utm cookie can be cleared in your browser; the website works without it.

8. California residents

If you live in California, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended (CCPA/CPRA) gives you rights regarding personal information, in addition to rights under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act where it applies:

• To know what personal information we collect, use, disclose and the categories of sources and recipients (this policy, sections 1–4).
• To access and to correct your personal information.
• To delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
• To opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of; we honor this as a standing commitment.
• To limit use of sensitive personal information. Financial account data is sensitive personal information; we use it only to provide the Service you asked for.
• Non-discrimination. We will not treat you differently for exercising these rights.

To exercise a right, use the app’s export and delete controls or write to us (section 11). We will verify the request through the email on your account and respond within 45 days. You may designate an authorized agent by giving them written permission we can verify. We do not use dark patterns to discourage these requests.

Categories of personal information collected in the last 12 months: identifiers (email, IP address); financial information (account and transaction data); commercial information (subscription status); internet activity (usage of the app and website); inferences drawn for the Service (budget suggestions, Moves). We collected it from you, from your financial institutions through Plaid, and from your device. We disclosed it for business purposes to the providers in section 4. We sold or shared none.

9. Other US states

Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws (including Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas and Oregon) have similar rights to access, correct, delete and obtain a copy of their personal information and to opt out of targeted advertising and sales. We provide these rights to everyone, regardless of state. Use the same channels.

10. Changes

We will post changes here with a new effective date. For material changes we will email account holders at least 30 days before they take effect.

11. Contact

Email the address on the Contact page. Postal address: Ample Money, Rancho Cucamonga, CA [street address to be added before launch]. For a security concern, put “security” in the subject.