Privacy Policy

Last updated October 31, 2026 Draft for lawyer review

Kin Money, LLC, doing business as Bud (“Bud,” “we,” “us”), makes Bud, a private journal app for iPhone. This policy covers the Bud app, our website at getbud.app, our waitlist and newsletter emails, and our support email. Our Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice adds detail for Washington, Nevada and other states with consumer health data laws, and our Cookie notice lists every cookie the website can set.

The short version

Bud is built so that we don’t see your journal.

• Your journal stays on your iPhone. The people, nights, tags, photos, notes, test dates and results you add are stored on your device. We don’t run servers that store your journal, and we can’t read it.
• Sync is optional and goes through your own iCloud. Your journal is end-to-end encrypted with keys held only on your devices, so neither we nor Apple can read it.
• The AI runs on your phone. Screenshots you add are read on your iPhone and are never uploaded to us or to any AI provider.
• No account. You don’t sign up for the app, so we don’t have your name, email or phone number unless you send them to us.
• No ads, no ad tracking, no data sales. Nothing about your sex life or health goes to advertisers, ever.
• What we do receive is small: your email if you join the waitlist, emails you send us, the website data described below, and the limited purchase and crash data Apple shares with app developers.

What stays on your iPhone

Everything you log in Bud is stored in the app on your iPhone. That includes:

• the people you add (“buds”), such as names, pronouns, photos, how you met, where they live (a neighborhood, never a map location), ratings, contact details and notes;
• the times you play, such as dates, places, protection, tags and counts;
• tests and results, reminders and anything else you log in the Health tab; and
• screenshots and photos you add.

Face ID. iOS handles Face ID and your passcode. Bud only learns whether the check passed. Nobody, including us, receives your face data.

Screenshots and on-device AI. When you add a dating-app screenshot, Bud reads it on your iPhone to fill in a bud’s page. The screenshot and what Bud reads from it stay in your journal.

Contacts. If you pick someone from your Contacts, Bud reads only the contact you pick. If you choose, Bud adds a keyword (like “Grindr, March”) and a link back to their Bud page to that contact card. That keyword and link then live in your Contacts app and sync wherever your contacts sync, under Apple’s or your contacts provider’s privacy terms, not Bud’s encryption. The link only opens in Bud, behind Face ID.

Notifications. Test reminders are scheduled on your iPhone. The message just says “Time for a check-up,” so nothing personal shows on your lock screen.

Exports. If you export a backup, the file goes wherever you save or send it. It’s yours to keep safe.

If you delete the app, iOS deletes the journal stored on your iPhone. We can’t recover it for you.

iCloud sync

Sync is off until you turn it on. When it’s on, your journal is stored in your own private iCloud, using Apple’s CloudKit. Every field is encrypted with keys kept in your iCloud Keychain on your devices, so neither we nor Apple can read what’s inside. Apple can see that encrypted records exist, their size and when they changed, as with any iCloud data. Apple’s own privacy policy covers your iCloud account. To delete synced data, turn off sync for Bud and delete Bud’s data in iPhone Settings, under your name, then iCloud.

What we receive

If you join the waitlist or newsletter. Your email address, the date you joined, and whether you open our emails and click their links. That’s one list for both, stored with our email provider, Resend. Opens are counted with a small image in each email, and clicks by sending links through Resend first. Your email app’s privacy settings, such as Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection or blocking remote images, can stop open tracking. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

If you email us. Your email address and whatever you write. Please don’t send us details from your journal that you don’t need to.

Purchases. You buy Bud through Apple. Apple handles payment and doesn’t give us your name, email or card details. Apple shares sales reports with us, such as which plan was bought, when and in which country, and lets the app check on your iPhone which plan you have.

Crash reports. If you’ve turned on “Share With App Developers” in iPhone Settings, Apple sends us crash and performance reports. They describe what the app was doing when it failed and are designed not to include what you’ve logged. You can turn this off in Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Analytics & Improvements.

Usage stats. The app doesn’t send any usage stats today. If we add them, they’ll be off until you turn them on, use a random ID instead of anything that identifies you, cover only a short public list of events, and never include anything you log or anything from a health feature. We’ll update this policy before that ships.

On our website. Our web host, Cloudflare, keeps standard request logs (such as IP address, browser and pages requested) for security and to keep the site running. We don't use website analytics right now. If we add them, they'll only run after you choose Accept in a cookie notice, as described in the next section.

Website cookies and analytics

When we turn on analytics, we'll use PostHog and Google Analytics to understand how people find and use getbud.app, and only after you choose Accept in our cookie notice.

• Nothing runs until you choose. Analytics cookies and recordings stay off until you choose Accept. Reject keeps them off.
• What analytics see: pages you visit, links you click, the site that sent you, your device and browser type, and your approximate location from your IP address. Because some of our pages are about sexual health, the pages you read can say something about your health, so we treat this as sensitive and ask first.
• Recordings. After Accept, PostHog may record how you move through the site, such as clicks and scrolling. Everything you type is hidden. Recordings are deleted after 30 days.
• No ad features. We don’t use advertising pixels, and we keep Google’s advertising features and Google signals off.
• Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, none of this runs, and the notice tells you so. We don’t respond to Do Not Track, because there’s no agreed standard for it.

You can change your choice any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page. Our Cookie notice lists each cookie and how long it lasts.

How we use information

• To send the waitlist and newsletter emails you asked for, and to see which ones are useful.
• To answer your emails and help you with the app.
• To fix crashes and improve the app and website.
• To keep the site, the signup form and our list secure and free of spam.
• To comply with the law and protect people’s safety and our rights.

We don’t use your information for advertising, we don’t sell it, and we don’t share it for targeted advertising.

Who we share it with

We use a small number of service providers who handle data for us and only to provide their service:

• Resend stores the email list and sends our emails.
• Cloudflare hosts the website, runs the signup form, and forwards emails to help@getbud.app.
• Our email provider stores the support emails you send us.
• PostHog provides website analytics and recordings, after you choose Accept.
• Google provides Google Analytics, after you choose Accept, and Google Search Console, which uses Google’s own search data and doesn’t place anything on your device.
• Apple runs the App Store, handles purchases and, if you turn them on, iCloud sync and crash reports.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety or our rights, or as part of a merger or sale of our business, in which case this policy keeps applying to your information. We’ll push back on requests for your information that we think are overbroad or improper, and we can’t hand over your journal because we don’t have it.

How long we keep it

• Your journal: on your devices and in your iCloud, until you delete it. We never have a copy.
• Waitlist and newsletter: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it, or until we stop sending emails. After you unsubscribe we may keep your address only so we don’t email you again.
• Support emails: as long as we need them to help you and keep records, then deleted. Ask us and we’ll delete yours sooner.
• Website analytics: up to 14 months. Recordings: 30 days.
• Purchase and crash data from Apple: as long as Apple keeps it available to us.

Your choices and rights

• Your journal is in your hands. Edit, export or delete anything in the app, or delete the app and its iCloud data.
• Unsubscribe using the link in any email.
• See, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or get a copy, by emailing help@getbud.app. To check it’s you, we’ll reply to the email address the request is about.
• Cookies: use Cookie settings at the bottom of any page, or block cookies in your browser.

We offer these rights to everyone in the US, whether or not your state’s law requires it. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to know what we collect and who we disclose it to, to opt out of sale, targeted advertising and profiling (we don’t do any of these), to limit the use of sensitive information (we only use it to provide what you asked for), and to appeal our decision. You can use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof that they can act for you. We respond within 45 days, or tell you why we need up to 45 more. To appeal, reply to our answer with “Appeal” in the subject line. If we deny your appeal, you can contact your state attorney general. We won’t treat you differently for using any of these rights.

Sensitive and health information

Bud is a journal about your sex life and sexual health, so we design it to keep that information away from us. Some state laws treat information about sex life, sexual orientation or health as sensitive. The only such information we may hold is what can be inferred from being on Bud’s email list or reading our website, and anything you choose to tell us in an email. We use it only to give you what you asked for, and we never sell it or use it for advertising. Our Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice covers this in detail.

California notice at collection

In the last 12 months we have collected these categories of personal information, all for the purposes above. We haven’t sold or shared any of it for targeted advertising.

Shine the Light. We don’t disclose personal information to third parties for their direct marketing.

Children

Bud is for adults 18 and older. Please don’t use the app or join the waitlist if you’re under 18. If we learn we’ve collected information from someone under 18, we’ll delete it.

Security

We keep as little as we can, use encrypted connections, and protect our accounts with multi-factor authentication. Your journal’s security also depends on your iPhone: use a passcode, keep iOS up to date, and keep Bud’s Face ID lock on. No system is perfectly secure.

Where data is processed

We’re based in the United States, and our providers process data in the United States and other countries where they operate.

Changes

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use information we already have in a significant way, we’ll tell you first, by email if you’re on our list, and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

Contact

Questions or requests: help@getbud.app.