PaperTrail Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 20, 2026

PaperTrail is a local-first receipt capture and organization app published under the PaperTrail Receipts brand. This Privacy Policy explains how PaperTrail handles receipt data, device permissions, exports, and diagnostic reports.

Contact

For privacy questions, contact: support@papertrailreceipts.com.

Controller

The controller for this policy is PaperTrail Receipts / Niklas Sebastian Otte Nohr. Privacy questions and deletion requests can be sent to support@papertrailreceipts.com.

What PaperTrail Does

PaperTrail lets you photograph or import receipt images, optionally use on-device assisted receipt reading, edit receipt fields, organize receipts with folders, tags, favorites, review state, and warranty reminders, create QR receipt copies, and create ZIP exports or diagnostic reports when you choose to share them.

No Account, Cloud Sync, Ads, Or Automatic Analytics

PaperTrail does not use an app account system, cloud sync, advertising SDKs, third-party analytics SDKs, or runtime AI/model service calls in this release. The app is designed to work offline. Receipt data stays on your device unless you choose to share, export, or create a diagnostic report.

Data Stored Locally On Your Device

PaperTrail may store the following information locally on your device:

Receipt images you capture or import.
OCR text and receipt-engine results produced on device.
Receipt fields such as merchant name, organization number, payment method, receipt reference, purchase date and time, total, currency, category, tags, warranty dates, review status, and metadata used by the app.
Folder structure, favorites, app preferences, onboarding state, receipt reading mode, and optional app lock preference.
Diagnostic event summaries and app error summaries used for local support reporting.

Local Storage And Security

PaperTrail opens its local receipt database using SQLCipher with a device-held key stored in SecureStore. Stored receipt image bytes are kept in the encrypted local database instead of durable plaintext image files. Android app backup is disabled for this release line.

Optional app lock can require fingerprint or device PIN before the receipt archive opens. Device-level protections such as your phone lock screen and operating-system storage encryption may also protect app data.

Export ZIP files, diagnostic report ZIP files, QR receipt copies, and temporary display/export/report files are ordinary files outside PaperTrail's encrypted local archive while they are being used or shared.

Important Security Limits

Protect exported or shared files through the receiving app, storage location, or service you choose. Avoid installing PaperTrail on shared, rooted, jailbroken, or unmanaged devices if receipt confidentiality is important.

Device Permissions

PaperTrail may request these permissions:

Camera: used when you photograph receipts or scan a PaperTrail QR receipt copy.
Photos or media picker access: used when you choose receipt images from your photo library.
Biometric or device credential authentication: used only if you enable app lock.

How Receipt Data Leaves Your Device

Receipt data leaves PaperTrail only when you take an explicit action, such as:

Sharing a QR receipt copy.
Creating or sharing a receipt export ZIP.
Creating or sharing a diagnostic report.
Sending a support email or attaching exported files through another app.

When you share files or reports, the receiving app, email provider, storage provider, or person you send them to may process the data according to their own privacy and security practices.

Diagnostic Reports

PaperTrail can create diagnostic reports to help troubleshoot issues. Safe diagnostic reports include your written issue notes, app/build details, device screen/OS/locale/timezone details, receipt/folder counts, recent screen-flow events, and recent app error summaries.

Safe diagnostic reports do not include receipt images, raw OCR text, merchant names, amounts, organization numbers, payment details, receipt references, parser snapshots, or local file paths.

If you explicitly select receipts for support diagnostics, the report may include receipt images, raw OCR text, parsed receipt fields, parser snapshots, and receipt-engine diagnostics for those selected receipts. The app will warn you before creating that report. Share selected-receipt reports only through a channel you trust.

Data Sharing And Sale

PaperTrail does not sell personal or sensitive user data. PaperTrail does not automatically share receipt data with third parties. User-initiated exports, QR copies, diagnostic reports, or support emails are shared only when you choose to create and send them.

Data Retention And Deletion

Receipt data remains on your device until you delete it in the app, clear the archive, or uninstall PaperTrail. Temporary export/report/display/debug batch cache files are cleaned during app startup and archive-clear flows where supported.

If you send a diagnostic report or support email to us, we may retain it for as long as reasonably needed to investigate the issue, maintain app quality, comply with legal obligations, and resolve follow-up questions. You can contact us to request deletion of support materials you previously sent, subject to legal or security obligations.

Children

PaperTrail is not directed to children. It is intended as a general productivity tool for people who manage receipts.

Changes To This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when PaperTrail's behavior changes or when legal, store, or security requirements change. The updated policy will be posted at this URL with a new effective date.