Last updated: 6 November 2026
The short version: Skwirrel stores everything — your expenses, mileage, receipts and settings — only on your own device. There are no accounts, no analytics and no advertising. The one exception is optional: if you tap "Fill in from receipt", that single receipt photo is sent to be read by AI and is not kept by us.
This policy applies to the Skwirrel mobile app ("Skwirrel", "the app"), published by Salsa Apps ("we", "us"). It explains what happens to your information when you use the app. It also covers the launch notification list our website used to have, described below.
Skwirrel does not require you to create an account or sign in. Everything you enter — expense records, mileage records, receipt photos, categories, business details and app settings — is stored in a local database and local file storage on your own device only, and is never uploaded.
The only time anything leaves your device is when you choose to use "Fill in from receipt", described below.
We do not use analytics, crash reporting, advertising, or any third-party tracking software in this app. Apart from the optional receipt reading described below, no data about you or your use of the app is sent to us or to any third party.
When adding an expense you can tap "Fill in from receipt" to have the supplier, date, amount, VAT, payment method and category read from a receipt photo automatically. The first time, the app asks for your permission. It only happens when you tap the button, never in the background.
When you do, the app sends that one receipt photo, over an encrypted connection, to our small receipt-reading service, which passes it to Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, and returns the details it reads. Along with the photo the app sends your list of category names, your currency and today's date, so the details can be matched to your categories.
If you never tap "Fill in from receipt", nothing is ever sent anywhere.
If you tap "Start trip", Skwirrel uses your phone's location to measure how far you drive, until you tap "End trip". It only does this for a trip you start, using the "while using the app" location permission; on Android a notification shows while a trip is being measured.
Nearby fuel shows forecourt prices from the UK Government Fuel Finder scheme. The app downloads the same file of all UK forecourts and prices that every user gets, and then works out which are near you on your phone.
Fuel price data contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Full Access (a yearly subscription or a one-off lifetime purchase) is bought through the App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handles the payment, and we never see or store your payment details, name or card number.
The app only asks the store whether Full Access is active on your Apple ID or Google account, and remembers the answer on your device so it works offline. No information about you or your records is sent to us. You can manage or cancel a subscription at any time in your App Store or Google Play settings.
Until Skwirrel launched on iPhone in November 2026, our website had a "Notify Me" form for people who wanted one email when the iPhone app arrived. That form has now been removed, and the list is empty: we hold no email addresses from it. The app itself has never asked for your email address.
The app asks for the following device permissions, used only for the stated purpose, only at the moment you use the related feature:
None of these permissions are used to collect or transmit data — they only let the app read the photo or biometric result you actively provide, in the moment, for the feature you're using.
Skwirrel lets you create a backup file of your own data and save or send it wherever you choose, using your device's standard "Share" or "Save" menu — for example to Google Drive, email, or another app you have installed. Skwirrel itself does not connect to Google Drive, email, or any other cloud service directly; it simply hands the backup file to your device's normal sharing system, and you decide where it goes. Once a backup leaves the app this way, its handling is governed by the privacy policy of whichever service or app you chose to send it to.
Restoring a backup works the same way in reverse: you choose a backup file from your device using the system's file picker, and the app reads it locally.
If you turn on the optional PIN or biometric app lock, your PIN is stored only as a one-way cryptographic hash in your device's secure storage (Keychain on iOS, Keystore-backed storage on Android) — we never see it, and it cannot be reversed back into your PIN. This feature restricts who can open the app on your device; it does not encrypt the underlying data files, so your device's own passcode and disk encryption remain your primary protection if your device is lost or stolen.
You are in full control of your data at all times. You can delete individual expense or mileage records from within the app, or permanently erase everything at once from Settings → Data & Storage → Delete All Data. Uninstalling the app also removes all of its locally stored data from your device.
Skwirrel is not directed at children and is not intended for use by anyone under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children — and, as explained above, we do not keep any of your information, whatever your age.
If this policy changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Since the app does not collect contact details, we're unable to notify you directly — please check back here periodically if you'd like to stay informed.
If you have questions about this policy or the app, contact us at contact@salsa-apps.co.uk.
