Privacy Policy - Unwanted Subscription

In short

Analyze, don’t archive.

If you connect Gmail, we request Google’s read-only Gmail scope and your Google Account email address, then scan receipts on our server so we can detect subscriptions. If you connect Outlook, we request read-only Microsoft access. If you connect Yahoo or another inbox over IMAP, you give us an app password so we can read mail. If you connect a bank, you sign in through Plaid (not in Unwanted Subscription). We then read recent transactions to find repeating charges. We do not send email on your behalf. We do not move money. We do not keep the message bodies, attachments, a copy of your inbox, or a copy of your transaction history after the scan. The Google-specific disclosures are under Google user data. Bank connect is under Bank connect.

The subscription list, reminders, and settings stay on your iPhone or iPad. You can delete them anytime from Profile.

No email archiveReceipts are read to find charges, then discarded

List on this deviceSubscriptions and reminders stay on the phone

Read-only inboxes and banksWe never send mail or move money as you

You can wipe itDelete local data in Profile, and disconnect sources in the app

Who we are

Unwanted Subscription

This policy is for the Unwanted Subscription app (bundle identifier com.unwanted-subscription) and the public website that describes it. “We” means the developer of Unwanted Subscription.

Unwanted Subscription finds recurring charges so you can cancel the ones you don’t use. This page is the privacy policy for the product as it works today.

Unwanted Subscription’s use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

On your device

What Unwanted Subscription stores locally

After a scan, the following stay on that iPhone or iPad:

Your subscription list , names, amounts, intervals, categories, brand logos, cancel status, and reminders you set.
Preferences , currency, appearance, and whether notifications are on.
Onboarding choices , how you guessed your spend, and which sources you used.

That list is not uploaded as a backup. If you delete the app, iOS removes it from that device.

Google user data

Gmail and your Google Account

Connecting Gmail is optional. If you do, Unwanted Subscription uses Google OAuth and the Gmail API. This section is the disclosure of how we access, use, share, store, and protect Google user data. Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

The only Google OAuth scopes we request are:

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly — read-only access to Gmail messages and settings.
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email — your Google Account email address.

We do not request permission to send, delete, label, modify, or compose mail. We do not use Gmail add-on scopes. We cannot use a narrower Gmail scope: gmail.metadata exposes headers only and cannot read message bodies, where receipt amounts and billing intervals actually appear.

When you connect Gmail, Unwanted Subscription accesses your Google Account email address so the app can show which inbox you connected; From, Subject, Date, and a short snippet for messages that match receipt and billing searches; the body of those messages (plain text or HTML converted to text) when they look like receipts or billing mail , for example Netflix, Spotify, App Store, Google Play, Stripe, or other known merchants; and OAuth access tokens issued by Google so a later scan can run without asking you to sign in every time. We search roughly the last 12 months. We do not download your whole mailbox. We do not receive your Google password.

We do not access Gmail attachments, Drive files, Contacts, Calendar, Photos, or any other Google product. We do not read spam or trash.

We use Google user data only for the Gmail scan in Unwanted Subscription. We identify the connected Gmail address in the app, search Gmail for receipts, invoices, and renewal mail, read matching message text in memory to extract merchant name, amount, currency, date, and billing interval, and return that list to the iPhone or iPad you scanned from so you can keep or cancel those charges. We keep the OAuth token so you can scan again until you disconnect or the token expires.

We do not use Google user data for advertising, retargeting, credit scoring, lending, or selling. We do not use Gmail message contents to train generalized machine-learning or AI models. We do not send Gmail contents to OpenAI, Google Gemini, or any other AI provider. Optional PDF bank-statement reading and optional Plaid bank connect are separate features and are not Google user data.

Gmail contents are sensitive. All Gmail API and app traffic uses HTTPS / TLS. Message metadata and bodies are processed in server memory during a scan, then discarded. We do not store the emails, full message text, snippets, or attachments on disk or in the database. We list messages with targeted receipt searches, then fetch full content only for likely billing mail. We never request send, modify, or delete scopes. OAuth tokens are stored on our servers so a later scan can run. They are excluded from ordinary API responses and used only to call Gmail on your behalf when you scan. Disconnecting the inbox deletes the tokens and the inbox record. Inbox records are tied to your Unwanted Subscription session, so other users cannot read your Gmail connection or scan results. IMAP app passwords (not Google data) are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. The same secret is used to sign OAuth state. You can disconnect Gmail in the app, or revoke Unwanted Subscription in your Google Account under Security → Third-party access. After that we cannot read Gmail.

We do not keep Gmail message contents after the scan that produced your subscription list.

Inboxes

How email scanning works

Connecting Gmail or Outlook is optional. We use OAuth so you sign in with that provider. We request read-only access. We do not get permission to send, delete, or change mail. For Gmail, see Google user data for the full access, use, sharing, and protection disclosures.

Yahoo and other IMAP inboxes are also optional. You enter the IMAP server and an app password (not your normal web login). We store that password encrypted, and use it only to read mail when you scan. You can disconnect the inbox in the app to delete it.

When you tap scan, our server reads likely receipts and billing messages (for example App Store and Google Play receipts, and known merchant mail) in memory. We extract merchant names, amounts, and dates, then return a list of detected subscriptions to the app. We do not store the emails, the full message text, or attachments.

What we do keep, so the connection can work again:

The email address of the inbox you connected.
OAuth tokens for Gmail and Outlook, so we can scan when you ask without making you sign in every time.
An encrypted IMAP app password, plus host and port, if you connected Yahoo or another IMAP inbox.
Scan status, last scan time, and an error message if a scan failed.

You can disconnect an inbox in the app. That deletes the tokens or IMAP login and the inbox record. Apple does not let apps sign in to iCloud Mail with OAuth. You can still add iCloud over IMAP with an app-specific password, connect a bank, or upload a statement.

Bank connect

How Plaid finds subscriptions

Connecting a bank is optional. You can still upload a statement instead, or only use mail. If you tap Connect your bank, Unwanted Subscription opens Plaid Link. You pick your bank and sign in with that bank (or with Plaid’s connection flow). We never see your bank username or password. Plaid does. After you finish, Plaid gives us a one-time token. Our server exchanges it for an access token so we can read transactions when you scan.

Plaid is a third-party service. Their End User Privacy Policy and Privacy Policy apply to the bank sign-in and to data Plaid holds. Unwanted Subscription uses Plaid only to find recurring charges. We request the Transactions product: recent account and transaction history. We do not request permission to initiate payments, transfer money, or change your accounts.

When you connect a bank, Unwanted Subscription may access:

The institution name and a list of accounts you selected (name, last four digits / mask, type such as checking or credit card).
Posted transactions from up to about 24 months (we request 730 days; some banks return less): date, merchant or description, amount, and currency. We skip income, transfers, loans, and bank fees when we can.
Recurring outflow streams that Plaid has already identified (for example a monthly Netflix charge), including merchant name, typical amount, and frequency.

We do not receive your full card number, PIN, or online-banking password. Account numbers, if Plaid returns them at all, are not stored as a payment credential. While the bank is connected, we may store a masked account label so the app can show “Chase ••1234.”

How we turn that into a subscription list:

Plaid’s recurring streams are treated as subscriptions when they are still active.
We also group remaining outflows by merchant name. If the same merchant hits at a similar amount more than once (about two weeks or more apart), or if the name matches a known brand in our catalog (Netflix, Spotify, Adobe, and hundreds of others), we keep it.
We match names to that catalog so the app can show a brand, category, and logo. Unknown repeaters still appear so you can decide what they are.
The list is returned to the iPhone. We do not keep the transaction lines after that scan. If the scan found subscriptions, we revoke the Plaid Item and delete our copy of the access token, account labels, and cursor. You connect again the next time you want to scan that bank.

Mail receipts and uploaded statements can be scanned in the same pass. Matching merchants are merged so you do not get two Netflix rows for the same plan.

What we keep until that scan finishes:

A Plaid item id and an encrypted access token (AES-256-GCM). The token is never sent back to the iPhone.
Institution name, account labels (name, mask, type), scan status, and an error if the bank needs to be connected again.
An optional sync cursor. It is not a copy of your transactions.

If the scan finds subscriptions, we call Plaid /item/remove and delete that record. If the scan finds nothing or the bank needs to be connected again, we keep the connection so you can retry, or you can remove it in the app.

We do not sell bank data. We do not use it for advertising, credit scoring, or lending. We do not send Plaid transaction contents to OpenAI, Gemini, or another AI provider. PDF statement reading is a separate upload path.

Our hosting and database providers may process encrypted connections and the stored bank-connection record solely to operate the app. Plaid sees the bank login and the underlying financial data as their product requires. We may disclose data if required by law, or as needed to investigate abuse or a security incident.

All Plaid and app traffic uses HTTPS / TLS. Access tokens are excluded from ordinary API responses and used only to call Plaid when you scan or disconnect. After a scan that finds subscriptions, we revoke the Item with Plaid and delete our copy of the token. You can also remove the bank in the app, or manage connected apps in your bank’s settings where that exists.

Statements

Bank PDFs and CSV files

If you upload a PDF statement, we send that file to our server so it can be read and matched to known merchants. A language model extracts recurring charges. The file is processed from memory and is not kept after the scan. This is the path if you do not want to connect a bank through Plaid.

CSV files stay on this device. They are parsed on the phone and are not uploaded.

Account

Device session and optional sign-in

The app creates a device session so inbox and bank connections can work. We store a random device id and a display name. You do not have to create an Unwanted Subscription password for that.

If you register with email, we store your email and a hashed password so you can sign in on that account.

Pro purchases are App Store transactions. Subscription status is checked with RevenueCat. We do not receive your card number.

Not collected

What we do not take

No archive of your inbox. Emails are read to detect subscriptions, then discarded.
No sending mail as you. Inbox access is read-only.
No moving money. Bank connect is read-only transactions through Plaid. We never see your bank password. You can still upload a file instead of connecting a bank.
No full card numbers stored as a payment method, and no PIN.
No advertising identifier, no tracking pixels, and no sale of personal data to brokers.
No precise location, contacts, microphone, or photo library.

If you turn notifications on, iOS delivers renewal reminders locally. We do not run an advertising SDK.

Providers

Apple, Google, Microsoft, Plaid, and the rest

Installing or buying Pro is a transaction with Apple, under Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Inbox sign-in is with Google (Gmail) or Microsoft (Outlook). Each provider sees that you authorized Unwanted Subscription. Their policies apply to that sign-in. How we access, use, share, and protect Gmail data is in Google user data.

Optional bank connect uses Plaid. You sign in with your bank through Plaid Link. Plaid’s End User Privacy Policy applies to that connection. How we use transaction data is in Bank connect.

PDF statement reading may use OpenAI or Google Gemini to extract totals. The file is sent for that read, then discarded. Plaid transactions are not sent to those models.

Brand logos in the app and on this site are loaded from Logo.dev using the merchant’s public domain. Pro purchases are checked with RevenueCat.

This site

The Unwanted Subscription website

This site is the public page for the app, plus features, how it works, cancel guides, the blog, FAQ, privacy, terms, and the API the app talks to when you connect an inbox, connect a bank, or upload a PDF.

If you use the light/dark control, the choice is saved in your browser’s localStorage. Pages load the Inter typeface from Google Fonts. Brand marks may load from Logo.dev. We do not use advertising cookies on this site.

Your control

How to delete your data

On the device. Open Profile, choose Delete local data, and confirm. That wipes subscriptions, notifications, setup, and the local session, then returns you to onboarding. It also disconnects inboxes and banks on our servers and calls Plaid /item/remove so those connections stop.
Inboxes. Remove a connected inbox in the app to delete its tokens and email address from our servers. For Gmail you can also revoke Unwanted Subscription in your Google Account under Security → Third-party access / Third-party apps with account access.
Banks. After a scan that finds subscriptions, we revoke the Plaid Item (/item/remove) and delete the encrypted access token, account labels, and sync cursor. You can also remove a connected bank in the app before that. We do not keep a transaction ledger after a scan.
By deleting the app. iOS removes the on-device list. Use Delete local data first if you want the server copy of those connections gone too.
Pro. Buying Pro is an App Store subscription. Deleting Unwanted Subscription data does not cancel it. Manage or cancel in iOS Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
This website. Clear this site’s data in your browser to remove the saved theme.

Children

Not directed at children

Unwanted Subscription is a personal finance tool. It is not directed at children under 13 (or the equivalent age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has used the app, delete it on that device and remove any connected inboxes or banks.

Updates

Changes to this policy

If the app starts collecting new kinds of data, this policy will change before that behavior ships, and the effective date at the top will move. Using a newer version of Unwanted Subscription after an update means that version’s policy applies.

Contact

Questions

For privacy questions about Unwanted Subscription, use the support or developer contact on the app’s App Store listing, or the contact published with this website.