> cat pocko/privacy.md
How the POCKO app handles data: what stays on the phone, what, in a few cases, leaves the device, and how to delete everything.
01 — Controller
Massimo Greco — Italy
e-mail: mg [at] bn-dev.it
or the site's contact form
The data you enter in POCKO stays on your device, so the controller does not have it and does not process it. The controller only processes the data you send yourself when writing to the contact address (e-mail address and content of the message). It is used to reply to you and kept for as long as needed to handle the request.
02 — Data you enter
While using POCKO you can record, among other things:
The Customer and Notes fields are free text. We recommend not entering information you do not need for the expense report.
POCKO does not ask for payment card numbers, IBANs or other financial identifiers. Receipt photos, however, show what is printed on the receipt, for example the merchant's details and sometimes the last digits of the card used.
All this data is kept in the device storage reserved for POCKO.
03 — Photos
You can capture a receipt in three ways:
POCKO keeps its own copy of the photo in a folder reserved for the app, which Android deletes when you uninstall POCKO.
When you take a photo with the camera, POCKO also saves a copy in the device gallery, in the Pictures/Pocko folder, so that you also have the original outside the app. These copies belong to your gallery: they are not deleted when you erase POCKO's data or uninstall the app, and you can remove them from the gallery at any time. Images captured with the Google document scanner are not copied to the gallery.
Photos imported from the gallery stay where they are. POCKO creates its own copy.
04 — Location
POCKO uses the location only to suggest the place of the expense, and only when you press the location button.
If you do not grant the location permission, you can type the place by hand: all other features remain available.
05 — PDF
POCKO can import the toll statements (for example Telepass or UnipolMove) that you select. The PDF is read on the device to extract its entries. POCKO only saves the expenses you get from it, does not keep the original document and does not send it to anyone.
06 — ML Kit
To read amount, date and payment method from the receipt, POCKO uses Google ML Kit Text Recognition. Recognition happens entirely on the device: receipt images and the recognised text are sent neither to the controller nor to Google.
The document scanner uses Google ML Kit Document Scanner, provided by Google Play Services. On first use, Google Play Services may download the scanner components. Here too, images are processed on the device.
As stated by Google in its documentation, the ML Kit libraries send Google technical diagnostic and feature-usage data:
Google states that this data is encrypted in transit, used for diagnostics and usage statistics of the service and not shared with third parties. It does not include the content of the images or the text of the receipts. The controller does not receive this data and has no access to it.
07 — Google
| Component | What it is for | What leaves the device |
|---|---|---|
| ML Kit Text Recognition | Reading the text of receipts | Only the technical diagnostic data described in section 06 |
| ML Kit Document Scanner (Google Play Services) | Capturing and straightening the receipt | Technical diagnostic data and download of the components on first use |
| Android geocoding service | Converting the position into the name of the town | The coordinates, only when you press the location button |
| Google Play In-App Updates | New-version notice when the app opens and "Check for updates" menu item: checks whether a newer version of POCKO exists and, if you choose to update, installs it | The check is made by the device's Play Store, at most once a day when the app opens and whenever you tap the item; POCKO sends no data of its own |
Processing by Google is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.
POCKO does not include advertising, profiling, usage analytics or crash reporting services (such as Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, Firebase Crashlytics or Sentry).
08 — Backup
Backup is optional: you start it by hand or turn it on automatically in the settings. It creates a ZIP file that can contain expenses, customers, destinations, settings and receipt photos.
You choose the destination folder with the Android file picker. It can be on the device or with a storage service available in the system, including the cloud (for example Google Drive or OneDrive). In that case the file is handled by that service, under its own terms. POCKO does not send backups to servers of its own.
Backup files are not encrypted and not password protected. Anyone with access to the file can read its content: choose a destination you trust.
POCKO does not use Android's automatic system backup: the app's data is not copied to your Google account backup.
09 — Export
POCKO creates Excel and CSV files and collages of receipt photos on the device. The files are prepared in a temporary area of the app and passed, only if you decide so, to the app you choose with the Android share feature (e-mail, messaging, cloud storage…).
Once shared, the files are handled by the app or service that receives them, under its own rules. POCKO no longer has any control over those copies.
10 — Permissions
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Approximate location | Suggesting the place of the expense, only after you press the location button (section 04). |
| Internet access and network state | Required by the Google ML Kit libraries for diagnostic data and component downloads (section 06); the network state tells whether a connection is available. POCKO does not use them to send your data. |
| Storage write and read (Android 9 and earlier only) | Saving the copy of receipt photos to the gallery (section 03); on these versions Android grants read together with write. Later Android versions need no permission. |
The camera and the gallery are used through the system apps and pickers, so POCKO asks no permission to access them.
11 — Deletion
The data stays on the device until you delete it. You can do so:
These operations do not delete the copies outside the app:
Pictures/Pocko) or imported from it;You can delete those copies yourself from the gallery, the file manager or the service where they are.
12 — Security
POCKO keeps its data in the device storage reserved for the app, which other apps cannot read. Data protection also depends on the security of the device, so we recommend using a screen lock. For backups, which are not encrypted, see section 08.
13 — Minors
POCKO is a work tool for managing expense reports and is not aimed at minors. The app does not carry out profiling or targeted advertising.
14 — Rights
Under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) you can request access to the personal data concerning you, its rectification or erasure, restriction of processing, and object to processing, by writing to the e-mail address or using the contact form given in section 01.
The controller does not hold the data kept in POCKO, because it is only on your device: to view, change or delete it you can use the app features described in section 11 directly. For data processed by Google (sections 06 and 07) you can contact Google according to its privacy policy.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Italian data protection authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) or with the supervisory authority of the country where you live.
15 — Changes
This policy may be updated to reflect changes to the app, to the services used or to the law. The version in force is always published at this address, with the date of the last update at the top. If a change significantly alters how data is processed, it will also be mentioned in the app's update notes.
The Italian version is the reference text; the English and French versions are translations.