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Normalize sample privacy

A Contributor License helps improve how Big Picture Money recognizes and cleans up payee names. As part of that license, the app may send payee and description text (as shown on your transactions) together with the app’s normalized form of those strings. This is separate from crowd categorization contribution, which uploads hashes only.

Standard licenses do not upload normalize samples unless you later choose a Contributor License (or product options change).

Authentication vs anonymity​

Upload requests include an Authorization header so the service can refuse unauthorized devices and limit abuse. After the request is accepted, the service does not store your name, email, license id, device id, or other account identifiers with the sample. Stored samples cannot be tied back to you as a person.

Allowed in each uploaded sample​

FieldPurpose
Raw payeePayee text as stored on the transaction
Normalized payeeThe cleaned form the app derived for matching
Raw description (optional)Description text when present
Normalization versionWhich normalization rules produced the normalized payee
Client versionApp version (batch metadata)

Never uploaded with this stream​

  • Amounts, dates, or currencies
  • Account names or numbers
  • Transaction identifiers
  • Memos beyond the payee/description fields above
  • Your name, email, license id, or device id in the stored sample