Privacy policy

Your data stays on your device

All data you enter into Hamster is stored locally on your device. Nothing is sent to, or stored on, a server operated by Hamster. This is the same on Android and iPhone.

Importing a bank statement (Android)

Hamster can read a PDF bank statement you choose, share to it, or open with it, and suggest which payments are income from your side hustle.

It all happens on your phone. Hamster reads the statement on your device. The statement and its contents are never uploaded to us or to anyone else, and reading it doesn’t need an internet connection.

The PDF isn’t kept. Hamster reads the file once, straight from where it is, and doesn’t save a copy. Once you leave the import screen, nothing from the statement is kept unless you choose to add payments.

What is saved, only for the payments you confirm: each payment as an entry in Hamster (its date, amount, category and, where one is recognised, a short platform name such as “Uber”; never the full bank description), and one import record holding the statement’s date range, the number and total of payments added, and a fingerprint: a short code worked out from the statement’s dates and balances that lets Hamster warn you if you import the same statement twice. No account number, sort code, name or address is saved.

Deleting it: you can undo an import at any time (Settings, then Bank statement imports, then Undo), which deletes the payments it added and its import record, or delete individual entries in History. Deleting the app deletes everything Hamster stores.

No analytics on your statements. Hamster doesn’t send statement contents, amounts or descriptions to any analytics, crash-reporting or advertising service.

Hamster can only read statements downloaded from your banking app as a PDF. If it can’t check every payment against the balances printed on the statement, it won’t add anything.

Premium subscriptions

Premium subscriptions are handled by Google Play on Android and by Apple through the App Store on iPhone. Hamster does not receive your card or payment details. Google’s privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy and Apple’s at apple.com/legal/privacy.

No account needed

The Hamster app does not require an account or login. The app does not collect your name, email address, or financial account details.

Deadline reminder emails

This section is about our website, not the app. If you sign up on our website (on the home page or our side hustle tax calculator) to be reminded before the 31 January deadline, or to be told when Hamster is on the App Store for iPhone, we collect your email address and nothing else. If you sign up for the iPhone email, your address is tagged “iphone-launch” so that email goes only to people who asked for it. The figures you type into the calculator are never stored or sent anywhere, including when you sign up.

Why we collect it: to email you before the 31 January Self Assessment deadline, to tell you when Hamster is on iPhone if you asked for that, and to send occasional UK side hustle tax tips. We don’t sell your address, share it for anyone else’s marketing, or use it for anything else.

Lawful basis: your consent. You give it by entering your address and then clicking the link in the confirmation email we send you. Until you click that link, you won’t get any reminders or tips. You can withdraw your consent at any time by unsubscribing.

Who handles it: the list is the responsibility of Joe Cornish, trading as Hamster. It is stored by Buttondown, which sends the emails for us and acts as our data processor (Buttondown’s privacy policy). We use Resend, also as a processor, to email ourselves a weekly summary of new sign-ups, which includes the new addresses. Our website host, Vercel, passes your sign-up to Buttondown. Buttondown and Resend are based in the United States, so your address is processed there under their data processing agreements.

How long we keep it: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it. If you don’t click the confirmation link within 30 days, we delete your address. When you unsubscribe, Buttondown keeps a note that the address is unsubscribed so it isn’t emailed again. If you’d rather it was deleted completely, ask us.

Unsubscribing and deletion: every email has an unsubscribe link. To have your address deleted, or to ask what we hold about you, email hamsterapptax@gmail.com. If you’re unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The app is unchanged: the Hamster app still collects no data. Signing up for emails doesn’t link your address to the app, and the app doesn’t send it anywhere.

Website analytics

Our website (not the app) uses Vercel Web Analytics to count visits. For each page view it records the page, the site that sent you, your approximate location, and your device type, operating system and browser. It doesn’t use tracking cookies or link what it records to you or your IP address: visits are counted with a temporary code that is discarded after 24 hours. When someone signs up for reminder emails we count that too, with the page it happened on but never the email address. When someone taps a Google Play or App Store button we count which store, which page, and the campaign tag in the page’s address if there is one (for example, from an ad). Nothing is stored on your device for this.

Your choices

You can export or delete your own data at any time using the controls in the app.

Children

Hamster is not directed at children.

Questions?

If you have questions about this policy, email hamsterapptax@gmail.com.