Security & Privacy

Your data is encrypted before it leaves your device

Venova uses zero-knowledge encryption so your financial data stays private. In advanced mode, even we cannot read it. No compromises.

Built on Three Promises

Every architecture decision in Venova starts with a simple question: does this protect the user's data?

Zero-Knowledge Encryption

Your data is encrypted on your device before it ever reaches our servers. In advanced mode, even we cannot decrypt it. Your keys, your data.

Local-First Architecture

The desktop app stores all data on your machine. No account, no cloud dependency, and nothing uploaded. You control where your data lives.

No Ads. No Data Selling.

Revenue comes from subscriptions, not your data. No tracking pixels, no behavioural profiling, no third-party data sharing. Ever.


How Encryption Works

Every document is compressed and encrypted on your device before it is transmitted. Here is the cryptographic stack.

Key derivation PBKDF2-SHA256 with 600,000 iterations
Data encryption AES-256-GCM per document
Key exchange ECDH P-256 with HKDF-SHA256
Transport TLS for all network traffic

Choose Your Protection Level

Venova offers two encryption modes so you can balance convenience with maximum privacy.

Recommended for most users

Default (Recoverable)

Your data encryption key is also wrapped under a server-side recovery key. If you forget your password, you can reset it and recover your data. The server uses that key to restore your access, which means it is technically capable of decrypting your data. It does nothing else with it.

Maximum privacy

Advanced (Zero-Knowledge)

The server-side recovery wrap is removed. Only your password (or recovery codes) can decrypt your data. We cannot access it under any circumstances, including password resets. True zero-knowledge.


What Stays on Your Device

The desktop app is fully offline-capable. Here is exactly what happens with your data in each mode.

01

Desktop (Offline)

  • All transaction data stored in a local database on your machine
  • Nothing is uploaded. The app checks for updates on launch and needs nothing else
  • Backups are local files you control
02

Desktop (Synced)

  • Data is compressed and encrypted on-device before any network transfer
  • Sync is opt-in. It begins when you sign in, then keeps your devices current on its own
  • Cloud data is stored as ciphertext, isolated per household
03

Web App

  • Data lives in the cloud as ciphertext tied to your account
  • All traffic is carried over TLS. Nothing is sent in plain text
  • Sessions expire automatically; credentials are never stored in local storage

Common Questions

The desktop app keeps your data on your machine and sends us nothing but a check for updates when it launches. The web app stores your financial data in the cloud as ciphertext tied to your account. We never access it for analytics or marketing.

Your password is run through PBKDF2-SHA256 with 600,000 iterations to derive a key encryption key (KEK). That KEK wraps your ECDH private key, which in turn unwraps the data encryption key (DEK) via a key exchange protocol. Your data is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it ever leaves your device. In advanced mode, the server has no copy of your keys and cannot decrypt your data.

In recoverable mode (the default), your data encryption key is also wrapped under a server-side recovery key, so we can help you regain access if you forget your password. In zero-knowledge mode, that server wrap is removed entirely: only your password or recovery codes can decrypt your data. We recommend starting with recoverable mode and switching to zero-knowledge once you have your recovery codes safely stored.

At any time. You can export all your data as CSV or JSON from the settings page. Closing your account removes your cloud-stored data; a few records outlive it, and the privacy policy lists them.

Never. We do not sell, rent, or share your financial data with anyone. Three providers support the service: Supabase stores your account and your encrypted records, Cloudflare hosts and delivers the app, and Stripe handles subscription billing. None of them can read your financial records.

The desktop app stores everything in a local database. When you connect to the internet and choose to sync, changes are compressed and encrypted before leaving your device and merged with your cloud account. Where the same record changed in two places, the most recent change wins.

If you use the web app or have synced at least once, your data is safely stored in our encrypted cloud. You can sign in on any device and pick up where you left off. Desktop-only users should keep regular exports as backups. In zero-knowledge mode, you will need your recovery codes.

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Personal finance that stays yours. Your figures are encrypted on your device before they ever reach us, and you can lock us out entirely whenever you want.

Legal

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