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Where is my data stored?

Jo Brack

I have just downloaded Quicken Starter and it wants me to start adding bank accounts. I am concerned about where this and my other data will be stored. Will it stay on my computer or will it be somewhere else? A quick search of FAQs doesn't bring up anything about security or privacy.

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Sherlock

If you haven't already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-protects-financial-information

The short answer is we have control of some of our data but not all.

Jo Brack

I would like to know what data is stored where.

Frankx

Hi @Jo Brack,

I'll try to answer your question as best as I can - but keep in mind that I am only another Quicken user, so there's nothing "official" about this response.

If you simply use Quicken without "connecting" any of your bank, investment, loan, or others accounts (i.e. you do not download any transactions or "connect" any of your banking, investment, or other types of accounts with the various financial institutions in any way through Quicken, and you also do not use Quicken on the web or Quicken Mobile, or pay your bills online or through Quicken Bill Pay, your data is stored on your computer and is not shared with any outside party. Again, this is my understanding and while I believe it is accurate, but I could be wrong.

On the other hand, if your accounts are "connected" and you download transactions from banks, credit card providers, lenders, mutual fund companies, brokerage houses, benefit plans, 401(k)'s & pension plans, etc. certain information about your transactions, your account balances, and also about your data, may be shared with those entities as a part of the normal connection processes that Quicken uses to update your accounts, download your transactions along with the related account balances, and to download & pay your bills online. To be clear, I am not specifically saying that Quicken collects information about you and your transactions when you use these features. On the contrary, I am simply saying that certain of your data is no longer completely housed in, and restricted solely to, your computer, because certain data is transmitted to/from your computer to and from other outside parties to facilitate Quicken's processes.

You've been referred to Quicken's comprehensive approach to data security (above) and I can only relate my personal experience as a long-time Quicken user - I have never had or heard of a Quicken data breach involving Quicken users personal financial information.

Hope this helps.

Frankx

Chris_QPW

Jo Brack said:

I would like to know what data is stored where.

Depends on the services you are using and in the case of downloading transactions what connection method is being used. A related article on the page that @Sherlock gave explains more:
https://www.quicken.com/support/how-quicken-connects-your-bank

Take a close look at Express Web Connect. Transactions, usernames, passwords are stored both on Quicken and Intuit servers (the third party that provides the service).
Connection flow:
Quicken -> Quicken Connection Services -> Intuit -> financial institution's website.

As for other services for instance Quicken Bill Manager, this serviced by a third party so for sure they store your username/password to log into the "biller's site". Most likely the Quicken servers are storing this information too.

If bill pay is through your financial institution using Direct Connect then the username/password is only stored in the Password Vault which is an encrypted section in your data file. Usernames/passwords for Direct Connect downloading of transactions are in the same place.
Direct Connect connection flow:
Quicken -> OFX server at the financial institution

Credit score, Quicken servers are storing information needed to retrieve that.

Mobile/Web, usernames, passwords, transactions, budgets, ... are stored on the Quicken servers.

Jo Brack

Thanks to those that responded. I think I have found the best place to get to the answer, or to ask for further info.

https://www.quicken.com/privacy

Chris_QPW

Jo Brack said:

Thanks to those that responded. I think I have found the best place to get to the answer, or to ask for further info.

https://www.quicken.com/privacy

That tells you some of the what and the why, it doesn't tell the exact where (not even the country!). And it certainly doesn't break out exactly where a given service stores its data.

As for asking Quicken support or that "privacyofficer" I will bet that they only answers you will get are just as vague as their privacy statement. I'm sure every employee has been instructed to say nothing more about it and just refer to the given documents, that clearly don't tell the whole story. To me the privacy statement is written by lawyers to guard against suing them for using your data pretty much any way they want (with the exception of giving away personal information, but not "anonymous" data). You have to have faith that they will use it properly.

One thing that privacy statement does do for me is underline the fact that people that are using Quicken, over say Mint, because they "don't want someone to share their data" are fooling themselves. They clearly reserve the right to do the same kind of data sharing.

The one different between Quicken an online personal finance software would be that with the online one you absolutely know all of your data is stored on the server. With Quicken it seems that if you know exactly what services you are using, you should be able to keep at least most of it off of the servers.

For downloading transactions that would be limiting the use Direct Connect or Web Connect (this is downloading a QFX file from the financial institution and importing it into Quicken).

Jo Brack

Agreed…and not using the Connect functions would reduce the service to being not much better than a spreadsheet. I think that like most apps these days you have to decide how much you trust the provider’s security and even then to accept that one day you may find that your data was hacked along with a million other users.

Chris_QPW

Yep that just about sizes it up.