Privacy & evidence
Keep the proof.
Minimize the exposure.
Penny is built around evidence, but more data is not automatically better. The founding rule is to collect the minimum information needed to support a retail observation while keeping unrelated personal and transaction details private.
Current Alpha rules
Community reports are not verified observations.
A lead may contain an item identifier, store/region, reported price, source time, and context. It remains visibly unverified until separate store evidence supports it.
A barcode identifies; it does not prove price.
UPC, EAN, Code 128, retailer SKU, and model information help match the product. A current local price still needs a store/time observation.
Receipt OCR is review-first.
The current mobile Alpha performs receipt capture and on-device OCR but does not automatically promote parsed receipt content into server evidence before an editable review/confirmation gate exists.
Raw receipts should stay private.
If receipt evidence is later submitted, Penny should retain or publish only the minimum sanitized derivative needed to support item, store, time, and price. Unrelated purchases, payment fragments, names, loyalty identifiers, and transaction details should be redacted where practical.
Contradictions are valuable.
Normal-price scans, out-of-stock results, stale leads, and other misses are useful evidence. Penny should not reward only exciting finds.
Penny Clearance is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Home Depot.