[Bug]: Privacy filter not hiding data as described in documentation #2277

New Issue

2026-02-28T20:08:48-06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:08:48 -06:00

Originally created by @dwightrw on GitHub (Jul 12, 2025).

Verified issue does not already exist?

I have searched and found no existing issue

What happened?

Note: This could be a product bug or a documentation issue.

There are a few issues with the privacy filter implementation and/or its description in product documentation:

The built-in privacy filter does not keep data hidden when hovering over items in the desktop app. After clicking the eye icon, the values are hidden on-screen, as expected. However, if you mouse-over an item in the budget, transactions list, sidebar, or reports, data for that item is descrambled. You see the current balance, transaction amounts and, for widgets in reports, historical changes by mousing over the line chart.

Because data can be descrambled on all screens, this might be a planned product feature and working as intended. But in that case, the documentation should be updated. This behavior isn't described or disclosed in the docs: Scramble and Hide Data.
The extent of data scrambling users should expect is unclear. The docs say "This will scramble all of your data, including payees, categories, and transactions." However, the only items that are scrambled are dollar amounts. Payee names, category names, transaction notes, and individual transactions remain visible (though transaction dollar amounts are hidden). Based on the documentation, users might expect the privacy filter to hide payee and category names, and transaction notes.

If the filter is working as intended, documentation should be updated to accurately describe its functionality.

How can we reproduce the issue?

Open a budget file in a desktop web browser.
Click the eye icon at the top of the screen.
Mouse over accounts in the sidebar, category values in the budget, transactions, and widgets in reports.

Where are you hosting Actual?

Docker

What browsers are you seeing the problem on?

Chrome

Operating System

Mac OSX

Originally created by @dwightrw on GitHub (Jul 12, 2025). ### Verified issue does not already exist? - [x] I have searched and found no existing issue ### What happened? **Note:** This could be a product bug or a documentation issue. There are a few issues with the privacy filter implementation and/or its description in product documentation: - The built-in privacy filter does not keep data hidden when hovering over items in the desktop app. After clicking the eye icon, the values are hidden on-screen, as expected. However, if you mouse-over an item in the budget, transactions list, sidebar, or reports, data for that item is descrambled. You see the current balance, transaction amounts and, for widgets in reports, historical changes by mousing over the line chart. Because data can be descrambled on all screens, this might be a planned product feature and working as intended. But in that case, the documentation should be updated. This behavior isn't described or disclosed in the docs: [Scramble and Hide Data](https://actualbudget.org/docs/getting-started/tips-tricks/#scramble-and-hide-data). - The extent of data scrambling users should expect is unclear. The docs say "This will scramble all of your data, including payees, categories, and transactions." However, the only items that are scrambled are dollar amounts. Payee names, category names, transaction notes, and individual transactions remain visible (though transaction dollar amounts are hidden). Based on the documentation, users might expect the privacy filter to hide payee and category names, and transaction notes. If the filter is working as intended, documentation should be updated to accurately describe its functionality. ### How can we reproduce the issue? 1. Open a budget file in a desktop web browser. 2. Click the eye icon at the top of the screen. 3. Mouse over accounts in the sidebar, category values in the budget, transactions, and widgets in reports. ### Where are you hosting Actual? Docker ### What browsers are you seeing the problem on? Chrome ### Operating System Mac OSX

GiteaMirror added the bug label 2026-02-28 20:08:48 -06:00

GiteaMirror closed this issue

2026-02-28 20:08:48 -06:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-02-28 20:08:48 -06:00

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 12, 2025):

This is intended. You can open an issue in the docs repo if you would like.

@youngcw commented on GitHub (Jul 12, 2025): This is intended. You can open an issue in the docs repo if you would like.