Store your financial data in your browser

TL;DR: While storing data in the browser's local storage offers superior data privacy and peace of mind, it makes data prone to loss, and limits access to that data to the specific device where it's stored.

We strongly recommend you to take the necessary measures to mitigate the risk of permanently losing your financial data.

What is Browser Storage?

Browser storage is the ability of your browser to store data locally and securely within the browser of the device you are using. This data persists even when you close the browser window. In other words, what gets stored in the local storage of your browser will not be deleted when you reload the page, close and reopen your browser, and even your device.

The Advantages of Browser Storage

Storing data in the browser's local storage offers several privacy advantages.

• Client-Side Storage: The browser local storage is a form of client-side storage, meaning that the data is stored locally on your device rather than on a remote server. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to the data during transmission of data over the internet since it doesn't need to be sent to or retrieved from a server.
• No Server-Side Exposure: Since data stored in the browser's local storage remains on your device and is not transmitted to a server, it is not exposed to potential vulnerabilities or breaches on server-side systems. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access or exposure of sensitive information due to server-side security flaws.
• Control and Transparency: Browser storage empowers users to manage their data privacy preferences and mitigate concerns about third-party access or misuse of their information, online tracking and profiling.

The Disadvantages of Browser Storage

As good as it may sound, storing your financial data in the browser’s local storage comes with some risks and limitations.

Danger of Data Loss

The data stored in the browser's local storage has no expiration date set to it. It persists indefinitely until explicitly cleared by the user, either manually through browser settings or programmatically by the website/application that stored the data.

There are a few scenarios in which your device will delete the data in the browser's local storage:

• Private Browsing / Incognito: in these modes, the browser's local storage is deleted when your browser session ends, meaning when you close the browser tab or window.
• User-initiated deletion: Users can clear their browser's local storage data manually through the browser settings like clearing cache or browsing history.
• Browser settings reset: Some browsers offer options to reset settings, which may include clearing the local storage data as part of the process.
• Browser updates: In some cases, browser updates or changes to browser settings may result in the deletion of the local storage data. However, this is not a common occurrence and usually depends on the specific circumstances of the update.
• Storage quota exceeded: Each browser imposes a maximum storage limit for the local storage. If the storage quota is exceeded, the browser may clear older data to make room for new data.

No Collaboration or Data Sharing

• No sharing between your devices: Local storage is tied to a specific device and browser combination. Data stored on one device's local storage is not accessible from another device, even if both devices belong to the same user. This lack of device independence can be inconvenient for users who frequently switch between devices and need access to their data from various locations.
• No collaborative features: The browser's local storage makes collaborative features impossible. Users can't collaborate with their partners, advisors or financial coaches on their portfolios.

Conclusion and Recommendations

From all of the disadvantages of browser storage, data loss shouldn't be treated easily. The simple act of clearing their browser's cache or switches to a different device, may translate into loss of access to your stored data unless it's backed up or synchronized in the cloud.

Learn more about creating a backup and exporting your financial data or about synchronizing your data in the cloud.