Vaulted Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 10, 2026

Effective Date: August 6, 2026

Introduction

Vaulted ("we," "our," "us," or the "App") is a private, encrypted photo vault built on a simple principle: your photos are yours, and nobody else — including us — should ever be able to see them.

This Privacy Policy explains what information the App handles, how it is protected, and the choices you have. By downloading, installing, or using Vaulted, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. The Short Version

• We do not collect your photos or videos. Everything you store in Vaulted is encrypted on your device with a key that never leaves it.
• We do not require an account. There is no sign-up, no email, no password stored on any server we operate.
• We do not use analytics, advertising, or tracking of any kind. The App contains no third-party SDKs.
• We cannot read your backups. Optional iCloud backups contain only encrypted data that we have no ability to decrypt.
• We do not sell, share, or monetize your data. We have nothing to sell.

2. Information Stored on Your Device

The following information exists only on your device and is never transmitted to us:

• Photos and videos you import, encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they are written to storage.
• Your vault passcode, which never leaves your device. Your photos are protected by a randomly generated key; your passcode unlocks that key rather than deriving it. We do not know your passcode and cannot reset it.
• Encrypted metadata (filenames, album membership, original capture dates), protected with the same encryption as your media.
• A small amount of unencrypted bookkeeping in the app's local database: an identifier and the date each item was added to the vault. This is used to sort your library. It never leaves your device and reveals nothing about the contents of a file.

One deliberate exception to on-disk encryption: when you export or share an item, the app must hand a readable file to iOS. It writes a decrypted copy to a protected temporary folder, which is deleted when the share sheet closes, when the vault locks, and again the next time the app launches. Nothing else ever writes plaintext media to disk. - App preferences (appearance, lock behavior, disguise settings). - Break-in log entries (timestamps of failed unlock attempts), stored locally so you can review them.

Deleting the App removes your encrypted photos, the app's database, and its settings from your device.

One exception: iOS does not always remove Keychain items when an app is deleted, so your saved key material can survive a reinstall. That material is stored device-only and is never included in device backups. It cannot be used without either your passcode or a successful Face ID / Touch ID check on that same device (see section 3). If the App detects that its data is gone but this material remains, it offers to restore from backup or clear it and start fresh.

3. Face ID and Biometrics

If you enable biometric unlock, authentication is performed entirely by iOS. The App never sees, stores, or has access to your face or fingerprint data.

To make this work, a copy of your vault key is stored in the iOS Keychain behind a biometric access control, so it can only be released after a successful Face ID or Touch ID check on this device. The item is marked device-only: it is never included in backups and never syncs to another device. It is invalidated automatically if the device's biometric enrollment changes.

4. Photo Library and Camera Access

• Photo Library: The App requests access only so you can choose photos and videos to import. After a successful import, the App may offer to delete the unencrypted originals from your photo library — this only happens with your explicit confirmation, using the system's own deletion prompt.
• Camera: If you capture photos directly into the vault, the camera is used only for that capture. Captured media is encrypted immediately and is not saved to your photo library.

5. Optional iCloud Backup (End-to-End Encrypted)

If you enable Cloud Backup:

• Your encrypted photos, videos, and metadata are uploaded to your personal iCloud private database, associated with your Apple ID. We do not operate any servers and cannot access this data.
• Every file's contents are ciphertext. Photos, videos, thumbnails, filenames, album names, and album membership are all encrypted on your device before upload and can only be decrypted with your recovery code.
• Some bookkeeping is stored alongside each record in readable form, because the backup needs to know what to replace: a label identifying the record's kind (photo, thumbnail, item details, or album), a random identifier, a change-detection fingerprint, and the encrypted file's size in bytes. This tells anyone with access to your iCloud account how many items you have and roughly how large they are — but nothing about what they show, what they are called, or when they were taken.
• Your recovery code is generated on your device, shown to you once, and never stored or transmitted anywhere by the App. Without it (or your device and passcode), the backup cannot be decrypted by anyone — including us and Apple.
• Apple's infrastructure additionally sees standard service metadata, such as when uploads occurred.

You can stop backing up at any time. Your encrypted backup remains in your personal iCloud until you remove the App's iCloud data (Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage) or delete it from within the App.

If you lose both your recovery code and access to your unlocked device, your backup is permanently unrecoverable. This is a deliberate security property, not a limitation we can override.

6. Purchases

Pro subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see your payment information. Apple provides us only anonymous transaction records needed to unlock Pro features. Apple's handling of your payment data is governed by Apple's own privacy policy.

7. Information We Do NOT Collect

• We do NOT collect or transmit your photos, videos, or their metadata to any server we operate.
• We do NOT collect your name, email address, or contact information (unless you voluntarily email support).
• We do NOT collect location data.
• We do NOT collect analytics or usage data, and the App contains no crash-reporting SDK. (If you have turned on Apple's "Share With App Developers" setting, Apple may send us anonymized crash reports through App Store Connect. You control this in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.)
• We do NOT use advertising identifiers or any form of tracking.
• We do NOT sell or share any personal information with third parties.

8. Children's Privacy

Vaulted is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Because the App collects no personal information from anyone, no such data exists for us to delete; if you believe a child has used the App inappropriately, removing the App from the device removes all associated data.

9. Security

• All vault content is encrypted with AES-256-GCM using per-file keys.
• Encryption keys are derived and held only in memory while the vault is unlocked, and are cleared when the App locks or moves to the background.
• Key material stored on the device is protected by the iOS Keychain with device-only accessibility (it is excluded from device backups and cannot be transferred to another device).
• Repeated failed unlock attempts trigger escalating lockouts.

No security measure is perfect. The strength of your protection also depends on your device passcode, your vault passcode, and how carefully you store your recovery code.

10. Your Rights and Choices

Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to export, correct, or delete on your behalf — you are always in direct control:

• Access / Export: Use the in-App export feature to decrypt and share your own media at any time.
• Deletion: Delete individual items in the App, or delete the App to remove your local vault. To remove a cloud backup, use Settings → Cloud Backup → Delete Cloud Backup in the App; you can also remove the App's data from Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or the App's privacy practices:

Email: ryanschefske@gmail.com

Vaulted is designed so that your private photos stay private — even from the people who made it.