How do you read a photo vault app's privacy label?

Every App Store listing has an App Privacy section, and every Google Play listing has Data safety. For an app that holds your private photos, it is the fastest check you can make before you install. This guide explains the terms, then shows what the main vault apps declared on the US App Store on 2026-10-09.

Where to find it

• App Store: open the app’s page and scroll to App Privacy.
• Google Play: open the app’s page and tap Data safety.

Each App Store label opens with the same line: the developer “indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. This information has not been verified by Apple.”

The three parts of an App Store label

Part	What it means
Data Used to Track You	Data linked with other companies’ data for targeted ads or ad measurement, or shared with a data broker. That is Apple’s definition of tracking
Data Linked to You	Data tied to your identity, through your account, your device or other details
Data Not Linked to You	Data collected with steps that break the link to you

Apple says data from an app “is often linked to the user’s identity, unless specific privacy protections are put in place before collection”. It also counts personal data, as privacy laws define it, as linked.

What the vault apps declare

App	Used to track you	Linked to you	User content (photos, videos)
Private Photo Vault	Usage data	Usage, advertising, purchases, identifiers, diagnostics	Photos or videos, linked, for app functionality
Keepsafe	Usage data	Nothing listed	Not listed
SPV	Identifiers, usage data, diagnostics	Nothing listed	Not listed
Calculator Lock	Identifiers	Nothing listed	Not listed
NQ Vault	Identifiers	Nothing listed	Not listed
LockMyPix	Identifiers	Nothing listed	Not listed
Privault	Usage data	Usage and advertising data	Customer support content, not linked
Vaultaire	Nothing listed	Email address and customer support content	Customer support content, linked

Two patterns stand out. Seven of the eight list data used to track you, which matches apps that show ads or measure ad campaigns. And only Private Photo Vault lists photos or videos, linked to you, which fits a cloud backup that the company runs.

How to read a vault’s label

1. Find User Content. “Photos or Videos” under data collected means copies leave your phone, often for a cloud backup. Then ask how they are encrypted. Our guide to photo vault encryption has the questions.
2. Read Data Used to Track You. Identifiers and usage data here usually mean ads or ad measurement. See vault apps without ads.
3. Check Data Linked to You. An email address is normal for an app with an account. A long list is a sign of more analytics.
4. Open the privacy policy. The label is a summary. The policy should name the companies that receive data.

Google Play’s Data safety section

Google says developers use Data safety to describe what their app collects and shares, and their security practices. Google also lists cases that do not count. Data used only on your device is not “collected”. Data sent off the phone but “processed ephemerally”, only in memory and only for one request, is not collected either. Data sent to a service provider that works for the developer is not “shared”. So a short Data safety section is a good sign, not proof.

York Vault’s label, in plain words

York Vault shows no ads. It does run ads for itself on other apps and sites, and it uses one attribution partner to see which ad brought each install. So its label lists identifiers and usage data used for ad measurement, and states that user content is not collected. The tracking code sits in a part of the app that cannot reach your library, and it never sees photos, file names, thumbnails, album names or codes. If you decline tracking, every feature still works. See ad measurement and privacy and what we can and cannot see. Download York Vault.