What can York Vault see about me?

What we cannot see

These stay on your phone, or in your iCloud or Google Drive in encrypted form. We have no way to read them:

• Your items. York Vault encrypts photos, videos and files on your phone. Each item has its own key.
• Names and details. York Vault also encrypts file names, album names, dates, places, item counts and thumbnails. They do not appear in readable form on disk, in iCloud or Google Drive, in logs or in crash reports.
• Your codes. York Vault never stores your code. It uses the code to release a key and then forgets the code.
• Your recovery key. York Vault shows the 12 words once and never sends them anywhere.
• Whether you use a cover code. Nothing we receive differs between a main library and a cover library.

We hold no account for you, no email address and no password. This is also why we cannot reset your code.

What our servers hold

If you use York Cloud on Pro, your items upload to storage that we run. York Vault encrypts each item on your phone first, and the key never leaves your devices in readable form. We hold only encrypted data.

For a private share link, York Vault encrypts the items with a new random key and uploads only encrypted data. The key sits after the # in the link, and browsers never send that part to a server. Our share server keeps the encrypted data, the expiry time and the open count. When a link expires or reaches its last open, the server deletes the data. See Your recovery key.

What Apple and Google hold

On iPhone and iPad, your backup lives in your own iCloud, as encrypted pieces with random names. Apple stores the pieces but cannot read the items, names or albums inside. Apple can see that your account holds York Vault data and how much space it takes. On Android, the backup lives in your own Google Drive, in the app data folder that only York Vault can read. Google stores only encrypted data and no key. See How backup works.

Apple or Google also handles your purchase, through the App Store or Google Play. We get a record that your library has a paid plan, not your name or card.

What the attribution tool sees

We run paid ads on TikTok, Meta and YouTube. To know which ads work, York Vault includes one attribution tool from a measurement company. On iPhone, it also uses Apple’s own privacy-preserving ad measurement (SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit). On Android, it uses the Google Play install referrer. This is why we say “no ads” and never “no tracking”.

The attribution tool can receive:

• Apple’s ad identifier, only if you allow tracking in Apple’s prompt. If you deny it, York Vault sends no identifier.
• On Android, the Android advertising ID. You can delete it in Android settings.
• A fixed list of events: install, onboarding step number, the lock type you chose, a rough size range of your first add, first item protected, backup turned on, paywall shown, trial started, purchase, renewal, refund and cancellation.

It never receives a file name, an album name, an exact item count, a thumbnail, a code or your recovery key. We enforce this in code:

1. The attribution tool lives in a part of the app that cannot reach your library.
2. Only events on the list above can leave the app.
3. No screen recording, no tap capture and no screen-view capture.
4. No attribution tool runs in the share extension, the camera, any widget or the App Clip.
5. A test before each release adds a file with a known name. The release fails if that name, a code or the recovery key appears in any network traffic.

Apple’s tracking prompt

Right after the welcome screen, York Vault explains the prompt in one plain screen, then shows Apple’s prompt. Nothing in York Vault depends on your answer. If you deny tracking, every feature works, York Vault sends no identifier, and it does not track you another way. On Android, you can delete the advertising ID in Android settings at any time.

Turn it off

In York Vault, go to Settings, then Privacy. Ad measurement follows your iOS tracking setting on iPhone, with one line on what it does. When you turn a switch off, that tool stops at once. A button asks the measurement company to delete the data for this device.

What support sees

If you write to support, we see what you send: your email address and your message. Never send photos, your code or your recovery key. See Contact support.

Who receives data

Our privacy policy lists the companies that process data for us. The App Store privacy label and the Google Play data safety section show which kinds of data York Vault uses to measure ads.