Privacy Policy

You add items with Android's photo picker or file picker, or (with PicHide Plus) the private camera. PicHide receives only the items you select; it does not ask for access to your whole gallery or your storage.

Each item is encrypted with AES-256-GCM as it is copied into the app's private storage. File names, dates, albums and thumbnails are encrypted too. The encryption key is protected by your PIN and by your phone's secure hardware (Android Keystore). Photos and videos are decrypted in memory to show them and are never written out unencrypted inside the app.

After an import, PicHide can offer to remove the originals from your gallery. Android then shows its own confirmation and nothing is deleted unless you allow it there.

When you share an item or open a file in another app, PicHide makes a temporary decrypted copy in its private cache for that app to read. These copies are deleted when PicHide locks and every time the app starts. When you unhide an item, it is saved back to your gallery or Downloads in a PicHide folder, unencrypted, where other apps can see it.

Your PIN is used on your phone to unlock the encryption key. It is never sent anywhere and never stored, not even as a readable hash. Because nobody else holds your key, a forgotten PIN cannot be recovered by us.

Fingerprint or face unlock is handled entirely by Android. PicHide never receives your fingerprint or face data; Android only tells the app that you were recognised.

With break-in alerts (PicHide Plus) turned on, after several wrong PINs in a row the front camera takes one photo. The photo is encrypted with a key from your phone's Keystore, kept only inside PicHide, and shown to you in the break-in log after you unlock. It is never sent anywhere. You can clear the log at any time.

PicHide asks for camera permission only when you first use the private camera or turn on break-in alerts, both PicHide Plus features. You can say no and the rest of the app keeps working. Photos from the private camera go straight from memory into the encrypted vault and are never saved to your gallery.

• your settings (lock timing, theme, hide-in-Recents, break-in alerts);
• a few app counters (when the app was first opened, how many imports you made, wrong PIN attempts in a row, whether we already asked for a review, when you last made a backup);
• whether you have PicHide Plus.

Android cloud backup and device transfer are switched off for PicHide, so nothing is copied to your Google account. Uninstalling the app deletes everything in it for good.

With PicHide Plus you can create a backup file. It stays encrypted, is sealed with your PIN, and is saved only to the place you choose in Android's file picker. We never receive it. Restoring a backup reads the file you pick and needs the PIN that was set when the backup was made.

The free version shows ads from Google AdMob in two places only:

• a banner at the bottom of the album list;
• an occasional full-screen ad after an import has finished. Never in your first minutes with the app, and only every few imports, several minutes apart.

There are never ads in the photo viewer, on the lock screen or while you add items. PicHide Plus removes all ads.

To show and measure ads and to prevent fraud, Google may collect your device's advertising ID, an approximate location derived from your IP address, which ads were shown or tapped, and diagnostic information about the ad software. Ads may be personalised where you allow it. Nothing you keep in PicHide is ever included in an ad request. Google handles this data under its privacy policy; see also how Google uses information from apps that use its services.

Your choices: in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent before any ads load, and you can change your choice at any time in Settings > Ad privacy choices. Everywhere, you can reset or delete your advertising ID or opt out of personalised ads in your phone's Android settings.

PicHide Plus is a subscription sold through Google Play. Google processes the payment under its own privacy policy, and we never receive your card or billing details. The app only learns whether your subscription is active and remembers that on your phone. You can manage or cancel the subscription in the Google Play Store app.

After your second import, the app may show Google Play's standard rating card, at most once. That card is run by Google Play; we only see a public review if you choose to post one.

• No account, sign-up or login.
• No analytics, tracking or crash-reporting tools of our own.
• We do not upload, scan or look at your photos, videos or files.
• We do not access your contacts, precise location, calendar or messages.
• We do not sell your data.

Every vault feature works offline. The internet is used only by Google AdMob (free version) and Google Play (subscriptions and the rating card), and all of that traffic is encrypted. Your files never use it.

PicHide is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to delete or send you. To delete items, select them in PicHide and tap Delete (they wait 30 days in Recently deleted unless you empty it). To delete everything, uninstall the app or clear its storage in Android Settings > Apps > PicHide > Storage. For data held by Google (ads, purchases), use your Google account settings. If you are in the EEA or UK you have rights of access, correction, deletion and objection, and you are welcome to contact us about them.

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top, and mention important changes in the release notes. Questions: [email protected].