Privacy Policy
This policy describes how the FileShield mobile app (the “App”) handles your information. The developer is Serhii Udielov (“we”). Questions: serdimdev@gmail.com.
In short
- Files, photos, videos and notes are stored encrypted, on your device only. We receive neither them, nor your code, nor your encryption keys.
- FileShield has no registration, no accounts and no servers.
- If you turn on the Google Drive backup, an encrypted vault archive is kept in the App’s hidden folder in your Google Drive. Neither Google nor we can open it without your phrase.
- The free version shows ads. Ad networks receive device information and the advertising ID, but not the contents of your vault.
- After you buy Remove Ads or Lifetime License, no ads are requested or shown. Parts of the ad SDKs still load with the App (section 5).
- Payments are processed by Google Play. We never see your card details.
1. Data on your device
The App stores the files, photos, videos and notes you choose in encrypted form (AES-256-GCM) in its own storage on your device. Names, dates, types and thumbnails are encrypted too. The access key is derived from your PIN or pattern and protected by the device keystore. The decoy vault is a separate local profile with its own keys.
Biometric checks are performed by the operating system; the App does not receive images of your fingerprints or face.
A flag showing that the intro screens have been seen, your chosen app name, icon and color, and purchase information are stored on the device.
If you turn on quick lock, the App reads the motion sensor while the vault is open to notice that the phone was placed face down or shaken. These readings are processed immediately on the device and are never stored.
A vault can be moved to a memory card. The files stay encrypted and sit in the App’s folder on the card; Android deletes that folder together with the App.
2. Files, camera and microphone
You choose files yourself in the system dialog or send them to the App through the system Share menu (“Hide in FileShield”). Files received this way are encrypted into the vault after you unlock it; the temporary copy in the App’s own folder is deleted right away. After an import, the App may offer to delete the original file through a system confirmation. The camera and microphone are used only for shooting inside the App; those shots are saved to the encrypted vault and are not added to the gallery.
If you turn on wrong-code photos, the App takes a picture with the front camera after the number of wrong unlock attempts you set. The picture is encrypted, can be viewed only in the primary vault on this device, and is not sent anywhere.
Exporting creates an unencrypted copy of a file in the location you choose; the vault’s protection does not extend to that copy.
3. Backups and sharing
When you ask it to, the App creates an encrypted archive of the selected vault and passes it through the system Share menu to wherever you choose. The archive can be opened only with a secret phrase that you keep separately. We receive neither the archive nor the phrase.
Google Drive backup
If you turn on the Google Drive backup (Android, Lifetime License), the App, with
your permission, gets access only to its own hidden data folder in your Google Drive
(the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata scope). The App cannot
see your other Google Drive files. The folder holds a vault archive encrypted on your
phone with your phrase; the file name contains only a random vault identifier. The App
also receives your account’s permanent identifier from Google and keeps only its hash
on the device, so as not to send a backup to someone else’s account. The backup is
updated at your command and automatically at most once a day over Wi-Fi while the
vault is open. Data travels directly between your phone and Google; none of our
servers are involved, and we receive neither the archive, nor the phrase, nor your
account data.
The App’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. You can revoke access by turning off the backup in the App or in your Google Account settings (myaccount.google.com/permissions); you can delete the backup in Google Drive settings (“Manage apps”).
4. Purchases and ratings
Remove Ads and Lifetime License are one-time purchases through Google Play. Google Play processes the payment and your account data under its own policy. The App receives the purchase information needed to verify the license and stores the license status on the device. We do not send purchase data to any servers of ours.
From time to time the App may show the standard Google Play rating form. The rating and review are handled by Google Play; the App does not learn what you gave. Only an import counter and the date of the last request are stored on the device, so the form is not shown too often.
5. Advertising
The free version shows ads: a banner at the bottom of vault screens and, from time to time, a full-screen ad on transitions between screens. There are no ads on the unlock screen, intro screens, purchase screen, help screen, camera, slideshow or note editor.
Ads are selected by the Appodeal mediation platform and its partners. They may receive the device’s advertising ID, IP address and the approximate location derived from it, device model and settings, language, network type, information about interactions with ads (impressions, clicks) and technical error logs of the ad SDK. Purposes: showing and measuring ads, limiting repetition, preventing fraud.
The ad SDK starts when the first ad is due in an open vault, not on the unlock or intro screens, and requests to ad networks begin only after that. Parts of the partners’ SDKs load together with the App at every launch, including after a purchase, and two of them (AppLovin and Start.io) may read the advertising ID on the device at that moment.
The ad SDK does not receive the contents of your vault, file names, your unlock code, keys or secret phrases. A full-screen ad window cannot see the vault screen. Leaving for another app through an ad closes the vault.
| Processor | Purpose | Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Appodeal and advertising partners | Ads in the free version | appodeal.com/privacy-policy |
| Google AdMob | Ads and the consent form (EEA, UK, Switzerland) | policies.google.com |
| Google Play | Purchases and license verification | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Drive | Vault backup, if you turned it on | policies.google.com/privacy |
Appodeal partners in the App: Google AdMob and Ad Manager, Amazon, AppLovin, BidMachine, Bigo Ads, Chartboost, Digital Turbine, InMobi, ironSource and Unity LevelPlay, Liftoff (Vungle), Meta Audience Network, Mintegral, MobileFuse, Moloco, myTarget and VK Ads, Notsy, Pangle, PubMatic, Start.io, TaurusX, Unity Ads, Verve and Yandex.
6. Your choices
- Ad consent. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google’s consent form is shown before ads are personalized. To change or withdraw your choice: Settings → “Ad privacy”.
- Advertising ID. You can reset or delete it in Android settings (Settings → Google → Ads).
- No ads. Buying Remove Ads or Lifetime License turns ads off completely.
7. Analytics
We run no analytics of our own and receive no crash reports from the App, apart from the aggregated statistics Google Play gives developers. The partners’ ad SDKs contain their own statistics and diagnostics components (for example AppMetrica in Yandex and myTracker in myTarget) and may use them to run and measure ads under the partners’ policies. Appodeal’s error reporting (Sentry) is switched off in the App. Google Play and Android may collect technical information under their own rules and your settings.
8. Retention and deletion
You can delete files and individual vaults in the App. Deleted files stay encrypted in the vault’s trash for 30 days and can be restored; after that they are deleted permanently. Uninstalling the App or clearing its data deletes the vault on the device. Exported copies, original files and archives you have sent stay where you saved them. We cannot recover a forgotten code: recovery is possible only from your encrypted backup with its phrase. Advertising data is kept by advertising partners for the periods set in their policies.
The duress pattern (Lifetime License) irreversibly deletes the primary profile with all its vaults on this device, including files on the memory card, and opens the decoy vault. It does not delete the Google Drive backup or archives already created.
We hold none of your files, codes or accounts, so there is nothing for us to delete on request. Questions about data handling: serdimdev@gmail.com.
9. Children
The App is not intended for children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect children’s data.
10. This website
The fileshield-app.web.app website has no analytics, ads, cookies or embedded third-party content. It is hosted on Firebase Hosting (Google), which processes technical request logs, including IP address and browser type.
11. Changes
We will update this page if the App’s features or the services it uses change, and will state the new effective date.