Photo Vault App Privacy Report 2026: 76% of Popular Vault Apps Say They Track You
Most photo vault apps say they track you. We checked the App Store listings of 69 photo vault apps on October 30, 2026. Among the 34 popular ones (1,000+ ratings), 76% declare “Data Used to Track You” in their own App Store privacy label, and only 12% say they collect no data at all. Just 1 of the 34 names the encryption it uses. Here’s the full breakdown, how we got it, and what to check before you trust an app with private photos.
Disclosure: we make Easy Vault, a photo vault app. It isn’t included in this data. Every figure below comes from the apps’ own public App Store listings, and you can download the full dataset.
Key findings
| Finding | Popular vault apps (34) | All vault apps (69) |
|---|---|---|
| Declare Data Used to Track You | 76% | 62% |
| Declare Data Linked to You | 32% | 25% |
| Declare Data Not Collected | 12% | 20% |
| Collect some data (any category) | 85% | 75% |
| Mention encryption in their description | 56% | 42% |
| Name AES encryption | 3% | 9% |
| Say “military-grade” | 6% | 4% |
| Offer a decoy or fake passcode | 38% | 33% |
| Offer break-in or intruder alerts | 38% | 33% |
| Disguise as a calculator | 18% | 29% |
| Updated in the last 6 months | 59% | 59% |
| Median age of the app | 9.7 years | 6.5 years |
“Popular” means 1,000 or more ratings on the US App Store. Together, the 69 apps have 1.9 million ratings.
1. Three in four popular vault apps say they track you
On every App Store page, developers declare what data their app collects in an App Privacy label. The strongest category is Data Used to Track You: data that may be combined with other companies’ data for targeted ads, or shared with data brokers.
26 of the 34 popular vault apps (76%) list it. That includes the two most-rated vault apps on the App Store. For apps whose whole purpose is privacy, that’s a striking number. It usually comes from advertising and analytics tools built into free apps.
Only 4 of the 34 (12%) say Data Not Collected.
2. Encryption claims are vague
56% of popular vault apps mention encryption somewhere in their description, but only one names AES, the standard cipher. A few use the marketing phrase “military-grade” instead.
Why it matters: many vault apps only hide photos behind a passcode screen, leaving the files readable to anyone who can get at the app’s storage. An app that names its cipher and key derivation is making a claim you can check. See is a photo vault app safe? 7 things to check.
3. Most of the big apps are old
The median popular vault app was first released 9.7 years ago, and 41% of them haven’t been updated in the last 6 months. Older apps aren’t automatically worse, but security expectations, like hardware-backed keys and modern password stretching, have moved on.
4. Prices: free to download, about $25 a year
All 69 apps are free to download, with paid upgrades. Among in-app purchases whose names state the period:
| Plan | Median price | Highest seen |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $4.99 | $9.99 |
| Monthly | $4.99 | $29.99 |
| Yearly | $24.99 | $79.99 |
| Lifetime | $25.99 | $99.99 |
35% of vault apps offer a one-time lifetime purchase; 22% offer a weekly plan.
The most-rated vault apps and their privacy labels
| App | Ratings | Stars | Strongest privacy category declared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe | 1,018,572 | 4.8 | Data Used to Track You |
| Secret Photo Vault: Keepsafe | 385,318 | 4.7 | Data Used to Track You |
| Privault - Private Photo Vault | 76,577 | 4.7 | Data Used to Track You |
| SPV - Secret Photo Vault | 70,011 | 4.6 | Data Used to Track You |
| Secret Photo Album - SA | 38,907 | 4.6 | Data Used to Track You |
| PV - Secret Photo Album | 30,290 | 4.7 | Data Used to Track You |
| Calculator# Hide Photos Videos | 28,933 | 4.4 | Data Used to Track You |
| Secret Photo Vault Lock Photos | 27,392 | 4.6 | Data Not Collected |
| SV - Private Photo Vault PRO | 26,336 | 4.9 | Data Used to Track You |
| Safe Lock - Hidden Photo Vault | 24,917 | 4.8 | Data Not Collected |
| Hide Photos Video - Hide it Pro | 24,794 | 4.7 | Data Not Linked to You |
| Unlock - App & Photo Locker | 23,508 | 4.4 | Data Not Linked to You |
| Secret photos - KYMS | 17,330 | 4.7 | Data Used to Track You |
| Secret Photo Album ++ | 14,191 | 4.7 | No details provided |
| Secret Photo Album · 1Locker | 13,707 | 4.7 | Data Not Linked to You |
Labels are the developers’ own declarations as shown on October 30, 2026. Apple doesn’t verify them, and developers can change them at any time.
What to check before you choose a vault app
- The App Privacy label. Prefer Data Not Collected. Be wary of Data Used to Track You in an app that holds your most private photos.
- A named cipher. Look for AES-256 or similar, plus how your passcode is turned into a key. “Military-grade” alone tells you nothing.
- A separate passcode. It should be different from your iPhone passcode, so someone who knows that can’t get in.
- A way back in. Check what happens if you forget your passcode or lose your phone. See how to recover photos from a photo vault app.
- Recent updates. An app updated in the last few months is more likely to keep up with iOS.
Easy Vault, which we make, was built around this list: its privacy label is Data Not Collected, files are encrypted with AES-256-GCM and passcodes stretched with Argon2id, and it has its own lock, a decoy vault and an encrypted backup with a recovery key. See how it keeps you safe.
Methodology
- Sample: we searched the US App Store on October 30, 2026 for eight terms (photo vault, private photo vault, hide photos, secret photo album, photo locker, hidden photo vault, calculator vault, photo vault app) and took the top 25 results for each, giving 77 unique apps.
- Filter: we kept the 69 apps whose name or description presents them as a photo vault or photo hider, excluding general cloud storage, plain calculators and unrelated apps. “Popular” apps are the 34 with 1,000+ ratings.
- Privacy labels: read from each app’s public App Store page. An app counts as “tracks you” if its label includes Data Used to Track You.
- Features and claims: matched in each app’s App Store description (for example “AES”, “encrypt”, “military”, “decoy”, “fake passcode”, “intruder”, “calculator”). An app may offer a feature without describing it.
- Prices: from the in-app purchase list on each App Store page, counting only purchases whose names state a period (week, month, year, lifetime).
- Dataset: photo-vault-apps-2026-10.csv, one row per app. You’re welcome to cite or reuse it with a link to this page.
More from this study
- Photo vault app prices compared
- Photo vault apps that don’t collect your data
- Do photo vault apps actually encrypt your photos?
- Calculator vault apps compared
- Photo vault apps with a decoy passcode
- Hidden album vs locked notes vs photo vault vs Files
Related research
Related guides
- Is a photo vault app safe? 7 things to check
- Calculator apps that hide pictures
- How to hide photos on iPhone
Frequently asked questions
Do photo vault apps track you?
Many do, by their own account. In October 2026, 76% of popular photo vault apps on the US App Store (34 apps with 1,000+ ratings) listed 'Data Used to Track You' in their App Store privacy label. Across all 69 vault apps checked, the figure was 62%.
How many photo vault apps collect no data?
Few. Only 12% of popular photo vault apps (4 of 34 with 1,000+ ratings) declared 'Data Not Collected' on the App Store in October 2026. Across all 69 vault apps checked, it was 20%.
Do photo vault apps say how they encrypt photos?
Rarely. Only 3% of popular photo vault apps (1 of 34) named AES encryption in their App Store description, and 56% mentioned encryption at all. Hiding photos behind a passcode isn't the same as encrypting them, so look for a named cipher.
How much do photo vault apps cost?
All 69 vault apps checked were free to download with paid upgrades. Among in-app purchases that name their period, the median was $4.99 a week, $4.99 a month, $24.99 a year and $25.99 for lifetime access.
How do I check a photo vault app's privacy label?
Open the app's page in the App Store and scroll to App Privacy. 'Data Used to Track You' means data may be linked with other companies' data for ads or shared with data brokers. 'Data Not Collected' means the developer says no data leaves your device in a way they can access.