Privacy policy

In short

Your photos, videos and files are analyzed on your iPhone or iPad. They are never uploaded, and nothing derived from them (what is in a picture, text in a screenshot, faces, file names, album names) is sent to us or to anyone else.

The app has no accounts. We do not know who you are.

The app shows ads from Google unless you remove them, counts feature use, and sends crash reports. The last two can be turned off in the app's Settings.

Ads are personalized only if you allow tracking when iOS asks. If you do not, the app asks Google for non-personalized ads.

We do not sell personal information.

What stays on your iPhone or iPad

To do its job the app reads:

Your photo library, with your permission: photos and videos, their dates, sizes, albums, favorite status, and their content, which is analyzed on the device to find similar shots, exact duplicates, screenshots, blurry or dark photos and large videos.

Folders you choose in the system folder picker: the names, sizes and modification dates of the files in them.

Your Music library, only if you turn that on: album titles and the sizes of downloaded music. The app cannot change or delete music.

Free space on your iPhone or iPad, to show you the measured change after a cleanup.

From this the app keeps, on your iPhone or iPad only: its analysis results, a size index, your decisions (what you kept, protected or skipped), your cleanup history, your settings, and what it has learned about your preferences for suggestions. None of it is sent anywhere. You can see what it has learned under History > Learned, turn learning off or erase it under Settings, and remove everything by deleting the app.

If iCloud Backup or a computer backup is on for your iPhone or iPad, Apple's backup may include the app's settings and history, as it does for any app. That is between you and Apple; we cannot read it.

The app deletes a photo, video or file only after you have marked it, reviewed the list, and confirmed. Deleted photos and videos go to Recently Deleted in Photos. Deleted files are removed at once, and a file in iCloud Drive is removed from all your devices.

What leaves your iPhone or iPad

Three services can receive data from the app, all run by Google. The app gives none of them photos, videos, files, their names, or anything derived from their content. One thing the app does not write: a crash report can carry the system's own error message (see Crash reports below).

Ads: Google AdMob

The app may show a full-screen ad after you finish a cleanup session. Ads are provided by Google (Google Mobile Ads SDK). They are loaded only if you have not removed ads, and never during a deletion or a comparison.

Tracking is your choice. Google's consent form shows a short explanation, then iOS asks whether you allow the app to track your activity across other companies' apps and websites. This comes only after you finish a cleanup session, never before or during a comparison, a review or a deletion. If you allow it, Google can use your device's advertising identifier (IDFA) to show ads based on your interests and to measure them. If you choose "Ask App Not to Track", the app does not get the advertising identifier and asks Google for non-personalized ads only. You can change this at any time in the iOS Settings app > Privacy & Security > Tracking.

To deliver ads, limit how often you see one, measure them and prevent fraud, Google's software collects your IP address (from which a general location can be estimated), identifiers scoped to this app or developer, which ads were shown and whether you interacted with them, and diagnostic and performance information about its own software.

Google's use of this data is described at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and https://policies.google.com/privacy.

A one-time purchase, or a tip, removes ads: no ad is loaded or shown after it. From the next time you open the app, the ads software is not started and Google's advertising service receives nothing from the app. Usage statistics and crash reports, if you leave them on, still go to Google as described below.

Usage statistics: Google Analytics for Firebase

To learn which features are used, the app sends usage events to Google Analytics for Firebase (Google).

Events are a fixed list, such as "a session was finished" or "a tool was opened". Their details are categories and rough ranges ("6 to 20 items", "1 to 5 GB", "1 to 5 minutes"), never exact numbers, names or file details. One event says whether you bought remove-ads or left a tip and how that ended, without the price.

Google's software adds: a random identifier for this installation of the app (the "app instance ID"); the app version; the iPhone or iPad model and iOS version; language; a general location that Google works out from a shortened version of your IP address; and its own events, such as first launch, the start of a session and time in the app.

Turn this off under Settings > Share usage statistics. It is on by default. When you turn it off, events stop being sent, events waiting to be sent are deleted, and the random identifier is reset. Google's software may still contact Google to download its own settings. That request is not an event, and we have not inspected what it contains: it may include the new random identifier.

Google's description of how it uses data from apps: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Crash reports: Firebase Crashlytics

If the app crashes or hits one of a list of internal errors, it sends a report to Firebase Crashlytics (Google) so the problem can be fixed.

A report contains: the kind of error and where in the app's code it happened, including the system's error message and the name of the source file; the app version; the iPhone or iPad model, processor type, iOS version, and how much memory is installed and in use; random identifiers created for this installation of the app; and the last few steps taken in the app, from the same fixed list of coarse events as above.

The app adds no file names, album names or photo details to a report. No screenshots or screen contents are captured.

Google keeps crash data for 90 days before it starts removing it. Your IP address reaches Google's server as it does any server.

Turn this off under Settings > Send crash reports. It is on by default. Turning it off also deletes reports that have not been sent. A crash recorded while it is off is deleted at the next launch.

Firebase's privacy information: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

Purchases

Purchases are made through Apple's App Store. The app learns from Apple only whether a purchase exists, and keeps that on your iPhone or iPad. If usage statistics are on, one event says that remove-ads or a tip was bought and how the attempt ended, without the price (see above). We receive no payment details and no information about who bought what, beyond the anonymous sales reports Apple gives every developer.

When you contact us

"Report a problem" prepares an email with the app version, iPhone or iPad model, iOS version, a few settings, and recent technical log lines made only of counts and codes. You can read it before sending, and it is sent only if you send it. We use your email address and the report to answer you.

Reminders

If you turn on cleanup reminders, they are scheduled on your iPhone or iPad. No server is involved.

Children

The app is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Your rights in the EEA and the UK

We process the limited data above on these bases: your consent for ads and for tracking where the law requires it (given or refused in Google's consent screen and in the iOS tracking prompt); and our legitimate interest in keeping the app working and understanding its use, for crash reports and usage statistics, both of which you can switch off. Because the app has no accounts and we cannot tell which random identifier is yours, we generally cannot look up "your" data; the switches in Settings, the iOS tracking setting and deleting the app are the effective controls. You may contact us at the address under Contact to exercise rights of access, erasure, restriction or objection, and you may complain to your data protection authority.

United States state privacy laws

We do not sell personal information for money. If you allow tracking, Google's use of your advertising identifier to show interest-based ads may count as "sharing" or "targeted advertising" under some state laws. You can opt out at any time by turning tracking off for Magic Phone Cleaner in the iOS Settings app > Privacy & Security > Tracking, or stop ads altogether by removing them. If you have not allowed tracking, the app requests only non-personalized ads and does not use the advertising identifier.

Where data is processed

Google may process and store data in the United States and other countries where it or its agents have facilities.

Retention

Data on your iPhone or iPad stays until you erase it in Settings or delete the app. Crash reports are kept as described above.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version is posted at this address with a new effective date. If the change is significant, the app's release notes will say so.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: support@magicphonecleaner.com