Kinship Vault does not collect, transmit, or have access to your documents, your decryption keys, or any personal data. Everything stays on your device. There is no Kinship Vault server that processes user data.
What we collect
Nothing. Kinship Vault does not run analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, advertising SDKs, or any third-party data collection of any kind. We do not have a backend that stores user content.
Specifically, we do not collect:
- Your name, email, phone number, or any personally identifying information
- Your documents, photos, or any content you store in the vault
- Your decryption keys, recovery passphrase, or PINs
- Usage analytics, app interaction events, or session data
- Crash logs or diagnostic reports
- Device identifiers, advertising IDs, or location data
- Contacts, calendar entries, or any data outside the app
What stays on your device
All of your vault data lives only on your device:
- Documents and metadata. Encrypted with AES-256-GCM, with per-document keys derived from a master key.
- Master key. Wrapped by your device's secure hardware; cannot be extracted in plaintext. On iPhone, iPad, and Apple silicon Mac this is the Secure Enclave; on Android it is the Android Keystore, hardware-backed on devices that have a secure element. On macOS, because many Macs have no Touch ID, the app additionally stores a copy wrapped by a key derived from your PIN (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256, 200,000 iterations) so that the PIN alone can unlock the vault on that machine. Every copy stays in your device's keychain or keystore and is never transmitted.
- Recovery passphrase. Generated on your device for you to write down. Never transmitted.
- Recovery shards. When you split your recovery key for trusted contacts, the shards are generated on your device and shared via QR codes, files, or printable PDF cards through the system share sheet. The shards never pass through any Kinship Vault server.
- PINs and panic codes. Stored only as cryptographic hashes on your device.
- Audit log. A hash-chained record of vault access, stored locally and never transmitted.
Optional cloud backup
If you enable iCloud backup, the app writes an encrypted .kvbackup file to your personal iCloud Drive container. The file is encrypted on your device with a key derived from your master key before it leaves the device, so Apple sees only encrypted bytes. Your decryption key is never uploaded to iCloud.
On Android, the same optional, user-initiated backup writes an encrypted file to your own Google Drive (a private app folder). It is likewise encrypted on the device before upload, so Google sees only encrypted bytes and your key is never uploaded.
This feature is governed by Apple's or Google's terms and privacy policy for the cloud you use. Kinship Vault does not have access to your iCloud or Google account, or any data stored within it.
Permissions we request
- Camera. On iPhone, iPad, and Android, used to scan documents. On Mac, used only to read the pairing QR code from another device, as the Mac has no document-scanning flow. Image processing happens entirely on your device. No images are transmitted.
- Biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID, or Android fingerprint/face). Used to unlock the vault and authorize sensitive actions. On a Mac without Touch ID, your Mac login password or your app PIN is used instead; on Android, a PIN is the fallback. Biometric data is handled by the operating system (iOS, macOS, or Android) and is never accessible to Kinship Vault.
- Notifications. Used only for local document expiry reminders. No push notifications come from any server.
Third-party services
Kinship Vault uses no third-party analytics, advertising, or data-sharing services. The only third-party services involved in distributing or operating the app are:
- Apple App Store and Mac App Store. For distribution and subscription billing on Apple devices. Apple's privacy policy applies to your purchase.
- Google Play. For distribution and subscription billing on Android. Google's privacy policy applies to your purchase.
- Apple iCloud or Google Drive. Only if you choose to enable encrypted backup (iCloud on Apple devices, your own Google Drive on Android).
Subscriptions and payments
Subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple through StoreKit on Apple devices, and by Google through Google Play Billing on Android. Kinship Vault does not see, process, or store your payment information. We receive only a non-identifying signal that your subscription is active or inactive.
To manage or cancel your subscription on an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On a Mac, open the App Store app, click your name in the bottom-left corner, then Account Settings, then Manage next to Subscriptions. On Apple devices this is a single universal purchase, so one subscription covers all of them.
On Android, open the Google Play Store app, tap your profile icon, then Payments & subscriptions, then Subscriptions. The Android purchase is separate from any Apple purchase.
Children
Kinship Vault is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone, including children. The app's age rating is 4+ because it contains no objectionable content, but the product is intended for adult use (managing personal documents, legacy planning, and similar).
International users
Because we do not collect or transmit user data, no cross-border data transfer takes place between you and Kinship Vault. If you enable iCloud backup, transfers are governed by Apple's regional data handling, not ours.
Your rights under GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA, and similar laws
Most data-protection laws give you rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data held by a service. Because Kinship Vault holds none of your personal data, there is nothing for us to access, correct, delete, or port on your behalf. All of your data is in your possession on your device.
You can delete all Kinship Vault data at any time by deleting the app from your device.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in any material way, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top and notify users via the app and via this page. Past versions will be available on request.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email support@kinshipvault.app.