Privacy Policy for AppLock

Last updated: [FILL IN DATE]

AppLock ("the app") is developed by [YOUR NAME / DEVELOPER NAME] ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the app does with your information. In short: everything stays on your device — we do not collect, transmit, sell, or share any of your data with anyone, including us. The app makes no network requests of any kind.

What the app stores, and where

All data below is stored locally on your device only, using Android's EncryptedSharedPreferences/EncryptedFile (AES-256) or standard app-private storage. None of it is ever transmitted off your device, to us or to any third party.

• Your PIN, pattern, or knock code — stored only as a salted cryptographic hash. The actual credential is never stored or recoverable, including by us.
• Your recovery code — stored as a salted hash, the same way your PIN/pattern is.
• Your list of locked apps and per-app notification privacy choices — package names only, stored locally.
• Photos and videos you choose to hide in the Hidden Vault — encrypted on-device (AES-256-GCM) using Android's Jetpack Security library. Only photos/videos you explicitly pick are affected; the app does not scan or access your photo library beyond what you select. If you turn on the optional "auto-hide new photos from a folder" feature, you choose that folder yourself via Android's system file picker, and only that one folder is watched.
• Intruder Log photos — optional feature; front-camera photos taken after a failed unlock attempt are stored encrypted, locally only.
• Files you create with the Tools (a generated QR code image, a PDF you built from photos, a compressed photo) — saved either to your own device gallery/files or wherever you choose via the system save picker. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
• App settings and usage-based stats shown to you — auto-lock delay, feature toggles, your security-streak count, and the screen-time figures shown in the Tools tab (computed from Android's own Usage Access API, described below) — all stored locally, only ever displayed back to you inside the app.

Permissions the app uses, and why

• Usage Access — lets the app detect which app is currently in the foreground, so it knows when to show the lock screen for an app you've protected. It's also used to power the optional Screen Time and Weekly Recap tools, which show you your own on-device usage stats. The app does not transmit your usage history anywhere.
• Display over other apps — needed to show the lock screen on top of a protected app.
• Camera — used in two optional, user-initiated places: (1) the Intruder Log feature, which takes a front-camera photo after a failed unlock attempt, stored encrypted on-device; and (2) the QR Scanner tool, which reads a QR/barcode live using on-device recognition — no camera frames or images are ever saved, uploaded, or leave the device for this feature.
• Microphone — used only by the optional Voice Calculator tool, to let you speak calculations instead of typing them. Audio is processed by Android's on-device speech recognition while that screen is open and is never recorded to a file, stored, or transmitted anywhere. The microphone is only active while the Voice Calculator screen is open on-screen, and stops the instant you leave it. (Separately, the Voice Lock feature does not use this permission at all — it delegates entirely to a system voice-input app and never touches the microphone itself.)
• Notification Access — optional, per-app feature. If you enable it for a specific app, AppLock replaces that app's notification text with a generic placeholder so previews don't leak content on your lock screen or status bar. AppLock does not read, store, or transmit the content of your notifications anywhere — it only checks which app a notification came from, and (if you enabled the feature for that app) replaces the visible text on-device.
• Biometric authentication — used only to unlock the app or a protected app, via Android's own BiometricPrompt system API. Your fingerprint/face data never leaves Android's secure hardware and is never seen by AppLock or us.
• Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS) — used to show the "protection active" status notification (with a "Lock now" quick action), and to post sanitized notification replacements for the feature described above.
• Vibration — used only for the optional break-in alarm, which vibrates (alongside an audible alarm) after repeated failed unlock attempts.
• Battery optimization exemption — optional, user- initiated. Lets the app keep running reliably in the background to detect app switches. You can decline or revoke this at any time in system Settings.

Files, photos, and documents you pick for the Tools

The QR Generator, PDF Toolkit, Photo Compressor, and Duplicate Finder tools only ever work with files you explicitly choose through Android's own system file/photo picker (or a folder you pick, for Duplicate Finder). AppLock never has standing access to your photo library or file system — each tool only sees the specific files you select in that moment, processes them entirely on-device, and saves the result back to your device or wherever you choose. Sharing a generated file (e.g. tapping "Share" on a QR code) uses Android's standard share sheet and only goes to whichever app you pick — AppLock itself never sends it anywhere.

Data we do NOT do

• No analytics, crash reporting, or advertising SDKs.
• No account creation, no sign-in, no network requests of any kind.
• No data is sold, shared, or transmitted to any third party.
• No standing access to your photo library, contacts, or files beyond what you explicitly pick each time.

Children's privacy

AppLock does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children, because it does not collect information at all.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this same URL with a new "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: sahaniavtar1@gmail.com