# Cloak — Privacy Policy

**Last updated: 19 August 2026**

Cloak is an app lock. It protects apps you choose behind a PIN, pattern, or fingerprint, and hides
them from the recent apps switcher.

This policy explains exactly what Cloak does and does not collect. The short version: **Cloak has no
account, no server, and no analytics. Everything it stores stays on your phone.** The only component
that transmits anything is the advertising module, described in section 4.

## 1. What Cloak stores on your device

All of the following is written only to Cloak's private storage on your phone. None of it is
uploaded, shared, or readable by other apps.

| Data | Why | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The list of apps you chose to protect | To know which apps to lock | Encrypted database |
| Your PIN or pattern | To check your unlock attempts | Stored **only as a salted BCrypt hash** — the PIN itself is never written to disk and cannot be recovered from the hash |
| Your settings (accent colour, theme, cooldown, toggles) | To remember your preferences | Device preferences |
| Intruder photos, if you enable that feature | To show you who failed an unlock | Encrypted file, device only |
| Activity log (unlock and failed-attempt times, and which app) | To show you the activity list | Encrypted database |

The database is encrypted with SQLCipher using a random key generated on your device at install and
held in the Android hardware keystore. Intruder photos are encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

**Deleting your data:** uninstalling Cloak permanently removes all of it. You can also clear the
activity log and delete intruder photos at any time from Settings, without uninstalling.

## 2. Permissions, and what each is used for

- **Accessibility service** — Android only allows an app to react the instant another app opens
  through this API. Cloak reads *only the package name of the app that just came to the front*. It
  does not read screen contents, text you type, passwords, or messages, and it does not record or
  transmit anything it sees.
- **Display over other apps** — required to draw the lock screen on top of a protected app.
- **Camera** — used **only** if you turn on intruder photos, and only to take a single front-camera
  photo when someone exceeds the wrong-attempt limit. Photos never leave your device.
- **Notifications** — to show the ongoing "protection active" notification Android requires for a
  service that keeps running.

Cloak does not request contacts, location, microphone, call logs, SMS, or file access.

## 3. What Cloak does not do

- No account, sign-in, or cloud sync.
- No analytics or crash-reporting SDK.
- No tracking of which apps you open, beyond the on-device activity log you can clear yourself.
- Your PIN, pattern, biometrics, and intruder photos are never transmitted anywhere.
- Nothing is sold or shared with data brokers.

## 4. Advertising

Cloak is free and supported by ads served through **Google AdMob**. To show ads, AdMob may collect
your device's advertising identifier, IP address, and general device information. This is handled by
Google, not by Cloak — Cloak does not receive or store this data.

Where the law requires it (for example in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland), Cloak shows Google's consent
form before requesting ads, and you can change your choice later. On Android you can reset or delete
your advertising ID at any time in **Settings → Privacy → Ads**.

Google's handling of this data is governed by their own policies:
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- How Google uses data from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Ads are never shown while you are entering your PIN or pattern in a way that delays unlocking, and no
ad network receives information about which apps you protect.

## 5. Biometrics

If you enable fingerprint or face unlock, Cloak uses Android's `BiometricPrompt`. Your biometric data
is held by the operating system in secure hardware. Cloak never sees, receives, or stores it — it is
only told whether authentication succeeded.

## 6. Children

Cloak is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from
them.

## 7. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, the updated version will be published at this URL with a new
"last updated" date, and the change will be noted in the app's release notes.

## 8. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: **contactus@useotools.com**