Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Ephemeral Trace ("the App") is a privacy-first camera application for iPhone developed by Oleksandr Herasymchuk Unipessoal LDA ("we", "us", or "our"). The App lets you capture or import photos and videos, organize them locally, and assign timer-based expiration. Media managed by the App is stored in its private container on your device. We do not operate a server that receives your media.

This Privacy Policy explains what data the App handles and how it is stored. We are committed to transparency and to building software that respects your privacy by design.

2. Information We Collect

3. Data Stored on Your Device

The App creates and stores the following data locally in its container. It is not sent to us. Information leaves the App only through user-initiated sharing or export, the actions described in section 6, or when an Apple service handles a purchase or a selected iCloud item, as described below.

• Media files — Photos and videos captured in or imported into the App, stored in its private sandbox directory
• Metadata — Capture or import timestamps, timer durations, expiration dates, media type, folder names and assignments, notes, and related organization state, stored using Apple's SwiftData framework
• Thumbnails and recognized text — Cached previews, and, when you turn on Text in Photos (Pro), the text read from your photos on your device and the number of codes found in each, used by the gallery, search, and filters
• User preferences — Settings such as timer defaults, camera configuration, folder rules, notification options, appearance, and lock preferences, stored using Apple's local storage frameworks
• Purchase status — Whether you have purchased Pro, verified locally through Apple's StoreKit framework

4. Data We Do Not Receive

We do not receive the following information through developer-operated analytics, advertising, crash-reporting, account, or media-storage systems:

• Account details such as your name, email address, phone number, or postal address
• App usage analytics or behavioral telemetry
• Crash reports or diagnostic telemetry sent to us
• Advertising identifiers or IDFA
• Your device location, contacts, calendars, browsing history, in-app searches, or device fingerprint

Media, notes, and recognized text that you choose to keep in the App can contain personal or location information. The App processes that content locally. It can leave the App through user-initiated sharing or export, or through the Apple service boundaries described below.

The App's privacy manifest (PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy) declares NSPrivacyTracking = false and an empty NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes array under Apple's manifest definitions. Its required-reason API declarations cover NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryFileTimestamp, NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryDiskSpace, and NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryUserDefaults.

5. Device Permissions

The App requests the following device permissions, each for a specific and limited purpose:

• Camera — To capture photos and videos into the App's local container, and, while Scan QR Codes is on, to read QR codes in the viewfinder on your device. A code the camera reads is not stored.
• Microphone — To record audio with videos captured in the App. Without it, videos record without sound.
• Notifications — To deliver local expiry warnings, if you allow them. Warnings are scheduled on your device and never contain the photo, its note, or its recognized text.
• Face ID / Touch ID — To lock and unlock the gallery and individual folders (Pro). Biometric matching is handled entirely by iOS; the App never receives biometric data.
• Photo Library (Add Only) — To save photos and videos from Ephemeral Trace to your Photo Library when you explicitly choose to export them. The App does not request read access to your library and cannot browse it. Media brought into the App is handed over by Apple’s system picker, which gives the App access only to the specific items you select, or sent from another app with the Share sheet.

All permissions are optional. The App will explain why each permission is needed before requesting it, and you can change these permissions at any time in your device's Settings.

Items stored only in iCloud. If an item you select through Apple’s system picker is not downloaded to your device, iOS may retrieve it from iCloud before handing the selected item to the App. Apple performs that retrieval under your iCloud settings. Ephemeral Trace has no account or media server of its own.

6. Actions That Hand Information to iOS

Some actions pass information from a photo to iOS or to an app you choose. They happen only when you take them:

• Join Wi-Fi — When the camera or a photo shows a Wi-Fi QR code and you tap Join, the App hands the network's name and password to iOS, which asks you before joining. The App itself opens no network connection.
• Add to Contacts and Add to Calendar — When the camera or a photo shows a contact or event QR code, the App opens Apple's own editor with those details, for you to save or cancel. The App does not request access to, or read, your contacts or calendars.
• Open a link — When the camera or a photo shows a QR code that holds a web link, or a line of a photo’s text is one, and you tap Open, the App hands the link to Safari. Only http and https links get this button, and nothing opens until you tap it. What happens next is governed by Safari and the website.
• Links, numbers, addresses, and dates in a photo’s text — When you tap one in a photo’s text, iOS opens it in the app that handles it, such as Safari, Phone, Maps, or Calendar, or shows its own details for a flight or tracking number. What happens next is governed by that app or service.
• Share and Save to Photos — Content you share goes to the destination you pick, under that destination's terms. A copy saved to Photos follows your Photos and iCloud settings and is no longer governed by the App's timer.

7. Data Security

Ephemeral Trace relies on iOS platform security to protect your media:

• iOS Data Protection — Files stored by the App use the iOS file-protection class NSFileProtectionCompleteUntilFirstUserAuthentication.
• Excluded from backups — The App's media, its database of notes, recognized text, folder names, and expiry dates, and items waiting to be imported from the Share sheet are flagged with isExcludedFromBackup, so they are excluded from iCloud and iTunes device backups.
• Expiry cleanup — When expiry completes, the App removes the media file, thumbnail, and stored record. There is no trash or undo path inside the App.
• App sandbox — Media is stored within the App's private container, inaccessible to other apps on your device.

8. Data Retention & Deletion

Media in Ephemeral Trace is scheduled for expiry using the timer assigned when it is captured or imported:

• Available timers include 30 seconds, 5 minutes, 1 hour, 24 hours, custom durations up to one year (Pro), and Keep Forever (Pro)
• When expiry completes, the App removes the media file, thumbnail, and associated stored record
• You can also delete any media manually at any time
• Turning off Text in Photos deletes all recognized text and code counts the App has stored
• Uninstalling the App asks iOS to remove the App and its local container; purchase records remain with Apple and may be restored through StoreKit

The App has no in-app trash, undo, or restore flow for an item after its expiry cleanup or manual deletion succeeds.

9. Third-Party Services

The App uses Apple frameworks and system services, including StoreKit for purchases, the system picker for selected imports, Photos for exports you request, the Share sheet for destinations you choose, the Wi-Fi, Contacts, Calendar, and Safari hand-offs described in section 6, and local notifications. Apple may process related information under Apple's Privacy Policy. A destination you select when sharing receives the content you choose under that destination's own terms.

10. This Website

ephemeraltrace.com is hosted by Netlify. To deliver pages, Netlify's servers process standard request information, such as your IP address, browser type, and the page requested, under Netlify's Privacy Policy. The website uses no analytics, cookies, or tracking scripts, and loads no fonts or other resources from other companies. Each page carries Apple’s Smart App Banner tag, so on iPhone, Safari may fetch the app’s icon, rating, and price from the App Store to show the banner. Links to the App Store take you to Apple, whose privacy policy applies there.

11. Children's Privacy

Ephemeral Trace does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13 years of age, through systems operated by us.

12. Apple App Store

Ephemeral Trace is distributed through the Apple App Store. Apple may collect certain data related to your App Store account, download, and purchase activity in accordance with Apple's Privacy Policy. This data collection is performed by Apple, not by us, and is governed by Apple's own terms.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy if the App's data practices change. If we make material changes, we will update the "Effective date" at the top of this page and note the changes here. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

This version of the policy takes effect on October 7, 2026. It adds QR codes read by the camera, links handed to Safari (section 6), and the count of codes stored with a photo’s recognized text. The previous version added imports through the system picker and the Share sheet, notes, text recognized from your photos (Text in Photos), folder rules, notifications, the other actions in section 6, the backup exclusion of the App's database, and this website.

14. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or the App's privacy practices, please contact us:

• Email: contact@ephemeraltrace.com
• Developer: Oleksandr Herasymchuk Unipessoal LDA