Siftory

Privacy policy

Privacy policy

Last updated: 15 November 2026

Siftory is an Android app that helps you sort the photos and videos already on your phone. It was built so your photos stay on your phone. This policy explains what Siftory accesses, what it stores, what (if anything) leaves your device, and the choices you have.

The short version: Siftory has no accounts, no adverts, no analytics and no crash-reporting tools. Your photos and videos are never uploaded. Everything Siftory remembers is kept on your phone. When paid upgrades launch, Google Play and our purchase-verification provider, RevenueCat, will receive the details needed to process and confirm a purchase. They will never receive your photos.

Who we are

Siftory is published by Richard Tipple, an individual developer based in the United Kingdom ("we", "us"). For UK data protection law, we are the controller of any personal data described in this policy.

Contact: info@siftoryapp.com
Website: https://siftoryapp.com

What Siftory accesses on your phone

Your photos and videos

Sorting your gallery is the whole point of Siftory, so it asks Android for permission to read your photos and videos (the "Photos and videos" permission, which may appear as READ_MEDIA_IMAGES and READ_MEDIA_VIDEO). On recent versions of Android you can choose to allow all of your photos and videos, or only a selection. You can change this at any time in your phone's settings.

With this permission, Siftory reads the images and videos themselves so it can show them to you. It also reads basic details Android provides about each item, such as its file name, size, type, the date it was taken or changed, and which album (folder) it is in. Siftory does not ask for permission to read the location stored in your photos.

All of this happens on your phone. Siftory does not upload, copy to a server, analyse in the cloud, or share your photos, videos or their details with anyone.

Changes Siftory can make to your media, and only when you confirm

Siftory only changes the photos and videos on your phone when you ask it to. Android then shows its own confirmation before anything happens:

  • Moving to the Recycle bin: items you mark as Trash stay in Siftory's Trash list until you choose to delete them. Siftory then asks Android to move them to the phone's Recycle bin (Android 11 and later). Android normally keeps items there for 30 days before deleting them for good. You can restore them from the Recycle bin before then, either in Siftory or in your gallery app.
  • Deleting permanently: if you choose "Delete permanently", Android deletes the items straight away, once you confirm. They cannot be restored.
  • Phone albums: if you link a Collection to a phone album and choose to apply the changes, Siftory moves those items into that album's folder, once you confirm in Android. Android will not let Siftory move a file that another app owns (for example, images saved by a messaging app). For those, Siftory saves a copy in the album and then asks you to confirm moving the original to the Recycle bin, so that you are left with one copy.

Siftory never deletes or moves media without your confirmation.

What Siftory stores on your phone

To remember your progress, Siftory keeps a small database inside its own private app storage on your phone. This includes:

  • your sorting decisions (for example Keep, Later, Favourite or Trash) and your sorting sessions;
  • the Collections you create, which items belong to them, and any phone albums you have linked them to;
  • a list of items you have deleted through Siftory (their Android identifier, file name, size, type and when they were deleted), so they stay hidden and so items in the Recycle bin can be restored;
  • your settings and preferences, including which media Siftory may sort and whether you have finished the introduction;
  • how much of the free allowance you have used this month, and your plan (Free or Lifetime).

These records refer to your photos and videos by the identifiers Android gives them. They do not contain copies of your photos. This data is not sent to us or to anyone else. Other apps cannot read it, and it is not part of Siftory's purchase records.

What leaves your phone

Today

Siftory does not send any personal data off your phone. It contains no analytics, advertising, tracking or crash-reporting tools. It does not ask you to sign in.

Google Play, which you used to install Siftory, works independently of the app. If you have chosen to share usage and diagnostics information with Google, Google may give us anonymised statistics and crash reports through the Google Play Console. These are covered by Google's privacy policy.

When paid upgrades launch

Siftory will offer a one-off "Siftory Lifetime" unlock, and we may give out one-time promotional codes for it. When this becomes available:

  • Google Play will handle payments and promo code redemption. Your payment details go to Google, not to us. Google's handling of your information is covered by the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Payments Privacy Notice.
  • RevenueCat (RevenueCat, Inc.) will check with Google Play that a purchase or code is genuine and tell Siftory whether Lifetime is unlocked. To do this, RevenueCat will receive a random, anonymous app user ID created by Siftory, the purchase receipt and transaction details from Google Play (such as the product, price, currency, date and purchase token), and basic technical information sent with each request (such as the app version, the device's platform and operating system version, and the IP address used to connect). RevenueCat processes this data on our behalf under its privacy policy. RevenueCat does not receive your name, email address, photos, videos or sorting data.

We use this purchase information only to give you access to what you bought, to restore it if you reinstall or change phone, to prevent fraud, and to keep the records we need for accounting and tax. Our legal bases under UK GDPR are performing our contract with you (giving you the unlock you paid for), legal obligation (financial records) and our legitimate interests in preventing fraud and understanding sales. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.

Data sent to RevenueCat and Google may be processed outside the UK, including in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on the safeguards UK law recognises, such as the UK–US data bridge or the International Data Transfer Addendum to standard contractual clauses, as offered by those providers.

We will update this policy before paid upgrades go live.

How long data is kept, and how to delete it

  • On your phone: Siftory's records stay on your phone until you remove them. To delete everything Siftory has stored, uninstall the app, or go to Settings > Apps > Siftory > Storage > Clear data. This does not delete your photos or videos. Items already in Android's Recycle bin stay there until Android removes them, or until you restore or empty them.
  • Purchase records (once purchases launch): we keep these for as long as you might need to restore your purchase and as long as the law requires for accounting. You can ask us to delete the RevenueCat records linked to your anonymous ID by emailing us. If you do, we may not be able to restore your purchase automatically, but Google Play keeps its own record of what you bought. Google keeps its own records under its policies.

Children

Siftory is not designed for or aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Siftory does not collect personal data from anyone today. If you believe a child has made a purchase without permission, refunds are handled through Google Play.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), you have the right to:

  • ask whether we hold personal data about you and get a copy of it;
  • ask us to correct data that is wrong;
  • ask us to delete your data;
  • object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use your data;
  • ask for your data in a portable format.

Because Siftory has no accounts and keeps your sorting data only on your phone, we usually cannot see or identify you. For purchase records, we may need your Google Play order number (it starts with "GPA.") to find them. To use any of these rights, email info@siftoryapp.com. We will reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Security

Siftory's data stays in its private storage on your phone, which other apps cannot access. Your phone's own security, such as its screen lock and encryption, protects it. Once purchases launch, purchase information sent to Google Play and RevenueCat will be encrypted in transit (HTTPS).

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when Siftory changes, for example when paid upgrades launch. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change makes a real difference to how your data is handled, we will tell you in the app or on the Google Play listing before it takes effect.

Contact

If you have questions about this policy or your data, email info@siftoryapp.com.