# Privacy Policy

**Last Updated:** [22/02/2026]

Steganography ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information when you use our Steganography application (the "Service").

## 1. About This App

Steganography is an app that allows users to hide data inside images. In the future, the app may support hiding data in audio and video files as well. The app is intended for educational and legitimate personal use only. Misuse of steganography can have serious consequences, and users are solely responsible for how they use the app.

## 2. Information Collection

- **No Personal Data Collection:**  

  We do not collect, store, or transmit any personal information or usage data from users.

- **Local Processing:**  

  All file, image, and (in the future) audio/video processing is performed locally on your device. No files, images, audio, video, or data are sent to any server or third party.

- **User-Selected Data Only:**  

  The app does not access, process, or store any device data except for the files and images you explicitly select for steganography operations.

## 3. Permissions

The app requests only the minimum permissions necessary:

- **Internet & Network State:** Required solely to display Google AdMob advertisements. No user data or files are transmitted.

- **Write External Storage (Android 9 and below only):** Required to save the output PNG to the Downloads folder on older devices. This permission is **not** requested on Android 10 or newer.

**No storage permission is required on Android 10+.**  

On Android 10 and above, the app uses the following system-provided, permission-free APIs:

- **MediaStore API** — to save the encoded output file directly to your Downloads folder.

- **Storage Access Framework (SAF)** — to let you pick your own output folder when extracting a hidden file. Access is granted only to the specific folder you choose.

## 4. Advertisements

Our Service is supported by ads from Google AdMob. To make our app free, we show advertisements when you use certain features (like hiding or extracting files).

- **Google AdMob:** We use Google AdMob to display banner advertisements. AdMob is a third-party service that may collect and use information about you to provide personalized ads. This may include your device ID, location, and other data.

- **Data Collection by AdMob:** We do not share any of your personal data with Google AdMob. However, their service may independently collect data. We encourage you to review Google's own privacy policy to understand how they handle your data: [Google Privacy & Terms](https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads)

## 5. Data Security

- All image and file processing is done **entirely on your device** — nothing is uploaded or sent anywhere.

- Input files and images are temporarily copied to the app's **private cache** during processing and are deleted immediately after the operation completes.

- The encoded output file is saved to your **Downloads folder** (Hide operation) or the **folder you selected** (Extract operation).

- No user files are included in cloud backups (Android Backup Service is configured to exclude app data).

- No data is transmitted over the internet (except standard network requests made by the AdMob SDK).

We take reasonable measures to protect your information, but please be aware that no security measures are perfect. Since all processing is done locally on your device, the security of your data is primarily in your hands.

## 6. Risks and User Responsibility

- **Potential for Misuse:** Steganography can be used to hide sensitive or illegal content. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of the app complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

- **Legal Consequences:** Misuse of steganography may be illegal in some jurisdictions. We do not condone or support any illegal activity.

- **No Guarantee of Security:** While steganography can conceal data, it does not guarantee absolute security or privacy. Hidden data may still be discovered by advanced analysis.

## 7. Children's Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can take necessary actions.

## 8. Changes to This Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

## 9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: spicem53688@gmail.com