Privacy Policy for SMS Backup+

Summary (tl;dnr)

SMS Backup+ is a tool to help you back up your text messages and call log information to an email account.

To function properly it needs to have full access to various types of private data stored on your phone as well as your email account.

Your data is accessed and then transferred to a place of your choice, usually your Gmail account. SMS Backup+ does not store private data on your phone nor does it send it to any other service except the one defined by you.

Your usage data is not shared with anybody, there are no ads, analytics or other type of tracking code embedded in the application.

The full source code is public and has been peer-reviewed by many independent developers over the span of several years.

Access to personal information

The following personally identifiable information is accessed by SMS Backup+ (also see the list of requested permissions in the appendix):

• full name
• mobile phone number
• email address
• emails
• contacts (address book)
• text messages
• call logs
• calendar data

The access takes place with the sole purpose of transmitting and storing selected information to provide you with a convenient backup of your data. If you choose to store your text messages in Gmail, the resulting storage and processing is governed by the Google Privacy Policy, see there for details.

If you do not want to store your data in Gmail you have also the option to have your text messages uploaded to an IMAP server under your control; see the “Advanced” configuration option and the FAQ for more.

Revoking access

To revoke SMS Backup’s access to your data simply delete it and make sure it is no longer linked to your account. Visit “Apps connected to your account” for details.

Transactional information

If you decide to make a donation from within the app the following information is automatically transmitted along with the purchase order:

• post code
• city
• country

The in-app purchase is handled by Google. Please refer to the Google Payments Privacy Notice for more information about how payment information is processed and stored.

Source code

The source code of SMS Backup+ is freely available under a Open Source license, allowing you to verify claims made by this policy. Around 40 different developers and volunteers have so far contributed to the project.

To ensure your phone runs the exact version of the code as published, install SMS Backup+ via the alternative store F-Droid.

Alternatively build the package from the source code yourself, instructions and help are available online.

Changes

Updates to this privacy policy will be posted at this address, update notifications are made available as Atom feed.

Contact

For any other questions regarding the privacy of your data please contact me directly.

Contact information as listed in Google Play:

Jan Berkel
Hinkeläcker Str. 35
67317 Altleiningen

email: jan.berkel+smsbackup@gmail.com

Appendix

List of requested permissions (version 1.5.11)

The permission names correspond to standard codes used by Android. Permissions marked with ⚠ are classified as “dangerous permission” by Google.