Privacy Policy
This privacy policy applies to PaperSafe: Photo Backup (“PaperSafe” or “the app”), an iPhone app built by Sep Behroozi (“I”, “me”). PaperSafe backs up the photos and videos in your photo library to a Telegram chat in your own Telegram account.
The short version
PaperSafe has no servers of its own. I don’t collect, receive, store, sell or share any of your data. The app has no analytics, no advertising, no tracking and no crash-reporting services. Your photos and videos go only from your iPhone to your own Telegram account.
Telegram
PaperSafe is a Telegram client built on TDLib, Telegram’s official client library. It connects directly to Telegram’s servers. When you use it:
- Your phone number, the login code Telegram sends you and, if you have one, your two-step verification password are sent to Telegram to sign you in. They are never sent to me.
- Your photos and videos, including their original files, any edits you made in Photos and a small preview image, are uploaded to the Telegram chat you choose: Saved Messages, or a private channel or group of yours.
- Each backup message has a short technical caption that PaperSafe uses to recognize the item later. It can include an identifier for the item, a fingerprint of the file, its creation date, its iCloud identifier, an edit identifier and its original file name.
- Original files keep the metadata your camera stored in them, such as the date and, if location was on when the photo was taken, the location.
What Telegram does with this data is covered by Telegram’s Privacy Policy. Anyone who can see the chat you back up to can see your backups. If you choose a channel or group with other members, they will be able to see your photos and videos; PaperSafe warns you before you pick such a chat.
Data stored on your iPhone
To work, PaperSafe keeps some data on your device only:
- Your Telegram session and a cache of downloaded photos and videos, managed by TDLib. You can set a limit for the cache or clear it in Settings.
- A backup database: which items in your library are backed up, their fingerprints and the state of uploads.
- Your settings, such as the backup chat and whether backups may use cellular data.
Signing out of Telegram in PaperSafe deletes the backup database and the Telegram session from your iPhone. Deleting the app deletes everything it stored on your iPhone.
Photo library access
PaperSafe asks for access to your photo library so it can show your photos and back them up. It reads your photos and videos only to show them and to upload them to your Telegram chat. When you save a photo from Telegram to your iPhone, PaperSafe adds it to your photo library. You can change photo access at any time in iPhone Settings.
Notifications and background backup
If you allow notifications, PaperSafe shows notifications on your iPhone only, for example when backups are paused because you were signed out. They are created on your device; no notification service of mine is involved. Backups can also run in the background, while iOS allows it, using the same connection to Telegram.
Deleting your backups
Deleting a photo on your iPhone never deletes its backup in Telegram. To delete your backups, delete the messages in Telegram. You can also delete your Telegram account, as described by Telegram.
Children’s privacy
PaperSafe is not directed at children under 13, and I don’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children. Using Telegram is subject to Telegram’s own age requirements.
Changes to this privacy policy
I may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes are posted on this page.
This policy is effective as of 2026-10-20.
Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, contact me at efromfb@gmail.com.