Harjot Singh Panesar
SpaceBack · LegalEffective Date: September 25, 2026

SpaceBack - Privacy Policy

Summary:

  • SpaceBack has no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking.
  • Your photos, videos and contacts are analysed on your iPhone and are never uploaded.
  • If you connect a mailbox, SpaceBack talks directly to Google or Microsoft using their own sign-in. It never sees your password.
  • We run no servers, so we hold no data about you.

1. Introduction

SpaceBack ("the App") is an iPhone app that helps you free up storage and tidy your contacts and inbox. It is developed by Harjot Singh Panesar ("we", "us", "our"). This Privacy Policy explains what the App reads, what it does with that information, and what it never does.

2. Information We Collect

None. We do not operate any server for SpaceBack, and the App does not send personal information or usage data to us or to any analytics, advertising or tracking service.

The App works with information on your iPhone, and with your mailbox only if you connect one, as described below. All of it stays under your control.

3. Photos and Videos

With your permission (iOS asks first, and you can choose limited access), SpaceBack reads your photo library to find duplicate photos, similar shots, screenshots and large videos.

  • What it reads: each item's type, date, pixel size and storage size, and small thumbnails.
  • How it compares photos: it builds a short "fingerprint" of each thumbnail with Apple's on-device Vision framework.
  • Where the scan results live: in the App's own storage on your iPhone, excluded from backups. No photo, video or fingerprint ever leaves the device.
  • Removing items: nothing is removed until you review it and confirm the iOS prompt. Removed items go to the Photos app's Recently Deleted album, where you can restore them for 30 days.
  • Removing duplicates: the photo you keep is added to the albums the removed copies were in, and becomes a favourite if one of them was, so nothing drops out of your albums. A smaller video copy takes over its original's albums in the same way.
  • Smaller video copies: when you ask for a smaller copy of a video, it is made on your iPhone. It is saved to your library with the original's date, location, favourite status and albums.

4. Contacts

With your permission (full or limited access), SpaceBack reads your contacts to find people saved more than once. It reads names, phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, websites, instant-message addresses, dates, related names, social profiles, organisation details and contact photos. It does not read contact notes.

  • Merging: records are merged only when you approve the merge.
  • Backup before every merge: SpaceBack first saves a copy of the records involved in the App's storage on your iPhone. This lets you undo the merge or export the records as a vCard file.
  • Where backups go: SpaceBack never uploads them. Like other app data, they may be included in the iCloud or computer backups of your iPhone that you make yourself. You can delete any backup inside the App.

5. Mail (Gmail and Outlook)

Connecting a mailbox is optional. When you connect one, you sign in on Google's or Microsoft's own page, and SpaceBack receives an access token from them. It never receives your password.

Permissions requested:

  • Gmail: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify. This lets the App search, read message details and move messages to Trash. It never permanently deletes mail.
  • Outlook / Microsoft 365: Mail.ReadWrite, User.Read and offline_access.

What it reads: for each message in the categories you review (older promotions, or in Outlook older messages in the Other inbox; newsletters; and large messages), SpaceBack reads the message ID, sender name and address, subject, date and size. For Outlook it also reads whether a message is flagged for follow-up. It does not download message bodies or attachments. The search for newsletters runs on Google's or Microsoft's servers. Starred Gmail messages and flagged Outlook messages are never offered for cleanup.

What it does: messages move to your provider's Trash only for the senders you select and confirm. Your provider keeps them in Trash under its usual rules.

Where your sign-in is stored: in the iOS Keychain on your iPhone, readable only by SpaceBack. It is used only to call Google's or Microsoft's mail services from your iPhone.

Disconnecting: go to Plan & access and choose Disconnect account. This deletes the stored sign-in and, for Google, revokes SpaceBack's access. You can also remove SpaceBack's access at any time from your Google Account or Microsoft account security settings.

Google API Services: SpaceBack's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Information from your Gmail account is used only to show you cleanup suggestions and to carry out the actions you confirm. It is not transferred to anyone, not used for advertising, and not read by people.

6. Subscriptions

SpaceBack Plus is sold through Apple as an auto-renewing subscription. Apple handles payment and your Apple Account; we never see your payment details. The App only checks on your iPhone whether a subscription is active. Apple's handling of purchases is governed by the Apple Privacy Policy.

7. Notifications and Widgets

The weekly tidy-up reminder and the reminder before a free trial ends are local notifications. They are scheduled on your iPhone and are not sent through any server.

The Home Screen widgets show a summary that the App shares with its widget on your iPhone, such as the space you can get back and your progress this month.

8. Data Sharing

We have no data about you to sell, rent, trade or share, and we do not. The only services SpaceBack contacts are:

  • Apple, for purchases.
  • Google or Microsoft, if you connect a mailbox. Those requests go directly from your iPhone to your provider.

9. Keeping and Deleting Your Information

Everything SpaceBack keeps is stored on your iPhone:

  • the scan results
  • contact backups
  • your cleanup history
  • your settings
  • a connected mailbox's sign-in, if you connected one

To remove it:

  • Delete the App, which removes all of this except a connected mailbox's sign-in. iOS keeps that in the Keychain after an app is deleted; SpaceBack erases it, and for Google revokes its access, the next time it is installed and opened. To end mailbox access right away, disconnect the mailbox before deleting the App, or remove SpaceBack in your Google or Microsoft account settings.
  • Delete contact backups individually inside the App.
  • Disconnect a mailbox in Plan & access.
  • Turn off Photos, Contacts or Notifications access in iOS Settings › SpaceBack.

10. Children's Privacy

SpaceBack is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children under 13. It does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age.

11. Changes to This Policy

If SpaceBack ever changes how it handles information, this page will be updated with a new effective date before that version is released.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at:

Back to the site