--- title: "iPhone Privacy Glossary: 24 Terms Explained" description: "Plain-English definitions of 24 iPhone privacy terms, from App Library and the Hidden album to Advanced Data Protection, end-to-end encryption and decoy vaults." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/glossary lang: en published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # iPhone privacy glossary > Short definitions of the words that come up in our guides, each with where to find the setting on your iPhone. Published 2026-10-31 - Updated 2026-10-31 - By VaultForYou Editorial Team - Checked against iOS 27 - Oct 31, 2026 ## Quick answer 24 iPhone privacy terms, each defined in one or two sentences. Tap a term for where the setting lives, what it does and doesn't protect, and the guides that use it. ### [Advanced Data Protection](/glossary/advanced-data-protection) Advanced Data Protection is an optional iCloud setting that turns on end-to-end encryption for most iCloud data, including iCloud Photos, iCloud Backup and Notes, so only your trusted devices hold the keys. It needs a recovery contact or recovery key. ### [AES-256](/glossary/aes-256) AES-256 is the Advanced Encryption Standard used with a 256-bit key. AES is a symmetric cipher, meaning the same key encrypts and decrypts, and it is one of the most widely used ways to encrypt files, disks and network traffic. ### [App Library](/glossary/app-library) App Library is the page after your last Home Screen page that lists every app installed on your iPhone, sorted into automatic groups. Apps you remove from the Home Screen stay there, and hidden apps go to a locked Hidden folder at its bottom. ### [App lock (Require Face ID)](/glossary/app-lock) Require Face ID is Apple's app lock, added in iOS 18. A locked app asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode every time it opens, and its content stops appearing in notification previews, search, Siri suggestions, CarPlay and call history. ### [Content & Privacy Restrictions](/glossary/content-privacy-restrictions) Content & Privacy Restrictions is the part of Screen Time that blocks built-in features such as Camera and AirDrop, explicit media and certain settings changes. On iOS 27 built-in features are under Other Features; on iOS 26 they were under Allowed Apps & Features. ### [Decoy vault](/glossary/decoy-vault) A decoy vault is a second, harmless-looking vault that opens with a different password or pattern. If someone pressures you to open your vault, you can open the decoy, and nothing in it points to the real one. ### [Duress password](/glossary/duress-password) A duress password is a second code you can enter when forced to unlock something. It appears to work normally but triggers a protective action instead, such as opening a decoy or erasing the real data. ### [End-to-end encryption](/glossary/end-to-end-encryption) End-to-end encryption means data is encrypted on the sender's device and can only be decrypted on the intended device. The company that carries or stores it in between, such as a cloud or messaging service, does not hold the keys and cannot read it. ### [Excluded Apps (Siri)](/glossary/excluded-apps) Excluded Apps is a Siri setting in iOS 27 that keeps the apps you choose away from Siri, Search and suggestions. The apps stay on your Home Screen and keep working; they just stop appearing in those places. ### [EXIF data](/glossary/exif) EXIF data is metadata stored inside a photo file: when it was taken, the camera or phone, the settings used and, if Location Services was on for Camera, the GPS location. Anyone who gets the original file can read it. ### [Guided Access](/glossary/guided-access) Guided Access is an iPhone accessibility feature that keeps the phone inside one app until a passcode is entered. It's useful when you hand your iPhone to someone and don't want them opening anything else. ### [Hidden album](/glossary/hidden-album) The Hidden album is the place in the Photos app where photos and videos you hide are kept, under Collections -> Utilities -> Hidden. It is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode by default, but it is not separately encrypted and it syncs with iCloud Photos. ### [Hidden folder](/glossary/hidden-folder) The Hidden folder is a locked folder at the bottom of App Library that holds apps you hid with Hide and Require Face ID (iOS 18 and later). It opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and only App Store apps can be put in it. ### [iCloud Photos](/glossary/icloud-photos) iCloud Photos is the Apple service that stores your whole photo library in iCloud and keeps it in sync on every device signed in to your Apple Account. Hidden photos and Recently Deleted sync too, so hiding a photo on one device hides it everywhere, not deletes it. ### [iCloud Shared Photo Library](/glossary/shared-library) iCloud Shared Photo Library is a separate photo library you share with up to five other people. Everyone in it can add, edit and delete its photos, and the Camera can be set to save straight into it. ### [iOS Keychain](/glossary/keychain) The iOS Keychain is the encrypted storage built into iPhone where apps keep secrets such as passwords and encryption keys. Items in it are protected by your device passcode and the iPhone's hardware security. ### [Notification previews](/glossary/notification-previews) Notification previews are the part of an iPhone notification that shows content, such as the text of a message. You can choose Always, When Unlocked or Never for all apps or for each app in Settings -> Notifications -> Show Previews. ### [Recently Deleted](/glossary/recently-deleted) Recently Deleted is the album in the Photos app that keeps photos and videos for 30 days after you delete them, so you can recover them. It is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode by default, and with iCloud Photos on it syncs across your devices. ### [Screen Time](/glossary/screen-time) Screen Time is the iPhone feature in Settings that reports how long you use each app and lets you limit apps with Time Allowances (App Limits before iOS 27), a Screen Time Schedule, and Content & Privacy Restrictions, protected by a Screen Time passcode. ### [Screen Time passcode](/glossary/screen-time-passcode) A Screen Time passcode is a four-digit code, separate from your iPhone passcode, that protects Screen Time settings. With it set, Time Allowances, schedules and restrictions can't be changed or switched off without the code. ### [Stolen Device Protection](/glossary/stolen-device-protection) Stolen Device Protection is an iPhone setting that adds a layer of security when you're away from familiar places. Sensitive actions then need Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback, and some changes also need a security delay. ### [Time Allowances](/glossary/time-allowances) Time Allowances are the iOS 27 Screen Time setting that replaced App Limits. You set a daily amount of time for a category, such as Social Media or Games, or for a category you create, and Apple says the allowance also covers a website an app declares as its own. ### [Vault app](/glossary/vault-app) A vault app keeps the photos, videos and files you choose outside the Photos app, in a separate space behind its own lock. Good ones encrypt the files and use a lock that is separate from your iPhone passcode. ### [Zero-knowledge encryption](/glossary/zero-knowledge-encryption) Zero-knowledge encryption describes a service designed so that it never has the password or keys needed to read your data. It stores your files encrypted, but it cannot see them, hand them over or recover them if you lose your key. ## Browse - [Privacy settings for every app](https://www.vaultforyou.app/apps) - [Hide apps on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-apps) - [Lock apps on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/lock-apps) - [Block apps on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/block-apps) - [Hide photos on iPhone](https://www.vaultforyou.app/hide-photos) --- Our guides are written and fact-checked by the VaultForYou team against Apple's own documentation. We make VaultForYou, a private vault app for iPhone. Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000