None declared
Mostly a question of trust: Element Classic collects data linked to you but declares no tracking. The sensitive items are location, contacts and user content. In total the label lists 7 data types; 14% of secure messengers we checked declare tracking.
Element Classic privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Element Classic collects 4 data types tied to your identity but declares no tracking.
Did Element Classic ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Element Classic's developer declared.
Element Classic lists Location on its label, linked to you. Choose While Using and turn off Precise Location if the feature works without it.
Element Classic lists User Content on its label. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Element Classic lists Contacts on its label. Limited Access shares selected contacts instead of your whole address book.
Element Classic declares no tracking, so a tracking prompt would contradict its label. Decline it, and consider reporting the mismatch to Apple.
Health & Fitness is not on Element Classic's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Element Classic collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| LocationSensitiveLinked to you | Where your phone is, either precisely (street level) or approximately (city or area). | Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services: choose Never or While Using, and turn off Precise Location if the app does not need it. |
| ContactsSensitiveNot linked to you | The people in your address book or social graph. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts: choose Limited Access to share only selected people, or None. |
| User ContentSensitiveNot linked to you | Messages, photos, videos, audio recordings, documents and support chats you create or upload. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos: choose Limited Access or None; review Microphone and Files access too. |
| Contact InfoLinked to you | Your name, email address, phone number or postal address. | Use Sign in with Apple with Hide My Email where offered, and check the app's account and marketing preferences. |
| IdentifiersLinked to you | An account ID, screen name, customer number or a device-level ID such as the advertising identifier. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, or tap Ask App Not to Track when prompted. |
| Usage DataNot linked to you | What you tap, open and view inside the app, plus which ads you have seen. | There is no single iOS switch. Look for an analytics or personalised-ads toggle in the app's own settings. |
| DiagnosticsLinked to youNot linked to you | Crash logs, launch times, hang rates and energy use. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share With App Developers controls what Apple passes on; the app's own crash reporting is separate. |
What Element Classic's label means for you
Element Classic's label has 4 types under “Data Linked to You”, 4 types under “Data Not Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Element Classic declares no tracking, which means the developer says it does not combine your data with other companies' data for advertising or sell it to data brokers. The data linked to you — location, contact info, identifiers and diagnostics — is still tied to your identity, typically through an account, and is covered by the developer's privacy policy and retention rules.
The items that deserve the most attention are location, contacts and user content. Location history reveals home, work and routines. Precise location deserves the most scrutiny.
Messengers see who you talk to as well as what you say. Even with end-to-end encrypted content, contact lists and metadata can be collected and linked to you. Check whether contact upload is optional, whether backups are encrypted too, and whether disappearing messages exist.
Among the 172 secure messengers in our snapshot with a label, 14% declare tracking, 54% collect data linked to you and 29% say they collect nothing. Element Classic lists 7 data types, more than the average of 2.8 for this group.
Business apps often handle other people's data — clients, colleagues and customers — so what they collect can affect more than you.
Settings to check for Element Classic
- 1
Tracking
Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is off, apps cannot ask, and they are told to treat you as having declined. You can also turn it off for this app alone.
- 2
Location
Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Element Classic. Choose While Using or Never, and switch off Precise Location if a city-level answer is enough.
- 3
Photos
Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Limited Access lets you pick exactly which pictures the app can see; Add Photos Only lets it save without reading your library.
- 4
Contacts
Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts. Limited Access shares only the people you select instead of your whole address book.
- 5
Microphone & camera
Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone and Camera. The orange and green dots in the status bar show when either is in use.
- 6
Sign-in
When creating an account, Sign in with Apple can give the app a relay address from Hide My Email instead of your real one.
Does Element Classic track you?
There is no “Data Used to Track You” section on Element Classic's label.
Does Element Classic track you? Full answer and how to stop it →
Lock Element Classic behind Face ID
- Find Element Classic on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Element Classic now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Element Classic has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Element Classic
| Developer | Vector Creations Limited |
| App Store category | Business (also Productivity) |
| Latest version | 1.11.41, released September 2026 |
| First released | May 2016 |
| Requires | iOS 15.1 or later |
| Size | 180 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ |
| Languages | 45 (SQ, EU, BE, BS, BG, CA, CS, DA…) |
| Bundle ID | im.vector.app |
The current version shipped in September 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
Also by Vector Creations Limited: Element X.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Element Classic sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Element Classic's developer: Is the message content end-to-end encrypted by default, including backups?
Element Classic vs similar secure messengers
- Element Classic (this app)
- WTalk Messenger
- Twake Chat
- Xelo Messenger
- RueChat
- SalaX Secure Messaging
- CommChat Messenger & Calls
- Output Messenger
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Element Classic
All secure messengers → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect location → Privacy label decoder →
Your Element Classic privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
False: there is no Data Used to Track You section on Element Classic's label.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: Location appears on its label.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.