It depends on how you feel about tracking: Waldo declares data used to track you. The sensitive items are financial info, contacts and user content. In total the label lists 8 data types; 51% of private photo apps we checked declare tracking.
Waldo 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.
Waldo's developer reports using usage data to track you across other companies' apps and websites.
Did Waldo ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Waldo's developer declared.
Location is not on Waldo'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.
Waldo lists User Content on its label, linked to you. Choose Limited Access and pick only the photos you want to share.
Waldo lists Contacts on its label, linked to you. Limited Access shares selected contacts instead of your whole address book.
Waldo declares data used to track you, so expect the “Allow to track?” prompt. Tap Ask App Not to Track; the app must keep working without it.
Health & Fitness is not on Waldo'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 Waldo collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| Financial InfoSensitiveLinked to you | Card numbers, bank details, credit scores, salary, income, assets or debts. | Pay with Apple Pay where offered so the app never sees your card number, and turn on the app's own login lock. |
| ContactsSensitiveLinked 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 ContentSensitiveLinked 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. |
| PurchasesLinked to you | What you have bought or tend to buy. | Review in-app marketing settings; subscriptions are listed in Settings › [your name] › Subscriptions. |
| 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 DataUsed to track youLinked 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 Waldo's label means for you
Waldo's label has 1 type under “Data Used to Track You”, 8 types under “Data Linked to You”, 1 type 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.
Tracking is the declaration that most separates apps. It means usage data from Waldo can be combined with data from other companies to target or measure ads, or shared with data brokers. On iOS 14.5 and later, the app must ask your permission before tracking you through the advertising identifier; answering “Ask App Not to Track” blocks that identifier and tells the developer you have declined.
The items that deserve the most attention are financial info, contacts and user content. Financial data is high-value to criminals and is often regulated. Expect it in banking and budgeting apps; question it elsewhere.
Private-photo apps promise to keep pictures out of your main library. The label shows what leaves the phone; it cannot show whether the hiding is a real lock or just a separate folder. Check whether the app needs full Photos access or works with selected photos, and whether hidden items still appear in iCloud Photos.
Among the 85 private photo apps in our snapshot with a label, 51% declare tracking, 61% collect data linked to you and 18% say they collect nothing. Waldo lists 8 data types, more than the average of 3.1 for this group.
Photo and video apps usually request access to your photo library. iOS lets you share only selected photos, which keeps the rest of the library — and its location metadata — away from the app.
Settings to check for Waldo
- 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
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.
- 3
Contacts
Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts. Limited Access shares only the people you select instead of your whole address book.
- 4
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.
- 5
Lock the app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the icon and choose Require Face ID. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone then needs your face, fingerprint or passcode to open it.
- 6
Notifications
Settings › Notifications › Waldo › Show Previews: When Unlocked keeps message and account details off the Lock Screen.
Does Waldo track you?
Usage data. Apple defines tracking as linking data from this app with data from other companies' apps, websites or offline sources for targeted advertising or ad measurement, or sharing it with a data broker.
Lock Waldo behind Face ID
- Find Waldo 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. Waldo now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Waldo has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Waldo
| Developer | Blue Yonder Labs, LLC |
| App Store category | Photo & Video (also Lifestyle) |
| Latest version | 13.52.3, released October 2026 |
| First released | October 2015 |
| Requires | iOS 17.0 or later |
| Size | 191 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Languages | 1 (EN) |
| Bundle ID | com.BlueYonderLabs.Waldo |
The current version shipped in October 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
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 Waldo 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 Waldo's developer: Are my pictures stored only on this phone, or uploaded?
Waldo vs similar private photo apps
- 23snaps
- Waldo (this app)
- Fast Cleaner
- Sup
- MakeMyMovie-Movie maker
- Photo Safe private photos
- Photo Gallery Private Vault
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 Waldo
All private photo apps → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect financial info → Privacy label decoder →
Your Waldo privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
True: it lists usage data under Data Used to Track You.
- 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: Financial Info 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.
Waldo privacy FAQ
Is Waldo safe to use?
Does Waldo track you?
What data does Waldo collect?
Who makes Waldo?
Can I lock Waldo with Face ID?
How does Waldo compare with other private photo apps?
Are my pictures stored only on this phone, or uploaded?
How do I delete my data from Waldo?
For photos and documents you choose to keep apart from your main library, see VaultForYou.