Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 30, 2026
Summary
SMS Shield filters your text messages on your iPhone. Messages are checked on the device and are never sent anywhere, with one exception: when you report a message in the app, the text of that one message is sent to us to help improve AI spam detection. Before it's sent, phone numbers, codes and email addresses are removed, and nothing that identifies you or the sender is included. There are no accounts, no advertising, no analytics and no tracking.
How filtering works
- iOS passes SMS Shield the sender and text of messages from people who aren't in your contacts. Messages from your contacts are never passed to SMS Shield.
- SMS Shield decides where each message goes on your iPhone, using your Block List and Allow List and SMS Shield's own AI models, which are part of the app.
- The filter has no internet access and can't save messages. iOS doesn't allow it to, so SMS Shield doesn't keep or count the messages it filters.
- Messages you check with Test Filter stay on your iPhone.
Your lists and settings
Your Block List, Allow List and filter settings are stored on your device. If you use iCloud, they're also kept in your own iCloud account so they follow you to your other devices. We can't see them.
Reporting a message
A report is sent only when you tap Send in Report a Message. It contains:
- the text of the message, with phone numbers, codes and email addresses removed (the app shows you exactly what is sent before you send it);
- whether you marked it as spam, not spam or a carrier notice;
- the language of the message, and your device's language and region;
- the app version, and whether you have a membership.
A report doesn't include your name, phone number, Apple Account, contacts or the sender. Reports are stored in our database on Apple's iCloud. Apple's iCloud attaches an anonymous identifier to each report, which is the same for all reports from your iCloud account in SMS Shield; we can't use it to find out who you are.
We use reports only to check how well spam detection works and to train better AI models. We keep them as long as they're useful for that. We don't sell or share them.
Membership and payments
Memberships are bought through Apple. We never see your payment details. The app asks Apple whether your membership is active, and keeps a copy of that status on your device so the filter knows it can run.
Contacting us
Contact Us and Ask for a Language open an email in your Mail app with the app version, your device model, its iOS version, and your language and region filled in; Contact Us also says whether you have a membership. You can read or change the email before you send it, and nothing is sent unless you do.
Earlier versions
Versions of SMS Shield before 2.0 also sent a message only when you reported it, but sent the text as you entered it, without removing numbers, and included the anonymous iCloud identifier described above. Version 2.0 removes numbers, codes and email addresses and shows you what is sent first.
Children
SMS Shield doesn't ask for or collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, the updated version will be posted at this same address with a new "Last updated" date above.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email us.