Privacy Policy
MatteID
Last updated 2026-11-07
MatteID is made by Aether Syntax. Where these documents say “we”, they mean Aether Syntax.
Both documents are stored inside the app and open without an internet connection.
The short version
Your photograph is created, checked and stored on your phone. It is never uploaded, and Aether Syntax never receives it. We hold no account for you and no record of what you photographed.
Your photographs
Photographs you take or choose are written to storage that belongs to MatteID alone, which other apps on the phone cannot read. Finding your face, measuring it, cropping, replacing the background and checking the result against a document's requirements all happen on the phone using the vision features built into it. No photograph, face measurement or part of an image is sent anywhere for any of this.
What is kept on your phone
For each photo you make, MatteID keeps the original image, the finished image, a small thumbnail and a record of which document it was for. It also keeps a ledger of photo credits you have bought or used. All of it stays on the phone. Deleting a photo in MatteID deletes its files; Settings has an option that removes every photo at once.
Permissions
MatteID asks for the camera only when you take a photo, for your photo library only when you choose an existing photo, and for permission to add to your photo library only when you save a finished photo. It never reads your photo library on its own, and it asks for nothing else — no location, no microphone, no contacts.
Buying photo credits
Photo credits are bought through the App Store or Google Play. The store handles the payment and tells MatteID that a credit was granted; Aether Syntax never sees your card, your billing address or your store account. This purchase is the only time MatteID uses the internet. Links to an authority's official website open in your web browser, and MatteID sends nothing when you follow one.
What we do not collect
No account, no sign-in and no email address. No analytics, no crash reporting that includes your content, no advertising identifier and no tracking of any kind. No profile is built about you, because nothing about your use of the app reaches us.
The file you save
The photograph MatteID writes carries only the resolution the document requires. The location where the photo was taken, the time, the camera model and the software name are all removed, because a document photograph is often forwarded onward and none of that belongs in an application.
Children
A photograph of a child may be made with MatteID by a parent or guardian, which is an ordinary part of applying for a child's document. The same rules apply: the photograph stays on the phone and reaches nobody.
Changes to this policy
This policy is stored inside the app, so it changes only when the app is updated and you can always read the version you have. The date above tells you which version that is.
Contact
Questions about privacy can be sent to Aether Syntax at the address shown on the store listing for MatteID.