Vanilla Phone privacy notice

Who provides the service

Vanilla Telecoms Ltd is the provider and data controller. Our address is 162 Cannon Road, Santa Venera, Malta. Company registration: C34939. VAT: MT1730-7535.

Contact helpdesk@vanilla.net.mt for privacy questions, account help or a request about your personal data. Do not send your password.

Your account and calls

We use your phone account, credentials, company extension and service settings to sign you in, connect calls and provide the features you choose. Saved passwords use the device's protected credential storage. Sign-in and app service requests use encrypted connections.

The number you type is sent to Vanilla to estimate its price before you call. When you call, the number is passed to our phone system and the networks needed to reach the recipient. We process calling and called numbers, times, duration, results, network addresses and technical connection records for service, billing, fault checks and fraud prevention.

Call audio encryption depends on each account’s Audio encryption setting. When enabled in Vanilla Phone, it protects audio between the app and Vanilla, not another phone company’s part of the call. The telephone part of a fax is not encrypted. Vanilla Phone does not provide end-to-end encryption. Encrypted sign-in does not mean encrypted audio.

Creating an account and signing your agreement

When you create a Vanilla account in the app, we collect the customer and contact details you enter, including your name, email, address, selected service and the signing person's ID card or passport number and copy. Business signup also uses company and tax details. We verify your email and use these details to prepare your agreement, check the signup and set up the requested service.

You can upload an ID copy or choose to photograph it in the app. Confirmed camera photos are combined into a PDF; camera location and other photo metadata are removed. We send the supplied document to Anthropic's Claude API to identify the document type and read its name and number, then compare those fields with your signup details. This automated content check can make mistakes and does not prove that an ID is genuine or establish government identity. Contact helpdesk@vanilla.net.mt if your document is incorrectly rejected.

We keep the unsigned offer, signed agreement, signature and signing evidence, including the plan and price, confirmed details, email verification and relevant request times and network addresses. Client documents, including the accepted ID copy, are saved privately in your client folder in Vanilla's Google Workspace shared drive, Client Documentation Vanilla, with restricted access. We email the unsigned agreement before signing and a signed PDF afterward. The ID image is not attached to those emails.

Your unsigned signup can be resumed in the app. Signed agreements and supporting records follow the retention and rights process below. Card entry and any bank approval take place in secure Stripe checkout after the agreement is saved.

Optional account backup

You can create a backup of your saved phone logins, account names, order and mode. The app encrypts the file on your device using a separate password before opening the save or share menu. Recordings, call history, call-alert keys and device push tokens are excluded. Vanilla does not automatically receive your backup or its password and cannot recover a forgotten backup password.

You choose the storage location or recipient and manage any copies you save or share. Removing an account from the app does not remove those copies. Restoring requires the backup password and your confirmation; it adds missing accounts without replacing existing logins.

Contacts, camera and microphone

• Contacts: with your permission, the mobile app reads names and numbers on your device so you can choose whom to call. It does not upload your address book to Vanilla. A number you choose is used for pricing and calling. Desktop contacts are stored locally.
• Camera: the account setup scanner reads a QR code on your device. QR scanner images are not uploaded. The credentials in the code are used only after you confirm login. Separately, signup ID photos are uploaded only when you confirm them for the document check described above.
• Microphone: used for your calls and, where available on your account, recording a voicemail greeting. Call audio goes through the phone service to the people on the call.
• Device history: the app keeps the latest 100 calls on this device. This is separate from Vanilla's billing records.
• Optional iPhone Recents: off by default. If you enable it, new Vanilla calls and caller details also appear in the iPhone Phone app. Apple may sync this system history according to your Apple account settings. Turning the option off does not delete previous system entries; manage those in the Phone app. Returning a call from Recents opens Vanilla for confirmation and line selection.

You can change camera, microphone, contact and notification permissions in your device settings. Turning off a permission may stop the feature that needs it.

Incoming call alerts

We use Apple Push Notification service on iPhone and Firebase Cloud Messaging on Android. The app and our relay use a device installation identifier, push token and call information to wake the app for an incoming call. Apple or Google processes the information needed to deliver that alert. Your phone account and device registration are linked so the call reaches your device.

For background calls, our relay uses a restricted server copy of your line credentials to renew its phone-system connection while your mobile app sleeps. The app service keeps a device identifier and verification hashes, not a plain-text password in its enrollment database. Removing a saved account sends a cancellation when the device is online. Expired or removed enrollment records are cleared after 90 days; separate billing and call records follow their own retention rules.

Company extensions, recordings and voicemail

Extension mode obtains your company's extension directory, line status and the phone-system features your account may use. Your company administrator controls permissions and may manage recordings, greetings, voicemail and forwarding. Recordings and voicemail are stored by the phone system when those services are enabled. Ask your company administrator about its recording policy before using these features.

Optional 30-day call recording plan

Where offered, this plan costs EUR 1 plus VAT per enabled line per month, regardless of how many devices use that line. The account owner must verify an email code and accept the price before activation. There is no setup or recording-minute fee. The first invoice includes the remaining part of the current billing month plus the next month; first and last billing periods are prorated.

Recording is started on demand through the phone system, with its recording announcement. Recordings made under this plan are available for 30 days after the call ends. Automatic removal is scheduled after that period. You may delete a recording earlier or export a copy before it expires. Copies you export or share are under your control and are not deleted by Vanilla's expiry process. This plan does not replace your company's separate recording policy or delete older company recordings.

The app keeps enrollment, cancellation, owner-verification and deletion references for service, billing and fault checks. Cancelling stops the plan for future calls; recordings already made remain subject to their original 30-day expiry. Deleting recording audio does not delete separate call or billing records.

Sharing and connection checks

You may share selected device call history or downloaded recordings using your device's share menu. Review the selected information and recipient before sharing. Deleting device history does not delete recordings, reset usage totals or erase server billing records.

Connection checks contact Vanilla's public service and secure calling endpoint without sending a phone login. Reports contain connection results and anonymous line status, not phone numbers, passwords, push tokens, contacts, recordings or call history. Reports are not sent to support automatically; you choose whether and where to share them. A successful connection check does not prove ringing, audio or push delivery.

Fax files and notes

Choosing a file or writing a note prepares a document locally. Continuing to the sending step uploads the PDF to private EU storage to prepare the fax. It does not send the fax. You must separately confirm the recipient and price to start sending.

The sender temporarily processes the document and credentials for the selected line. The document is transmitted to the fax number you confirm through the telephone service. Check the recipient carefully: the recipient controls any received copy.

Temporary server documents are removed after completion or job expiry. The private upload store also has a one-day expiry rule as a backstop. We keep delivery metadata, including the account, destination, time, page count, price quote and result, for history, billing and support. Files you export or keep on your own device remain under your control.

Payments, phone numbers and vouchers

Signup payments and card top-ups open a Stripe payment page. Card details are entered with Stripe; the app does not store them. Vanilla stores order and payment references, amounts and account balances to apply credit and keep billing records. Number purchases use account-owner email verification and are attached to the existing customer account.

When you redeem a Maltashopper-issued Vanilla phone voucher, its code and redemption details are checked with the voucher service. An accepted voucher credits the linked Vanilla customer's balance as promotional credit. It does not create Maltashopper shopping credit.

Service providers and data use

We use data to deliver the service you request, manage and bill your account, answer support requests, keep the network safe and meet applicable obligations. Our company privacy policy describes these purposes and their legal bases.

Services involved include Cloudflare for the app API, security and temporary fax storage; PortaOne for phone and billing services; Apple and Google for call alerts; Anthropic for signup ID content checks; Google Workspace / Drive for private client documents; Stripe for payments; Mailgun for verification and service emails; the Maltashopper voucher service for voucher validation; and interconnect carriers for calls and faxes. The Siprix SDK supplies the app's calling engine. Technical logs can be generated on the device and in our service during fault checks.

We do not sell your personal data. Vanilla Phone has no advertising features. Public signup and payment pages have their own notices. Service providers may process data outside your country; the EU location of fax upload storage is not a claim that every part of a telephone call or other service stays in the EU.

Retention and your choices

Account, agreement, signing evidence, identification, payment and call records are kept while needed to provide the service and for applicable accounting and telecommunications retention duties. Temporary fax documents have the shorter lifecycle described above. Local account removal removes that saved login from this device; it does not close your Vanilla service or erase server billing records.

You can request account deletion online or choose Delete Vanilla account in the app menu. Choose one phone line or the full customer account, verify the account owner by email, then confirm. The request does not immediately close service. Vanilla confirms closure arrangements and the records that must be retained.

You can ask Vanilla for access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection or a portable copy of your personal data using helpdesk@vanilla.net.mt. We may need to verify that you own the account, particularly for a company extension. We explain any records that must be kept and why. See the company privacy policy for the rights process. You can also contact Malta's Information and Data Protection Commissioner.