Privacy Policy for Peekaboo
Last updated: 25 October 2026
Peekaboo is an Android app for viewing and recording your own IP cameras over your own local network.
The short version
Peekaboo does not collect, transmit, or share any of your data. There is no account, no server, no analytics, and no advertising. The app only ever talks to your own cameras, on your own network, and nothing it produces goes anywhere else unless you deliberately share it yourself.
What the app stores, and where
Everything below is stored only on your device, in the app's private storage, and is deleted when you uninstall the app.
| What | Where | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Camera name, address and stream URL | App database on your device | To connect to your camera |
| Camera username and password | App database, encrypted using the Android Keystore | To authenticate with your camera |
| TP-Link account password, only if you give one | App database, encrypted using the Android Keystore | To use a Tapo camera's speaker - see below |
| Recorded video and audio clips | App-private storage on your device | The recordings you choose to keep |
| The rolling buffer (recent footage) | App-private storage on your device | So you can rewind; automatically deleted as it ages out |
| Sound and motion levels | App-private storage on your device | To draw the timeline |
| Your settings | App preferences on your device | To remember how you like it |
| Diagnostic logs | App-private storage on your device | To help diagnose problems on your own device |
Camera passwords, and a TP-Link account password if you give one, are encrypted with a key held in the Android Keystore, which does not leave the device and is not included in backups. This means a cloud backup cannot restore them onto a new phone — you will need to re-enter them. That is deliberate.
What the app sends, and to whom
Peekaboo talks to two things, both on your own local network:
- Your cameras, to fetch the video and audio stream (RTSP) and, if you use the Discover feature, to find cameras and read their settings (ONVIF). If you use a camera's speaker, the app also sends it sound: noise the app generates itself, or your voice while you hold Hold to talk. That sound goes straight to the camera and is not recorded or kept.
- Nothing else. There is no backend service, no telemetry endpoint, and no third-party SDK that reports usage.
Tapo cameras. TP-Link's Tapo cameras only let other apps use their speaker if the app knows your TP-Link account password. If you give it, Peekaboo stores it encrypted as described above, and proves it knows it by sending the camera a one-way hash of it - the password itself is never sent. It goes only to your camera on your local network, never to TP-Link or anyone else. You can remove it from a camera's settings at any time, and deleting the camera removes it.
Communication with your cameras is unencrypted, because IP cameras generally do not offer an encrypted alternative. This traffic stays on your local network.
Permissions, and why each one is needed
- Internet / Network state / WiFi state — to reach your camera on your network, and to tell the difference between "the camera is down" and "this phone is offline".
- WiFi multicast — for ONVIF camera discovery, which works by broadcasting a query on the local network.
- Foreground service / Media playback — to keep listening and recording when the screen is off, which is the point of a baby monitor, and to keep playing sound through a camera's speaker. This always shows an ongoing notification, so you can see when it is running.
- Notifications — for the ongoing monitoring notification and sound alerts.
- Vibrate — for sound alerts.
- Wake lock — to stop the phone suspending mid-stream overnight.
- Microphone — only for Hold to talk, which speaks through a camera's speaker, and only while you are holding the button. Your voice goes straight to that camera on your local network; it is not recorded, stored or sent anywhere else. Android asks for this the first time you hold the button, not when you install the app, and Peekaboo works fully without it.
Peekaboo does not request access to your device's camera, location, contacts, photos, or files.
Children
Peekaboo is intended for use by adults. It is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone.
Deleting your data
Deleting a recording in the app deletes the file. Deleting a camera removes its saved details, including its stored passwords. Uninstalling the app removes everything listed above.
Not a safety device
Peekaboo is not a medical device and is not a substitute for adult supervision. It depends on your camera, your network and your phone, any of which can fail without warning.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be published here and the date at the top will change.
Contact
Questions about this policy: info@peekaboo-nvr.com