Import the sets into a Vault9 vault, delete the originals from Photos, and empty Recently Deleted. Your consent, retention and delivery rules come first, and Vault9 does not manage them.
Move one set at a time
Think of client previews, team or class photos, and pictures of other people’s children. They sit in the same grid as your holiday.
- Find a set in Photos and import it into Vault9. Use one album per client or per event, so you can find the set on delivery day.
- Open a few photos to check them.
- Delete the originals from Photos yourself. Vault9 never does it for you.
- Open Recently Deleted in Photos and delete the items there too. Photos keeps deleted items for 30 days.
Before step 3, check that you hold the files you delivered. With iCloud Photos on, Apple says a deletion on one device also deletes the photo on your other devices with the same Apple Account.
Location travels with the file
Photos can carry location. Vault9 does not remove it from files that you import, and an export gives the same file back. If you share a photo and want no location in it, use Apple’s setting. In Photos, select the photos, tap the share button, tap Options, and turn off Location.
For a photo already in your library, open it from Albums and tap the More button. Then tap Adjust Info, Adjust Location, and No Location.
The Vault9 camera takes the problem away for new shots. A photo from it holds no location and goes only into the vault. The Vault9 camera explains more.
Where the vault stops
The files are encrypted on your iPhone. The vault opens with your pattern or passphrase and the Secret Key on the phone, or with Face ID if you turn it on. Your phone passcode never opens it. It locks when the app goes to the background, after a time without a touch, or when you lock it.
It does not cover whatever you left in Photos, chats, downloads or shared albums, or copies you already sent. It does not protect a vault that is open on an unlocked phone. And it says nothing about consent forms, school or employer rules, or how long you may keep a set. Follow your client agreement or your employer’s policy for those.
To hand a set over, export it. Export decrypts the file and sends it to the iOS share sheet, because Vault9 has no sharing of its own. How to export from Vault9 has the steps.
Client work is hard to redo
We cannot reset your pattern or passphrase, so write it on your Emergency Kit and keep the kit safe. Run the kit test in Settings to check that the kit still matches.
The iCloud backup holds the encrypted vault in your own iCloud storage, without the Secret Key. It is the only copy of the vault outside the iPhone.
Sources
- Apple Support: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: Set up and use iCloud Photos (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: Manage location metadata in Photos (checked 2026-11-06)
