The principle
Sync goes from the directory to the phone, in one direction only. RingSync relays the directory's pages during the sync without keeping them: the app says it itself under the list of directories, "RingSync relays the directory without keeping it".
What RingSync does not keep
Your colleagues' phone numbers, job titles, departments, companies and photos are never written to RingSync's servers. They pass through memory on their way to the phone.
What RingSync keeps
| Data | What it is for | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Authorized people: work email, display name, directory identifier | Recognize the person at sign-in, count and bill seats | While access is active. 90 days after they leave the directory (with the seat and its sync history) |
| Mobile accounts and phones: email, name, installation identifier, notification token | App session, per-phone tracking, remote removal. No hardware identifier is collected | 90 days with no seat and no phone seen |
| Sync history: status, date, counts added / updated / removed | The person's page in the dashboard | 12 months |
| Per-contact log: the person's directory identifier, action, reason | Answer "why isn't this person on my phone?" | 30 days |
| List of people present on a phone (directory identifiers) | Count "Synced contacts" | While the person is present, and 30 days after removal |
| Dashboard accounts: email, name, the organization's Activity log | Administer RingSync | Deleted with the organization (unless the person is a member of another organization) |
| Billing details: legal name, address, VAT number | Invoices | See the privacy policy. Card details are entered at Stripe |
| Directory connection secrets (Entra client secret, Google token or service account key) | Read the directory | Stored encrypted, deleted with the directory or the organization |
Internal technical logs (scheduled task runs, payment events) are purged at 90 days.
Suspended organization: data is kept 30 days after the suspension of an expired trial and 90 days after that of an unpaid invoice, then permanently deleted, with a warning email beforehand. See Invoices, payment methods and VAT.
Where the data is hosted
The database is hosted in Ireland (European Union), and RingSync's server functions run in Dublin. Some providers are involved for payment (Stripe), emails or notifications; the full list is in the privacy policy and the DPA.
On the phone
Contacts are written to the phone's address book:
- iPhone: in a group named after the directory. RingSync asks iOS to write to a local container on the iPhone, rather than to iCloud, when iOS offers one. Otherwise the default container is used.
- Android: in the phone's local account.
Each contact carries a "RingSync" mark (web address ringsync://…) that lets the app find its contacts, including after a reinstall. To do so, the app scans the address book for that mark: it only changes and deletes the contacts that carry it. In its private space, the app keeps a correspondence table (directory identifier and contact identifier, with no name, email or phone) and the sync resume point.
Once the contacts are in the address book, the phone's settings may copy them: on iPhone, to iCloud if it is the default container and iCloud contacts are on; on Android, to the person's Google account if Google Contacts backup is on. These copies depend on the person's settings, not on RingSync.
When contacts are removed from the phone
| Event | Effect |
|---|---|
| The person's access is removed in the directory | The contacts of that directory are removed from their phones: right away if the app is in the foreground, otherwise the next time it opens or syncs. Tracked on the person's page: Purge pending, Purge confirmed. |
| The directory is deleted (Settings → Danger zone) | Phones remove its contacts. |
| The person is deleted or disabled in the directory | Their contact is removed at the phone's next sync. |
| The person signs out of the app (Sign out) | The contacts stay on the phone. |
| The person uninstalls the app | The contacts stay on the phone. RingSync can no longer remove them remotely. |
| The organization's access is suspended | Sync stops, contacts already there are not removed. |
Remove the contacts from a phone
In the app, tap the settings icon at the top of the home screen, then under Data on this device: Remove synced contacts, and confirm with Remove. The app deletes the contacts it wrote; your personal contacts are not touched.
A later sync, automatic ones included, writes them again. To stop them coming back, sign out afterwards with Sign out, or ask your administrator to remove your access.
After a reinstall, run a sync first: the app then finds its contacts again and can remove them. If you no longer have access to the directory, delete them by hand from the Contacts app.