• Apple Reference Image is off by default. You choose whether to turn on Apple Reference Image and what information you share.
• If you use Apple Reference Image, your raw photograph and its metadata, and information about your device, may be sent to Private Cloud Compute to authenticate the source of your photo.
• To prevent fraud and support authentication, information about your device’s sensor, including the sensor’s unique hardware identifiers, and metadata about your photos, will be sent from Private Cloud Compute to Apple.
• When you view a photo for which Apple has authenticated the source, your device performs an on-device check to confirm that the photo remains authenticated. We apply privacy-preserving measures to prevent Apple from learning about the photos you view.
• Apple cannot access the raw photo during authentication.

Apple Reference Image can help you authenticate the source of your photo by comparing the original image with other versions of the same image. You control whether you use Apple Reference Image, and Apple cannot access the raw photo during authentication.

Providing Apple Reference Image

Apple Reference Image is off by default. If you choose to enable Apple Reference Image, you can ask Apple to authenticate the source of your photo, such as the camera sensor that took the photo. After turning on Apple Reference Image, you can choose when to capture photos with information about their reference image by switching to Reference when using Camera.

When you take a photo in Reference mode after tapping Reference Mode, your device will include reference image information in the photo’s metadata. If you then view that photo and tap the Reference badge on your iOS device or click it on your Mac, the device will send the raw photograph, metadata about the photograph like the sensor’s signatures and the time frame in which the photo was captured, as well as the sensor’s unique hardware identifiers to Private Cloud Compute. On your iOS device, you can also tap Reference Image to send the reference image information to Private Cloud Compute. This information will be used to assess the source of the photo and assign a unique ID to the photo. If you captured the raw photo after zooming in, the authentication process will crop the reference image to what you see in the main preview. Additionally, data about your sensor, such as the sensor’s unique hardware identifiers and metadata about your photographs, including the results of the assessment of the source of the photo and a hash of the photo, will be sent from Private Cloud Compute to Apple servers. Apple cannot access the raw photo during authentication.

Apple may use the information about your sensor and the metadata about your photographs that it collected from previous uses of the service to inform the authentication assessment. If Apple determines the camera is the source of the photo, an authenticated version of the photo will be returned from Private Cloud Compute to the relevant device.

However, if Apple determines that a camera’s sensors may have been compromised, the photo will not be authenticated. Additionally, Apple may revoke previous authentications associated with a particular sensor.

You may use your iOS or iPadOS device, or your Mac, to view authenticated versions of photos. When you view such a photo, your device performs an on-device check to confirm that the photo remains authenticated, and Apple does not learn which photos you view. You can turn Apple Reference Image on or off at any time on your iOS device by going to Settings > Camera > Reference Image, and tapping Reference Mode. Turning off Apple Reference Image stops your device from including reference image information in the photos or videos you take after turning off Apple Reference Image.

Sharing Apple Reference Image Photos

Apple Reference Image puts you in control of what you share. You may share photos using multiple methods, like AirDrop or Messages. Depending on the method and whether you are sharing an original photo, an edited version of the original photo or an authenticated photo, different options may appear to you when you share your photo. For example, you may choose to share the original photo, the reference image information, All Photos Data in the Share Sheet, or all these options. If you choose to share All Photos Data, your device will also transmit unique hardware identifiers and any uncropped footage. If you are sharing an edited photo via Messages, you may use the options in Picker to share the full-size photo with edits, as well as the authenticated photo.

On your iOS device, you may enable your device to share photos via USB by going to Settings > Apps > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC > Transfer Reference Image, or Settings > Camera > Reference Image > Transfer Reference Image. After enablement, images shared over USB will include the Apple Reference Image for all authenticated photos, including edited ones. For photos that have not yet been authenticated, reference image information (including unique hardware identifiers and any uncropped footage) will be shared as well.

Applicable Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

We process your personal data in Apple Reference Image generally for performance of your contract with Apple, as necessary to provide the service and comply with our legal obligations. Where consent is the appropriate legal basis, we seek it in accordance with applicable local law.

Where applicable local law provides, we process personal data as necessary for purposes of our legitimate interests or those of a third party in order to prevent fraud and other malicious activity.

The data used includes details about your device and photos.

Retention

We retain personal data in relation to Apple Reference Image only for as long as we have a business need, contractual obligation or legal requirement. Some information, such as your photo IDs or device information that we receive from Private Cloud Compute, may be retained as business records even after you turn off Apple Reference Image. When assessing retention periods, we first carefully examine whether it is necessary to retain the personal data collected and, if retention is required, work to retain the personal data for the shortest possible period permissible by law.

At all times, information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at apple.com/uk/privacy.

2026-09-14