How to keep your contacts private: switching from Google Contacts or iCloud

Why your contacts are worth protecting

An address book is a map of your relationships: who you know, where they work, how to reach them, and anything you've noted about them. For journalists, lawyers, founders, investors, and frankly anyone, that is data about other people who trusted you with it. It is worth knowing who can read it.

• Google Contacts is not end-to-end encrypted. Google encrypts data in transit and at rest and manages the keys.
• iCloud Contacts is encrypted in transit and on Apple's servers, with the keys held by Apple. Apple's documentation says Contacts is not end-to-end encrypted, even with Advanced Data Protection turned on.

Both are mature, convenient services, and many people are happy with them. This guide is for people who want a copy of their contacts that the provider cannot read.

Quick wins before you switch

• Review which apps can see your contacts. On iPhone, open Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Contacts. On Android, use the permission manager in your privacy settings. Turn off access for apps that don't need it.
• Lock your phone and browser properly. Encryption can't help if the device is open and unlocked.
• Use a long, unique passphrase for any encrypted app. Five or more random words is better than a short complicated one.

Step 1: Export your contacts from the old service

Menus change from time to time, so treat these as a guide. Aim for a vCard (.vcf) file where you can: it imports into Privilio most cleanly.

From Google Contacts

1. Go to contacts.google.com and sign in.
2. Choose Export in the left-hand menu.
3. Select the contacts you want (or all of them) and choose vCard (for iOS Contacts).
4. Click Export and save the .vcf file.

From iCloud Contacts

1. Go to icloud.com/contacts and sign in.
2. Click a contact, then select all (Ctrl+A on Windows, Command+A on Mac).
3. Click the settings (gear) icon at the bottom left and choose Export vCard.

From Outlook or Microsoft 365

1. Open the People page in Outlook on the web.
2. Choose Manage, then Export contacts, and export as a CSV file.

Direct one-click connections to Google or Microsoft accounts are not available in Privilio's web app today, so use the file route above.

Step 2: Set up Privilio

1. Open app.privilio.ca in your browser, or install Privilio from the App Store, and sign in.
2. Create a passphrase only you know. It encrypts your data on your device, and we never receive it.
3. Save your recovery code when the app shows it, somewhere safe and offline such as a password manager or on paper. It is your only way back in if you forget your passphrase.

Step 3: Import your file

1. Open the Settings tab and find Data Management.
2. Choose Import contacts.
3. Pick your .vcf or .csv file. On the web this opens your browser's file picker. On iPhone it opens the Files picker, so save the exported file to Files first (for example iCloud Drive or On My iPhone).
4. Your contacts are encrypted on your device and then synced. Imported contacts are placed in your main list, not the Vault.

What imports, and what doesn't

Add notes and tags after the import, since those are the parts that become private memory about each person.

CSV tips

• Header names are not case-sensitive. Privilio recognises Name, Full Name or Display Name for the name; Job Title, Title, Role or Position; Company, Organization or Org; Email, E-mail Address or Email 1 - Value; and Phone, Mobile or Phone 1 - Value.
• The safest layout is: Name,Job Title,Company,Email,Phone.
• First and last names in separate columns are not combined. Many Google and Outlook CSV exports split them. Combine them into one Name column in a spreadsheet first, or use the vCard export instead.
• Importing the same file again updates the contacts it already created instead of piling up duplicates (identical name, email and phone are treated as the same contact). Contacts you typed in by hand, or brought in from a different file format, are not automatically merged.

Step 4: Check the result

• Compare the contact count with your old service.
• Spot-check a handful of people, especially anyone with several emails or numbers.
• Add any missing details by hand, then tag your key people.
• If you have Pro, move the most sensitive people into the Vault.

Step 5: Decide what to do with the old copy

Keep the old service until you're satisfied the import is complete. After that it's your call:

• Privilio does not sync back to Google, iCloud or your phone's built-in Contacts. Changes you make in one place won't appear in the other.
• Deleting contacts from Google or iCloud removes them from every device signed in to that account. Make a backup export first.
• Many people keep a small set of everyday contacts in the built-in app, so calls, Messages and caller ID keep working, and put sensitive or professional relationships in Privilio.

Keep a backup

From Settings → Data Management you can export to JSON (full backup including notes and tags), CSV or vCard (name, job title, company, email and phone). Vault contacts are not included in these standard exports. An export file is plain, unencrypted data, so store it somewhere safe or delete it when you're done.

Read more about how Privilio's encryption works and where its limits are, or see the Privilio app overview.

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed 26 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email smartin@adapting-services.ca.

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