Does the declaration cover my email provider or only the app?

Only the app, as described by its publisher. If you use a third-party client to read a mailbox hosted elsewhere, the client's declaration describes what the client's developer collects; what the provider stores and does with your mail is governed by its own terms and does not appear here.

Why do email apps declare collecting contacts, calendar and files?

Because the declaration covers the whole app, and mail apps rarely stop at mail. Address autocomplete draws on contacts, invitations pull in calendar, and attachments bring files, photos and audio into scope. A wide declaration in this category often reflects bundled features rather than anything unusual about the mail itself.

Email apps

Google Play shows a data-safety declaration one app at a time. Here are 5 email apps side by side, so the differences are visible rather than remembered. Categories none of them declares are hidden.

Email is the longest archive most people own — years of receipts, bookings, password resets and conversations you have forgotten writing — and an app with access to the mailbox reaches all of it, not just the mail that arrives from now on. Two things are worth separating as you read. First, the form is filled in by whoever publishes the app, which is not always the company running the mailbox behind it; a third-party client and your mail provider are two sets of practices, not one. Second, notice how far past 'messages' these declarations reach. Contacts, calendar, files and docs, photos and audio all appear in this category, because attachments and the productivity suite bolted onto a mailbox come with it.

What each developer declares their app collects and shares
Data category	Gmaildeclares 12 collected, 0 shared	Outlookdeclares 10 collected, 1 shared	Proton Maildeclares 5 collected, 0 shared	Spark Maildeclares 6 collected, 4 shared	Tuta Maildeclares 2 collected, 1 shared
Location	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared
Personal info	Collected	Collected	Collected	Collected	Collected
Financial info	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Collected & shared	Shared
Messages	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Collected	Not declared
Photos & videos	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared
Audio	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared
Files & docs	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared
Calendar	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Not declared	Not declared
Contacts	Collected	Collected	Collected	Not declared	Collected
App activity	Collected	Collected	Collected	Collected & shared	Not declared
App info & performance	Collected	Collected	Collected	Collected & shared	Not declared
Device or other IDs	Collected	Collected & shared	Collected	Collected & shared	Not declared
Declares data encrypted in transit	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Declares you can request deletion	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Source	Play listingVerified 2026-08-07	Play listingVerified 2026-08-07	Play listingVerified 2026-08-07	Play listingVerified 2026-08-07	Play listingVerified 2026-08-07

Questions about email apps

Does the declaration cover my email provider or only the app?: Only the app, as described by its publisher. If you use a third-party client to read a mailbox hosted elsewhere, the client's declaration describes what the client's developer collects; what the provider stores and does with your mail is governed by its own terms and does not appear here.
Why do email apps declare collecting contacts, calendar and files?: Because the declaration covers the whole app, and mail apps rarely stop at mail. Address autocomplete draws on contacts, invitations pull in calendar, and attachments bring files, photos and audio into scope. A wide declaration in this category often reflects bundled features rather than anything unusual about the mail itself.