Is Galaxy s8 secure folder really private and secure?

[AC Question]

Galaxy s8 secure folder is supposed to be completely private, however I see on the terms and conditions that Samsung has the right to refuse to store any items that may they deem inappropriate? Lol. So that means Samsung is monitoring my "private" secure folder? Doesn't sound very secure nor private to me. Any input?

 

[Tim1954]

Yes, I've lost interest when they require me to log into their site to use the folder!
Storing my sensitive data on someone else's database is definitely not my idea of secure! I'm not touching that at all...
Same reason I don't do cloud.

 

[ol_jackburton]

i use it to have two instances of different apps.

 

[Mr Mendelli]

Galaxy s8 secure folder is supposed to be completely private, however I see on the terms and conditions that Samsung has the right to refuse to store any items that may they deem inappropriate? Lol. So that means Samsung is monitoring my "private" secure folder? Doesn't sound very secure nor private to me. Any input?

By "innapropriate" they likely mean illegal things, like using it to publicly re-distrubute software, music, ect... I don't think they will look at the contents unless they have a reason to, like if your account is reported. As far as how secure it is goes, it's about as safe as cloud storage gets. Since it's still fairly new technology, it has it's fair share of security flaws. Cloud security is a very in-demand job because of this. Companies like Amazon are sometimes privetly contracted as third-party security for cloud services. I'm not sure who Samsung uses, if they don't use their own proprietary security. I dislike relying on cloud services simply because ir there is no network access, or a problem with the provider's server, I will be locked out of my data.

 

[bandofbrothers2112]

I looked at the folder on my s7 edge but on looking around for info on this feature the information seemed to also lean towards increased system resource usage and Battery impacted.

 

[trucksmoveamerica#AC]

I have pictures my kids don't need to see on mine, so if Samsung does look they will see some nude pictures, enjoy.

 

[Freakster1]

I thought it said the reason you needed an account was in case you forgot your log in info or want to make a backup to the cloud? Does it not just use a different partition on your phone and work like a second encrypted O/S?

Edit- Found this while researching it

"So where does the Samsung Account come into play? Well, if you want to backup the data in Secure Folder, Samsung gives you the option to use its cloud service for it. The respective data is only available to the original user."

 

[woohoo22]

I found a flaw in the security.
Any app installed in Secure Folder is supposed to be separate from the rest of your phone / world. I use Signal installed inside Secure Folder and on my Note 8 no messages show any text, it merely alerts me to a message but says that it's private.
BUT, while wearing my Gear S3, the text of the Signal message comes through completely. I've not tested it on other smart devices, but I imagine it would do the same.
This would be an easy way to compromise a supposedly secure folder/app. I can, of course, turn off notifications for that app, but NOTHING is supposed to exit unless you give it permission.
One can only wonder how many other apps may communicate "protected data" through the Secure Folder.

 

[wastora]

Galaxy s8 secure folder is supposed to be completely private, however I see on the terms and conditions that Samsung has the right to refuse to store any items that may they deem inappropriate? Lol. So that means Samsung is monitoring my "private" secure folder? Doesn't sound very secure nor private to me. Any input?

Where does it say "Samsung has the right to refuse to store any items that may they deem inappropriate"? Can you give a link to these terms and conditions? I can't find anything like this.

 

[tuscanybay]

I have another complaint. It won't allow me to install Android Pay within secure folder. It said that it's incompatible?!

 

[Jason Black6]

I feel private mode is better than safe mode on galaxy 8. You say pvt mode did not block google photos from accessing pvt content; maybe so. What stops cloud techs or samsung experts from seeing pvt content in Safe Folder? Those maintaining the cloud storage can access it. Furthermore, Safe Mode tells you backup content to an external drive or computer because if someone attempts to hack your Safe Folder, it is permanently locked and even I cannot access content. Wow. Safe Folder content still on external drives, not really safe at all.

 

[DerHof]

S8 plus secure folder is a nuisance, I don't want it, but it keeps popping up, just as useless as bixby. Mind you I've remapped that horrid bixby Button.

While I have also disabled my Bixby button I've never had secure folder pop up once... I have messed around with it to see what its like but it never popped up without my permission...