Not every shared gallery needs maximum protection. Sometimes you’re collecting fun moments from a casual gathering and you want the lowest friction possible. Other times you’re dealing with a wedding, kids’ activities, a private family milestone, or a corporate setting where privacy expectations are high and trust is non-negotiable.
That’s why Say Cheese gives you a choice. You can keep an event simple, or you can enable End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) when you want stronger privacy.
When an event is marked as End-to-End Encrypted, all photos and videos inside that event are protected so that only people who are part of the event can see them—not us, not third parties, only event members. This is the core promise: guests can upload easily, while the media remains private to the event.
What “End-to-End Encrypted” means here
In an encrypted event, media is encrypted before it’s uploaded, files remain encrypted while stored, and media is only decrypted on your device once you’ve unlocked the event. Each encrypted event uses its own unique encryption key, which keeps privacy isolated. Unlocking one encrypted event never unlocks others.
In other words, encryption is not a “marketing label” in the UI. It’s a complete privacy boundary that follows the media throughout its lifecycle and only resolves on participant's devices after the event is unlocked.
Encrypted vs. NON-encrypted events
This is the most important question organisers ask: “When should I enable it, and what is the trade-off?”
A non-encrypted event is designed for speed and simplicity. It’s a good fit when the content is not sensitive and the event is meant to feel open and lightweight. Imagine a casual birthday party in a bar, a public-feeling fan moment, or a quick community challenge where the priority is participation with minimal friction. In those situations, you might choose to keep encryption off and rely on other controls (like a clear welcome message and well-structured albums) to keep the gallery tidy and on-topic.
An encrypted event, on the other hand, is designed for trust-first situations—moments where the media itself should be treated as private. Think of a wedding where guests capture intimate family photos, a school activity where children are present, a wellness or recovery journey shared only with a trusted circle, or a corporate event where behind-the-scenes images shouldn’t leak outside the group. In those contexts, enabling E2EE signals professionalism and care, and it protects the content so it remains visible only to the people who belong in the event.
The point is not that every event must be encrypted. The point is that when privacy matters, you can switch to a stronger protection model—without changing how guests participate.
Unlocking encrypted events
The first time you enable E2EE, you’ll be asked to create a master password. This password is never shared and is never stored in plain text. It’s used only to unlock your encrypted events on your own devices.
If you log out and later log back in, encrypted events remain locked by default. Photos and videos stay hidden until you enter your master password again. This is a deliberate safety measure: even if someone somehow gains access to your account session, your private encrypted events stay protected until they are unlocked on your device.
Privacy that feels effortless
We believe privacy shouldn’t be complicated, but it should be real. End-to-End Encryption in Say Cheese is built to be strong by design while staying invisible during everyday use. When you need a gallery to stay truly private, you can enable encryption and confidently tell your guests one simple thing: only event members can view the media—not even Say Cheese.