A zero-knowledge encrypted vault for critical personal documents — passports, birth certificates, driving licences — with biometric access, smart formatting, and emergency sharing built in.
People store their most sensitive documents in the worst possible places — email threads, WhatsApp, unencrypted cloud folders. When they need them urgently (visa application, rental, job offer), they either can't find them or have to send them over insecure channels.
There's no dedicated, secure, intelligent home for critical personal documents.
LOCKD already owns the trust layer for file transfer. The Vault extends that brand promise into personal document management — a natural product adjacency that deepens user retention and creates a recurring revenue stream independent of file-send volume.
The vault becomes the reason people open LOCKD every month, not just when they have something to send.
Face ID / Touch ID / Passkey access. Biometric unlocks the device Secure Enclave which releases the decryption key. No password, no PIN — nothing to phish.
Files encrypted client-side before upload. LOCKD servers hold only ciphertext — even a breach exposes nothing readable. Full AES-256 + key derivation.
Vault understands document categories — passport, driving licence, birth cert, marriage cert, visa, insurance. Extracts key fields (expiry date, number) automatically.
Tracks expiry dates and sends smart reminders at 6 months, 3 months, 1 month. Passports, visas, driving licences — never get caught out at an airport again.
Upload a selfie, get back a correctly-spec'd photo for UK passport, US visa, ESTA, driving licence renewal, or any supported application type. Auto-cropped, correct background, correct dimensions.
Generate a time-limited, view-only link to share a document with a landlord, employer, or solicitor. Link expires after 24hrs (or custom duration). No download, no forwarding. Recipient sees, not owns.
Nominate a trusted contact. If they request emergency access and you don't deny it within 48hrs, they get in. Designed for when you're incapacitated or abroad without your phone.
Store NI number, passport number, date of birth, address history. Auto-populate government forms, visa applications, job application portals. One vault, endless form-filling use.
Extend vault to cover your household — partner, kids, elderly parents. Manage multiple people's documents from one authenticated account. Separate permissions per person.
This is a genuine standalone value proposition. People pay £10–15 at a pharmacy for a photo that meets passport specs. LOCKD Vault could do it from your camera roll instantly — and it would be used repeatedly across different application types.
User takes or uploads a photo → AI detects face, checks expression and eye position → crops to correct dimensions → replaces background to spec → outputs print-ready file and digital version. All processed on-device or via secure API — image never stored post-processing.
| Feature | Phase | Rationale | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biometric entry + encryption | MVP | Non-negotiable foundation. No vault without this. | Medium |
| Document storage + smart types | MVP | Core utility. Must support at least 8 doc types on launch. | Low |
| Expiry alerts | MVP | Immediate tangible value. Drives daily open habit. | Low |
| Secure share links | MVP | Core LOCKD DNA. Differentiates from simple cloud storage. | Low–Medium |
| Photo formatting engine | MVP | Unique, high-value, drives word-of-mouth. Strong upsell. | Medium |
| Emergency access | V2 | Trust-building feature. Important for long-term retention. | Medium |
| Auto-fill profile | V2 | Productivity layer. High stickiness once set up. | Medium–High |
| Family vault | V3 | Growth multiplier. One converted user becomes 2–4 accounts. | High |
Note: Photo formatting could also be offered as a one-time credit purchase (e.g. £0.99 per additional format) to capture non-subscribers. High perceived value relative to cost.
Does LOCKD Vault live as a tab/feature inside the main app, or does it deserve its own app with its own brand? Separate app = cleaner security story + own subscription. Integrated = easier cross-sell, shared auth.
Zero-knowledge encryption is great until the device is gone. Need a clear recovery story — seed phrase? Recovery contact? iCloud Keychain backup? This needs to be resolved before MVP. Users storing birth certs here will ask.
On-device (Core ML / ML Kit) is better for privacy and speed but harder to build. API-based (remove.bg + custom crop logic) is faster to ship but adds a network hop with sensitive images. For MVP, API may be acceptable with a clear data deletion policy.
Are there any obligations once LOCKD is known to store passport scans and identity documents? Worth a brief legal review — particularly around GDPR, data minimisation, and what happens on account deletion.
"Never lose your passport again" is a consumer message. "Zero-knowledge encrypted document vault" is a security message. These attract different users. The photo formatting angle bridges both — practical utility with a trusted security wrapper.