Privacy and Security in Firebase

This page outlines Firebase's key security and privacy information. Whether you're looking to kick off a new project with Firebase, or curious about how Firebase works with your existing project, read on to see how Firebase can help protect you and your users.

Last modified: August 21, 2024

Data protection

Firebase support for GDPR and CCPA

On May 25th, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaced the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive. On January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) took effect. On January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which is a data privacy law that amends and expands upon the CCPA, took effect. Google is committed to helping our customers succeed under these privacy regulations, whether they are large software companies or independent developers.

The GDPR imposes obligations on data controllers and data processors, and the CCPA/CPRA imposes obligations on businesses and their service providers. Firebase customers typically act as the "data controller" (GDPR) or "business" (CCPA/CPRA) for any personal data or information about their end-users they provide to Google in connection with their use of Firebase, and Google generally operates as a "data processor" (GDPR) or "service provider" (CCPA/CPRA).

This means that data is under the customer's control. Customers are responsible for obligations like fulfilling an individual's rights with respect to their personal data or information.

Firebase Data Processing and Security Terms

When customers use Firebase, Google is generally a data processor under GDPR and processes personal data on their behalf. Similarly, when customers use Firebase, Google generally operates as a service provider under the CCPA/CPRA handling personal information on their behalf. Firebase terms include Data Processing and Security Terms detailing these responsibilities.

Certain Firebase services governed by the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Terms of Service are already covered by associated data processing terms, the Cloud Data Processing Addendum. A complete list of Firebase services currently governed by the GCP Terms of Service is available in the Terms of Service for Firebase Services.

Google Analytics is a separate service that can be used together with Firebase, and is subject to separate terms.

Firebase is certified under major privacy and security standards

ISO and SOC compliance

All Firebase services (aside from App Indexing and Vertex AI in Firebase) have successfully completed the ISO 27001 and SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 evaluation process, and some have also completed the ISO 27017 and ISO 27018 certification process. Compliance reports and certificates for Firebase services governed by the GCP Terms of Service may be requested via the Compliance Reports Manager.

Service name	ISO 27001	ISO 27017	ISO 27018	SOC 1	SOC 2	SOC 3
Firebase ML	check			check	check	check
Firebase Test Lab	check	check	check	check	check	check
Cloud Firestore	check	check	check	check	check	check
Cloud Functions for Firebase	check	check	check	check	check	check
Cloud Storage for Firebase	check	check	check	check	check	check
Firebase Authentication	check	check	check	check	check	check
Firebase Crashlytics	check			check	check	check
Firebase App Check	check			check	check	check
Firebase App Distribution	check			check	check	check
Firebase In-App Messaging	check			check	check	check
Firebase Cloud Messaging	check			check	check	check
Firebase Performance Monitoring	check			check	check	check
Firebase Hosting	check			check	check	check
Firebase Dynamic Links	check			check	check	check
Firebase Remote Config	check			check	check	check
Firebase Realtime Database	check			check	check	check
Firebase Platform	check			check	check	check
Firebase A/B Testing	check			check	check	check
Vertex AI in Firebase

International Data Transfers

As described in our Data Privacy Framework certification, we comply with the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Frameworks (DPF) and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information from the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, respectively. Google LLC (and its wholly-owned US subsidiaries unless explicitly excluded) has certified that it adheres to the DPF Principles. Google remains responsible for any of your personal information that is shared under the Onward Transfer Principle with third parties for external processing on our behalf, as described in the "Sharing your information" section of our Privacy Policy. To learn more about the DPF, and to view Google's certification, please visit the DPF website.

If you have an inquiry regarding our privacy practices in relation to our DPF certification, we encourage you to contact us. Google is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the US Federal Trade Commission. You may also refer a complaint to your local data protection authority and we will work with them to resolve your concern. In certain circumstances, the DPF provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the DPF Principles.

Data processing information

Examples of end-user data processed by Firebase

Some Firebase services process your end users' data to provide their service. The chart below has examples of how various Firebase services use and handle end-user data that may potentially be identifying. In addition, many Firebase services offer the ability to request deletion of specific data or control how data is handled.

Firebase service	End-user data	How data helps provide the service
Cloud Functions for Firebase	IP addresses	How it helps: Cloud Functions uses IP addresses to execute event-handling functions and HTTP functions based on end-user actions. Retention: Cloud functions only saves IP addresses temporarily, to provide the service.
Firebase Authentication	Passwords Email addresses Phone numbers User agents IP addresses	How it helps: Firebase Authentication uses the data to enable end-user authentication, and facilitate end-user account management. It also uses user-agent strings and IP addresses to provide added security and prevent abuse during sign-up and authentication. Retention: Firebase Authentication keeps logged IP addresses for a few weeks. It retains other authentication information until the Firebase customer initiates deletion of the associated user, after which data is removed from live and backup systems within 180 days.
Firebase App Check	Attestation material from supported attestation providers App Check tokens from successful attestations	How it helps: Firebase App Check uses attestation material required by the corresponding attestation provider and received from end-user's devices to help establish the integrity of the device and/or the app. Attestation materials are sent to the corresponding attestation provider for validation based on the developer's configuration. App Check tokens obtained from successful attestations are sent with every request to supported Firebase services to access resources protected by App Check. Retention: Attestation material is not retained by App Check, but when it is sent to attestation providers, it is subject to the terms of those attestation providers. App Check tokens returned from successful attestations are valid throughout their TTL duration, which cannot be longer than 7 days. For developers who use replay protection features, App Check stores the App Check tokens used with these features for at most 30 days. Other App Check tokens not used with replay protection features are not retained by Firebase services.
Firebase App Distribution	Users' names Email addresses iOS UDIDs Secure Android IDs Firebase installation IDs Tester feedback (screenshots and text)	How it helps: Firebase App Distribution uses the data to distribute app builds to testers, monitor tester activity, enable tester features like in-app feedback, and associate data with tester devices. Retention: Firebase App Distribution retains user information until the Firebase customer requests its deletion, after which data is removed from live and backup systems within 180 days.
Firebase Cloud Messaging	Firebase installation IDs	How it helps: Firebase Cloud Messaging uses Firebase installation IDs to determine which devices to deliver messages to. Retention: Firebase retains Firebase installation IDs until the Firebase customer makes an API call to delete the ID. After the call, data is removed from live and backup systems within 180 days.
Firebase Crashlytics	Crashlytics Installation UUIDs Firebase installations ID Crash traces Breakpad minidump formatted data (NDK crashes only)	How it helps: Firebase Crashlytics uses crash stack traces to associate crashes with a project, send email alerts to project members and display them in the Firebase Console, and help Firebase customers debug crashes. It uses Crashlytics Installation UUIDs to measure the number of users impacted by a crash and minidump data to process NDK crashes. The minidump data is stored while the crash session is being processed and then discarded. The Firebase installation ID enables upcoming features that will enhance crash reporting and crash management services. Refer to Examples of stored device information for more detail on the types of user information gathered. Retention: Firebase Crashlytics keeps crash stack traces, extracted minidump data, and associated identifiers (including Crashlytics Installation UUIDs and Firebase installation IDs) for 90 days before starting the process of removing it from live and backup systems.
Firebase Dynamic Links	Device specs (iOS) IP Addresses (iOS)	How it helps: Dynamic Links uses device specs and IP addresses on iOS to open newly-installed apps to a specific page or context. Retention: Dynamic Links only stores device specs and IP addresses temporarily, to provide the service.
Firebase Hosting	IP addresses	How it helps: Hosting uses IP addresses of incoming requests to detect abuse and provide customers with detailed analysis of usage data. Retention: Hosting retains IP data for a few months.
Firebase Performance Monitoring	Firebase installation IDs IP addresses	How it helps: Performance Monitoring uses Firebase installation IDs to calculate the number of unique Firebase installations that access network resources, to ensure that access patterns are sufficiently anonymous. It also uses Firebase installation IDs with Firebase Remote Config to manage the rate of performance event reporting. Additionally, it uses IP addresses to map performance events to the countries they originate from. For more information, see Data collection. Retention: Performance Monitoring keeps IP-associated events for 30 days, and it keeps installation-associated and de-identified performance data for 90 days before starting the process of removing it from live and backup systems.
Firebase In-App Messaging	Firebase installation IDs	How it helps: Firebase In-App Messaging uses Firebase installation IDs to determine which devices to deliver messages to. Retention: Firebase retains Firebase installation IDs until the Firebase customer makes an API call to delete the ID. After the call, data is removed from live and backup systems within 180 days.
Firebase Realtime Database	IP addresses User agents	How it helps: Realtime Database uses IP addresses and user agents to enable the profiler tool, which helps Firebase customers understand usage trends and platform breakdowns. Retention: Realtime Database keeps IP addresses and user agent information for a few days, unless a customer chooses to save it for longer.
Firebase Remote Config	Firebase installation IDs	How it helps: Remote Config uses Firebase installation IDs to select configuration values to return to end-user devices. Retention: Firebase retains Firebase installation IDs until the Firebase customer makes an API call to delete the ID. After the call, data is removed from live and backup systems within 180 days.
Firebase ML	Uploaded Images installation auth tokens	How it helps: The Cloud based APIs store uploaded images temporarily, to process and return the analysis to you. Stored images are typically deleted within a few hours. See the Cloud Vision Data Usage FAQ for more information. installation auth tokens are used by Firebase ML for device authentication when interacting with app instances, for example, to distribute developer models to app instances. Retention: installation auth tokens remain valid until their expiration date. The default token lifetime is one week.
Vertex AI in Firebase	Customer's inputs and outputs data sent and received from the AI model	How it helps: Vertex AI in Firebase uses Vertex AI's Generative AI API to predict content. Retention: During prediction, Google doesn't log Customer Data to generate a customer's output or train foundation models. By default, Google caches a customer's inputs and outputs for the Gemini models to accelerate responses to subsequent prompts from the customer. See more details at Generative AI and Data Governance | Generative AI on Vertex AI | Google Cloud.

Guides for enabling opt-in for end-user data processing

Services in the table above need some amount of end-user data to function. As a result, it's not possible to entirely disable data collection while using those services.

If you're a customer who would like to offer users a chance to opt-in to a service, and the data collection that comes with it, in most cases that just requires adding a dialog or settings toggle before using the service.

Some services, however, start up automatically when included in an app. To give users a chance to opt-in before using those services, you can choose to disable auto-initialization for each service, and manually initialize them at run time instead. To find out how, read the guides below:

• Cloud Messaging: Prevent Auto-initialization (Android) or Prevent Auto-initialization (iOS+)
• Crashlytics: Enable Opt-in Reporting (iOS+) or Enable Opt-in Reporting (Android)
• Performance Monitoring: Enable Opt-in Monitoring

If you integrate Firebase with Google Analytics, learn how to configure Analytics data collection.

Data storage and processing locations

Unless a service or feature offers data location selection, Firebase may process and store your data anywhere Google or its agents maintain facilities. Potential facility locations vary by service.

US-only services

The Firebase Authentication service is run only from US data centers. As a result, Firebase Authentication processes data exclusively in the United States.

Global services

The majority of Firebase services run on global Google infrastructure. They could process data at any of the Google Cloud Platform locations or Google data center locations. For some services you can make a specific Data Location Selection which restricts processing to that location.

• Cloud Storage for Firebase
• Cloud Firestore
• Cloud Functions for Firebase
• Firebase Hosting
• Firebase Crashlytics
• Firebase Performance Monitoring
• Firebase Dynamic Links
• Firebase Remote Config
• Firebase Cloud Messaging
• Firebase ML
• Firebase Test Lab
• Firebase App Check

Security information

Data encryption

Firebase services encrypt data in transit using HTTPS and logically isolate customer data.

In addition, several Firebase services also encrypt their data at rest:

• Cloud Firestore
• Cloud Functions for Firebase
• Cloud Storage for Firebase
• Firebase Crashlytics
• Firebase Authentication
• Firebase Cloud Messaging
• Firebase Realtime Database
• Firebase Test Lab
• Firebase App Check
• Firebase Performance Monitoring

Security practices

To keep personal data safe, Firebase employs extensive security measures to minimize access:

• Firebase restricts access to a select employees who have a business purpose to access personal data.
• Firebase logs employee access to systems that contain personal data.
• Firebase only permits access to personal data by employees who sign in with Google Sign-In and 2-factor authentication.

Firebase Service Data

Firebase Service Data is personal information that Google collects and generates during the provision and administration of the Firebase services^*, excluding Customer Data^** as defined in our customer agreements covering Firebase services and Google Cloud Service Data. Examples of Firebase Service Data include information about service usage, resource identifiers like application IDs and package name/bundle IDs, technical and operational details of usage such as IP addresses, and direct communications with developers from feedback and support related conversations.

^{*Services covered include Firebase A/B Testing, Firebase App Distribution, Firebase Cloud Messaging, Firebase Crashlytics, Firebase Dynamic Links, Firebase Hosting, Firebase In-App Messaging, Firebase ML, Vertex AI in Firebase, Firebase Performance Monitoring, Firebase Realtime Database, Firebase Remote Config, and Firebase User Segmentation Storage.}

^{**For more information about how we process Customer Data, see our Firebase Data Processing and Security Terms.}

Examples of how Firebase Service Data is processed by Firebase

Google uses Firebase Service Data in accordance with our privacy policy and applicable terms. Firebase Service Data is used, for example, to:

• Provide Firebase services you request
• Make recommendations to optimize use of Firebase services
• Maintain and improve Firebase services
• Provide and improve other services you request
• Understand your use of Firebase and other Google services
• Provide better support to and communicate with you
• Protect you, our users, the public and Google
• Comply with legal obligations

Firebase Service Data use by non-Firebase Google services

You can control whether your Firebase Service Data may be used by Google to provide more in depth analysis, insights, and recommendations about non-Firebase Google services and improve non-Firebase Google services. You can configure this in your Firebase data privacy settings page.

If this control is disabled, Firebase Service Data will continue to be used for other purposes, such as those mentioned above, in accordance with our privacy policy and applicable terms, including to make recommendations about and improve Firebase services, and to deliver and improve other services you request, such as Google products you link to your Firebase project.

Still have questions? Contact us

For any privacy-related questions you have that aren't covered here, reach out to Firebase Support. If you're a Firebase developer, include your Firebase App ID. Find your Firebase App ID in the Your apps card of your settings Project settings.