Separate a reporting archive from everyday phone use while keeping source protection, communications and newsroom policy in the wider plan.

Start with the assignment, not an app feature

A reporter may carry interview photos, identity documents and private notes on a device also used for everyday messages. Decide what the assignment requires on that phone, who could reach it, and what would happen if it became unavailable. The Committee to Protect Journalists' source-protection guidance treats source confidentiality as a broader digital and physical safety problem.

Match storage to the workflow

Use separate pattern-addressed vaults to compartmentalize ordinary access to different archives.
Understand controlled import and whether an original remains in the system library.
Arrange encrypted backup and recovery before the device becomes the only surviving archive.

Before publication, review a copy for visible identifiers and metadata. Preserving an original for verification and distributing a cleaned copy are different decisions. Keep that distinction in the newsroom workflow.

Where NullVault is not the whole answer

A vault is not a secure communications channel, endpoint-compromise remedy, or source-management policy. It cannot remove a recipient's prior copy or prevent physical pressure. Follow your organization's requirements and seek specialist support when a source faces serious risk.

Use the journalist photo-privacy guide, travel scenario, and phone-loss scenario to connect the archive to a practical plan.