Is BLOKK safe? Who makes it and how it works
BLOKK is a privacy app made by Revoke Limited, a company based in Jersey in the Channel Islands. Its free Privacy Shield blocks known trackers and scam websites on your phone, and it needs no account, name or email address. It is available on Google Play and the App Store and has been downloaded more than 1,000,000 times on Google Play.
Who makes BLOKK?
| Company | Revoke Limited |
| Registered office | Ground Floor, 5 Bond Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE2 3NP |
| Data protection registration | Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner, number 61116 |
| Websites | blokkapp.com and revoke.com |
| App Store developer name | Revoke Limited |
| Google Play developer name | MyPA Limited |
| First released | August 2022 |
| Rating | Rated 4.6 on Google Play |
On the App Store the developer is shown as Revoke Limited, and on Google Play as MyPA Limited. It is the same app from the same team on both stores.
What does BLOKK do?
BLOKK has two parts.
Privacy Shield, free. It checks the connections your apps and browsers make against a list of known tracking and scam domains, and stops the ones on the list. On Android the list holds more than 7 million domains. This happens in every app, not only in a browser. Blocking trackers also stops many adverts from loading, because adverts are delivered through the same tracking addresses.
VPN, paid. The MAX plan adds a VPN that hides your IP address and lets you choose a virtual location. The VPN runs through the Privacy Shield: the Shield keeps blocking while the VPN is on, and the VPN only works while the Shield is on. There is a 7 day free trial, then MAX costs £29.99 a year or £4.99 a month.
BLOKK also shows you what it found: Activity lists which apps tried to contact which trackers, Map of Your Data shows the countries and companies those connections were going to, Privacy Score rates your phone, and the Weekly Report sums it up.
What BLOKK does not do
- It does not block or read calls or text messages.
- It is a tracker and scam blocker. Some adverts disappear as a result, and some do not.
- It cannot know about a scam website that appeared a few minutes ago and is not yet on any list.
Why does BLOKK ask for VPN permission?
Phones do not give apps a “block trackers” permission. The only way for one app to check the connections of all the others is the phone’s VPN permission. BLOKK uses it to run an on-device VPN: the check happens on your phone, against a list stored on your phone. Your IP address does not change, and the Shield does not send your traffic through an outside server to do it.
DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection and other tracker blockers work the same way. You will see a small key or VPN symbol at the top of the screen while it is on.
The paid VPN is different. Like any VPN, it sends your traffic through a VPN server so that websites see the server’s address and not yours.
What data does BLOKK collect?
BLOKK does not ask for your name, email address or any account. Its privacy policy says it does not collect personally identifiable information and cannot link what it collects to an individual.
The policy lists what it does collect:
- your country while the app is in use
- your phone’s operating system, device type and app version
- connection information and a device identifier
- apps installed and websites visited
The store listings describe this as data that is not linked to you. The full policy is at blokkapp.com/privacy-policy.
Is BLOKK free?
The Privacy Shield is free, with no account. The VPN is paid, on the MAX plan, after a 7 day free trial. Payment is handled by Google Play or the App Store.
How to check BLOKK for yourself
- Turn it on and open Activity. You will see the apps on your phone and what each one tried to contact.
- Open an app you use every day and watch the list grow.
- If an app stops working properly, pause BLOKK for that app. On Android you can do this app by app.
Download BLOKK on Google Play or download BLOKK on the App Store.
