Frequently Asked Questions

All iOS and Android smartphones are vulnerable to hacking, either through data thieves’ use of electronic tools or outright theft of the device. Center Zero’s revolutionary secure data storage app prevents breaches by acting as a password-protected ‘vault door,’ behind which users can safely store personal and business-related data, documents and images*.

Once you enter items into the app, you simply secure them with a ‘visual’ password made from two to five photos (in any order) from your smartphone’s camera app. Picture-based passwords rotate in three to five second intervals–enough time for you to easily select photos, but virtually impossible for hackers to exploit them, even with invasive tools or software.

The Center Zero app conveniently houses all the data types you currently carry on your phone, (ahem) often insecurely in Notepad or similar text-based applications. Unfortunately, even clever use of numbers or symbols to mask or encrypt stored information can’t stop determined data thieves. Such practices put your information–and your entire online life–at unnecessary risk.

More data types will come later, but currently you can safely store personal or business login credentials (usernames and passwords) for free. You may also store multiple gigabytes of documents (including Word docs and PDFs), and images (such as photos and illustrations). But this extra storage requires upgrading to Center Zero Plus, which is just $0.99 per month.

No, it’s actually easier. Instead of memorizing a string of letters and characters to open the app, you simply select, in no particular order, two to five of your favorite photo to access your private data and images. Our patent-pending, visual-password technology provides an extra layer of protection that keeps information safe and accessible, but only to the user.

As noted above, the Center Zero app lets you safely store text-based personal or business login credentials (usernames, passwords, etc.) for free. Center Zero Plus is a modestly priced upgrade that allows you to secure and safeguard multiple gigabytes of photos, images and documents. The cost for upgrading to Plus is just $0.99 per month and you may cancel at any time. Cancelling won’t change the free portion of your app’s functionality but it will render any stored images or documents inaccessible.

Not only can iOS and Android devices be hacked, they can be easily breached without your knowledge. To believe anything is else is naive and risky. Think of the sensitive info that people store in their Notepad app, for example, not to mention private photographs stashed deep inside their camera roll. Acknowledging these risks, Center Zero founder and app creator, Jessie Cortez, cautions smartphone users to be vigilant about prioritizing personal data security.

“Of course we hope smartphone users will consider using our secure data storage app,” says Jessie. “But we also encourage them to do so as part of a broader data-protection strategy that includes having a security-first mindset for all mobile and online activity. Center Zero has a place on everyone’s smartphone. But we also hope people are taking other precautions to keep cellphone and computer hackers out of their personal lives.”

People store photos of all kinds on their phones, but often take few, if any, precautions to keep the private ones from going public, a fate that Hollywood celebrities suffered not long ago.  With Center Zero’s secure data storage app, you can safely store any kind of personal, family or business photos* with vault-like security, until you’re ready to preview them yourself or share them with a friend.

The patent for the technology that secures the Center Zero app is currently pending from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Founder and creator Jessie Cortez spent two years perfecting his rotating image algorithm before introducing it in the Spring of 2018. Jessie has other patents pending and is currently exploring ways to bring them to market, to help digital consumers enjoy their devices in even more new and interesting ways.

Short answer: highly unlikely. Without getting too technical, the odds of a thief breaking into your phone, identifying the exact images used to secure your Center Zero app, then duplicating them at the shuffle-speed, sequence and resolution necessary to fool your device are, statistically speaking, millions to one. Prior to its market introduction, the app was subjected to extensive review and security testing. The final build passed with zero data losses.

Center Zero is the brainchild of Southern California app-whiz, Jessie S. Cortez, who first conceived the idea to protect himself and others from cellphone data hackers in 2016. After independently funding and finalizing the app’s revolutionary rotating image technology, Jessie introduced the iOS version in 2018. Projected release for the Android version is the Summer of 2019.

Not at all. App creator Jessie S. Cortez sincerely believes that digital users everywhere deserve a secure, private life online–without fear of cellphone hackers stealing private data. Helping others was the main reason he developed the Center Zero app. Read more about Jessie’s business philosophy on our Core Principles page.

Center Zero’s business strategy includes supporting worthy but financially needy organizations. Groups currently under consideration include schools and clubs that emphasize STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), especially those that are training and creating opportunities for minority middle-school and high-school aged students. Independently, and through strategic partnerships with other businesses, Jessie also plans to establish a scholarship program to help budding technologists offset their educational expenses.