Privacy Policy

1. About Forest House Games and this policy

This is a shared policy for the Games and Services that adopt it. Different Games can use different analytics and diagnostic services, as described below. Any Game-specific privacy information supplements this policy.

This Privacy Policy explains how Forest House Games handles personal information when you use our games, related websites and support services that link to or expressly refer to this policy (our Services). Our games are referred to as the Games, or individually as a Game.

Forest House Games is the trading name under which we provide these Services. The legal entity responsible for your personal information, as controller, and its contact details are identified on our Company and contact details page, which forms part of this policy. References to “we”, “us” and “our” mean that company.

The information involved depends on the Game, features, platform and region you use. A feature described as applying where enabled only involves collection when that feature is actually used in the relevant Game. This policy explains the relevant information, purposes, recipients, retention and choices. Any additional information for a particular feature should be read with it.

The Terms and access conditions applicable to your Game govern its use. Our current Terms of Use are available here. Accepting applicable Terms is separate from any consent required for a particular use of personal information.

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2. Privacy at a glance

• We use information to provide our Services, deliver purchases, answer enquiries, improve gameplay and reliability, and meet our legal obligations.
• Gameplay measurement helps us understand things such as level difficulty, tutorial progress, booster use and aggregate purchase patterns.
• Our Games can have different age requirements. See the information for younger players and parents.
• The sections below explain who receives information, how long it is kept and your privacy choices and rights.
• You can reach us through our Contact page.

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3. Information and where it comes from

Game information and preferences

Our Games use information such as progress, completed levels or matches, scores, settings, virtual-currency and item balances, and the state needed to run gameplay. A local record can also remember Terms acceptance, an eligibility confirmation or a privacy choice. The gameplay and technical information sent to us or a provider is described below.

Your operating system or device-backup service can also handle app data according to its own settings. Information used only on your device is distinct from information sent to us or a service provider.

Purchases and entitlements

If you make an in-app purchase, the store processes your payment. The relevant Game and purchase-service providers use information needed to verify and deliver it, such as the product or pack, order or transaction reference, receipt or validation result, purchase status and relevant time or price information supplied by the store.

We receive purchase information rather than your full payment-card number from the store. If you ask us to investigate a purchase, we may need an order reference and information necessary to identify the problem. Purchase services can also process transaction and technical information for validation, service operation and purchase reporting. This processing is distinct from the limited gameplay context we add to understand shop visits.

Gameplay information

Where enabled, measurements can describe level or match attempts and outcomes, progress, scores, moves, goals, tutorial steps, bonus opportunities, item or booster use, shop visits and purchase categories. The gameplay-measurement section explains the purposes and the relevant collection and choices.

Technical information, reports and website requests

Technical information can include app and operating-system versions, device characteristics, errors and circumstances of a failure. Delivering a webpage also involves request information such as an IP address, requested address, time and browser information. Reports made available by Apple or Google depend on their reporting and sharing arrangements.

Where a Game uses Firebase Crashlytics, reports can include Crashlytics or Firebase installation identifiers, crash and error information, and technical details about the app, device and circumstances of a failure. We use these reports to investigate faults and improve reliability.

Where a Game uses Unity Diagnostics, crash, error and performance reports include an installation identifier and technical information such as the Game version, device and operating-system details, logs and circumstances of a failure. We use these reports to investigate faults and improve reliability. We also use technical reports made available through Apple and Google under their reporting and sharing arrangements.

Our hosting, security and email providers handle the technical information needed to deliver webpages and correspondence, investigate faults and protect the Services. This can include request and delivery times, network addresses, browser information, error and security records, and email routing information. Email delivery and spam filtering also involve processing sender and recipient details and message contents. Hosting reports may summarise requests and service performance.

Messages and privacy requests

When you contact us, we receive the contact information you use, the contents of your message, any name or attachments you provide and associated message metadata. We use this to respond, investigate the issue and keep an appropriate record. Please send only information relevant to your request.

Information from other sources

We can receive purchase, entitlement, refund and technical-report information from app stores and the service providers described in the sharing section. We can also receive information from someone assisting you, such as a parent or an authorised representative. External services have their own privacy information.

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4. Gameplay measurement and marketing reports

Where gameplay measurement is enabled, we use it to understand how our Games perform and improve their design and usability. Depending on the Game, measurements can help us understand levels or matches, progress and outcomes, tutorial completion, item or booster use, daily activity and how shop visits relate to purchases. Aggregate purchase patterns also help us assess commercial performance.

Our Games may use Google Analytics for Firebase or Unity Analytics for gameplay measurement. The descriptions below apply only where the relevant service is enabled.

In Games that use our shop-visit measurement, the custom context we add relates a purchase category to the current level or goal and a coarse difficulty indicator during the same shop visit. That custom context excludes message contents, receipts and transaction references. Purchase services can separately process purchase and transaction information as described in section 3.

Google Analytics for Firebase

Where a Game uses Google Analytics for Firebase, measurements can include gameplay events, an app-instance identifier, device and technical information, approximate location derived from network information, session and screen activity, and purchase events. Depending on the configuration, mobile advertising identifiers can also be collected. These identifiers can connect activity across sessions. Google explains its handling of information in its partner privacy information.

Unity Analytics

Where a Game uses Unity Analytics, gameplay events are associated with technical information, including an IP address, an installation identifier, an analytics user identifier and, on relevant devices, an identifier for the vendor. Installation identifiers can connect activity across sessions. Reviewing aggregate reports does not mean that the information was anonymous when collected.

Basis and choices for gameplay measurement

Where permitted, we rely on our legitimate interests in understanding gameplay, testing improvements and assessing the performance of our Games, subject to necessity, proportionality and players’ rights. Separate rules can apply to storing or accessing information on a device. If consent is required for a measurement, we obtain it before collection or leave that measurement disabled. Your choices and request routes are explained in section 10.

Testing improvements

We may compare versions of tutorials, feature presentation or game balance through controlled comparisons, often called A/B tests. A test can involve assigning an installation to a test group, recording which version was shown and comparing the resulting gameplay measurements. An assignment may be stored between sessions to keep the test experience consistent. Players may see different versions of a feature during a test. We use the results to decide how to improve the Game. The same applicable privacy requirements and choices apply to the associated measurement.

Aggregate marketing reports

We also use aggregate download, sales, country or campaign reports made available by stores or marketing platforms to decide where to market our Games. An aggregate report does not necessarily mean the underlying information was collected anonymously.

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5. Why we use information

We use information for the purposes below. Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the appropriate legal basis for each activity. The gameplay-measurement section explains the actual analytics arrangements, including any relevant differences between Services or regions.

When relying on legitimate interests, we assess the need for the processing and its effects on people, with particular attention to younger players. You can object as explained in section 10.

Some technologies store information on, or access information from, your device. We use these with the permission or exception required by applicable law. The legal basis for personal information and any device-access permission are separate requirements.

Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing already carried out on that basis. Information necessary for gameplay, a requested purchase or a support enquiry is handled separately from optional measurement. Exercising a required choice about optional processing does not prevent basic gameplay or delivery of purchased content.

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6. Who receives information

We share information where it is needed for the purposes described in this policy. Depending on the Service involved, recipients include:

• Hosting and security providers that deliver and protect our websites and technical services.
• Email and support providers that handle messages, support enquiries and privacy requests.
• Gameplay-analytics and technical-reporting providers that process the measurements or reports described above.
• App stores and purchase-service providers that distribute Games, process payments, verify orders, deliver entitlements or handle refunds. Apple and Google can also act independently for their own services. See Apple’s privacy information and Google’s Privacy Policy.
• Professional advisers, such as accountants and legal advisers, where necessary and subject to appropriate confidentiality.
• Public authorities or parties to a legal matter, where disclosure is required by law or is necessary and lawful to protect rights, safety or security.
• A successor to the business or a Game, if a relevant transaction occurs, subject to confidentiality, lawful transfer and notice where required.

Providers acting on our behalf process information under appropriate instructions and agreements. A provider’s independent processing, where relevant, is explained separately. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

Where our Games use Unity services, Unity receives the analytics, diagnostic or purchase information needed for the relevant functions described above. This can include installation or other service identifiers, technical information and the relevant gameplay or transaction information. See Unity’s Game Player and App User Privacy Policy for its explanation of how information is handled. Unity processes information on our behalf for its Analytics and Diagnostics services; its role for other processing depends on the service and purpose. Your choices and request routes for our processing are explained in section 10.

Where our Games use Google Analytics for Firebase or Firebase Crashlytics, Google receives the relevant analytics or diagnostic information described above. See Google’s partner privacy information and its Firebase privacy information. Google Analytics and Firebase services have their respective processing terms; the purposes, controls and retention arrangements for the relevant service are described in this policy.

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7. Processing in other countries

We operate from the Netherlands. Our providers and the app stores can process information in other countries. Unity Analytics processing includes Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States. Google Analytics and Firebase services can also involve processing outside the European Economic Area.

Where a transfer is subject to GDPR or equivalent transfer rules, we use an applicable lawful mechanism. Depending on the destination and arrangement, this can be a recognised adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards together with any necessary additional protection. Unity’s Data Processing Addendum sets out the contractual arrangements applicable to its processing on our behalf.

Google’s applicable processing terms include its Google Analytics data-processing terms and the Firebase Data Processing and Security Terms for the relevant Firebase services.

You can ask us about the safeguards relevant to your information, including a copy where you are entitled to one, through our Contact page. We may redact unrelated confidential information. Independent app-store processing is also explained in the relevant store’s notice.

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8. How long we keep information

We set retention according to the purpose and type of information. At the end of the relevant period, we delete the information or make it irreversibly anonymous, subject to a specific legal duty or relevant dispute.

• Google Analytics for Firebase: event data retention is set to 2 months. User data and the key-event data covered by Google’s user-data setting have a 14-month setting. New activity restarts the user-data period; it does not extend all event records. Expired data is deleted in Google’s monthly process. These settings do not limit standard aggregated reports. Any copies or exports we keep remain subject to the purposes, retention duties and rights described in this policy.
• Firebase Crashlytics: crash information and associated identifiers are retained for 90 days before the process of removing them from live and backup systems begins.
• Unity Analytics: under the standard retention arrangements, raw events are automatically deleted after 13 months. Reporting metrics and player-profile information do not have that automatic expiry; they remain until deletion is requested by a player or initiated by us. We review whether retained personal information is still needed for the stated purposes and initiate deletion when it is no longer needed. An applicable deletion right can require earlier removal.
• Unity Diagnostics: personal information is retained for 90 days under its standard settings.
• Support correspondence: we normally delete ordinary support messages and attachments from our active records 12 months after the enquiry is resolved.
• Privacy requests: we retain a limited record of the request and our response for 2 years after completion, to document how it was handled. We remove unnecessary verification information sooner when it is no longer needed.

Website and email technical records: retention depends on the type of record, the provider’s routine retention cycle and whether it is needed to resolve a delivery problem, diagnose a fault or investigate a security incident. Records retained for a particular investigation are kept until the matter and any necessary follow-up are complete, subject to any applicable legal retention requirement.

Where hosting or email providers keep recovery copies containing personal information, those copies remain within the provider’s backup cycle until they expire or are overwritten.

Local progress and preferences remain on your device until they are replaced or removed through the relevant game or device controls. Platform backups and information held independently by an app store have separate retention under the platform’s arrangements.

Relevant records needed for a purchase, refund, accounting obligation or legal claim are retained for the applicable purpose and period, which can require keeping specific correspondence longer than the ordinary periods above. A requirement to keep one record does not justify retaining unrelated gameplay information. Where a legal hold applies, we restrict use to the relevant matter and review retention when it ends.

Deleting a Game does not automatically delete information already sent to a service, a message you sent us or a record held independently by an app store. Deletion requests are handled according to the information we hold and applicable retention duties. An individual contribution cannot be removed from statistics once it has been made irreversibly anonymous.

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9. Security

We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the information and risks, including limiting access and reviewing the services used to process data. No system can guarantee complete security. If an incident requires notification to you or an authority, we will provide it as required by law.

You can help by using a supported device and operating system, installing relevant updates and protecting your app-store account. Report a suspected security issue through our Contact page. Please provide only the information needed to explain it.

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10. Your choices and privacy rights

To make a request, use our Contact page. Explain what you want us to do and provide enough context to identify the relevant records. We will ask for additional verification only where it is reasonably necessary and proportionate.

Depending on the law and the processing, you can:

• Ask whether we hold information about you and obtain access or a copy.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Ask for deletion or restriction of processing.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests. We will stop that processing unless a permitted overriding ground or legal-claims exception applies.
• Withdraw consent for processing that relies on consent.
• Receive information you provided in a portable format where the conditions for portability apply.
• Complain to an appropriate data-protection authority and use any other remedies available to you.

You can contact us to object to optional processing or request deletion of information we hold about you. Where a Game provides privacy controls, you can also use those controls; the Game explains which collection they affect. Stopping future collection and requesting deletion of previously collected information are separate actions.

Gameplay analytics, diagnostic reports and purchase processing are handled separately. An analytics choice or analytics-deletion request does not automatically change Firebase Crashlytics, Unity Diagnostics, your device’s or app store’s reporting, or records required to handle a purchase. Tell us which Game and information your request concerns so that we can act on the appropriate service.

Where a simple objection mechanism is required for a measurement, we provide it and stop the affected optional processing when it is exercised. Necessary purchase processing is handled separately. Required privacy choices are not a condition for receiving purchased content or basic gameplay.

These rights have legal conditions and exceptions. We may need to retain limited records for a legal obligation or claim. If we cannot act on a request, we will explain the reason and the available complaint or appeal route. We do not require new identifying data solely to re-identify anonymous information.

We respond without undue delay and within the applicable legal deadline. GDPR requests are normally answered within one month; any permitted extension will be explained within the initial period. Where another applicable rule requires an earlier response, that rule applies. Requests are normally free; any exceptional fee or refusal must be permitted by law and explained.

We do not penalise you for exercising a privacy right. If you use an authorised representative, we may ask for evidence of their authority and appropriate verification.

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11. Younger players

Our Games can have different audiences and age requirements. The applicable Game’s Terms and access information explain any minimum age and required parental involvement. Some Games may be made available to younger players with parental permission. A store’s content rating is separate from these access requirements.

Information for children and parents

Where gameplay measurement is enabled, it helps us understand how people play, including matches or levels, and improve the Game. Crash reports help us find and fix faults. The information involved, the services used and how long information is kept are explained in section 3, section 4 and section 8.

If you are a child, ask a parent or guardian to help you understand this policy and the Game’s Terms. Where the law requires it, they must give permission for you to use the Game or make a purchase. Permission to play or buy something is separate from any consent required for collecting or using personal information.

Depending on your age and where you live, we may need your parent’s or guardian’s consent before collecting or using your personal information.

A parent or guardian can use our Contact page to ask about a child’s information, request access or deletion, or ask us to stop further collection or use where those rights apply. Please tell us which Game your request concerns. We may request proportionate verification of your authority and information needed to locate the relevant records.

If you believe we have handled a child’s information contrary to the applicable privacy requirements, contact us. We will investigate and, where required, delete or restrict the information and take appropriate action. We do not require a child to provide more personal information than is reasonably necessary to participate in a Game activity.

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12. Regional privacy information and complaints

The general rights above apply according to the law governing the processing; they are not limited simply by nationality. Additional local protections remain available. You can contact us first, but this does not remove your right to approach a regulator directly where the law permits.

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13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change how we process personal information and update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our Services, our practices or applicable law. The latest version is available on our website, together with its effective date.

If a change materially affects how we handle your information or how you exercise your rights, we will actively inform you through the relevant Game or, where appropriate, using contact details you have provided. We will give this information before the change takes effect where required.

Our Games currently do not display advertising. We may introduce optional rewarded ads in the future, which players can choose to watch in exchange for in-game items or currency.

You do not need to accept this Privacy Policy again simply because we update it. If a new or changed use of information requires your consent, we will obtain it before that processing begins. Existing privacy choices and rights remain available. You can save a copy or request the version relevant to your enquiry through our Contact page.

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