This policy explains what information the game uses, why, who else receives it, and what choices you have. We wrote it in plain English. The short version comes first.
The short version
- No account and no sign-in. We never ask for your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, location, camera or microphone.
- Your game progress stays with you. It is saved on your iPhone and, if iCloud is on, copied into your own iCloud account. We cannot read it.
- Usage data and error reports (you can switch this off). The game sends gameplay events and error reports to our analytics provider (PostHog, hosted in the EU). They are not linked to you: they carry a random install ID made by the game, not your name or Apple ID. Switch it off any time in Settings → Privacy → "Share anonymous usage data".
- Ads only when you choose to watch them. Ads are optional videos that give you a reward. Google AdMob shows them and collects some data for that, as described below. In the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland the game only shows "limited ads", which are not personalised and need no consent.
- Payments go through Apple. We never see your card or bank details.
- We do not sell your personal data. We do not use the advertising identifier (IDFA), and the game does not show Apple's "Allow tracking?" prompt.
1. Who is responsible
The data controller (the party responsible for your data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, "GDPR") is:
Ruben Depover, Belgium
Email: support@bignighttycoon.com
In this policy, "we" and "us" means that party. We are a one-person studio, so we have not appointed a data protection officer (we are not required to). Write to the email address above about anything in this policy.
2. What we collect and why
2.1 Your game progress (on your device and in your iCloud)
- What: your save game (career, venues, upgrades, gems and other game state) and your settings.
- Where: in the game's storage on your iPhone. If you are signed in to iCloud, the game also keeps a copy in iCloud key-value storage, so your progress follows you to a new iPhone or survives a reinstall.
- Who can see it: only you and Apple, which stores your iCloud data under Apple's privacy policy. We do not receive it and cannot read it.
- Why: so the game works and your progress is not lost.
- How to delete it: delete the app to remove the copy on the iPhone. To remove the iCloud copy, go to the iPhone's Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Storage (the exact menu names depend on the iOS version).
2.2 Usage data and error reports (analytics)
The game sends information about how the game is played, to help us find bugs, balance the game and decide what to improve. This is on by default, and you can switch it off at any time in Settings → Privacy → "Share anonymous usage data". When you switch it off, the game stops sending and deletes any events still waiting on your iPhone.
What is sent:
- A random ID that the game creates the first time it starts, plus a random ID for each play session. These IDs are not your Apple ID, not the advertising identifier (IDFA) and not your name. Deleting and reinstalling the game creates a new ID.
- Gameplay events, for example: tutorial steps, events hosted and their results (stars, attendance, in-game money), upgrades bought, in-game choices, gems earned and spent, shop opened, daily rewards claimed, ads requested or rewarded (which in-game spot, not which ad), purchases (which product, its price and currency, but no payment details), whether the iPhone's clock seems to have been changed (see 2.6), and settings changed (for example the language). These contain game IDs and numbers only, never anything you typed.
- Device and app facts: app version and build, iOS version, device model (for example "iPhone15,2"), device type, and the game's language.
- Error reports: when something goes wrong in the game, the error message and the technical "stack trace" (where in our code it happened).
- Your IP address reaches PostHog's servers, as it does with any internet request. PostHog may use it to estimate your country and city, and stores the result with the events.
While the game is offline, events wait in a small file on your iPhone and are sent later.
Not linked to you, but not fully anonymous: the setting is called "anonymous usage data" because nothing sent identifies you: no name, no account, no Apple ID, no advertising identifier, and we do not try to find out who you are. But every event carries the same random install ID, so the events of one install can be put together. EU law therefore treats this as pseudonymous personal data, and we protect it as such.
Who processes it: PostHog (see section 4). The data is stored in PostHog's EU cloud (Frankfurt, Germany).
2.3 Optional rewarded ads (Google AdMob)
The game shows an ad only when you tap a button to watch one for an in-game reward. There are no banner ads and no ads that interrupt play. Players who buy the "ad-free pass" get the rewards without watching.
The ads come from Google AdMob. To show ads, measure them and prevent fraud, Google's software in the game collects information from your device. Google documents this as: your IP address (also used to estimate your general location), device identifiers (Google lists "the device's advertising identifier or other app- or developer-bounded device identifiers"), the ads you have seen and how you interacted with them (for example video views and taps), app launch and performance data, and crash logs. Because the game never asks for permission to track you, iOS does not give Google the advertising identifier (IDFA).
In the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland the game does not ask for ad consent. Google therefore shows only "limited ads" there: they are not personalised, and Google limits the data it collects and uses for them (no use of personal data for personalising ads).
Outside those regions Google may personalise ads based on the information above, under its own policies.
Google decides how it uses this data for its own purposes. Please read:
- Google Privacy Policy
- How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services
- How Google uses data in advertising
- The list of Google's ad technology partners is on Google's page on ad technology partners.
The game also supports Apple's SKAdNetwork, a privacy-preserving system that lets ad networks measure ad results without identifying you.
2.4 In-app purchases (Apple and Unity)
- Payment is handled entirely by Apple under Apple's privacy policy. We never receive your card details, billing address or Apple ID. Apple tells the game which product you bought, so it can give you the gems or the ad-free pass.
- The purchase code in the game comes from Unity In-App Purchasing (by Unity Technologies). It sends technical data about the purchase steps to Unity so that we get revenue and error reports: the product, its price and currency, the transaction ID, whether the purchase succeeded or failed, an app installation ID made by Unity, the device's identifier for vendor (IDFV — an ID that is the same for apps from one developer on one device and is not the advertising identifier), device model, iOS version, language and region settings, and technical details like the time since the device last restarted and storage size. Unity processes this on our behalf (see section 4).
- Our own analytics also records the purchase (product, price, currency), as described in 2.2.
2.5 Technical diagnostics from the game engine (Unity)
The game is built with the Unity engine. Unity's engine diagnostics are switched off in the game: the engine itself sends no crash, performance or usage data to Unity. (The purchase reports in 2.4 are separate.)
2.6 Checking the time
The game has timers (for example, building upgrades). To stop the clock from being cheated by changing the iPhone's time, it reads the current time from the web: it sends a basic request to www.apple.com or www.google.com and reads the date the server sends back. No ID or game data is included; like any web request, the server sees your IP address.
2.7 Notifications
The game can remind you when, for example, an event or a building upgrade is ready. These are local notifications scheduled on your iPhone; nothing is sent to a server. iOS asks for your permission, and you can switch them off in the iPhone's Settings → Notifications.
2.8 What we do not collect
We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, postal address, contacts, photos, precise location, health data, payment details, browsing history or messages. The game has no chat, no social features and no user accounts. It does not use the camera or microphone.
If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write, and use it only to answer you.
3. Legal bases (EU / UK GDPR)
| What | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Saving your progress on the device and in iCloud | Performance of our agreement to provide the game (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) |
| Usage data and error reports (PostHog) | Our legitimate interest in keeping the game working and improving it (Art. 6(1)(f)). You can object at any time with the in-game switch. |
| Purchases (Apple, Unity) | Performance of the purchase agreement (Art. 6(1)(b)); our legitimate interest in revenue and error reporting (Art. 6(1)(f)); legal obligations such as tax and accounting records (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
| Limited ads (EU/EEA/UK/Switzerland; no personalisation, no consent asked) | Our legitimate interest in funding a free game with optional ads (Art. 6(1)(f)), and Google's own legal bases as described in its policies |
| Time check | Our legitimate interest in fair timers (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Answering your emails | Our legitimate interest in supporting players (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
When we rely on legitimate interest, we have weighed it against your rights: the data is not linked to your name, it is used only for the game, and you can switch it off.
4. Who receives data
| Recipient | Role | What for | Where | Their policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PostHog Inc. | Our processor | Usage analytics and error reports | EU cloud (Frankfurt, Germany) | posthog.com/privacy |
| Google (Google Ireland Limited for users in the EEA/UK/Switzerland; Google LLC elsewhere) | Independent controller for its own ad purposes | Showing and measuring rewarded ads | Worldwide, including the USA | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Apple | Independent controller | Payments, iCloud storage, App Store, notifications on the device | Worldwide, including the USA | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| Unity Technologies | Our processor | Purchase reporting (Unity In-App Purchasing) | Including the USA | unity.com/legal/privacy-policy |
Processors may only use the data on our instructions, under a data processing agreement. We may also disclose data if the law requires it, or to a buyer if the game is ever transferred (we would tell you first).
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with data brokers.
5. International transfers
Our analytics data stays in the EU. Google, Apple and Unity may process data outside the European Economic Area, including in the USA. Where they do, they rely on safeguards recognised under the GDPR, such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (where the company is certified) or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
6. How long we keep data
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Save game on your iPhone / in your iCloud | Until you delete it (you control this) |
| Events waiting on your iPhone to be sent | Until they are sent (at most 1,000 events are kept), or deleted at once when you switch sharing off |
| Usage data and error reports at PostHog | 12 months, then deleted |
| Purchase reports at Unity | Kept by Unity under its own retention rules; we keep no copy beyond the totals in our sales figures |
| Ad data at Google | As described in Google's policies |
| Emails with us | As long as needed to help you, and at most [e.g. 2 years] |
| Purchase records we receive from Apple (sales reports) | As long as Belgian tax and accounting law requires (generally 7 to 10 years) |
7. Your choices and rights
In the game:
- Usage data: Settings → Privacy → "Share anonymous usage data" (off = nothing more is sent, and waiting events are deleted).
- Ads: watching ads is always optional. In the EU/EEA/UK/Switzerland they are limited, non-personalised ads.
- Notifications: the iPhone's Settings → Notifications → Big Night Tycoon.
- Tracking: the game never asks to track you. You can also stop every app from asking in the iPhone's Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
Your rights under the GDPR (and similar laws): you can ask us for access to your data, to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to its use, and to receive it in a portable format. You can withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect what was done before).
Because we do not know who you are, we can only find your analytics data if you give us the game's random ID. Write to us and we will help you find it. Ad data is held by Google: contact Google through its privacy policy.
To use your rights, email support@bignighttycoon.com. We answer within one month.
Complaints: you can complain to a data protection authority. Ours is the Belgian Data Protection Authority (Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit / Autorité de protection des données), Drukpersstraat 35 / Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, Belgium — www.dataprotectionauthority.be. You can also contact the authority where you live or work. We would appreciate the chance to sort it out with you first.
US residents: we do not sell personal information. Google may use data from ads for personalised advertising outside the EU/UK as described in section 2.3.
8. Children
The game is made for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Usage data never includes a name or contact details. If you are a parent and believe your child has sent us personal data (for example by email), contact us and we will delete it.
9. Security
Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Access to our analytics account is limited to us and protected with two-factor authentication. No method is 100% secure, but we only collect what we need, which keeps the risk small.
10. Changes to this policy
If we change how the game uses data, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant (for example a new kind of data or a new partner), we will also tell you in the game or in the App Store release notes.
11. Contact
Ruben Depover, Belgium — support@bignighttycoon.com