Privacy policy

Pocket Fishing is made by Kondi Softworks ("we"). This page explains what the game and this website collect, why, who else handles it, and how you can stop it. In short: we count how the game is played so we can improve it, we collect crash reports so we can fix bugs, purchases go through Apple or Google, the optional videos come from Google AdMob, and achievements and the cloud save are kept by your phone's own games account. We never sell your data.

In the game

The game has no accounts of its own and no sign-up. It never asks for your name, email address, contacts or precise location.

Each time the game opens

To pick up the day's prices, deals, news and weather, and to check the time, the game asks our Firebase project (Google's Remote Config, Cloud Firestore and Cloud Storage) as it opens, whether or not Play stats is on. Remote Config receives a random ID for this installation of the game, your phone's language, country, time zone and system, and the game's version, so it can pick the right values. Firestore and Storage see your IP address, as any download does. None of this is used to count how you play.

Play stats (Firebase Analytics)

When Play stats is switched on (Settings, Account, "Fishing stats and crash reports"), the game sends counts of how it is played to Google's Firebase Analytics. They aren't linked to your name or any account. Play stats starts on, except in the UK, the European Union and other places where the law asks us to ask first: there it stays off until you say yes when the captain asks.

• Casts, bites and catches, bait used, time played and your level in each session.
• Orders delivered, levels reached, fish found for the first time, tackle upgrades and places visited, using the game's own names for them.
• Progress through the captain's tutorial, and when you watch a video or buy something (what it was, not how you paid).

Firebase also records, on its own:

• A random ID for this installation of the game. It changes if you reinstall, and it isn't linked to you or to an account.
• Your phone's model, operating system and version, language and time zone, and the game's version.
• When the game was first opened, sessions and time spent in the game.
• Your approximate location (country and region), worked out from your internet connection. Google doesn't keep the IP address itself.

Play stats are never used for advertising.

Crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics)

If the game crashes while Play stats is on, Google's Firebase Crashlytics sends us a report: what the code was doing, the game's state (your level and its last few events), your phone's model and system version, orientation, free memory and disk space, whether the phone is jailbroken or rooted, and a random ID for the installation.

Purchases (Apple, Google and RevenueCat)

Gems and bait can be bought in the game. Payment is handled entirely by the App Store or Google Play: we never see your card or payment details. To deliver what you bought and keep track of it, the game uses RevenueCat, which receives a random ID for this installation, the product you bought, its price and currency, the time, and the store's receipt for the purchase. RevenueCat handles this for us and doesn't sell it or use it for advertising. You can read RevenueCat's privacy policy.

Optional videos (Google AdMob)

The game never shows ads on its own. A video plays only when you tap Watch a video to earn a few gems. These videos come from Google AdMob, which collects information to show and measure them: your phone's model and system, your IP address, the game's version, how you interacted with the video, and, only if you allow it, your phone's advertising ID.

• Your choice first. Where the law asks for it (for example in the UK and the European Economic Area), Google's consent form asks whether ads may be personalised before any are shown. You can change your answer later in the game's Settings, under Account, Ad choices.
• In some US states, letting AdMob personalise ads counts as "selling" or "sharing" personal information under state law. You can opt out with Ad choices in the game's Settings.
• On iPhone, the game asks for your permission before your advertising ID can be used ("Allow tracking"). If you say no, AdMob still works but can't use that ID.
• On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings, under Privacy, Ads.

Without your permission, AdMob shows non-personalised videos, chosen from things like the game itself and your general location. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services.

Game Center and Google Play Games

If your phone is signed in to Game Center (iPhone) or Google Play Games (Android), the game uses it to unlock achievements, post your best level, fish caught and heaviest catch to the leaderboards, and keep a copy of your save with your games account (in iCloud on iPhone, in Play Games on Android), so you can carry on on another phone. Apple and Google run these under their own privacy policies, and who can see your games name and scores is set there. We don't receive your games name, its ID or your save.

Feedback notes

When you send a note with the Feedback button, we receive it by email together with the game's version, your phone's platform, model and system version, and your level. To stop the button being misused, the sending address is kept only as a salted hash, for counting notes per hour.

Notifications and your progress

The game's notifications (at most one a day, plus bait alerts if you switch them on) are scheduled on your phone, and nothing about them is sent to us. Your save is kept on your phone and, if you're signed in, with your games account (above). We never receive it.

On this website

This website doesn't use cookies, analytics or advertising trackers. Its fonts and pictures are served from the site itself. It is hosted on Google's Firebase Hosting, which processes your IP address to deliver the pages and may keep it briefly in its logs.

The launch list

If you leave your email address to hear when the game comes out, we store:

• your email address,
• when you left it, and your browser's language setting, so we can write to you in a language you read.

It's kept in Google Cloud Firestore, in our Firebase project. We use it for one thing: a single email on launch day, sent through our mail service, Maileroo. After that email is sent, we delete the whole list. To stop the form being flooded, the server counts attempts from each internet address for up to an hour in memory, without storing the address. To be removed before launch, write to games@kondisoftworks.com and we'll delete your address.

Why we collect it, and who handles it

• Play stats help us balance and improve the game.
• Crash reports and feedback help us fix problems and answer you.
• Purchase records let us deliver what you bought and sort out any problem with it.
• What the game fetches as it opens keeps prices, deals, news and weather up to date without an update.
• Your games account holds your achievements, leaderboard scores and the copy of your save.
• Video information lets AdMob show the optional videos that pay for free gems, and, with your permission, personalise them.
• The launch list exists only so we can tell you the game is out, because you asked us to.

We never sell any of it. It is handled only by the services named on this page: Google (Firebase, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage and AdMob), RevenueCat, Apple or Google for payments, Game Center and iCloud or Google Play Games, and Maileroo for email. Everything is sent encrypted.

How long it's kept

• Firebase Analytics keeps event data for two months, then deletes it.
• Crashlytics keeps crash reports for 90 days.
• Purchase records are kept as long as the stores and tax rules require.
• AdMob keeps information under Google's own retention rules.
• Achievements, scores and the save's copy stay with your games account until you remove them there.
• Feedback emails are kept as long as we need them to follow up on your note.
• The launch list is deleted after the launch-day email.

Your choices

• Switch off Play stats in the game's Settings, under Account. Analytics and crash reports stop from that moment.
• Don't tap Watch a video, and no ads are shown at all. Where the law gives you the choice, change it with Ad choices in the game's Settings.
• Sign out of Game Center or Google Play Games in your phone's settings, and the game stops sending achievements and scores and keeping a copy of your save there. Google also lets you delete your Play Games data from your Play Games profile.
• On iPhone, turn tracking off for the game in Settings, Privacy & Security, Tracking.
• Turn notifications off in the game's Settings or your phone's settings.
• Deleting the game deletes its random IDs and your save.
• Ask us to delete your launch-list address or a feedback note at any time.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see, correct or delete personal data we hold about you. Because play stats, crash reports and purchase records aren't linked to your name or email, we usually can't pick out one person's records, but write to us and we'll help however we can.

Children

Pocket Fishing is a gentle game for everyone. It has no accounts and no sign-up, and it never asks for a name, email or other personal details. If you think a child has sent us personal information, for example in a feedback note or on the launch list, write to us and we'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

If what the game or this website collects changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Write to games@kondisoftworks.com.