Driftbound — Privacy Policy

This is the privacy policy for the mobile game Driftbound (“the app”, “the game”), published by Ed Rackham (“we”, “us”).

The short version

Driftbound is playable fully offline and requires no account, no email and no real name. Two optional features collect some data: (1) opt-in rewarded ads (Google AdMob), and (2) an optional online layer that lets you see and interact with other pilots. You can turn the online layer off at any time in Settings, and you never have to watch an ad.

Optional advertising (Google AdMob)

The game offers optional “rewarded” ads: short ad videos you can choose to watch in exchange for an in-game bonus. They are never forced — there are no banner ads and no interstitials. You can play the entire game without watching a single ad.

Rewarded ads are served by Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK). When you choose to watch one, Google may collect and process data including your device’s advertising ID, IP address (from which approximate location may be derived), and device/app information, in order to deliver and measure ads. This data is handled by Google as a third party under Google’s own privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy. For how Google uses data from apps that use its services, see policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Your advertising choices

• Consent (UK/EEA): the first time ads are relevant we show a Google consent message where you can accept or decline personalised ads. You can revisit it any time from the in-game Settings → “Ad privacy choices”.
• You can reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in your device settings, or opt out of ad personalisation there.
• Because rewarded ads are opt-in, simply not watching them means no ad data is collected.

The optional online layer

Driftbound includes an optional online layer (on by default; you can turn it off at any time in Settings). When it is enabled, the game connects to our server so other players can see you, and we collect and store:

• An anonymous identifier and your call-sign. A random ID is created the first time you connect. Your call-sign is generated by the game from a fixed word list — you do not type it, so it is not personal information and contains no user-written text.
• Your public pilot profile, shown to other players: ship statistics, your current in-game location (a star system or station — not your real-world location), equipped pets, outfit, earned trophies, and your friendly-duel win/loss record.
• Your IP address, captured by our server to run the service and prevent abuse. This is stored for us only and is not shown to other players.
• Your game progress (save state — inventory, location, ship, skills, credits), uploaded so our server holds a copy. This is stored for us only and is not shown to other players.

We do not collect any real name, email, phone number, contacts, photos, messages, files, browsing history, or precise/GPS location. Data in transit is encrypted (HTTPS).

No chat, no user content

We do not sell your data. There is no chat or messaging and no user-generated content: player interactions are limited to preset “waves” and friendly ship duels. The game is fully playable with the online layer turned off or unreachable.

Your choices and rights

• Turn the online layer off in Settings at any time — this stops all uploads.
• “Do Not Disturb” keeps you visible but blocks incoming waves and duels.
• You can ask us to delete your online profile (including the stored IP address and save state) by emailing the address below. Under UK/EU GDPR you also have rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection — email us to exercise them.

In-app purchases

This version of the app contains no in-app purchases. It is a one-time paid download; optional rewarded ads are the only monetisation beyond the purchase price.

Children

The app is not directed at children and is not part of any “Designed for Families” programme. It is intended for users aged 13+.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes we will update the “Last updated” date above and post the new version at the same URL.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or to request deletion of your data? Email tradecounterdirect@gmail.com.