Privacy Policy
Saltwater Hunter is a freediving spearfishing game for phones and tablets, published by Shimon Lazimi ("we").
We do not collect your personal information. The game has no accounts of its own and no advertising, and we run no server. It goes online through Apple or Google: through the store it came from (the App Store or Google Play), to buy or restore the optional expansion, and through Game Center or Google Play Games for the optional leaderboards described below. Only if you agree when the game asks, it also sends the anonymous crash reports and play statistics described below. Nothing in them identifies you.
Crash reports and play statistics (optional)
The first time you open the game, it asks whether it may send anonymous crash reports and play statistics. If you choose "No thanks", nothing is sent. You can change your answer at any time: in the game, Settings > Game > Play statistics and Crash reports. Switching one off stops it at once.
Crash reports go to Sentry (Functional Software, Inc.), stored in the European Union. When the game crashes, freezes or meets an error, it sends what went wrong (the error and where in the game's code it happened), the game's version, the phone's model, system version, memory and screen. It sends no name, no account, no advertising identifier and nothing that links a report to you.
Play statistics go to Aptabase, stored in the European Union. The game sends what happens in play: which dive spots you dive and how each outing ends, how much you catch, the goals you earn, what you earn and buy with the game's own currency, how many days you have played, the game's version, your phone's system and its version, and your language. It sends no identifier of any kind, so these reports cannot be linked to you, or to each other across days.
Both services see your device's internet address while it sends; they use it only to tell the country and do not store it. We use the reports only to fix faults and to make the game better. They are not linked to your identity, not used for advertising or to track you across apps or websites, not sold and not shared with anyone else. Because nothing in them identifies you, we cannot find "your" reports to show or delete them; switching them off in Settings stops them.
What is stored, and where
Your game progress (your diver, gear, catches, missions and settings) is stored only on your device. We never receive it.
Purchases
The game offers one optional in-app purchase, an expansion with more places to dive. It is sold by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) through their own payment systems: you buy and pay in the store's own window, under the store's terms and privacy policy, and we never see your name, your store account or how you pay. The store tells the game on your device whether you own the expansion; the game checks the store's signed answer on the device itself and keeps a small record of it there, so the expansion also opens offline. Nothing about a purchase is sent to us. On iPhone and iPad that record is kept out of device backups; on a new device the store gives it back. On Android, Google's Play Billing software, which is part of the game, connects to Google Play for purchases and may also send Google its own diagnostic data, as Google describes for developers. A purchase made on Google Play does not carry over to the App Store, or the other way round. Refunds are handled by Apple or Google.
Leaderboards (Game Center and Google Play Games)
If you are signed in to Game Center (iPhone, iPad) or Google Play Games (Android), the game puts your results on that service's leaderboards. Game Center players and Google Play Games players have separate leaderboards. For this the game gives the service three kinds of numbers: the weight of your biggest fish (on Google Play Games also which species it was), your Diver Level points, and your best result in the weekly challenge (on Google Play Games also which week's challenge it was). The service links them to your player account on that service. Apple or Google receive and keep this data under their own terms and privacy policies, and show your results to other players as your settings there allow. On Android, Google's Play Games software, which starts with the game, also sends Google its own analytics and diagnostic data, as Google describes for developers. None of this data is sent to us, and we cannot see it other than as a public leaderboard.
You can play the whole game without signing in; signed out, no results are sent and they stay on your device. Results waiting to be sent are kept in a small file on your device with a coded form of your player account, not the account itself. To remove your scores or sign out, use Game Center in your device's Settings, or your Play Games profile or Google Account.
Backups
On iPhone and iPad, if device backup is switched on in your settings, Apple's backup may include the game's saved progress in your own backup, under your own account. On Android, the game's data is not included in device backup. In both cases we have no access to it. Uninstalling the game removes its data from the device; on iPhone and iPad a copy may remain in your own backup until that backup is replaced or deleted.
Permissions
The game uses vibration for touch feedback. On Android, Google's Play Billing software adds three more permissions: Google Play's billing permission, and network access and network state, so that it can reach Google Play. The same network access carries the crash reports and play statistics, and only if you agreed. The leaderboards go through the Google Play services app already on your phone. The game does not use the camera, microphone, location, contacts, photos or advertising identifier.
Children
The game is for players aged 13 and over. It does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. Whether a child can buy the expansion, or use Game Center or Google Play Games, is decided by those services and the family's settings on them (for example Apple's Ask to Buy or Google Play's purchase approvals).
Test versions
If you install a test version through Google Play testing or Apple TestFlight, Google or Apple may share crash reports and feedback you choose to send with us, under their own privacy policies. A test version sends its own crash reports and play statistics, as described above and only if you agree, to separate test projects of the same two services.
Changes
If a future version collects any other information, this policy will be updated before that version is released, and the game's store pages will say so.
Contact
Questions about this policy: support@saltwaterhunter.com