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Privacy Policy for HarvestStep

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how the HarvestStep application ("we," "us," or "our") handles your data. We are committed to protecting your privacy.

We do not collect or store any personal information directly. However, we use third-party services that may collect information used to identify you to serve advertisements.

2. Health Data (Apple HealthKit and Android Health Connect)

HarvestStep reads your step count to drive the core gameplay loop (unlocking daily harvests and progressing your in-game goals). On iOS, steps are read through Apple's HealthKit API. On Android, steps are read through Health Connect if you grant access, or otherwise from your phone's built-in step counter using the Physical Activity permission. HarvestStep only reads step counts; it never writes health data.

  • Core Functionality Only: Your step data is strictly used locally on your device to calculate game mechanics.
  • No Third-Party Sharing: We do not sell, share, or transmit your step data (from HealthKit, Health Connect, or your phone's step counter) to any third parties, advertising networks, data brokers, or analytics services.
  • No Advertising Use: Your health data will never be used for advertising, marketing, or retargeting purposes.
  • Data Storage: Step data read by the app stays on your device. Your game save, which includes your lifetime step total, is backed up to your personal iCloud account on iOS, or to Google Play Games saved games on Android, only if you enable it.
  • Health Connect: HarvestStep's use of information received from Health Connect adheres to the Android health permissions requirements, including their Limited Use requirements. You can revoke access at any time in the Health Connect app.
  • Retention and Deletion: Step data and your game save are kept on your device until you uninstall the app, which deletes them. A cloud save, if you enabled one, stays in your iCloud or Google Play Games account until you delete it there.

3. Information Collection and Use

While using our Service, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information. The information that we request will be retained on your device and is not collected by us in any way.

However, the app does use third-party services that may collect information used to identify you.

4. Advertising

We use Google AdMob to display advertisements in our app. AdMob may use identifiers such as your Advertising ID (the IDFA on iOS, or the Android advertising ID and app set ID on Android) or other device identifiers to serve personalized ads based on your interests.

  • AdMob collects data such as: device identifiers, approximate location (estimated from your IP address), app interactions (such as app launches, taps, and ad views), and diagnostic information about app and ad performance.
  • No Health Data Used: We explicitly prevent our advertising partners from accessing any HealthKit, Health Connect, or other health-related data.
  • This data is used to provide relevant ads, analyze ad performance, and prevent fraud.

You can view Google's Privacy Policy here: Google Privacy & Terms

5. Payments

Our app offers an auto-renewable subscription (Premium Membership) and in-app gem packs. All financial transactions are processed securely and directly by the Apple App Store on iOS or Google Play on Android. We do not collect, store, or have access to your credit card information or billing details. Apple and Google process these transactions according to their own privacy policies.

The app receives a record of your purchases (which products you bought, and whether a subscription is active) so it can deliver them. This purchase history is stored in your game save on your device and is not sent to us.

6. Cloud Saves

If you choose to back up your progress, your game save is stored in your personal iCloud account on iOS, or with Google Play Games saved games on Android. On Android, Google Play Games may also collect your gamer profile and gameplay information under Google's own privacy policy. You can manage or delete your Play Games data from your Play Games profile or your Google Account. We do not receive or store your cloud save on our own servers.

7. Opting Out of Targeted Advertising

iOS: If you are on iOS 14 or later, you may see a prompt asking for permission to track you across apps and websites.

  • If you select "Ask App Not to Track," the data collected by AdMob will be limited and ads will be less personalized.
  • You can also adjust your ad preferences in your device settings under Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.

Android: If you are in a region that requires it (such as the EEA or UK), the app asks for your consent before personalized ads are shown.

  • You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of personalized ads, in your device's ad settings (on most Android devices, under Settings > Google > Ads, or Settings > Privacy > Ads).

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services do not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13.

Since we do not store any user data on our own servers, we do not possess any personal data to delete. However, third-party services used by the application (like Google AdMob) may have collected data such as Device IDs. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can guide you on how to opt-out or manage data with our third-party partners.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or suggestions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us at harveststep.app@starsynthesis.org

Last updated: September 23, 2026.