Privacy Policy for Ascendant: Life RPG

1. Summary

Ascendant is designed as a local-first game. Most information you create in the App is stored on your device and is not sent to our servers.

The main exceptions are:

• If you choose to buy an in-game Gold pack through Google Play, purchase information is processed by Google Play and limited verification data is transmitted to our secure purchase-verification service.
• Your device operating system may back up App data according to your device and Google account backup settings.
• If you choose the App's "Copy Backup" function, the App places a copy of your local save data on the device clipboard so that you can store or transfer it.

The current App does not use third-party advertising, behavioural advertising, or marketing trackers, and it does not integrate third-party analytics or crash-reporting SDKs. We do not sell personal information.

2. Information processed on your device

The following information is used and stored locally to provide the App's features.

Character and profile information

This may include:

• the character name you choose;
• character identifier, archetype, portrait, profile frame, and equipped title;
• level, experience, Gold, attributes, Energy, Power, achievements, titles, Chronicle entries, and other progression records; and
• character-creation and milestone dates.

You may use a fictional character name. You do not need to provide your legal name.

Quest content and activity history

This may include:

• Quest titles and descriptions you write;
• Quest categories, difficulty, rewards, reminders, recurrence information, completion dates, counts, and streaks; and
• related operation identifiers used to prevent duplicate rewards.

Quest text is user-generated content. Depending on what you write, it could reveal personal routines or sensitive matters such as health, fitness, religious, social, or household activities. Ascendant does not require you to enter medical information or other sensitive personal information. Please avoid putting information in a Quest that you would not want stored on your device, shown in a notification, included in a device backup, or copied into a manual backup.

Adventure, Inventory, and game records

This may include:

• active and completed Adventures, start and completion times, outcomes, success forecasts, rewards, narrative reports, and region progress;
• equipment, consumables, inventory, loadout, locking, merchant stock, and in-game transactions; and
• Achievement, Title, Chronicle, and lifetime progression records.

Settings and notification information

This may include:

• daily reset time, time-format preference, sound, haptic, and guidance settings;
• notification preferences and per-Quest reminder times;
• the device time-zone identifier, used locally to schedule notifications at the correct local time; and
• Quest titles, Adventure names, internal identifiers, and scheduled times provided to the device notification system.

Notifications are optional and off by default. If enabled, a Quest title or Adventure name may appear on your lock screen or in notification history, depending on your device settings. You can disable notifications in the App or in your device settings. On Android, the App may receive a device-restart event so that the local notification system can restore scheduled reminders after a reboot; this is not used to create a history of when you restart your device.

Physical activity and step-counter information

On supported Android devices, you can optionally enable the Walking Boost feature for an active Adventure. If you do:

• Ascendant requests Android's Physical Activity or Activity Recognition permission;
• the App reads the device's cumulative step-counter value while the Walking Boost panel is active;
• the App stores a step baseline, the number of steps applied to the active Adventure, and the resulting time saved; and
• the information is used only to shorten the active Adventure's timer.

The current App does not send step-counter readings or walking-boost records to our servers, Google Play purchase verification, advertisers, or analytics providers. Ascendant does not access GPS location through this feature. You can decline or revoke Physical Activity permission; the rest of the App remains usable without Walking Boost.

Local installation and purchase records

The App creates a random installation identifier. It is not an advertising ID, does not contain your name or email address, and is stored locally. It is used to associate a Google Play Gold purchase with the installation that claimed it.

The App also stores hashed purchase-grant identifiers locally after verified Gold has been applied. These records help prevent the same grant from being added more than once.

3. Information transmitted when you use Google Play purchases

Gold-pack purchases are optional. Google Play handles the payment interface and payment method. We do not receive or store your full payment-card number, bank account credentials, or Google account password.

When you initiate or complete a Gold-pack purchase:

• The App communicates with Google Play to load product details and conduct the transaction.
• The App receives a Google Play purchase token and purchase status.
• The App sends the product identifier, purchase token, and random local installation identifier over HTTPS to our purchase-verification service.
• Our service checks the purchase with the Google Play Developer API and, if valid, consumes the product and returns the approved Gold grant to the App.

Our verification service may process:

• the Gold-pack product identifier and amount;
• the Google Play purchase token;
• the random App installation identifier;
• purchase status and limited transaction metadata returned by Google Play;
• verification, consumption, retry, and error status;
• creation, update, and consumption timestamps; and
• ordinary network and service metadata that our hosting provider may process, such as IP address, request time, response status, and technical request information.

The raw purchase token and raw installation identifier are needed transiently for verification. Our application database stores:

• a one-way cryptographic hash of the purchase token as the grant identifier;
• a one-way cryptographic hash of the installation identifier;
• product identifier, Gold amount, App package name, grant status, and timestamps.

Our application database does not store the raw purchase token. The verification service's own error log is designed to record an error code and product identifier, not the raw token or installation identifier. Google and its infrastructure may maintain their own payment, security, and operational records under their policies.

We use this information to:

• verify that a purchase is genuine and complete;
• deliver the Gold pack you requested;
• prevent a purchase from being claimed more than once or on another installation;
• retry interrupted verification safely;
• detect and respond to fraud, misuse, technical failures, or security incidents; and
• meet legal, accounting, dispute-handling, and platform obligations.

Because the current App has no player account or cross-device entitlement system, a consumed Gold purchase is associated with the installation that claimed it. Clearing App data, resetting all local progress, losing the device, or uninstalling without a restorable device backup may remove locally granted Gold and the local purchase-grant history. The current App may not be able to restore that Gold to another installation. Deleting App data does not itself create a refund; Google Play's purchase and refund rules continue to apply.

4. Information you send to us

If you contact us about privacy, support, a purchase, or a complaint, we may collect the information you choose to provide, such as:

• your name or preferred form of address;
• email address and correspondence;
• device, App version, and troubleshooting details;
• purchase details needed to investigate a transaction; and
• any local installation identifier, grant identifier, backup excerpt, screenshot, or other material you choose to send.

Please do not send an entire save backup unless we specifically request it and you are comfortable with its contents. A backup can contain Quest text, character data, gameplay history, settings, and local identifiers.

We use support information to respond to you, investigate problems, protect the service, handle purchases and disputes, and comply with law.

5. Manual backup, clipboard, and device backup

Manual clipboard backup

The "Copy Backup" function creates a readable JSON snapshot of the App's local save and places it on the device clipboard. The snapshot includes all values in the App's local preferences at the time of export. This can include character and Quest content, activity history, settings, the random installation identifier, and purchase-grant identifiers.

Clipboard contents can be read, displayed, synchronized, retained, or pasted by the operating system and, subject to device permissions and platform rules, by other apps. Once you copy or paste a backup outside Ascendant, its handling is controlled by you and the destination service. Clear the clipboard after use and protect any file, message, email, or cloud service where you store the backup.

Operating-system backup

Your device or Google account settings may allow Android or another platform service to back up and restore App data. These backups are controlled by the platform provider and your account settings, not by Ascendant's purchase-verification service. Review your device's backup settings if you do not want local App data included in a platform backup.

6. When information is disclosed

We do not sell your personal information and do not share it for targeted or cross-context behavioural advertising.

We may disclose limited information in the following circumstances:

• Google Play: to process, verify, consume, support, or resolve an in-app purchase.
• Google Cloud: to host the purchase-verification service, store hashed purchase replay records in Firestore, and provide security and operational infrastructure.
• Professional advisers and service providers: where reasonably necessary for legal, accounting, security, infrastructure, or support services, subject to appropriate duties or contractual protections.
• Legal and safety reasons: where required by law, legal process, or a valid government request, or where reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, security, users, or the service.
• Business changes: as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation, or sale of relevant assets, subject to applicable law and continued protection of the information.
• At your direction: when you ask us to disclose information or knowingly send it to another person or service.

Google's handling of information is governed by its own terms and privacy notices, including the Google Privacy Policy. Google Play may also provide additional purchase and payment notices during checkout.

7. Storage locations and international processing

Local gameplay and preference data is stored on your device, subject to any operating-system backup you enable.

The current production purchase-verification service and its Firestore purchase replay records are hosted in the Google Cloud australia-southeast1 region in Australia. Google and other service providers may process operational, security, billing, or support information in other countries where they or their subprocessors operate. Those countries may have privacy laws different from the laws where you live.

Where required, we use appropriate contractual, technical, or legal safeguards for international processing and disclosures.

8. Data retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including providing the App, protecting purchases, preventing fraud and duplicate grants, resolving disputes, and meeting legal obligations.

• Local App data: remains until you change or delete it, use the App's full reset function, clear the App's storage, or uninstall the App. A platform backup may retain or restore a copy under your backup settings.
• Scheduled notifications: remain until delivered, cancelled, disabled, or removed by the App or operating system.
• Clipboard backups: remain under the control of the operating system and any destination to which you copy them.
• Purchase-verification records: hashed replay records are currently retained for the operational life of the purchase-verification service, or longer where reasonably necessary for fraud prevention, transaction integrity, disputes, or legal and accounting obligations. We may delete or de-identify them when they are no longer needed.
• Service and security logs: are retained according to operational, security, and hosting-provider retention settings, then deleted or de-identified when no longer required.
• Support communications: are retained while we address the request and afterward for a reasonable period for follow-up, dispute resolution, security, and legal compliance.

If you request deletion, we will delete or de-identify information we control where required by applicable law. We may retain a limited record where necessary to comply with law, establish or defend legal claims, maintain transaction records, or prevent fraud and repeated purchase claims.

9. Your choices and rights

Controls available in the App or on your device

You can:

• edit or delete individual Quests;
• turn notifications and Adventure-completion notifications off;
• remove Quest reminder times;
• decline or revoke Physical Activity or Activity Recognition permission;
• change lock-screen notification visibility in device settings;
• copy a local backup for your own access; and
• erase the current local save through Profile > Data & History > Reset All Progress.

The full reset removes the character, Quests, Adventures, Inventory, Profile progress, settings, random installation identifier, and local purchase-grant history from the current device. It does not automatically erase Google Play's transaction records, platform backups, a backup you copied elsewhere, or the minimal hashed verification record held by our purchase-verification service.

Privacy requests

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access to, correction of, deletion of, restriction of, or a portable copy of personal information we control, and to object to or withdraw consent for certain processing.

The current App does not create a developer-hosted player account. Because server purchase records use one-way hashes and are not indexed by your name or email address, we may need information such as the local installation identifier, a grant identifier, or Google Play purchase details to locate and verify a record. We will only request information reasonably necessary to confirm the request and protect users and purchases.

To make a request, contact us using the details in section 15. We will respond within the time required by applicable law. These rights may be subject to exceptions, including legal, security, fraud-prevention, and transaction-record requirements.

You may also complain to the privacy or data-protection authority where you live. If Australian privacy law applies, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner after first giving us a reasonable opportunity to address your complaint.

10. Legal bases for processing

Where laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation or UK GDPR require a legal basis, we rely on one or more of the following:

• Performance of a contract or steps at your request: to process and deliver a Gold purchase, provide requested support, and operate App features you choose to use.
• Consent: for optional device permissions and notifications, where consent is the appropriate basis. You can withdraw permission through the App or device settings.
• Legitimate interests: to secure the service, verify purchases, prevent fraud and duplicate grants, troubleshoot failures, respond to users, and protect legal rights, balanced against your rights and expectations.
• Legal obligations: to comply with tax, accounting, consumer protection, law-enforcement, and other applicable requirements.

Processing that occurs only on your device is carried out to provide the features you request and remains under your device controls, except where you choose or allow it to be backed up, exported, or transmitted as described in this policy.

11. Automated processing

Ascendant automatically calculates game rewards, progression, Adventure outcomes, and Walking Boost timer reductions. The purchase-verification service also automatically accepts or rejects an in-game Gold grant based on product rules and the status returned by Google Play.

These processes affect game content or transaction delivery only. We do not use personal information for automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, credit decisions, employment decisions, insurance decisions, or behavioural advertising.

If a purchase is rejected in error, contact us so that it can be reviewed.

12. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the information and service, including:

• private App storage provided by the device operating system;
• HTTPS encryption for purchase-verification requests;
• one-way hashing of stored purchase tokens and installation identifiers;
• restricted service identities and access controls for the verification service and database;
• validation of product identifiers, purchase state, quantity, and consumption status; and
• measures designed to prevent duplicate grants and avoid logging raw purchase tokens in application error messages.

No storage or transmission method is completely secure. Device security, operating-system backups, clipboard use, and any location where you save a manual backup are also important. Use a device lock, keep the operating system updated, and do not publicly share a save backup or purchase token.

13. Children

Ascendant is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly ask children to create a developer-hosted account or submit personal information to us. In-app purchases are processed through Google Play and remain subject to Google Play's age, family, parental approval, and payment controls.

If you are under the age at which you can consent to data processing or purchases in your country, use the App only with the permission and supervision of a parent or legal guardian. If a parent or guardian believes that a child has sent personal information to our server or support channel, please contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

14. Current limits and planned features

The current release does not provide:

• developer-hosted player accounts or login;
• cloud save or cloud synchronization operated by us;
• friends, guilds, chat, public social profiles, or public activity history;
• advertising or marketing profiles;
• integrated third-party analytics or crash-reporting SDKs; or
• sale of personal information.

Product plans may include accounts, cloud sync, friends, guilds, social profiles, chat or encouragement features, world or seasonal events, additional purchases, cosmetics, and other online services. Planned features are not active data-collection practices merely because they are described in a design plan.

Before introducing a feature that materially changes how personal information is collected, used, stored, or disclosed, we will update this policy and the Google Play Data safety information, add appropriate in-App notices and controls, and obtain consent where required. If account creation is added, we will also provide an in-App and web-accessible account-deletion process before the feature is released.

15. Contact us and complaints

• Developer and data controller: Timothy Lobegeiger
• Public developer name: Lobey Game Studios
• Privacy and support email: lobeygamestudios@gmail.com

For a privacy request or complaint, use the subject line Ascendant Privacy Request and describe what you would like us to do. Please do not include a password, full payment-card number, or raw purchase token.

We will acknowledge and investigate privacy complaints and aim to provide a substantive response within 30 days, unless applicable law requires a different period or the matter reasonably requires more time. If more time is required, we will explain why where practicable.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the App, service providers, legal requirements, or data practices change. We will revise the "Last updated" date and, where appropriate, provide additional notice in the App or on our website. Material changes apply prospectively unless a different approach is permitted or required by law.