Privacy Policy

for the game Deep Drop (iPhone) · As of 5 November 2026 · Deutsche Fassung

This policy explains what data Deep Drop processes, why, for how long, and what rights you have.

1. Controller

Steffen Thie, address in the legal notice (Impressum), e-mail: ysth08@gmail.com

Deep Drop has no accounts, we run no server, and the game contains no statistics or analytics software. Apart from e-mails you send us (section 9), we receive no personal data from you.

2. Data on your device

On your iPhone the game stores:

• Save game and settings: progress, coins, characters, stock, records, missions, album and calendar, plus your settings such as sound, haptics, controls and language.
• The depths of your last 10 runs. The game uses them on the device only, to make the start a little easier for players who keep failing early. It never becomes harder than normal, and this does not apply to the Daily Challenge.
• Your answer to the age question on first launch: the year of birth or “No answer” (section 6.1). It is never sent anywhere, not even to iCloud.
• A random device ID that the game creates itself on first launch. It is not an advertising identifier and not an Apple identifier. The game uses it to keep the counters of several devices apart, so nothing gets lost when they are synced, and to tell which device a purchase was made on (section 5).

Storing this on the device is strictly necessary for the game (Section 25(2) No. 2 of the German TDDDG). When you delete the app, this data is gone — only the save game in your iCloud remains (section 3).

3. Save game in iCloud (Apple)

When you are signed in to iCloud on your iPhone, the game also keeps its save game in the iCloud storage of your Apple ID. That way it survives a reinstall and moves to your other devices. It contains the save game and settings from section 2, the depths of the last 10 runs, the days you played (the last 30), the transaction IDs of your purchases (so nothing is credited twice) and the per-device counters with the random device ID. Your age answer is not part of it.

The data lives in your iCloud account with Apple (Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland); we cannot see it. You can turn off iCloud for the game in the iOS settings; the save game then stays on the device only. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (providing the game on your devices). Apple's privacy policy applies to iCloud.

4. Game Center (Apple)

When you are signed in to Game Center, the game sends your best results to three leaderboards (“Deepest Drop”, “Deepest Drop · Week” and “Daily Challenge”) and reports unlocked achievements. It does not send results that are impossible under the rules of the game. On the leaderboards you appear with your Game Center name. Only if you allow the game to access your Game Center friends does it show in the shaft how deep they got.

Apple is responsible for Game Center, and Apple's privacy policy applies. You can turn off Game Center in the iOS settings; the game runs without it. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

5. Purchases (Apple)

Purchases in the game are handled by Apple (Apple Distribution International Ltd., Cork, Ireland). We never receive payment data. For each purchase, the game gets the transaction ID, the product and the time from Apple on your device — to credit the purchase, prevent double credits and recognise refunds. When you buy something, the game passes its random device ID to Apple as the purchase's account token (“appAccountToken”). That way it knows on which of your devices a purchase was made and does not credit coins twice. From Apple we only receive aggregated sales figures without any information about you.

Parents can control purchases with Ask to Buy (Family Sharing) and Screen Time; refunds are handled by Apple. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Apple's privacy policy applies to the purchase itself.

6. Advertising (Google AdMob)

Deep Drop is free and partly paid for by ads: an occasional ad between two runs (never with “No Ads”) and videos that you start yourself for a reward — keep falling, coins ×2, swap a mission or start with a shield. The ads are delivered by Google AdMob, the consent prompt comes from Google's User Messaging Platform (both: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland), the tracking request from Apple.

6.1 The age question on first launch

On first launch the game asks for your year of birth, worldwide, before Google's software starts. No year is preselected, and “No answer” is always possible. The answer stays on your device; Google only receives the setting that follows from it (such as “child-directed”), never the year. We ask because consent only becomes valid from a certain age (16 in Germany, Art. 8 GDPR) and because children enjoy special protection, for example under the US law COPPA. What follows:

• Under 16 or “No answer” in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland: no ads, because consent is not valid at this age (section 6.2). Google does not ask this age group; the game tells on the device whether your country is one of these from the country of your App Store account.
• 16 and 17 in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland: Google asks for your consent (section 6.2). With consent you see non-personalised ads; there is no tracking request.
• 18 and over in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland: Google asks for your consent (section 6.2), and Apple's tracking request may follow (section 6.3).
• Under 13 or “No answer” in all other countries: the game marks ad requests as child-directed, and Google shows only ads suitable for all ages (rating G). There is no tracking request.
• 13 to 17 in all other countries: non-personalised ads, without a tracking request.
• 18 and over in all other countries: Apple's tracking request (section 6.3).

For everyone, ad content is capped at a level that matches the game's age rating. Where the law requires it — for example in some U.S. states — Apple confirms the age itself: there the game shows no question of its own but learns only the age range through Apple's Declared Age Range API; this too stays on the device. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in delivering ads lawfully and appropriately for children (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); storing the answer on the device is strictly necessary for this (Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG).

6.2 Consent in the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland

From 16, Google shows a consent dialogue before information is stored on or read from your device (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, Section 25(1) TDDDG). The dialogue comes from Google and is the same for all apps. It lists all purposes for which Google and its advertising partners ask for consent — including personalised advertising. Your consent allows Google to store and read information on your device, for example to limit how often an ad is shown, detect fraud and measure ads. If you are 18 or over and also agreed to personalised advertising, Apple's tracking request follows (section 6.3). Google's ad software starts only after you have decided.

Without consent and under 16, Google's ad software does not start: the game loads no ads and shows no tracking request. Reward videos are then not available, and “No Ads” is not offered. Everything else in the game stays the same. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time in the settings under “Privacy” → “Ad consent”; a withdrawal takes effect at once.

6.3 What Google processes

• To find out whether consent is needed in your country and to deliver ads, limit their frequency, detect fraud and bill them, Google processes your IP address (and from it your approximate location), device and app information such as device model, operating system, language and app version, your interactions with ads (such as views and taps) and diagnostic data of the ad software, for example about crashes and performance.
• Tracking only with your permission: from 18, the game uses Apple's App Tracking Transparency to ask whether your data may be linked with data from other companies' apps and websites. If you allow it, iOS hands the advertising identifier (IDFA) to Google's ad software, and Google can tailor ads to your interests and measure them across apps. The legal basis is then your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). If you decline, the identifier stays empty and the game requests only non-personalised ads. Videos and rewards stay the same; you never have to allow tracking. You can change this at any time in the iOS settings under Privacy & Security → Tracking. Google's app-specific advertising identifier (“publisher first-party ID”) is turned off.
• Google processes this data as an independent controller and may transfer it to the USA; Google is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. More: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• Equal protection: every third party the app shares data with – Google for advertising and Apple for iCloud, Game Center and purchases (sections 3 to 5) – protects that data at least as well as this privacy policy describes and Apple's App Store guidelines require.

7. Sharing

After a run you can share a card with your depth, your character and a picture from the run. The game creates it on your device. It only leaves the device when you pass it to an app or person yourself through the iOS share sheet; the service you choose is responsible for everything after that. The game can save the card to your photos only with your permission, and it does not read your photos.

8. Diagnostic data from Apple

If you allowed sharing analytics with app developers in the iOS settings, Apple gives us crash reports and aggregated usage figures without information about you. Apple is responsible for this; the game itself sends no statistics.

9. Contact by e-mail

If you write to us, we use your e-mail address and your message only to answer you (Art. 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR) and delete them once the matter is closed, unless the law requires us to keep them. The mailbox is hosted by Google (Gmail).

10. Retention

• On your device: until you delete the app.
• iCloud: in your iCloud account, even after you delete the app, until you delete the data there.
• Game Center and purchases: according to Apple's rules.
• Advertising: according to Google's retention periods.
• E-mails: until your request is closed, unless a retention obligation applies.

11. Your rights

You have the right to

• access your data (Art. 15 GDPR),
• rectification (Art. 16) and erasure (Art. 17),
• restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20),
• object to processing based on legitimate interest (Art. 21),
• withdraw consent with effect for the future (Art. 7(3)), for ads in the settings under “Privacy”,
• lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77), in particular in the country where you live.

Because we do not store data about you on a server, it is usually about data held by Apple or Google. A short e-mail is enough; we will help you.

12. Children

Deep Drop is made for everyone, not primarily for children. Under 13 or without an age answer, the game shows only child-directed ads (section 6.1). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children; the age answer stays on the device. Parents can reach us by e-mail.

13. Notes for specific countries

• USA: we do not sell personal data for money. If you are 18 or over and allow Apple's tracking request, Google can use data for personalised advertising across apps and websites. Under the laws of some states, such as California, this can count as a “sale” or “sharing”. You can opt out at any time: in the iOS settings under Privacy & Security → Tracking, and in the game in the settings under “Privacy” → “Ad consent”. We do not share data of minors for personalised advertising.
• United Kingdom: you have the rights under the UK GDPR and can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
• Canada: you can request access to and correction of your data and complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, in Québec, to the Commission d'accès à l'information.
• Other countries: you have the rights your local law gives you. Just write to us.

14. No automated decisions

The help at the start of the game (section 2) only adjusts the game on your device and has no legal effect. We make no decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects for you, and we do not create profiles about you ourselves. For personalised advertising, Google can use profiles of its own with your permission (section 6.3).

15. Changes

If the game changes, we update this policy. The current version is always here.