Privacy Policy
Haystack Factory ("the Game") is a single-player game for iPhone and iPad. You walk around Grandma's barn, pluck hay, build farm machines and collect the needles Grandma hid in the hay. This policy explains what happens to your information when you play.
- Short version
- What we don't collect
- On your device
- Apple services
- Sharing
- Children and families
- Your rights
- Changes
- Contact
1. The short version
- We don't collect any personal data. No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. The Game doesn't send anything to us or to any other company.
- Your game stays on your device. Your barn, machines, coins and needle collection are saved locally.
- Apple handles the rest. Purchases, Game Center and iCloud Backup are Apple services, under Apple's privacy policy.
2. What we don't collect
We don't collect, receive, sell or share any personal or usage data. In particular:
- No account. The Game never asks for your name, email address, phone number or birthday.
- No analytics, ads or tracking. The Game doesn't measure how you play, contains no advertising or analytics code, doesn't use the advertising identifier (IDFA) and doesn't follow you across other apps or websites. It never shows the "Allow tracking" prompt, because there's nothing to allow.
- No device access you didn't ask for. The Game doesn't access your location, contacts, camera, microphone, health data, browsing history or other apps' data. It can only add a picture to your photo library when you ask it to, and it can't read your photos.
- No servers of ours. The Game works offline and has no online features of its own: no chat, no social features, no user-generated content.
3. What stays on your device
- Your save game: the haystack you're in, the machines you built, your coins, tools and upgrades, farm orders and your Sewing Cabinet collection. It's stored in the Game's private storage on your device and protected by your device's standard iOS data protection.
- Your settings: sound and music volume, haptics, look sensitivity, invert look, motion and color options, and a few "already shown" flags (for example, that a tip was already seen).
- Pictures you share: when you tap Share, the Game draws the picture on your device and keeps a temporary copy for the share sheet. iOS clears it automatically.
None of this is sent to us. Deleting the Game deletes it from your device.
4. Services run by Apple
Some parts of the Game use Apple's own services. Apple handles them under your Apple Account and Apple's privacy policy. We don't receive your Apple Account details from them.
- In-app purchases and Haystack VIP. Purchases and subscriptions are processed entirely by Apple. The Game only receives Apple's confirmation of which products your Apple Account owns, and uses it on your device to unlock them. We never see your name, email address, card number or billing address. Apple gives us aggregated sales reports, as it does for every app. Manage or cancel Haystack VIP in iOS Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions.
- Game Center (optional). If your device is signed in to Game Center, the Game sends your scores (such as needles found) and achievements to Game Center, where other players can see them with your Game Center nickname, according to your Game Center settings. You can play without Game Center, or sign out in iOS Settings → Game Center.
- iCloud Backup (optional). If you've turned on iCloud Backup (or back up your device to a computer), your save is included with the rest of your apps' data. You and Apple control those backups; we can't access them.
- Crash reports (optional). If you've turned on Share With App Developers in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements, Apple may share anonymous crash logs with us. We use them only to fix bugs, and you can turn this off in the same place.
- TestFlight (beta testers only). If you join a beta through TestFlight, Apple shares with us the name and email you were invited with and any feedback you choose to send. We use them only to run the beta.
5. Sharing pictures
The needle card and the session card have a Share button. It opens the standard iOS share sheet with a picture the Game drew on your device. You choose where it goes; we don't upload it anywhere.
6. Children and families
Haystack Factory is made for everyone, including children and families, and is rated 4+ on the App Store. It's listed in the App Store's regular Games categories, not the Kids category.
- No personal data from anyone, including children. The Game has no account, no ads, no analytics and no tracking, and it doesn't send anything to us. A child's progress stays on the device (and in your own device backups, such as iCloud Backup, if you use them).
- A grown-up check first. Before any purchase starts, and before the Game opens a web page in Safari (this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Use or the Support page), it shows "Ask a grown-up" with a multiplication question written in words. Restore Purchases needs no check, because it doesn't buy anything.
- Apple processes every purchase. Purchases go through Apple's own purchase sheet (Face ID, Touch ID or your password). We never see payment details.
- Apple's parental controls work with the Game. To turn off in-app purchases entirely, go to iOS Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases → In-app Purchases → Don't Allow. With Family Sharing, Ask to Buy sends you a request to approve or decline before a child's purchase goes through. Game Center is optional, and you can limit it for a child in Screen Time's Content & Privacy Restrictions.
If you're a parent or guardian and your child has emailed us, write to us and we'll delete the message.
7. Your rights (GDPR)
We're based in Romania, in the European Union, so the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies. Because the Game doesn't give us any personal data, we hold nothing about you from the Game to access, correct, export or delete. Your save and settings are on your device and in your own backups, under your control.
The only personal data we may handle is what you choose to send us by email: your email address and your message. For that, Claudiu Tigaroi (Clau SEWL) is the data controller. We use it only to answer you, on the basis of our legitimate interest in replying to your request (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). We don't share it with anyone and we delete the conversation once it's no longer needed to help you.
You can ask us at any time to see, correct or delete your emails, or object to our use of them, by writing to the address below. You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority: in Romania, the ANSPDCP (dataprotection.ro), or the authority in the EU country where you live or work.
8. Changes
If a future version of the Game changes anything described here, we'll update this policy and the App Store privacy information before that version is released, and mention it in the update notes. The effective date at the top shows the current version.
9. Contact
Claudiu Tigaroi (Clau SEWL), Romania
Email: claudiutigaroi@gmail.com