PocketLife services

Privacy Policy

Effective and last updated: 5 November 2026

This policy explains how the PocketLife website and mobile game handle local saves, optional accounts and cloud saves, purchases, advertising, analytics, local reminders, support, and security data.

1. Who is responsible

PocketLife is operated by Joe Valdez, an independent developer in Norway and the controller responsible for the personal data described in this policy.

Privacy and support contact: support@pocketlife.fun

2. Data PocketLife handles

Website and essential device storage

The PocketLife website and legal pages may cause Netlify and its infrastructure providers to process an IP address, browser or device information, timestamps, requested pages, and security signals needed to deliver and protect the site. PocketLife may keep a theme preference on your device. The website does not use that preference for advertising or analytics.

Referral programme

If you ask for a referral link, the website sends the email address you enter over an encrypted connection to PocketLife's server function. The function normalizes the address and immediately converts it into a keyed one-way digest used to recover your referral record and later match a verified PocketLife account. The referral database does not retain the raw email address.

The referral record contains that email digest, a random public referral code, the number of distinct addresses that joined through the code, reward eligibility and status, accepted policy version, and timestamps. A separate keyed digest of the requesting IP address supports a short-lived abuse limit; the raw address is not stored in the referral database. Google Firebase and its infrastructure process the request and database record. Referral links are public, so anyone you share a link with can see its random code.

Reaching the referral target reserves a future collectible. It does not create a game account or grant a client-side entitlement. PocketLife will require the later account to use the same verified email before issuing the collectible and may reject duplicate, self-referred, automated, or abusive sign-ups.

Local gameplay

Without a cloud account, game saves and preferences remain on your device. Saved fictional lives can contain character names and gameplay details about health, money, relationships, education, work, crime, and other simulated events. PocketLife treats that content as private even though it describes a fictional character.

Optional local reminders

If you enable notifications, PocketLife schedules up to two quiet life reminders on your device. The reminder can include the first name of the current fictional character. The schedule, notification permission, and PocketLife notification preference are handled on the device. Disabling notifications cancels PocketLife's pending reminders.

PocketLife does not currently operate a remote push-notification service, upload a push token, or send reminder content to a PocketLife server. Your operating system controls delivery and lets you change or revoke notification permission at any time.

Platform gaming services and Game Mode

PocketLife does not currently connect to Apple Game Center or Google Play Games and does not receive a platform gaming profile, friends list, leaderboard score, or platform achievement data from those services. PocketLife achievements are stored and displayed by PocketLife instead.

On supported Android versions, PocketLife reads the system's current Game Mode and reports a coarse loading or gameplay state back to Android so the app can adjust refresh rate and background preparation. This exchange stays between PocketLife and the Android operating system and is not sent to PocketLife, Firebase, or Usage Analytics. Apple Game Mode is controlled by the operating system. Neither feature provides PocketLife with a Game Center identity, Play Games profile, or other platform player-profile data.

Optional accounts and device security

If you create a PocketLife account, PocketLife and Google Firebase Authentication process your email address, internal account identifier, verification status, authentication-provider records, accepted policy versions, account status, and security information needed to register, sign in, recover, secure, or delete the account. PocketLife does not receive or store your plaintext password.

Native security can process the app platform and version, verified app identity, installation public key or key hash, device-attestation evidence, session version, challenge and replay-protection records, timestamps, and limited request counters. PocketLife does not use contacts, hardware serial numbers, or a player-created device name to establish account authority.

Optional cloud saves

Cloud saving can process the save content you choose to synchronize, the platform partition, revision and conflict information, checksums, object size, timestamps, and current device-session authority. iOS and Android saves remain separated. Cloud-save content is not used for advertising, analytics, or automated profiling.

Purchases

Apple or Google processes checkout and payment details. RevenueCat processes an app-specific customer identifier, the selling platform, product identifier, transaction or purchase-token information, purchase status, entitlement, restoration, refund, revocation, and fraud-prevention information needed to verify and maintain ownership. PocketLife does not receive your full card or bank-account details from the store.

A PocketLife account is not required to buy or restore a product. Store ownership remains with the Apple or Google Play account that completed the transaction, and purchases remain separated between iOS and Android.

Advertising and consent

PocketLife uses Google AdMob in supported free builds for clearly labelled banner, native in-feed, and player-chosen rewarded advertising. Google's Mobile Ads SDK can automatically collect and share an IP address, product interactions such as app launches, taps and video views, diagnostic information, and device or account-related identifiers for advertising, measurement, analytics, and fraud prevention. Data is encrypted in transit.

PocketLife’s approved launch configuration is contextual or non-personalized advertising. PocketLife will not send an account email, PocketLife account ID, save content, character details, Life Diary text, exact game choices, or purchase receipt to AdMob for ad targeting. PocketLife will not enable cross-app behavioral advertising or request Apple tracking permission unless a later, clearly disclosed configuration requires it.

Where required, ads will wait until the consent system says an ad request is permitted. Players can refuse consent without losing the base game and can reopen Privacy Settings to change or withdraw their choice. Under-18 and unknown-age players receive only the restricted contextual treatment approved for launch.

Optional Usage Analytics

Usage Analytics remains off unless a real player aged 18 or older affirmatively enables it. It can collect an anonymous app-instance identifier, app build and platform, coarse feature and screen identifiers, active session time, and limited interaction states used to understand which parts of PocketLife are used.

PocketLife does not attach an account ID or email and does not send character names, save data, Life Diary text, prompts, exact money, health, relationship, education, criminal or purchase choices, precise location, contacts, screenshots, audio, or free-form content. Withdrawing consent stops future collection on that device.

Support, feedback, and deletion requests

If you contact support or submit feedback, PocketLife processes your message, email address, attachments, and the details you choose to provide so the request can be investigated and answered. In-app bug reports include your description, the current PocketLife save, bounded app and device diagnostics, the current game screen, and recent in-game actions. A screenshot is included only if you add one. The report is encrypted on your device for PocketLife support and is not used for advertising.

Do not send passwords, authentication codes, complete receipts, government identifiers, or unrelated personal information.

Voluntary support through Ko-fi

The PocketLife support page does not embed Ko-fi or send information to Ko-fi before you choose to open it. If you contribute, Ko-fi and its connected Stripe or PayPal service process your checkout and payment details. PocketLife may receive your chosen display name, email address, contribution amount, message, recurring support status, and transaction details needed to acknowledge the contribution, manage a cancellation or refund, and meet accounting or legal obligations. PocketLife does not receive your full card or bank information.

3. Why data is used

• to provide the website, optional account, cloud-save, restore, purchase, and support services you request;
• to schedule optional reminders locally on your device when you enable them;
• to verify identity, app authenticity, current device authority, purchases, and account security;
• to deliver and measure permitted advertising and grant a disclosed rewarded-ad result;
• to provide optional product analytics after the required affirmative choice;
• to administer voluntary support, recurring support status, cancellations, refunds, and required financial records;
• to detect abuse, investigate failures, maintain service integrity, and protect players; and
• to comply with legal, tax, accounting, store, and consumer-protection obligations or establish and defend legal claims.

For people in the EEA or UK, the legal basis depends on the activity: performance of the requested service, consent for optional analytics and advertising-related storage or processing where required, legitimate interests in proportionate security and support, and compliance with legal obligations. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

4. Service providers and recipients

• Netlify: website delivery, hosting, and security.
• Google Firebase and Google Cloud: authentication, app verification, protected account services, database and private storage infrastructure, and optional analytics when enabled.
• RevenueCat: purchase discovery, validation, entitlement delivery, and restoration.
• Google AdMob and consent-listed ad technology providers: permitted ad delivery, measurement, consent, and fraud prevention when advertising is enabled.
• Apple App Store and Google Play: app distribution, purchases, restoration, refunds, store analytics, and platform security.
• Ko-fi and its connected Stripe or PayPal service: optional contributions, recurring support, receipts, cancellations, refunds, and payment processing.
• Google Workspace and optional feedback tools: support, privacy requests, bug reports, and feedback you choose to send.

Ad technology providers available for a particular consent decision are shown through the in-app consent manager. PocketLife does not sell personal data. PocketLife does not use gameplay content for advertising and does not provide it to data brokers.

5. International processing

PocketLife is based in Norway. Providers may process information in other countries. Where required, PocketLife and its providers rely on an applicable transfer mechanism and contractual or organizational protections. PocketLife’s development Firestore database and private Storage bucket are located in Belgium; provider support, authentication, security, advertising, or operational data may be processed elsewhere.

6. Retention

• Local game data remains on your device until you remove it, clear site or app data, or uninstall the app.
• The notification preference and scheduled reminders remain on your device until you turn reminders off, clear app data, or uninstall the app. Delivered notifications follow your device's own history and retention controls.
• An active account and current cloud saves are retained while the service is requested, until you delete them, or until the account is closed under these Terms.
• Short-lived security challenges, counters, and current-device records are bounded and overwritten or expired as their security purpose ends. Revocation records may be retained to prevent stale access.
• Purchase and entitlement records are kept while needed to provide restoration, process refunds or revocations, prevent fraud, and meet legal, tax, accounting, or store obligations.
• Contribution and recurring support records are kept while needed to administer the support, process a cancellation or refund, and meet legal, tax, or accounting obligations.
• Referral records are retained through the referral campaign and reward-claim period, then deleted or irreversibly aggregated no later than 12 months after that claim period closes. Short-lived referral abuse-limit records are scheduled to expire after 48 hours.
• Support, privacy, feedback, and deletion correspondence may be retained for up to 24 months after a request closes unless a longer period is required for a legal claim or obligation.
• Encrypted in-app bug reports in the private cloud inbox are scheduled to expire after 31 days. A report deliberately archived for an active investigation or support record follows the support-retention period above.
• After a verified account-deletion request, PocketLife aims to remove active account and cloud data within 30 days. Limited records may remain only where required by law, security, fraud prevention, or a legal claim. Provider backups expire under protected provider schedules and are not used to recreate a deleted account.

Analytics and advertising retention is also controlled by the settings and policies of the enabled Google services. Before those services go live, PocketLife will select the shortest practical configurable retention and verify that the app, consent message, store forms, and this policy remain consistent.

7. Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to information, access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, consent withdrawal, and applicable data portability. You may also complain to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) or your local supervisory authority.

• Play the local base game without creating a PocketLife account.
• Refuse or withdraw optional Usage Analytics without losing gameplay.
• Enable or disable local reminders in PocketLife Settings and change PocketLife notification permission in your device settings.
• Use in-app Privacy Settings to review or change available advertising choices.
• Manage or cancel recurring support through the Ko-fi account used to contribute, or through PayPal where applicable.
• Ask PocketLife to remove a referral record by contacting support from the same email address used to create it. PocketLife will derive the matching digest during verification rather than searching a stored raw address.
• Request account deletion in the app when public account creation is available, or use the direct web instructions below.

Delete a PocketLife account

For another privacy request, email support@pocketlife.fun. PocketLife may need to verify that you control the relevant account.

8. Age eligibility

PocketLife is intended for players aged 16 or older. Referral participation, PocketLife accounts, cloud saves, voluntary financial support, and Usage Analytics are available only to real players aged 18 or older. Players aged 16 or 17 retain the local base game. Store purchases are controlled by Apple or Google under their account, family-approval, and payment rules. PocketLife does not provide child accounts or a parental-consent system.

9. Security

PocketLife uses encrypted network connections, restricted provider configuration, multifactor-protected administration, default-deny database and storage rules, verified app and account checks, bounded request records, and device-bound session controls where those services are enabled. No system is perfectly secure. Use a unique password and contact support if you suspect unauthorized account access.

10. Changes to this policy

This policy will be updated when PocketLife’s providers, features, retention settings, or legal obligations materially change. The updated date will appear at the top. Where required, PocketLife will provide additional notice or request a new choice before materially different processing begins.

11. Contact

Joe Valdez
Independent developer, Oslo, Norway
support@pocketlife.fun

This public policy describes PocketLife’s current mobile and website design. App Store privacy answers, Google Play Data Safety answers, consent screens, and this policy must remain consistent with the final iOS and Android builds.