Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how The Talking Game ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information in connection with our website and our mobile app for iOS and Android (together, the "Service"). We built The Talking Game to be played without an account, and we collect as little about you as possible.

The short version

• No account is required to play the app. Sign-in is optional; if you use it, we collect only your email address and a user ID to sync your purchases and progress.
• The only personal information we collect on this website is your email address, and only if you choose to join the waitlist.
• We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.
• In-app purchases are handled by Apple and Google — we never see or store your payment-card details.
• We use PostHog and Sentry to see how the app is used and when it breaks. PostHog can also make a masked recording of your screen: where you tapped and where you went, never the words on a card or the names in your group.

Information we collect

Waitlist email (website)

When you join the waitlist, we collect the email address you submit and limited technical context (the time of signup, the page or campaign variant you signed up from, and the referring URL) so we can understand which messaging resonated. We use this solely to send you a small number of launch-related emails and to invite you to early access. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link, and you can ask us to delete your address at any time.

The app

The Talking Game is designed to run on a single device, passed around a group. Your players, their chosen characters, and your game progress are stored on your device. We do not require you to create an account to play, and your gameplay content is not sent to us to identify you.

Optional sign-in (app)

You can play without signing in. If you choose to sign in with Sign in with Apple or Google — for example, to keep your purchases and progress in sync across devices — we receive your email address and a user identifier from that provider, and we store a small record of which decks you own and your saved game state on our backend (Supabase). We use this only to deliver the app's features (restoring and syncing what you own); we do not use it for advertising and we do not track you across other apps or websites. You can permanently delete your account and this data at any time in the app under Settings → Account → Delete Account, or by emailing us. Decks you purchased remain tied to your App Store or Google Play account and can still be restored.

Purchases

Individual question decks are one-time purchases you own forever, as is the All Packs Forever unlock; an All-Access subscription is optional. These transactions are processed by Apple's App Store and Google Play. Those platforms — not us — collect and process your payment information under their own privacy policies. We receive only a confirmation that a purchase occurred (via our payments provider, RevenueCat) so we can unlock your content; we never receive your full payment-card number.

Diagnostics and analytics

We use two service providers to keep the Service working and to understand how it is used: PostHog for product analytics and Sentry for crash reports. Both handle this data only on our instructions, and neither is an advertising network. What they receive is how the app was used, never what was said inside it: the screen you were on, that a round started, how many players were in the circle, which deck was opened, whether a purchase succeeded or failed, and your app version, build, platform, device model and OS version. The text of a question, anything a player says, and the names your group types in are never sent to them. If you have signed in, this activity is tied to the user identifier described above; if you have not, it is tied to a random identifier for that install. We do not sell it, and we do not use it to track you across other apps or websites.

One thing we will not round off: like any service reached over the internet, PostHog and Sentry see the IP address a request arrives from, and PostHog works out an approximate location from it (a country, region, city and postal area). That estimate is derived from the IP address and never from your device. We never ask your device where it is, and we do not use the estimate to target or profile you.

A masked recording of your screen

PostHog can also record a session in the app, and a sentence that stopped there would frighten you, so it does not stop there. What a recording keeps is the shape of a session: the screen you were on, where you tapped, what you scrolled past, how long you stayed, and the order you did it in. What it does not keep is anything you wrote or read. Every piece of text the app draws is covered over before the frame is stored — the question on the card, the names your group typed in, your email address if you have signed in, and anything you type — and that happens on your phone, inside the recorder, not on a server afterwards, so the unmasked frame never exists anywhere but in your own hand. What stays visible is the app's own artwork: the deck covers, the character faces, the lit background. Those are drawings we ship inside the app, identical on every phone, and they say nothing about you — leaving them visible is what makes a recording legible enough to be worth keeping at all. The recorder's console and network channels are switched off for the same reason: a log line or a request address would be a side door the same content could otherwise leave through. The short version is that we record the shape of a session, never its content. A recording is deleted 30 days after it is made.

Two things we would rather say plainly than let you assume. First, recording runs on both iOS and Android, and only from version 1.0.7 onward. Earlier versions contain no recorder at all — there is nothing in them that could capture a session, whatever our settings say. The masking was built into the app before the recorder was, deliberately, so that recording can never begin unmasked. The switch itself lives on our side rather than inside the app, which is what lets us stop recording everywhere at once, without waiting for an update to reach anyone. Second, the masking is done by the recorder's own code on your phone, and it does not reach every way an app can draw text: the player names on the spinning wheel are drawn in a way the automatic masking does not cover on Android, so we cover that screen ourselves, and we confirmed it on a real Android recording before letting Android record at all. There is no switch for this inside the app, and we would rather say so than imply one. If you would rather we held no recordings of your sessions, email us at the address below and we will delete them.

How we use information

• To operate, maintain, and improve the Service.
• To send waitlist and launch communications you asked for.
• To unlock content you have purchased.
• To detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, or technical issues.
• To comply with legal obligations.

How we share information

We share personal information only with service providers who help us run the Service (for example, our database/email infrastructure providers), and only as needed for them to perform that work. We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and property of our users or ourselves. If our business is involved in a merger or acquisition, information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We do not sell your personal information.

Data retention

We keep your waitlist email until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it, or until it is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected. If you signed in, we keep your account record (email, user ID, owned decks, and saved game state) until you delete your account — which you can do at any time in the app under Settings → Account → Delete Account, or by emailing the contact address below. Deleting your account permanently removes that record from our systems.

A masked screen recording is deleted 30 days after it is made. Analytics events stay in PostHog under the identifier they were sent with; deleting your account removes the account record described above, and if you also want your analytics record and any recordings still inside their 30 days purged, email us and we will do it.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@thetalkinggame.app. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time using the link in any message.

Children's privacy

The Talking Game is intended for adults and is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

International users

We may process and store information in countries other than your own. Where we transfer personal information across borders, we take steps to protect it consistent with this Policy and applicable law.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will be communicated where appropriate.

Contact us

Questions about this Policy or your data? Email support@thetalkinggame.app.