Hatchery privacy policy

Your game, backups and account

Hatchery saves pets, eggs, supplies, purchases made with game currency, activities and preferences on your device. Local recovery copies help protect against damaged saves. You can export a backup file; you choose where to save or share it.

For automatic cloud backup and online features, Firebase Authentication creates a guest account identifier. Firebase stores your game and recovery history privately under that account. You can optionally connect Apple Game Center so the same gaming account can recover your grove on another device. Hatchery does not ask for your Apple password. A guest backup alone does not guarantee recovery after reinstalling or changing devices.

Our servers use account identifiers, request timestamps, save revisions, game data and reward records to operate backups, resolve conflicting copies and check unusual changes. A held upload preserves the last accepted cloud copy and your local game. Pausing backups stops future backup uploads; it does not delete copies already stored.

Firebase and its infrastructure also process network and device information, such as IP addresses and user-agent information, to deliver requests, authenticate connections and protect the service. Cloud processing can occur outside your country. See Firebase’s privacy and security information.

Friends, neighborhoods and shared groves

Online social features store your account identifier, chosen shared name, friendships, neighborhood memberships, invitation records and shared activities. Friends and neighbors can see the shared names and content relevant to their connections. Share invitation codes only with people you intend to invite; someone with a valid code can request to join.

Publishing your grove shares a selected snapshot of pet names and appearances, featured pet and scenery with current friends and neighbors. It does not publish your complete save, wallet or private recovery history. Close visits to withdraw that snapshot from subsequent access. Shared neighborhood meadows contain featured pets, scenery and picnic progress. Hatchery has no player chat or public player directory.

We use shared content and account records to operate these features, filter unsuitable names and administer neighborhoods. Other players may remember or make their own copies of content they have already seen.

Optional ads and younger players

Hatchery uses Google AdMob for optional rewarded ads and Google’s User Messaging Platform for advertising privacy choices. We apply a restrictive ad configuration to everyone: child-directed treatment, general-audience ad content, personalization disabled, and the publisher first-party identifier disabled. Consent requests are marked as under the age of consent. These settings apply without asking for a birth date or age.

Hatchery does not request Apple’s App Tracking Transparency permission. These restrictions do not mean that ads collect no information. Google’s SDKs may process IP addresses and approximate region, app or device identifiers available under the configuration, ad views and interactions, consent choices, and diagnostic or performance information to deliver ads, measure them and operate the services.

Where Google requires a privacy-options form, you can reopen it through the app’s Privacy choices control. If an ad is unavailable or you choose not to watch, ordinary play continues. TestFlight and development installations use test ads; they still communicate with Google when ad services are enabled.

Learn more in Google’s privacy policy and Google’s advertising SDK data disclosure. If you are a parent or guardian with a question about a child’s information, contact us below.

Optional gameplay analytics

“Share gameplay analytics” is a separate choice, off by default. If enabled, Google Analytics receives limited events about play, optional-ad offers and outcomes, ordinary rewards, and decorating choices. Google also processes an app-installation identifier, sessions, device information and approximate region. We use this information to understand play and improve reward balance.

Our custom events do not include your shared name, pet names, Firebase account identifier, Game Center identifier or saved grove. The Analytics integration excludes advertising-identifier support; vendor-identifier collection, ad personalization and Analytics advertising consent are disabled. Enabling gameplay analytics does not grant advertising consent or change your rewards.

Turning analytics off stops collection through this integration and resets Analytics data and its identifier on this device. It does not automatically erase information already sent to Google. Deleting your Hatchery account is also not a remote Analytics deletion request, because this integration does not attach your game account identifier to Analytics. Contact us about an access or deletion request; we may need information to locate a record and may not be able to associate analytics with your game account.

Approximate weather

Approximate local weather is on by default and can be switched off in Settings. While enabled, Hatchery requests conditions from wttr.in. That service sees your public IP address and estimates your area. Hatchery does not request GPS access or location permission and does not store your IP address or coordinates. A VPN or mobile network can produce weather for a different area.

Weather requests run while the app is active, normally at least 30 minutes apart within an app session. If the provider is unavailable, the grove uses clearly labeled clear weather. The provider’s processing is separate from optional gameplay analytics. See information about wttr.in.

Retention, deletion and recovery

We keep your online account, game and social records to provide their features until they are replaced through normal operation or deleted. Cloud backups have a rotating recovery history; unusual uploads may be kept for review. Local recovery files remain on your device. Files you export remain wherever you save them until you remove them.

In Settings → Privacy & your data, choose Delete Hatchery account and confirm (the same control is available in Friends & neighborhoods) to delete the Firebase account, cloud saves and their recovery/review records, shared profile, published grove, friendships, memberships and neighborhoods you own. Identifiable participation records are removed; existing aggregate neighborhood progress and consumed seasonal-code totals may remain. Your local pets and progress stay on this device, and automatic cloud backup turns off. Reopening online features can create a new guest account at your request.

A minimal deletion record remains to stop old requests from recreating the deleted account. It contains a hash of the account identifier, deletion state and timestamps, rather than your raw identifier, shared name or game. It has no automatic expiration currently configured. Provider backups, security and operational records may also follow the provider’s retention practices rather than disappearing immediately.

Removing the app removes its local game files and recovery copies from that installation; it is not an online account-deletion request. Device or cloud backups made outside Hatchery and separately exported files may still exist. Export any progress you want to keep before deleting an account or installation.

Questions and requests

Email Duck Software at hello@ducksoftware.net for privacy questions or to request access, correction or deletion of information. Include “Hatchery” and enough context to identify the issue; do not send passwords. If you contact us, we receive your email address and the information you choose to include so we can respond.

We may update this policy as Hatchery changes. The date at the top identifies the latest version. Material changes will be explained through the app or an updated notice where appropriate.