What this notice covers
This notice covers the Aether Refiner app on Android, iPhone and iPad. The Great Cloud MMORPG and this website are separate products with their own notice, which you can read at thegreatcloudgame.life/Privacy.html. Where the two differ, the one covering the product you are actually using applies.
Who is responsible for your data. The data controller is The Great Cloud LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17522895; registered office: Unit A, 82 James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE). It is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, under registration number ZC275593, which you can look up on the ICO's public register. Contact: support@thegreatcloudgame.life.
It describes version 1.0.1 and later of the app, on Google Play and the App Store; what the app does with data has not changed since version 1.0.1. If a later version changes what the app does with data, this notice is updated and the updated version is published before that release goes live, with a new date and version number at the top.
What the app collects
Nothing, by us. Aether Refiner sends no personal data to us, and contains no advertising or tracking software of ours. The game plays fully offline. The two things that use the internet, purchases and the cloud save, are services of the store you installed from (Google Play on Android, Apple on iPhone and iPad), described below.
- There is no account of ours. We never ask for a name, an email address or any other identifier.
- There are no advertising or analytics libraries of ours in the app.
- There is no server of ours that the app talks to.
Cloud save (Google Play Games)
So that you keep your progress when you change or reset your phone, the app keeps a copy of your save in Google Play Games, Google's service for games. Google Play Games signs you in automatically with your Google Play Games profile if you have one; you can also sign in, or check the cloud save, from Settings on the title screen. If you don't sign in, the game works exactly the same and your progress stays on your phone only.
The cloud copy holds the same things as the save on your phone: which levels you have completed and your stars and best scores, the boosters and cosmetics you have, and the one-way purchase fingerprints described below. It is stored by Google against your Play Games profile, and only this game, signed in as you, can read it. We cannot see it.
When you use Google Play Games, Google itself also receives your Play Games profile (gamer name and avatar) and diagnostic and usage information about its service, under Google's privacy policy. The app receives your gamer identity from Google only to sign you in; it does not store or send it anywhere.
To delete the cloud copy, delete this game's data from your Google Play Games profile settings, or delete your Play Games account and its data through your Google Account.
Optional purchases
The in-game store sells optional booster packs and permanent cosmetic looks for the puzzle. Nothing is required to finish any level. Purchases are made through Google Play's billing system: Google shows the payment sheet, takes the payment and holds your payment details. The app never sees your card, your name or your Google account details.
Google's billing library uses the internet permission to talk to the Play Store app on your device (the cloud save above is the only other use). When you buy something, Google Play tells the app which item you bought and gives it a purchase reference so the item can be delivered. The app keeps a one-way fingerprint of that reference in its private storage so the same purchase is never delivered twice, and asks Google Play for your purchases again when it starts so that cosmetics you own come back after a reinstall. None of this is sent to us.
Google's handling of the payment is governed by Google's privacy policy and the Google Play terms of service. Refunds are requested through Google Play.
What is stored on your device
Your puzzle progress — which levels you have completed, the boosters and cosmetics you own, and your settings — is saved in the
app's own private storage on your device. It is not included in Android's cloud backup
(allowBackup is disabled); the only copy that leaves your phone is the Google Play
Games cloud save above, and only if you are signed in to Play Games.
To delete it from your phone, uninstall the app or use Android's Settings → Apps → Aether Refiner → Storage → Clear data. If you are signed in to Play Games, your progress comes back from the cloud save the next time you play; delete the cloud copy as described above if you want a fresh start. We hold nothing for us to delete, and there is no account of ours to close. Cosmetics you bought are restored from Google Play the next time you install the app; booster packs already used up are not.
On iPhone and iPad, your progress is saved in the app's own private storage, which is included in your device's iCloud or computer backup like other app data. To delete it, uninstall the app; if you use Game Center, its saved game can be removed in Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage. Cosmetics you bought are restored from the App Store with Restore in the game's store.
Children
The app is rated for ages 13 and over and is not directed at children. We collect no data from anyone, children included.
Google Play
Distribution is through Google Play, and Google processes data about app downloads, in-app purchases, Play Games and crash reports under Google's own privacy policy. That processing is Google's, happens outside the app, and is not something this app controls or receives.
On iPhone and iPad
Purchases are made through Apple's App Store. Apple processes the payment, and the app receives only Apple's signed record that the purchase happened, so it can deliver what you bought and restore it on your devices. We never see your payment details or your Apple ID.
If you sign in to Game Center, your progress is saved to your own iCloud through Game Center saved games, and your achievements are shared with Game Center. Apple processes this under Apple's own privacy policy; it is not sent to us. Without Game Center, your progress stays on your device. The iPhone and iPad app contains no advertising or analytics software, does not use the advertising identifier and does not track you across apps or websites.
Your rights
Data-protection law (including the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR) gives you rights over personal data held about you: access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection and portability. Because we hold no personal data about you, there is nothing for us to retrieve, correct or erase — but if you believe otherwise, please contact us at the address below and we will answer. You also have the right to complain to your data-protection authority; in the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint).
Future versions
Aether Refiner is being built as the mobile companion to The Great Cloud MMORPG, and later versions are planned to add: a companion mode that links your Great Cloud account; cosmetic rewards that cross over to the MMORPG; and optional rewarded video advertising. Such a version would be able to send data — an account identifier, purchase records, advertising identifiers, and diagnostics or gameplay measurements used to find faults and improve the game. None of that is in the app today, whose only connections are the store's own billing (Google Play or Apple) and its cloud save (Google Play Games or Game Center).
If and when such a version is released, this notice will say — before that release is published — what is collected, why, on what legal basis, how long it is kept and who it is shared with, and the app's Google Play Data Safety declaration and App Store privacy details will be updated to match. Nothing described in this section happens in the version you can install today.
Contact
Questions about this notice or about privacy in Aether Refiner: support@thegreatcloudgame.life.
Changes to this notice
Each version of this notice carries a date and a version number at the top. A change that affects what the app does with data is published before the release that makes the change, and the previous version remains available on request.