The short version
- No accounts, no sign-in, and no analytics or tracking tools of our own.
- Your progress is saved only on your device. We can’t see it, and deleting the app deletes it.
- Videos are optional. They come from Google AdMob, and you choose to watch each one. Google’s ads software starts when you open the game, so Google may receive your IP address and basic device information even if you never watch a video. Where the law requires it we ask for consent before the first video, and you can change your answer later in the game’s Settings. Apple’s tracking prompt lets you say no.
- When you finish a video, Google confirms the reward to our server using a random code made by the app, never your name, advertising identifier or progress. We use it only to check rewards and prevent fraud, and delete it after 90 days.
- To know when a new day starts, the game asks our server for the current time. That request carries nothing about you, and we don’t log or store it.
- Purchases are made through Apple. RevenueCat helps us keep track of what you’ve bought. Nobody here ever sees your payment details.
- Achievements and leaderboards use Apple’s Game Center, if you’re signed in to it. Apple handles that under its own policy.
- We never sell your information for money. If you allow tracking, personalized ads through AdMob may count as “sharing” under some privacy laws; saying no in Apple’s prompt or Google’s consent message turns that off.
Who we are
BarnWorks is made by Machette Labs (“we”, “us”), a small independent studio. We are responsible for this policy. You can reach us any time at privacy@machettelabs.com (privacy questions and requests) or support@machettelabs.com (anything else).
What stays on your device
Everything the game remembers is stored in the app’s own storage on your device: your almanac progress and stars, your factory builds, coins, helpers, decorations, outfits, daily delivery and night barn progress, achievement progress waiting to be sent to Game Center, and your settings.
- It is never sent to us. The game’s only connections to our server are to check video rewards (see below) and to check the time (see below), and neither sends your progress, so we cannot see it, back it up or recover it.
- Settings › Start the almanac over wipes your progress. Deleting the app removes everything.
Optional videos (Google AdMob)
BarnWorks is free to play. In a few places you can choose to watch a short video for a reward, for example a Piper’s Peek or double coins from the night barn. Nothing ever plays unless you tap to watch it, and there are no pop-up ads. These videos are provided by Google AdMob and the ad networks that fill its requests.
When you open the game, it starts Google’s ads software and asks Google whether a consent message applies where you are. This happens even if you never watch a video, and it may send Google your IP address and basic device and app information (and your device’s advertising identifier, if you’ve allowed tracking).
A video is only requested after you tap to watch one; once you’ve watched one, the next video for that spot may load in the background so it’s ready. When a video is requested or shown, Google and those networks may receive:
- your device’s advertising identifier, but only if you allow tracking in Apple’s prompt;
- your IP address and an approximate location derived from it;
- basic device and app information (such as model, operating system version, language and the app’s version);
- ad interaction and diagnostic data (such as whether a video loaded, played or was finished);
- the random install code and video code described in the next section, and which bonus the video is for, so Google can confirm your reward to us.
We ask first. Before the first video, the game shows Google’s consent message wherever the law requires one, and then Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt. You can say no to either. Rewards work the same either way; the videos you see may just be less personalized. Where Google’s consent message applies, you can change your answer any time in the game’s Settings › Privacy choices (see Your choices).
Google acts as an independent controller of the data it receives. Learn more in how Google uses information from apps that use its services and Google’s privacy policy.
Checking video rewards
To make sure every video reward is real, the game checks it with our own small server, api.machettelabs.com, before handing it out. Here is everything involved:
- The first time you open the app, it makes a random install code. It is not your device’s advertising identifier, and it isn’t linked to your name, email, Apple Account or anything else about you. Starting the almanac over keeps it; deleting and reinstalling the app makes a new one.
- Each time a video is loaded, the app makes a new random video code for it.
- When you finish a video, Google AdMob sends our server a confirmation, signed so we can tell it really came from Google. It contains the install code, the video code, which bonus it was, the ad unit and ad network that showed it, the reward, the time and Google’s transaction ID.
- The app then sends our server the same two codes to check that the reward was confirmed, and hands it to you. If the check can’t finish right away, the app tries again later, for example the next time you open it.
We use these records (our reward ledger) only to confirm rewards and prevent fraud, such as rewards claimed without a video being watched. They are never sold, never used for advertising or tracking, and we never link them to anything else about you. They are stored on Cloudflare, the service that hosts our server, and deleted automatically after 90 days; Cloudflare’s short-term database backups that may still hold them expire within 30 days after that. Like any web host, Cloudflare receives your device’s IP address when the app connects; the reward records we keep don’t include it. Learn more in Cloudflare’s privacy policy.
Checking the time
The daily delivery and the night barn count real days and hours, so the game asks our server (api.machettelabs.com/v1/time) for the current time instead of trusting the device’s clock alone. The request sends no personal data: no install code, no identifier and nothing about your progress. Our server only answers with the time; it doesn’t log or store anything about the request. As with the reward check, Cloudflare receives your IP address while the app connects. Offline, the game simply waits to start a new day until it can check.
Purchases (Apple and RevenueCat)
Everything you can buy in BarnWorks is optional. Purchases are made and paid for through Apple’s App Store under your Apple Account. We never receive your card number, billing address or Apple Account details.
We use RevenueCat, a service that helps apps manage and restore in-app purchases. It acts on our behalf and receives:
- a random, anonymous app user ID created on your device (it is not linked to your name or email);
- your purchase history for BarnWorks and the App Store receipt that proves it;
- basic device and app information, such as the operating system, app version, and App Store storefront and currency.
Apart from the reward records described above, that anonymous purchase record is the only information about you that we can look at. Learn more in RevenueCat’s privacy policy.
Game Center
BarnWorks has achievements and leaderboards through Apple’s Game Center. When you open the game, it quietly checks whether you’re already signed in to Game Center; it never asks you to sign in unless you tap Settings › Achievements & leaderboards. If you’re signed in, the game sends your achievements and leaderboard scores (such as how few tiles and beats a recipe took) to Apple, and other players may see your Game Center name and scores on the leaderboards, according to your Game Center settings.
Game Center is run by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy. We don’t receive your Apple Account details, and nothing from Game Center is sent to our server. You can sign out of Game Center, or change who can see your profile, in your device’s Settings app.
What Apple shares with us
If you’ve chosen to share analytics with app developers in your device’s settings, Apple may give us anonymous, combined statistics about how BarnWorks is used and any crashes. These never identify you. You can turn this off in Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements.
If you email us
If you write to us (for example at support@machettelabs.com or privacy@machettelabs.com), we receive your email address and whatever you put in your message, such as your device model. We use them only to reply and to sort out your question, and we keep the conversation only until it’s resolved. We never add you to a mailing list.
Everyone who touches your data
| Who | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your device | All your game progress and settings | So the game remembers you. Nobody else receives it. |
| Google AdMob and its ad networks | Advertising identifier (only if you allow tracking), IP address, device info, ad interactions, and the random install and video codes | To run the ads software (it starts when you open the game), ask for consent where the law requires it, show and measure the optional videos you choose to watch, and confirm their rewards to us |
| Our reward server, hosted by Cloudflare | Random install code and video code, which bonus, ad unit and ad network, reward, time and Google’s transaction ID. Cloudflare also sees your IP address while the app connects; we don’t keep it | To confirm video rewards and prevent fraud. Deleted after 90 days |
| Our time check, hosted by Cloudflare | Nothing about you. Cloudflare sees your IP address while the app connects; we don’t keep it | To count days for the daily delivery and night barn. Nothing is stored |
| RevenueCat | Anonymous app user ID, purchase history and receipts, basic device info | To confirm and restore purchases |
| Apple | Your purchase and payment, and (if you’re signed in to Game Center) your achievements and leaderboard scores, under Apple’s own policy | To sell and deliver the app and its in-app purchases, and to run Game Center |
| Us, if you email | Your email address and message | To answer you |
We never sell your information for money, and nobody beyond the services above receives it. If you allow tracking, the personalized ads AdMob shows may count as “sharing” under some privacy laws; saying no in Apple’s prompt or Google’s consent message turns that off.
Google, RevenueCat and Cloudflare may process the data they receive in countries other than the one you live in, under their own safeguards for those transfers. If Machette Labs or BarnWorks is ever sold or merged, this policy would still apply to anything handled under it, and we would say so here first.
Children
BarnWorks is a gentle game suitable for all ages, but it is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Ads are limited to content rated for general audiences. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, for example by email, contact us and we will delete it.
Your choices and rights
- Tracking: turn it off any time in your device’s Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.
- Videos: simply don’t watch them. Nothing in the game requires one.
- Consent message: to change the answer you gave in Google’s consent message, open Settings › Privacy choices in the game. It’s there wherever Google’s consent message applies. The game needs a connection to check that, so if you expect it and don’t see it, connect to the internet and reopen the game. As a last resort, deleting and reinstalling BarnWorks also makes the game ask again before the next video, but it deletes your progress too.
- Reward checks: they happen only when you finish a video, so if you don’t watch videos, nothing is checked. Deleting and reinstalling BarnWorks gives you a new install code (and deletes your progress), and old reward records are deleted after 90 days.
- Game Center: sign out, or change who can see your profile, in your device’s Settings app. The game plays the same without it.
- Your progress: start over with Settings › Start the almanac over in the game, or delete the app to remove everything it stored.
Where a law asks us to name a legal basis: personalized ads rely on your consent, checking video rewards and checking the time rely on our legitimate interest in handing out only real rewards, counting days fairly and preventing fraud, purchases rely on our contract with you (so we can deliver and restore what you bought), and answering your emails relies on our legitimate interest in helping you.
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what personal information is held about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to object to or restrict how it’s used, or to opt out of personalized advertising, which some laws describe as “selling” or “sharing”. Because we hold almost nothing ourselves, the quickest way to use most of these rights is through the settings above. For anything held by RevenueCat on our behalf, or an email you’ve sent us, write to privacy@machettelabs.com and we will answer within 30 days. Reward records are tied only to a random install code that we can’t connect to you, so we can’t look yours up by name or email; they are deleted automatically after 90 days. We will never treat you differently for asking. You can also complain to your local data protection authority, though we’d love the chance to fix it first.
Security and retention
Your progress is protected by your device’s own security. Data sent to Google, RevenueCat, Apple and our server travels encrypted, and Google signs each reward confirmation so nobody else can fake one. Game data stays on your device until you start over or delete the app. Reward records are deleted automatically after 90 days, and drop out of our host’s backups within 30 days after that. Time checks are never stored. Support emails are kept only until your question is resolved. Google, RevenueCat, Apple and Cloudflare keep what they receive according to their own policies, linked above.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we’ll update this page and the date at the top before the change applies to you. Help with the game is on our support page. Questions about privacy: privacy@machettelabs.com. Anything else: support@machettelabs.com.