Tankbound Privacy Policy
Tankbound is a free artillery game for Android and iOS. You can play as a guest with progress on your device, or create an optional Player ID so saves, purchases, and online duels follow you. This page describes what leaves the phone and what does not.
Key Points
Guest by Default
Campaign progress, wallet, and settings live on your device. No email or legal name is required to play.
Optional Player ID
Create a Player ID (or link Google Play Games on Android) to sync progress, restore purchases, and use Together online. Identified as tb:<publicId>.
Ads Are Opt-In Rewards
Rewarded AdMob ads only, requested as non-personalized. Nothing plays unless you tap to watch for a reward. We do not use Player IDs for cross-app advertising tracking.
Table of Contents
1. Data Controller & Scope
The data controller for the Tankbound mobile application (package / bundle id com.observin.tankbound) is the individual developer who publishes the app on Google Play and the Apple App Store under the Observin developer account. For privacy enquiries, use Section 15.
This policy covers the Tankbound Android and iOS apps. Other Observin apps have their own policies: Trailium, Starro, Intervals and Echo.
2. What We Collect
Stored on your device
Campaign progress, tank and weapon unlocks, coin and gold balances, settings (including haptics), tutorial state, and local purchase-grant dedupe keys live in the app's private storage. Clearing app data or uninstalling removes them from that phone.
If you create a Player ID or go online
- User ID — a public Player ID (
tb:<publicId>) and related cloud account identifiers - Game handle — an optional display name you pick for Together / duels (not a legal name)
- Cloud save — progress, wallet, and related game state synced to our Convex backend
- Purchase records — product id, store transaction identifiers, and grant status (not your card number)
- Online play metadata — match codes, loadouts, turn events, friend links, and presence while you use Together
- Push token — device push token if you allow notifications (used for duel / friend alerts)
Analytics & diagnostics
We use PostHog for product analytics (screens, battles, shop events) and crash / exception reporting. After you create a Player ID we identify analytics events with that id so we can debug issues for the same account. Guests are not identified as a cloud account.
Advertising & purchase SDKs
Google AdMob and RevenueCat (plus Google Play Billing or Apple) may collect technical identifiers and purchase tokens needed to serve rewarded ads, prevent fraud, and deliver entitlements. See Sections 6–7 and 10.
What Tankbound does not collect
- Legal name, email, phone, or postal address as account fields
- Precise location — no location permission
- Photos, camera, microphone, contacts, or SMS
- Cross-app advertising tracking using our Player ID (see Section 6)
3. Permissions Tankbound Uses & Why
Internet
Cloud save, online duels, rewarded ads, purchases, analytics, optional push registration, and over-the-air updates. Offline guest campaign play does not require an account.
Notifications (optional)
If you allow them, we register a device push token so we can notify you about duel challenges and friend requests. You can revoke permission in system settings.
Vibration (haptics)
Optional feedback on buttons, shots, and rewards. Toggle in settings. Stays on device.
No App Tracking Transparency prompt
Tankbound does not request Apple's App Tracking Transparency permission. Rewarded ads are requested as non-personalized.
4. Accounts & Player ID
A Player ID is optional. It is created in-app (Convex Auth) and can be recovered with a recovery key you store. On Android you may also link Google Play Games, which may share your Play Games player id and display name with us so we can attach the same Player ID across devices.
For Together / online duels you may set a short handle. That is a game nickname, not a legal name or email. Friends and match lobbies see the handle you choose.
Signing out on a device returns that install to guest mode. Cloud data for the Player ID remains on our servers until you request deletion (Section 11).
5. Analytics & Crash Reporting
We use PostHog (hosted in the US) to understand feature use, measure reliability, and capture exceptions. Events may include screen names, battle mode, shop actions, and technical error details. Session replay may capture HUD / UI context; the Skia battle field itself is a graphics surface and is not usefully recorded as UI.
After Player ID creation we call PostHog identify with tb:<publicId>. We do not sell analytics data. PostHog's processing is described in the PostHog Privacy Policy.
6. Advertising
Tankbound shows rewarded ads only, served by Google AdMob. There are no interstitials that interrupt a battle. You watch an ad only when you tap for a reward (extra coins, retry bonus, and similar placements).
Ad requests are configured as non-personalized (requestNonPersonalizedAdsOnly). We do not use our Player ID for Apple's definition of tracking (linking app data with third-party data for targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or sharing with a data broker).
Google may still process technical signals (for example IP address, device type, OS version, language) to serve and measure the ad and to prevent fraud, under the Google Privacy Policy and AdMob Privacy & Security guidelines.
You can limit ads personalization in system settings (Android: Google → Ads; iOS: Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising / Tracking, as available on your OS version).
7. In-App Purchases
Optional gold packs and the Supporter entitlement are processed by Google Play Billing or the App Store, and by RevenueCat. They receive purchase tokens / transaction identifiers and the product you bought so grants can be delivered and restored. We do not receive your full payment card details.
When you have a Player ID, purchase grants are also recorded on our Convex ledger (deduped by product + purchase time) so cloud restores stay consistent. Guest restores never replay consumable gold packs. See Google, Apple, and the RevenueCat Privacy Policy.
8. Online Play, Friends & Push
Together online (invite codes, matchmaking, friends, rematches) runs on our Convex backend. Match documents include gameplay state needed for fair sync (for example turn, weapons used, and settle snapshots). Aim previews use a small side channel so drag ticks do not rebroadcast the full match document.
Push notifications, when enabled, use the platform push service (FCM on Android today). We store the device token against your Player ID so a challenge can reach the phone you used most recently. Disable notifications anytime in system settings.
9. Legal Basis (GDPR)
For users in the EU/EEA/UK, we rely on the following legal bases under Article 6 GDPR:
| Processing Activity | Legal Basis | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Running the game and on-device progress | Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) | Necessary to deliver the game you installed. |
| Player ID, cloud save, online duels, push | Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) | Only if you opt into those features. |
| Optional in-app purchases | Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) | To deliver and restore the item you bought. |
| Analytics & crash reporting (PostHog) | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) | Improve reliability and features; limited identifiers. |
| Non-personalized rewarded ads | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) | Contextual ads you choose to watch; no behavioural targeting by us. |
International transfers may involve the United States (Convex, PostHog, Google, Apple, RevenueCat). Those providers rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and/or Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable.
10. Third-Party Services
Convex
Hosts authentication, cloud saves, purchase ledger, friends, presence, matchmaking, and duel sync.
PostHog
Product analytics and error tracking for the Tankbound project.
Google AdMob
Serves rewarded ads you choose to watch. Google acts as an independent controller for its advertising services.
RevenueCat + Google Play / App Store
Process optional purchases and entitlement restore.
Google Play Games (Android only)
Optional sign-in to create or recover a Player ID and to unlock achievements / leaderboards you earn in-game.
Expo Updates & store platforms
Optional over-the-air JavaScript updates and each store's own install / crash statistics for distribution.
11. Data Retention & Deletion
- On-device progress: clear app storage or uninstall
- Player ID / cloud save / friends / purchase ledger: retained while the account is active; contact us (Section 15) to request deletion
- Push tokens: replaced when you re-register; cleared when we detect a dead token or you request deletion
- Ad, analytics, and purchase records held by Google, Apple, PostHog, or RevenueCat follow those providers' retention policies
12. Your Rights
Under the GDPR and comparable laws you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and withdrawal of consent, plus the right not to be subject to automated decision-making with legal effect — we perform no such decision-making.
Right to lodge a complaint: you may complain to your local supervisory authority — in the EU see edpb.europa.eu, in the UK the Information Commissioner's Office.
13. Children's Privacy
Tankbound is not directed at children under 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child's data has been processed through the app, contact us (Section 15) and we will act promptly.
14. Changes to This Policy
If Tankbound's data practices change — for example personalized ads or new SDKs — this policy, the Google Play Data-safety form, and the Apple App Privacy labels will be updated before that version ships, and the "Last updated" date above will change.
15. Contact
Questions about this policy or your data rights? We answer privacy requests within 30 days.
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