Vaalo privacy policy

Last updated October 5, 2026. Applies to the Vaalo app for Android and iOS (com.ellemsoft.vaalo), including test builds.

1. Who we are

Vaalo is made by Ellemsoft. Questions about this policy: [email protected].

2. What stays on your device

The game saves your character (its name and appearance), your settings and your progress in small files in the app's private storage on your phone. We never receive them, other apps cannot read them, and the game does not upload them.

3. Device backups

If your phone's backup is turned on, Android or iOS may copy those files to your own Google or Apple account so they can be restored on a new phone. That copy is made by your phone's system under your account's settings and is covered by Google's or Apple's privacy policy. We cannot see it.

4. Anonymous usage statistics

While the "Share stats" switch in Settings is on, which it is by default, the game sends at most two short messages per session to Aptabase, an analytics service that processes them for us and hosts them in the European Union:

• the game was opened, with roughly how long ago you first played (a range, for example "7 to 29 days");
• a play session ended, when the game went to the background or was closed: roughly how long you played (time in the background does not count) and how far you got (the title screen, your character made, or in the world), each as a range or a step name.

Each message also carries a random session number that exists only in the game's memory while it runs (it is never saved and is replaced when you come back after 30 minutes or more away), the game's version, your phone's operating system name and major version (for example "Android 15"), and your language. No device model, no device or advertising identifier, no character name, no email, no location, no contacts and nothing you type is sent. The only thing kept on your phone for this is the day you first played.

To deliver a message over the internet your phone's IP address reaches Aptabase's server. Aptabase uses it only to work out your country and to count players per day, as a one-way hash that changes every day, so one person cannot be followed from one day to the next or between apps. We see only totals and breakdowns; we cannot look you up. The reason is our interest in knowing how many people play and where the game loses them, so we can fix it. Aptabase's own policy is at aptabase.com/legal/privacy.

You can switch this off at any time in Settings, "Share stats". It takes effect at once: anything not yet sent is dropped and nothing more is sent. If your phone is offline, the messages are simply lost; the game never waits for them. Development builds never send statistics.

5. Online play

This version has no online play, no chat and no ads, and uses the internet only for the statistics in section 4. Vaalo will become an online game where players meet in a shared world; that needs an account and a server of ours. This page will be updated before any update with online play is released, and the date at the top will change with it.

6. Children

Vaalo is made for people aged 13 and over and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

7. Deleting your data and your rights

Uninstalling the app removes its files from your phone (a backed-up copy stays in your Google or Apple account until you delete it there). The usage statistics are not linked to you, so we cannot find or delete "your" messages; switching the setting off stops them, and you can object to them that way at any time. Because we hold no other personal data, there is nothing for us to export.

8. Changes

If the game starts to use data in a new way, this page changes before the update that does it is released, and the date at the top changes with it.

9. Contact

Ellemsoft, [email protected].