Who is responsible for your data. The data controller is Iniaki Boudiaf, trading as Sterling Laboratories, a sole trader based in the United Kingdom ("we", "us"). Contact: iniaki@boudiaf.co.uk. This policy covers the Project Ascent app, including test builds through Apple TestFlight, and this website.
On your device
- The game runs on your iPhone. Climbs, the climbing simulation and your results are worked out on the device.
- Progress is saved locally: your lesson progress, level, points, skills, goals, daily-climb results and streak, climbs topped, settings, the climber body you chose, hints and your Carabiner balance. We cannot read it.
- Your Carabiner balance is also stored in the iPhone's Keychain so that Carabiners you have bought are not lost if you delete and reinstall the app on the same iPhone. It stays on your device.
- No accounts. You do not need to sign in or give us personal details to play.
- Deleting the app deletes the saved progress on your iPhone, except the Carabiner balance in the Keychain described above. You can also reset progress in Settings in the game (this keeps your streak, Carabiners, bought hints and settings).
Anonymous usage data (you can turn it off)
Project Ascent sends anonymous usage data to PostHog, our analytics provider, hosted in the EU. This is on by default and you can opt out at any time: in the app, go to Settings > Share anonymous usage data and switch it off. It is sent so we can see where the game is too hard or confusing. It covers: when you open the app and start a session, tutorial and lesson-coach progress, which climbs you open, start, top, fall on or leave and why a climber fell (for example "hold out of reach"), hints used, how hard a climb felt and the star rating if you give one, Shop visits and Carabiner pack purchases, daily climbs and streaks, whether you turned on reminders and whether you opened the app from one, whether you used Onsight mode, whether you skipped a climb, whether you saw or tapped a news card, and the app version. It does not include your climber's body settings, the moves you planned, your Carabiner balance or prices.
It uses a random ID made on your device, not your name, email, Apple ID or advertising ID. We switch off location lookup from your IP address, and PostHog discards the IP address when it receives the data. The data is not used to track you across other companies' apps or websites, is not sold, and is not used for advertising. Turning the setting off stops sending at once and anything waiting to be sent is deleted. Because the ID is random and not linked to you, we cannot tell which data is yours. Usage data is kept only as long as it is needed for analytics.
The feedback form
On Home, Tell us what you think opens a form with four optional questions (how you find the climbs, favourites, dislikes, anything too difficult). Only when you tap Send, the text you wrote (up to 1,000 characters per box) is sent to PostHog with the app version and nothing else: no name, email or device details. It is read by the team only and is not shown to other players. Please do not put personal details in it; we cannot tell whose it is. The form works only while "Share anonymous usage data" is on.
Daily reminders
If you allow notifications, the game schedules reminders on your iPhone (when new daily climbs are up, and a come-back nudge). They are scheduled on the device with no server involved and send nothing to us. You can switch them off in the game's Settings or in iOS Settings. The usage data above records only whether you turned reminders on and whether you opened the app from one.
Game news
The Home screen can show a short news card. To check for new items the app requests a small public file from this website's host. The request contains no identifiers, but like any web request the host (Vercel) sees the IP address.
Sharing a result
If you share a daily result or a climb code, the game prepares a short text for you to share wherever you choose. It contains the result or code, not your beta or anything that identifies you, and nothing is sent to us.
This website
This website is static and sets no cookies. It is hosted by Vercel, which, like any web host, processes standard request data (such as IP address and browser type) to serve pages and protect against abuse. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address when you load a page. We use PostHog (hosted in the EU) for anonymous website analytics: which pages are viewed, which buttons are clicked, the referring site and campaign tags in the link (for example utm_source). It runs without cookies or local storage, does not record sessions, and does not identify you or follow you across other sites. PostHog uses your IP address to estimate a rough location (such as the country) and then discards it. The "Android: tell me when it's ready" button only records an anonymous click count the same way (cookieless PostHog); it collects no email address and no identifier.
TestFlight
If you test through TestFlight, Apple may share with us crash reports, basic usage information (such as sessions and device model) and any feedback or screenshots you choose to send. Apple handles this under Apple's Privacy Policy and the TestFlight terms. On the App Store, if you have turned on "Share with App Developers" in iOS settings, Apple may also share crash and diagnostic data with us in the same way.
Game Center
Game Center works only if you are signed in to it on your device. The game submits your scores (for example daily-climb results, streak, and Free Climb and lesson progress) and your achievements to Game Center, and Apple shows them to other players according to your Game Center settings. Apple handles your Game Center identity; we never receive your Apple ID or password, and we do not keep these results on a server of our own. You can sign out of Game Center or change who sees your activity in iOS Settings at any time.
Purchases
The game offers optional in-app purchases of Carabiner packs (the in-game currency used for hints). Purchases are processed by Apple. We never see your card or payment details. The game receives the product and transaction from Apple to credit your Carabiners, and to take them back if Apple refunds the purchase. Refunds are handled by Apple under its policies. We record only that a pack was bought, as an anonymous usage event (see above). There is no Restore Purchases button; unfinished purchases are delivered the next time the game starts.
Accounts
There are no accounts in this version and we hold no account data. If that changes we will update this policy and tell you in the app before it applies.
Who we share data with
We don't sell or rent personal data. We share it only with:
- Apple, for Game Center, purchases and TestFlight, as described above.
- Service providers: PostHog (anonymous app and website analytics, and the feedback form) and Vercel (hosting this website), who process data on our instructions.
- Authorities, if the law requires it.
Some providers may process data outside the UK. When they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or approved safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
Children
Project Ascent is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal data, email us and we'll delete it.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy of it;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data deleted;
- restrict or object to how we use it;
- data portability, meaning a copy in a machine-readable format;
- withdraw consent where we rely on it, at any time.
To use any of these rights, email iniaki@boudiaf.co.uk. We'll reply within one month. The usage data the app sends is tied to a random ID, not to you, so in most cases we will not be able to find "your" data. If you tell us what you wrote in the feedback form, we can look for it and delete it.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or call 0303 123 1113. We'd appreciate the chance to sort it out first.
Changes to this policy
When the game changes how it uses data, we'll update this page and the "Last updated" date. For significant changes we'll also tell you in the app before the change applies.
Contact
Iniaki Boudiaf, trading as Sterling Laboratories
Email: iniaki@boudiaf.co.uk
Testing through TestFlight? You can also use Send Beta Feedback in the TestFlight app.