Privacy Policy
Forkway: Pipe Memory Runner · operated by So-NetFloor
You can play all of Forkway without signing up. We don't ask for your real name or email, and the app doesn't request device permissions such as contacts, photos, or location. Some information does go to our server and to Google, for the leaderboard, for ads, and for the optional Google account link. This page explains what goes where, and why.
1. What we collect
Player identifier
The first time the app runs, your device generates a random value. It is the key that ties your leaderboard records, usage records, and usage ledger together. It is not linked to your name, phone number, device ID, or advertising ID. If you uninstall and reinstall the app, a new one is generated.
Leaderboard records
When you're online, your result is sent to our server automatically at the end of each run.
| Item | What it is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Display name | A name of up to 12 characters. It starts as a name the app picks (e.g. Plumber-1a2b) and you can change it. Other players can see it on the leaderboard | To show on the leaderboard |
| Country | A two-letter country code. It is first guessed from your device's language and region settings; you can pick another one or choose "Don't show" in Settings. It is not based on location data | To show a flag on the leaderboard |
| Score, runs, time, speed | Your record, how many runs it took, when you set it, and the game speed you chose | To rank it |
| Your choices in that run | The sequence of left/right turns and how many times an Emergency Coupling saved you | So the server can replay the run and check the score was actually possible |
Runs played without a connection are not sent.
Usage records and usage ledger
To see where the game is too hard and what actually gets used, we store the following on our server, per player identifier:
- Usage records: for each day, whether you opened the game, how many runs you played, time to first input, session length, and whether you shared a result.
- Usage ledger: one entry per in-game action: using an item, triggering a gear perk, buying gear with nuts (the in-game currency), opening route review, and reviving. Each entry carries the time, week, game mode, app version, and a short detail (for example, what was bought and for how much).
We do not store your IP address or device model with these records. There are no real-money purchases in the game.
Firebase Analytics
We use Google Firebase Analytics to send events such as opening the app, ending a run (score and the fork where you fell), changing game speed or country, and whether account linking worked, along with your country and language settings. We do not put your display name or player identifier in these events. Google processes an app instance ID, device and OS information, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. See Firebase Privacy for details.
App integrity (Firebase App Check)
To stop modified apps and bots from polluting the leaderboard, we use Firebase App Check. On Android, Google uses Play Integrity to decide whether a request came from the genuine app installed from Play and issues an attestation; our server only checks that the attestation is real. We do not look at other apps or files on your device.
Linking a Google account (optional)
You can link a Google account so your progress survives a new phone. It is optional, and everything in the game works without it. Sign-in is handled by Google's Firebase Authentication.
- What Firebase keeps: when you sign in with Google, Google passes your account's email address, name, and profile photo URL to Firebase Authentication, which keeps them in this game's user list. The operator can see that list in the Firebase console but does not use it to run the game.
- What our server keeps: one value, your Firebase user ID (UID) put through a one-way hash, plus your game progress (records, nuts, owned gear, settings). Our server never receives your email, name, or photo.
- Unlinking deletes both (section 7).
2. Ads
The game shows Google AdMob ads: an occasional interstitial between runs, rewarded ads you choose to watch to open route review, and a banner at the top of the home screen.
- To serve ads, Google collects information about your device and the ads. According to Google, this includes approximate location derived from your IP address, device identifiers such as the app set ID, ad interactions such as views and taps, and performance data such as app launch time. Google uses it to serve and measure ads and to prevent ad fraud.
- We request non-personalized ads only. Every ad request is marked so it is not used for interest-based ads. Non-personalized ads still use data for frequency capping, aggregate reporting, and fraud prevention.
- We do not use the advertising ID. The Android permission that reads it has been removed from the app.
- In the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland, Google's consent message (Google UMP) asks you before ads are shown. In certain US states (such as California), you see a privacy choice message under that state's law. In these regions you can change your choice at any time in Settings under "Ad privacy settings".
See How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy. You can manage ad settings in My Ad Center.
3. What we don't do
- We do not sell personal information.
- We do not collect the advertising ID.
- We do not access contacts, photos, files, or call history.
- We do not collect precise location, and the app does not ask for location permission.
- There is no chat or messaging. The only things other players see are your display name, flag, and records.
4. Who processes it and where
| Who | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Operator (game server) | Leaderboard records, usage records, usage ledger, account-link hash, saved progress | Rented server in South Korea |
| Google LLC — Firebase | Analytics, sign-in (Authentication), app integrity (App Check) | Google servers, including in the US |
| Google LLC — AdMob | Serving ads and collecting ad-related data | Google servers, including in the US |
Data sent to Google services travels over the internet while you use the app and may be processed in other countries, including the US, under Google's policies. Linking an account is optional, and you can make ad privacy choices as described in section 2.
5. How long we keep it
| Item | Retention |
|---|---|
| Leaderboard records | Kept as season leaderboard history while the service runs. Deleted on request |
| Usage records and ledger | Kept while we use them to analyse the game, and deleted when the service ends. Deleted sooner on request |
| Account-link hash and saved progress | While linked. Deleted immediately when you unlink |
| Firebase sign-in record (email, name, photo URL) | While linked. The app deletes it when you unlink. If the app couldn't, the operator deletes it on request |
| Firebase Analytics | Up to 14 months, per Firebase's data retention setting |
| Ad data | Governed by Google's policies |
| IP address | Our server uses it briefly for rate limiting and does not store it |
| Server backups | Taken once a day, kept for up to 5 weeks, then replaced. Deleted data can remain in backups for that long before it disappears |
| Progress on your device | Stays on the device and is removed when you uninstall the app |
6. How we protect it
- All traffic between the app, our server, and Google is encrypted with HTTPS (TLS). Release builds cannot send to unencrypted addresses.
- Account identifiers are stored only as a one-way hash, so a leak of our server data would not reveal whose account it is.
- Only the operator can access the server and admin tools. The admin tools accept only allow-listed Google accounts.
7. Deleting your data
Step-by-step instructions are also on the account and data deletion page.
- Account link and saved progress: in the game, go to Settings → Account → "Linked to Google · Unlink". The account and saved progress on our server are deleted right away, and so is the Firebase sign-in record (email, name, photo URL). If you last signed in a while ago, a Google account picker appears once more to confirm. If you close it or the deletion fails, the app tells you to email us; please do so at the address below.
- Leaderboard records, usage records, usage ledger: email us at the address below. The player identifier isn't shown in the game, so include your display name, country, and roughly when you played, and we will find your data from that. If several players share the name, we may ask a few more questions to confirm it's you.
- If you only uninstall the app: progress on the device is gone, but records already sent to our server remain. Use the steps above to delete them.
- Ad data: Google keeps it; manage it in My Ad Center or your Google Account settings.
We handle emailed requests within 30 days of confirming them and reply when done.
8. Your rights
You can ask to access, correct, or delete your information, or ask us to stop processing it. You can change your display name and country yourself in the game's settings; for anything else, email us.
If you are in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, the GDPR also gives you the right to data portability, to object to processing, and to withdraw ad consent, and you may complain to your local supervisory authority. Our legal bases are providing the game (leaderboard, progress saving), legitimate interests (preventing fake scores, improving the game), and consent (ads, in regions where the consent message appears).
If a US state privacy law applies to you (for example in California), you can ask to access or delete your information and opt out of "sale" or "sharing" for advertising (Settings → Ad privacy settings). We do not sell personal information for money, and we will not treat you differently for exercising these rights.
9. Children
This game is not directed at children under 13 and does not ask for your age. If we learn that we have information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If a child has typed personal information into their display name, a parent or guardian can email us.
10. Changes
If what we collect or how we use it changes, we update this page first and change the effective date. Significant changes are also announced in the game.
11. Contact
Operator and privacy officer: So-NetFloor
cashyalla@gmail.com
Send privacy questions and requests to the address above. We reply within 7 business days.