Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Frontier collects, why, and the choices you have. Frontier is operated by Daniel Bywater (“we”, “us”). It is a multiplayer island-building strategy game. We keep data collection to the minimum needed to run the game.

No ads or sale of personal data. Frontier has no advertising SDK and does not show ads or sell personal data. This marketing site uses Vercel Web Analytics for privacy-friendly, cookieless page-view counts, and our own first-party events for play-link clicks. Google Ads measurement is disabled by default and is not enabled in this deployment. The service providers that process data are listed below.

How you can play

You can play Frontier without an account. Solo and pass-and-play save progress in local storage on this device. Online play is also available to guests: the server then uses a random, pseudonymous cookie identifier to keep your seat and match state. An account is needed for a recoverable identity, cross-device sync, friends and persistent leaderboard progress.

What we collect

• Account (optional): email sign-in stores your email address for sign-in links, account recovery and security emails — never marketing. Google or Apple sign-in provides a verified email and display name (Apple can use a private relay address). If you set a password, it is stored hashed with scrypt, never in readable form. Older username-only accounts keep working.
• Gameplay data (with an account): your match results and statistics — games played, wins, Elo rating — and your avatar cosmetics, coins and XP, so they follow you across devices and appear on the leaderboard and to friends.
• Purchases (optional): if purchases are introduced and you buy Premium, Coins or a cosmetic product, we store the provider, product, transaction or subscription identifier, purchase state and dates needed to fulfil, restore, refund or revoke access. The provider processes payment details; Frontier does not receive or store your full card or bank details.
• Friends: the friend connections you create, and your shareable friend code, so friends can find you.
• Push subscriptions (optional): if you turn on notifications, your browser’s push subscription (an endpoint and keys, generated by your browser) so we can send a “your turn” notification. You can turn this off at any time in Settings.
• Diagnostics and activity: the app records errors and crash details needed to diagnose failures, including the page, app version, device/browser details, IP address and a pseudonymous session or account identifier. After you accept the legal terms, the app also records page views and button/link interactions (not form values) so a bug report can be reconstructed. Browser Do Not Track is honoured for this activity trail.
• Feedback you submit: your message, optional screenshot or upload, and the redacted diagnostics shown in the feedback form. This may be linked to your account or guest identifier so we can reply.

How we use your data

• To run the game and save your progress, stats and cosmetics.
• To power online multiplayer, the leaderboard, and friends.
• To send notifications you have explicitly enabled.
• To diagnose errors, respond to feedback and keep the service secure.
• To measure aggregate visits and play-link clicks on this marketing site.

Cookies & local storage

Frontier uses signed functional cookies (for example fw_sid and fw_profile) for guest identity, sessions and sign-in state. Vercel Web Analytics on this marketing site is cookieless. Google Ads measurement is not enabled. We also use local storage for settings, local solo progress and privacy choices.

Who else processes your data

• Vercel — hosts the app, runs its serverless functions, and provides Vercel Web Analytics, which counts page views without cookies and without tracking you across other sites.
• Neon — the managed Postgres database that stores your account, stats, friends and push subscriptions.
• Resend — delivers sign-in and account emails if you use email sign-in, and processes the recipient address to deliver them.
• Google / Apple — only if you choose their sign-in option; sign-in happens on their site and we receive the verified email and name they provide.
• Apple App Store / Google Play / web payment provider — only if optional purchases are introduced and you choose to buy; the provider processes payment, tax and refund information and sends us transaction or subscription status needed for fulfilment.
• Your browser’s push service (e.g. Google/Apple/Mozilla) — if you enable notifications, delivering the push messages you asked for.

Sharing with other players

If you play online or add friends, other players can see your display name and avatar, and your Elo and win/loss record. The leaderboard shows other players’ names masked to a first name only. Your password is never shown to anyone.

Data retention

We keep account data while the account exists. Activity events are subject to a 90-day retention rule, and resolved diagnostic logs to a 180-day rule. Cleanup runs periodically, so removal may not be immediate. Open errors and feedback are kept while needed to investigate or respond. You can delete your account in Settings. This removes the account, sign-in methods and tokens, stats, cosmetics, friends, our purchase/subscription projection and account-linked feedback/diagnostics. Deleting the account does not cancel a subscription billed by Apple, Google Play or a web payment provider; cancel it with that provider first to stop future charges. Shared matches may remain for other players, but your seat is replaced with an unlinkable “Deleted player” identity and your replay/history index is removed. A minimal administrative event may remain without your identity or prior account values. Device-local data remains until you clear it.

Children’s privacy

Frontier is family-friendly but is not directed at children under 13. Accounts are intended for players aged 13 and over, and creating one is taken as confirming you meet that age. We do not ask for a date of birth and do not collect age information, so this is a stated requirement rather than one we verify. Guest use can still create the pseudonymous online and diagnostic records described above; it does not collect an email or create a recoverable account. If you believe a child created an account or want guest records removed, contact us.

Your rights & choices

• Play without an account; solo and pass-and-play can remain device-local.
• Delete your account and its data from Settings at any time.
• Turn notifications on or off in Settings.
• Request access to or deletion of your data by contacting us below.

Contact

Questions or requests: Daniel Bywater — forgearc.support@gmail.com.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy; we’ll revise the “last updated” date above. Continuing to use Frontier after a change means you accept the updated policy.