Privacy Policy
Last updated: 5 October 2026
Overview
Colony Battle Arena ("the Game") is a real-time strategy game developed and operated by Gerbert Guliyev ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the Game collects, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept and how you can have it deleted.
The short version: we collect what is needed to run your account, your matches and your purchases. We do not sell your data, we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and you can delete your account — with everything attached to it — from inside the Game.
Playing without an account
The Game starts without any sign-up. On first launch the app creates a random identifier on your device (a "guest token") and a game account on our server tied to it. That identifier is random — it is not your Apple ID, your email address, your phone number or a device serial number, and it tells us nothing about you as a person.
If you sign in with Game Center, Apple gives the Game a player identifier that is unique to this game and to you. We store it so your account can be found again on another device. It is never shown to other players and never sent to anyone else.
In the Steam version, the Game signs you in with your Steam account. Valve confirms the sign-in to us and gives us your Steam ID, a public number that identifies your Steam account. We store it so your account can be found again on any computer. We never receive your Steam password, your email address or your payment details. An iPhone account can be paired with a Steam account by entering a code shown on the phone; from then on the two are one game account.
What we collect, and why
| Data | What it is | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Account identifiers | Your game account id, the guest token created on your device, and — if you sign in — the Game Center player identifier for this game, or in the Steam version your Steam ID. | To keep one account across sessions and devices, and to give you back your progress and purchases after a reinstall. |
| Display name | The name you choose, shown to other players in lobbies, matches and rankings. It is checked against a filter before anyone else can see it. In the Steam version, and on an iPhone paired with Steam, it is your Steam profile name, filtered the same way and refreshed each time you sign in. | To identify you in multiplayer. Choose a nickname — please do not use your real name. |
| Purchases | Records of purchases made through the App Store or through Steam: the transaction or order identifier, the product, the quantity, the price and currency, and the resulting balance in the Game. Apple or Valve, not us, processes the payment. For a Steam purchase, Valve tells us the currency and country of your Steam account so the price can be shown in your currency. | To credit what you bought, to restore purchases, to prevent double-crediting, and to keep the financial records the law requires. |
| Gameplay | Match results, your rating, and the records the match referee keeps of a ranked match (the commands issued during the match, not audio, video or chat — the Game has no chat). | To run matchmaking and rankings, to settle results honestly, and to investigate cheating and reports. |
| Reports | When you report a player: who reported whom, in which match, and which of the listed reasons were ticked. There is no free-text field. | To act on misconduct, as App Store rules for games with user-chosen names require. |
| Technical data | Connection data needed to run online matches (your IP address while connected, in server logs), and basic error information. | To deliver online play, to keep the service running and to defend it against abuse. |
We do not collect your name, email address, postal address, phone number, contacts, photos, camera, microphone, precise location or health data. The Game contains no chat.
Advertising
The iPhone version shows ads through Google AdMob, including optional rewarded ads you can choose to watch in exchange for in-game tokens. The Steam version shows no ads. Ads are the only third-party service in the Game that collects data for its own purposes.
- We do not ask to track you. The Game does not present Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt and does not request permission to use your device's advertising identifier for tracking. Ads are requested as non-personalised.
- Consent where it is required. In the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google's consent form is shown before any ad is loaded. Your choice is stored by Google's consent SDK on your device, and you can change it at any time in the Game under Account → Privacy choices.
- What Google receives is described in Google's own documentation: ad interaction data, device and diagnostic information, and coarse location derived from the network. See How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services and AdMob's data disclosures.
Who else receives data
- Apple — for App Store purchases, Game Center sign-in and TestFlight distribution. Apple never gives us your Apple ID; it gives us signed purchase records and a per-game player identifier. See Apple's Privacy Policy.
- Google (AdMob and the consent SDK) — as described above.
- Hetzner Online GmbH — our game servers and database run on a server in Falkenstein, Germany, operated by Hetzner as our processor.
- Cloudflare — serves this website and routes mail sent to our support address.
- Valve Corporation (Steam) — in the Steam version, Valve confirms your sign-in, processes your purchases and refunds, and shows your Steam friends that you are playing. We send Valve your Steam ID and the order details of a purchase. See Valve's Privacy Policy.
We do not sell your data, and we do not share it for anyone else's advertising or marketing.
Legal bases (EEA/UK)
- Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — running your account, your matches, your rankings and your purchases.
- Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — keeping records of purchases for tax and accounting.
- Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — keeping the service secure, preventing cheating and abuse, and acting on reports.
- Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — advertising, where consent is required; you can withdraw it at any time under Account → Privacy choices.
How long we keep it
- Your account and gameplay data — until you delete your account.
- Purchase records — kept after deletion, in a form no longer linked to a playable account, because tax and accounting law requires financial records to be retained (as a rule, seven years).
- Reports — kept while they are needed to act on the behaviour reported, and as evidence of what was decided.
- Server logs — short-lived, and rotated automatically.
- Merged accounts — if two accounts are merged, a one-way (hashed) record of the merge is kept so the same balance cannot be claimed twice. It cannot be turned back into an identifier.
- Suspended accounts — if an account is suspended from online play, a one-way (hashed) copy of each of its sign-in identifiers (the guest token, the Game Center identifier, the Steam ID) is kept with the suspension, so that deleting the account and starting again does not lift it. The hashes cannot be turned back into identifiers. They are kept as the record of the suspension.
Deleting your account
In the Game, open Options → Account → Delete account. This works for guest accounts too, and it takes effect immediately: your account, display name, rating, match participation and sign-in identifiers are removed or irreversibly anonymised, and the device starts fresh. Unspent tokens and any active pass are lost and cannot be restored.
You can also write to support@colonybattlearena.com and we will do it for you. We may ask for information that proves the request concerns your account.
Your rights
If you are in the EEA or the UK, you have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to processing, and to receive it in a portable form. Write to support@colonybattlearena.com. You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority. Ours is the Austrian Data Protection Authority (Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde, Barichgasse 40–42, 1030 Vienna, Austria, dsb@dsb.gv.at); you may also complain to the authority where you live.
Children
The Game is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has created an account, write to us and we will delete it.
Security
Traffic between the Game and our servers runs over TLS. Sign-in identifiers are stored as one-way hashes where the Game does not need the original, purchases are verified against Apple's own signature or confirmed with Valve before anything is credited, and access to the server is restricted to the operator.
International transfers
Our servers are in Germany. Apple, Google and Valve may process data outside the EEA under their own safeguards (standard contractual clauses and, where applicable, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework).
Changes
We may update this policy. The date at the top always shows the current version, and material changes will be announced in the Game.
Contact
Gerbert Guliyev
Scheibengasse 17
1190 Wien
Österreich
support@colonybattlearena.com
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