Hearthlight Fields

Privacy Policy — English

Effective date: 2026-08-11 · Version 1.1
Provider: Chengdu Zhixinji Technology Co., Ltd.

Hearthlight Fields is a single-player game whose complete farming experience works offline. Save slots remain local by default, and there is no automatic cloud sync. You can play without creating an online profile. Optional Friends & Races, share links, and in-app feedback connect to our service only after you choose to use them.

Data collected by optional online features

If you create an anonymous friend profile, we collect a randomly generated player ID and friend code, the display name you choose, friend and block relationships, and private race records. A race record includes the two anonymous participants, invitation status, an internal challenge seed, current game day, cumulative race earnings, final score, and related timestamps. Challenge and friend links retain the server-generated internal seed or friend code needed to complete the requested action, but the app does not display those internal values. If you report another profile, we collect the fixed report category, a snapshot of that profile’s display name, review status, and report/review timestamps. Reports contain no free-text message.

Only when you deliberately create a save link does the app serialize the selected local save and encrypt it on your device with AES-GCM before upload. The service receives ciphertext, an initialization vector, link type, owner, and lifecycle timestamps. That encrypted save can contain gameplay data and content you supplied, including a farm name or time-capsule text, so we conservatively disclose Gameplay Content and Other User Content even though the service cannot read it. The decryption key exists only in the URL fragment (the part after “#”), which is not sent to our server. We do not hold the key and cannot decrypt the saved payload.

On supported Apple devices, we also process an App Attest key identifier, public-key credential, attestation risk receipt, assertion counter, and short-lived security challenges. We use this app-instance security data only to authenticate the official app, prevent replay, protect accounts, and reduce abuse. It is not used to track you across apps or websites.

If you deliberately send in-app feedback, we collect the feedback category and text, selected app language, submission time, the anonymous player ID used for authentication, and an optional reply email. Only when you separately check the relevant boxes do we also receive a readable copy of the current local save and/or an in-game canvas screenshot. These attachments can contain gameplay data and user-supplied content such as a farm name or time-capsule text. Feedback does not read the photo library or request camera access.

We do not collect contacts, precise location, photo-library content, camera or microphone content, advertising identifiers, analytics, or purchase history. The app has no ads, tracking SDK, in-app purchases, subscription, external checkout, public player search, chat, or social feed. Any paid-download verification remains on the device and is not transmitted to or retained by us. Apple and your device platform may separately process App Store purchase and system-level information under their own terms.

Data stored on your device

Your save slots, settings, chosen appearance, farm name, progress, and any text you place in the in-game time capsule are stored locally in the app’s WebView storage during ordinary play. The anonymous online credential is stored in the iOS Keychain and may remain available after reinstallation so that the app can recover the same anonymous profile. Uninstalling the app or clearing app data may permanently erase local farm saves unless you created a valid save link first, but uninstalling alone does not delete the online profile. Delete it in Friends & Races before uninstalling, or contact us for help.

Links and sharing

Save transfer, friend connection, and challenge setup use user-initiated links rather than copied save text, manually entered friend codes, or manually entered challenge seeds. Creating or opening a link requires a connection; ordinary saving and core play do not. Farm cards are generated locally. The operating system’s share sheet opens only after you choose Share, and we do not receive the destination you select.

Share links expire by default after seven days. After a save link is first retrieved from the API, it expires no later than 24 hours after the first retrieval. The creator can revoke a link earlier. Anyone who has the complete save link can import and read that save while the link remains valid because the complete link includes the decryption key in its fragment. Share complete links only with people you trust. Challenge and friend links use opaque tokens and do not reveal their internal seed or friend code in the interface. A private race link may reveal the players’ chosen display names and race status. A destination app or service is governed by its own privacy policy.

Friend safety and moderation

Display names are checked against format and safety rules. Friends & Races provides Block, Unblock, and fixed-reason Report controls; reporting immediately blocks the reported profile. Insults, hateful or sexual content, harassment, impersonation, and spam invitations are prohibited. We use block and report data only for safety, content moderation, abuse prevention, and operating the feature. We aim to review open reports within 24 hours and may reset a display name, restrict access, or remove an anonymous profile.

How we use, disclose, and retain online data

We use online data only to provide the anonymous profile, friend connection, private race, safety/moderation, account-security, abuse-prevention, and support functions you request. We do not sell it, use it for advertising, combine it with third-party data, or track you across apps or websites. Data is processed on infrastructure operated for us; infrastructure and network providers may process limited connection metadata to deliver and secure the service. Apple processes App Attest requests under Apple’s terms.

The anonymous profile, friend and block relationships, and race records are retained until you delete the online profile or unblock a profile where applicable. Link access is disabled and its payload is cleared when the link expires, when its creator revokes it, or when the creator deletes the online profile. Links expire by default after seven days, and a retrieved save link remains active for no more than 24 hours after the first retrieval. After expiry or revocation, minimal lifecycle metadata—link ID, owner, type, and timestamps, without save ciphertext, internal seed, or friend code—may remain for up to 30 days for security and rate-limit enforcement. Profile deletion removes its active link records immediately. Verified App Attest credentials remain until profile deletion; short-lived security challenges expire automatically, and security audit events are normally removed after 30 days. Restricted, root-only disaster-recovery backups may contain an earlier copy of online data for no more than 30 days after active deletion. They are used only to restore the service after a failure, are never used for advertising or analytics, and restored data remains subject to the same deletion and retention controls. Support feedback, optional reply email, and checked attachments are retained in the restricted support mailbox for no more than 180 days and may be deleted earlier when you request it using the same reply email or sufficient submission details. A minimized report record—fixed category, reported display-name snapshot, review status, and timestamps—is normally retained for up to 180 days for moderation and abuse prevention. If either profile is deleted first, its account identifier is detached from that report while the minimized record remains for the rest of the review period. Expired reports are deleted automatically unless a longer period is required by applicable legal or security obligations. Reports do not retain friend codes, access tokens, IP addresses, or free-text messages.

Your choices and deletion

Optional online features do not change the core game’s offline availability. You may revoke an active link, change the anonymous display name, block or unblock another profile, or permanently delete the online profile from Friends & Races. Deletion revokes its credential and removes its active share links, friend/block relationships, invitations, race runs, checkpoints, and security credentials from our active service. Minimized moderation reports follow the limited 180-day rule above. Profile deletion does not delete local farm saves, and uninstalling does not itself request profile deletion. You can also contact us to request access, correction, or deletion where applicable.

Security and international processing

We use encrypted transport, hashed bearer credentials and link tokens, client-side AES-GCM save encryption, iOS Keychain storage, App Attest, access controls, rate limits, and server-side validation. The save key remains in the URL fragment and is not logged or sent to our API. No system can guarantee absolute security. Depending on your location, optional online data may be processed in a country or region different from yours, subject to applicable safeguards.

Children’s privacy

The optional online features do not request a real name, contacts, or precise location. In-app feedback permits an optional reply email and free-text description, so a parent or guardian should help a child avoid unnecessary personal information. They may delete the anonymous profile in the app or contact us to request deletion of a support submission.

Changes

If the app’s data practices change, we will update this policy, change the effective date, and update the App Store privacy disclosures before the change applies.

Contact

Privacy questions: liutiancheng@zealx.net
Support page: https://api.zealx.net/hearthlight-fields/support