Walking Island Privacy Policy

Effective August 31, 2026 (previously August 25, 2026)

This policy explains what Walking Island ("the app") handles, where it is kept, and how you can have it deleted.

1. Step count

The app reads your step count from the iPhone's built-in pedometer (Motion & Fitness). Steps are used to grow your friend and to show your own records, and a weekly total only is sent to our server for the weekly leaderboard (see section 3). You can revoke the permission at any time under Settings > Privacy & Security > Motion & Fitness.

Steps you take with an Apple Watch do not reach the iPhone's pedometer. To make up that difference, the app reads your step count from the Health app (HealthKit). We keep to the following:

We only read. The app writes nothing to Health, and it neither requests nor reads any health or fitness data other than step count (no heart rate, sleep, or workouts).
The Health records themselves are never sent to our server. What we read is used only to work out how many steps the iPhone's pedometer missed. Steps filled in this way are then treated like any other steps, so they are included in the weekly total sent for the leaderboard (section 3) and, if you have linked an account, in the daily step history contained in your backup (section 4). No other Health data and no raw Health records are ever transmitted.
Health data is never used for advertising and is never shared with third parties.
The app works without this permission. In that case only the steps the iPhone's own pedometer recorded are counted.
You can revoke it at any time under Settings > Privacy & Security > Health > Walking Island.

2. Stored on your device

Your friends' levels, field guide, pebbles, decorations, and daily step history are stored on the device. If you have not linked an account, this data never leaves your phone and is removed when you delete the app.

3. Sent to the ranking server

To support the leaderboard and island visits, the following is sent to our server:

A random player number issued once on your device (unrelated to your name, phone number, or any personal detail)
The island name you chose
Your friends' levels, the species in your field guide, and your island theme and decoration layout
Your step count for the current week (used for the weekly leaderboard — a single weekly total rather than your daily history, reset every Monday)
Your pebble balance and app version (used only to answer support questions and to see which build you are on)
A log of in-app events — what you bought, when a friend levelled up — used to answer support questions and to check game balance

Step data is never used for advertising. It is not attached to ad requests and is not shared with Google or any other third party.

Your island name is visible to other players on the leaderboard and island-visit screens. We recommend not using your real name or anything identifying. You can change it any time from ⋯ > Settings on the Partner screen.

4. Account linking and backup (optional)

You may link an Apple, Google, or Kakao account so your island survives a change of device. Everything in the app works without linking.

The app sends only the signed token from your sign-in, which the server verifies against each provider's public keys.
Your account identifier is never stored in its original form — only as a salted SHA-256 hash, so a data breach could not trace it back to your account.
Your email address is used only to show you which account was linked; it is not stored on the server.
Linking uploads a backup of your save (including step history) so it can be restored.

5. Bottle letters

You can float a short letter to another player. Letters are not free text — you assemble them from sentences and words already written into the app.

The recipient is chosen at random by the server. You cannot pick who receives it, and there is no reply feature.
A letter carries the sentences you chose, your island name, and the species name and days together of the friend you picked. Your island name is visible to the recipient.
Letters are stored on our server and disappear once read, or five days after arrival.
Our operators can read letter contents in order to act on abuse reports.

6. Reporting

You can report another player's island name as inappropriate. A report records your player number and the reported island on our server for an operator to review.

7. Advertising

A Google AdMob rewarded ad plays only when you choose to watch one at the shop in exchange for pebbles. The app does not request iOS tracking permission (App Tracking Transparency) and does not use the advertising identifier (IDFA), so it does not track your activity outside the app. Google may collect device information while serving the ad; see Google's Privacy Policy and how AdMob uses data.

8. In-app purchases

Pebble purchases are handled by Apple's App Store. The app never sees your payment details.

9. Notifications

Reminders — pebbles ready, the morning greeting, requests waiting at the signpost — are local notifications created on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere to deliver them.

Separately, we may send you a push notification — when a letter reaches your island, or to announce news. For this, a device notification token issued by Apple is stored on our server, and only for devices that have already allowed notifications. The token is used solely to deliver notifications and is deleted from our server once the device stops accepting them or the app is removed. You can turn notifications off at any time under Settings > Notifications.

10. Retention and deletion

On-device data: removed when you delete the app.
Account link: you can unlink yourself from ⋯ > Link account in the app.
Letters: removed once read, or five days after arrival.
Full server deletion: email us with your island name and we will delete your leaderboard record and backup, within 7 business days.

11. Third parties

Apart from what is described above, the app does not sell or share any information with third parties.

12. Contact

Privacy questions and deletion requests: admin@becausecorp.com