Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Turf Walk (“Turf Walk”, “we”, “us”) is a location-based walking game for Android and iPhone, provided by Kieran Horn, trading as Get Active Studios (contact: turfwalk.support@gmail.com). We are the controller of the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used.

This policy explains what information the Turf Walk app and its services collect, why, who we share it with and the choices you have. It applies under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where relevant, the EU GDPR and other privacy laws.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Profile: the player name you choose and your team. We give you a random Player ID.
• Clans: clan names and tags you create, and messages you write when applying to join a clan.
• Reports and blocks: if you report another player, the reason and any details you write; and the players you choose to block (they are never told).
• Private zone: if you set one, the location of your home point (see section 3).

Information created as you play

• Game progress: the map squares you hold, loops and areas you have claimed, items, badges, cosmetics, Gems balance, Market listings and trades, clan membership, notifications and leaderboard results.
• Purchases: a record of Shop purchases made with Gems, and (when Gem packs are available) a record of each Gem pack bought, including the store’s purchase reference. We never receive your card or bank details; payments are handled entirely by Google Play or the Apple App Store.
• Fair-play records: if a claim fails our anti-cheat checks, a summary of why (for example “moved faster than 25 km/h”), the size of the claim and the time. These summaries do not include your route.
• Moderation records: if your player name is hidden after reports from several players, or your account is suspended, a record of that action, the reason and when it ends.

Information from your device

• Location: precise location while the app is open, and during a walk with the phone locked if you turn on pocket tracking, always with your permission. See section 3.
• Fake GPS signal: your phone tells the app whether a location came from a “mock location” app. We use this only to pause play while it is on.
• Crash reports: if the app crashes, a report containing the error, the app version, your phone model and operating system version. Crash reports do not include your Player ID, your location or your IP address.
• Settings stored on your phone: preferences such as theme, units and haptics, and your current walking trail, are kept on your device.

Information from sign-in providers

You can play as a guest. If you choose to save your account with Google or Apple, that provider shares an account identifier and your email address with us (Apple lets you hide your real email). We use these only to let you sign in again. They are never shown to other players.

What we don’t collect

We don’t access your contacts, photos, microphone or camera. We don’t use advertising identifiers, we don’t show adverts and we don’t use third-party analytics or tracking for marketing.

3. How location works

Location is at the heart of the game, so we have designed it to collect as little as possible.

• While the app is open. Turf Walk asks for “while using the app” location permission to play.
• Pocket tracking (optional). So your walk keeps recording with your phone locked or in your pocket, you can choose to give Turf Walk “allow all the time” location permission. We ask you first and explain why, and you can say no and still play by keeping the app open. With it on, Turf Walk records your location in the background only during a walk: it starts when you begin walking and stops when your walk ends or after 20 minutes without moving. A notification (“Turf Walk is tracking your walk”) shows the whole time it is running. The location recorded this way is treated exactly like location recorded with the app open (below). You can turn it off at any time by setting Turf Walk’s location permission to “while using the app” in your phone’s settings.
• Your walking trail stays on your phone while you walk. When you close a loop and choose to claim it, the trail for that loop is sent to our server so we can check it was really walked (for example, that it wasn’t driven or faked). The trail is used for that check and then discarded; it is not stored.
• What the server does receive during play: the area of map around you (to load turf and loot), your position when loot is placed or collected, the map squares of your own team’s turf you walk through (to keep it active), and the outline and squares of loops you claim. We store the results (which squares you hold, where loot was placed) but we do not keep a history of your movements.
• Loot is only placed on public footpaths and open spaces using OpenStreetMap data, never within 100 m of schools, nurseries or playgrounds, and never inside a private zone.
• Private zone. You can set a home point. Within its radius, your trail never leaves your phone, no loot appears, and turf you claim is shown to other players only after a delay so it can’t reveal when you are home. Only you can see where your private zone is. Your home point is stored on our server so these protections work across devices, and it is deleted when you clear it or delete your account.

4. What other players can see

5. How we use information

• To run the game: your account, the map, turf, loot, items, the Market, clans and leaderboards.
• To keep play fair: checking claims against our anti-cheat rules and detecting fake GPS.
• To keep players safe: filtering offensive names, reviewing reports and acting on them.
• To process purchases and keep records we are required to keep.
• To fix problems and improve reliability, using crash reports.
• To contact you about your account or important changes, only where you have given us a way to contact you.

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects. (Anti-cheat checks can refuse a single claim; you can always walk it again, and you can contact us if you think a check is wrong.)

6. Our legal bases

7. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run Turf Walk, under contracts that require them to protect it and use it only on our instructions:

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the safety of players or the public, to enforce our Terms, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of Turf Walk (in which case this policy would continue to apply).

8. International transfers

Our database is hosted in London, United Kingdom (Supabase, AWS eu-west-2). Some providers, such as Sentry, Google and Apple, may process information in the United States or other countries. Where information leaves the UK or EEA, we rely on adequacy regulations (including the UK–US Data Bridge where the provider is certified) or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum and EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

9. How long we keep it

• Your account and game data: for as long as your account exists. Turf that isn’t walked for 24 hours fades and is released automatically.
• Walking trails: not stored on our server. Your current trail stays on your phone until it is claimed, reset or replaced.
• Crash reports: up to 90 days.
• Purchase records: as long as the law requires (normally six years in the UK), without your name once your account is deleted.
• Reports and fair-play summaries: as long as needed to keep the game fair and safe.

When you delete your account (Profile › Settings › Account › Delete account), we permanently delete your profile, sign-in, items, Gems, holdings, history, private zone, notifications and clan memberships immediately. Records we must keep, such as purchase records, remain only as anonymous totals without your name, and reports about you no longer show who you were. Deletion can’t be undone.

10. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• correct information that is wrong;
• delete your information (you can do this yourself in the app);
• restrict or object to how we use it, including uses based on legitimate interests;
• data portability: receive your information in a commonly used format;
• withdraw consent where we rely on it.

In the app you can also turn off location permission in your phone’s settings (the game can’t be played without it), set or clear a private zone, and turn on Private profile. To exercise any other right, contact us using the details below; we will reply within one month. We may need to confirm the request comes from the account holder, for example by asking for your Player ID.

If you’re unhappy with how we handle your information, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113) or your local data protection authority.

11. Children

Turf Walk is not intended for children under 13, and you must be at least 13 to play. If you are under 18, please play with the permission of a parent or guardian. If we learn that a child under 13 has created an account, we will delete it. If you believe this has happened, please contact us.

12. Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls that let each player reach only their own private data, server-side checks on every game action, and providers with strong security practices. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will tell you and the regulator about a serious breach where the law requires.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Turf Walk changes. We will change the “last updated” date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app before they take effect.

14. Contact us

For privacy questions or requests, contact Kieran Horn, trading as Get Active Studios at turfwalk.support@gmail.com.