Privacy Policy

HLOD!! for iPhone. Effective and last updated 2026-10-24.

Your data. Your choice. This page says what the game saves, what it sends, and what you can do. HLOD!! is made by Gigaton Studios, a brand of Gigaton LLC, a Florida company ("we", "us", "the developer"). Contact: privacy@gigatonstudios.com.

1. The short version

HLOD!! has no accounts, no ads and no in-app purchases. It does not follow you across other apps or websites.

The first time you open the game, a screen called "Your data. Your choice." asks: can we see how you play? Nothing is sent until you tap Share. The two buttons are "Share with the developer" and "Don't Share". Next, a screen asks for your player name: type a name, use your Game Center name, or keep a random ID. Please do not use your real name or an email address. If an update changes what we ask, the game asks you again: Share starts off, and you pick your player name again.

• Your play is saved on this phone either way.
• If you tap Don't Share, the game works the same. Nothing is sent.
• If you tap Share, we get your choices, scores, timings, any survey answers you type, and a player name. We use it for analytics and game improvements. If you switch Share on later, only play from that moment is sent. Play you made while Share was off stays on your phone and is not sent. If we ever change that, we will ask you first.
• We never sell it or use it for ads.

At a glance

2. What we receive and save

When Share is on

You tap Share on the first screen, or switch Share on later in the menu. If you switch it on later, only new play is sent: play from before stays on your phone and is not sent. The app then sends these items to our storage with Apple iCloud (CloudKit):

• Your player name. This is a made-up name such as T-AB12 (made from your install ID), or a player name you type in the menu, or your Game Center name if you turn on "Use my Game Center name".
• Your install ID. A random number the app makes the first time it runs. It is not your Apple ID, name, email or phone number.
• Gameplay. Each choice you make (LONG, SHORT or CASH, and the size), the headline on screen, how long you took, points before and after, and the result of each session.
• Survey answers and feedback. Short ratings, your sound pack, whether you would recommend the game, your first reaction, and any text you type in a survey or in "Send feedback". Please do not type other people's personal details or anything sensitive.
• Details of the record. Times, the game name, a record ID and the file the record came from. Apple adds the date and time, a random account code for this app, and a device code, when it stores a record. We do not get your Apple ID, name or email from it.

On your phone, whether or not you share

The app saves your play on your phone as small text files in its Documents folder. You can see them in the Files app. The app also keeps its settings on the phone: sound, haptics, Share on or off, your install ID, and whether you saw the tutorial. This stays on your phone. It is removed when you delete the app.

Live headlines from other companies

The game shows real public headlines mixed with made-up ones. Your phone connects directly to these public sources: the US Federal Reserve, the Federal Register, USGS (earthquakes), NASA, and the GDELT Project (news headlines by topic). Like any website, they can see your IP address and the app's user agent text. We send them no personal information and no ID. The topic words sent to GDELT are fixed in the game. They do not come from you. We do not get your IP address from these requests. If the headlines cannot load, the game uses its built-in made-up headlines.

Game Center

Game Center is off by default. If you turn on "Use my Game Center name", the app asks Apple to sign you in and reads your Game Center nickname. We use it as your player name. Apple handles the sign-in under its own terms. We use the nickname and nothing else from Game Center.

When you contact us

If you email us, we get your email address, your message, and anything else you include.

This website

This website uses no cookies, ads, fonts, scripts or measuring tools from other companies. Our hosting company may keep ordinary server logs (such as IP address and pages asked for) to run and protect the site.

What we do not receive

We do not get your real name (unless you type it, or your Game Center nickname is your name). We do not get your email address, phone number, contacts, photos, location or advertising ID. The game does not send push notifications. The app does not read your contacts. It does not ask for a friend's email or phone number. It has no ad or measuring software from other companies. The game has no crash or usage tool of its own. Apple may give us crash reports and usage counts from people who allow that in their iPhone settings.

3. How we use it and why

If you share, we use the information to run and improve the game. We use it to see how people play and to fix problems. We use your emails to answer you and to handle your requests. We do not build ad profiles. We do not make decisions about you with it.

Our reasons under EU and UK law

• Your consent for the play record, survey answers and feedback we get when you tap Share. You can take back your consent by turning Share off in the menu. This does not change what was done before.
• Your consent for using your Game Center nickname. This happens when you turn it on.
• Our fair need to run the service (the law calls this "legitimate interests") for answering your emails, handling your requests, keeping a short note that we handled a request, and protecting the service. We think this is fair to you, because we keep very little and you chose to write to us.
• The law, when we must keep or hand over information because the law says so.

4. Who we share it with

• Apple. Apple stores play records for us in iCloud (CloudKit). Apple also runs Game Center for the optional Game Center name. For CloudKit storage, Apple works for us as a service provider (the law calls this a "processor"). For Game Center and your Apple account, Apple follows its own privacy policy. Records sit in the app's CloudKit public database. We set it up so other players cannot read them. The developer's account can. We checked this on 2026-10-22 and we check again before each release.
• Live headline sources. Your phone connects to them directly to get headlines. They are separate from us. We do not send them your play records or install ID.
• The law. We may hand over information if the law says we must, or to protect people's rights or the game.
• If the game changes owner. We will tell you first. What you shared stays under this policy. You can still ask us to delete it.

We do not sell player information. We do not share it for ads. We do not use it to make money from you. We use it for the reasons in this policy.

5. How long we keep it

• Play records, player name, install ID, survey answers and feedback: kept for up to 12 months after each record was created, then deleted, or sooner if you delete them in the app or ask us to. Copies we keep for statistics will have your player name, install ID and anything you typed removed after 12 months.
• Emails to us: up to 12 months.
• Deletion requests: we keep a short log of each request (a reference number, dates, and how many records were removed) for up to 12 months.
• On your phone: until you delete the app or its files.

After we delete something, backups held by Apple or by us may still hold it until they expire. Apple keeps its own records for Game Center and iCloud under its own policies.

6. Your choices and rights

Your choices in the app

1. Stop sharing. Open the menu (tap the gear button, or press and hold with two fingers).
2. Under "Your data. Your choice.", switch off the Share switch.

New play then stays on your phone. Stopping does not remove what was already sent. To remove it, tap Delete my shared data (below).

• Get a copy of your data. In the same section, tap "Get a copy of my data". The app makes a zip file with a plain Read Me page, a data file and spreadsheets (CSV). It shows a short message, then a Save to Files screen so you can keep the file.
• Game Center name. You can switch "Use my Game Center name" off in the menu. Names already sent stay in records until deleted.

Deleting what we hold

Delete what you shared. Open the game menu, find Your data. Your choice., and tap Delete my shared data. The game deletes the play records, survey answers and feedback that this copy of the game sent, and turns Share off. It cannot be undone. If you reinstalled the game or played on another phone, email us for the older data.

If the button does not work, email us. Email privacy@gigatonstudios.com with the subject "Delete my HLOD!! data". Include your install ID. You can find it in the game menu under "Your data. Your choice.", where it shows with a Copy ID button. It is also in the copy from "Get a copy of my data".

We may check that a request is yours before we act, for example by asking about your play. We do not ask for ID documents.

We delete the scores, choices and survey answers linked to your install ID and player name from our storage. Files on your own phone stay until you delete the app. Apple may keep backup copies for a limited time under its own policies. We cannot delete Apple's own records.

Your rights in the EU or UK

You can ask to see your information, fix it, delete it, limit its use, object to its use, or get it in a form you can move. You can also take back your consent: turn Share off in the menu. Email us to use these rights. We do not make automated decisions that have a legal or similar big effect on you.

Your rights in California or another US state

Wherever you live, you have these rights with us. California and some other US states also give them by law: ask what we hold and how we use it, see it, fix it, delete it, say no to its sale or sharing, limit sensitive information, and not be treated worse for asking.

• What we receive (if you tap Share): IDs (install ID, player name); activity in the game (your choices, scores and timings); and what you type (survey answers and feedback). We get these from you, for the reasons in section 3. We do not receive biometric, financial, health or location information. We do not ask for sensitive information. If you typed some into a survey, ask us and we will delete it.
• We do not sell personal information. We do not share it for ads. We have not done either in the past 12 months. So there is nothing to switch off.
• How to ask: you or your authorized agent can email us as above.
• Appeals: if we say no, reply with "Appeal" in the subject. We will look again and answer in writing. You may also contact your state attorney general.

Do Not Track

The game and this website do not follow you across other apps or websites. We already treat everyone as opted out of sale and sharing, so a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal has nothing more to switch off.

Complaints

You can complain to the data protection regulator where you live. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk. In the EU, it is the regulator in your country. Find yours in the list of EU regulators. You can also write to us first if you like.

7. Children and minimum age

HLOD!! is for players aged 16 and over. We do not design the game for children. We do not knowingly receive information from anyone under 16. Nothing is sent until someone taps Share. If we learn that someone under 16 shared information, we will delete it. If you are a parent or guardian and think a child shared information, email us.

8. How we protect your information

Play records are stored with Apple iCloud (CloudKit). We limit access to the developer's account. Headlines load over HTTPS. We keep little information, and only for the times above. No system is perfect, so we cannot promise that information is safe from every risk. If we learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you as the law requires.

9. Other countries

We are in the United States. Apple stores CloudKit records in its data centers, which may be in the US or in other countries. If you are in the EU, UK or Switzerland, your information may be sent to and handled in countries with different privacy laws. Apple relies on recognized safeguards, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contract terms. These are described in Apple's own documents. When we get your emails and records in the United States, we handle them as this policy says.

To get information about these safeguards, email us at privacy@gigatonstudios.com. You can also read Apple's CloudKit page and Apple's privacy page.

10. Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is big, such as a new kind of information or a new use, we will tell you in the app or ask for your consent again before it applies to you.

11. Contact

Gigaton Studios, a brand of Gigaton LLC, a Florida company
Mail: 7901 4th St N # 36912, St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Email: privacy@gigatonstudios.com
We respond to data requests as the law requires.

See also the Terms of Use and Support pages.