Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 4, 2026

Stellar Broadcast ("the App") is developed and published by Aaron Shelhamer, operating as Faustian Bargain. This policy describes how the App handles your information.

Overview

No Faustian Bargain account is required, and core gameplay works offline. Game progress, settings, and legacy upgrades are stored in the App's local container. Some optional or platform features use network services as described below. We do not sell personal information.

Information Processed

• Self-hosted leaderboard: when you explicitly enable and use it, we receive the display name you choose, score, board, voyage seed, app version, play time, and a random submission identifier. The server processes your IP address transiently for abuse prevention but does not store it. Community scores are not independently verified. Score records are deleted after 180 days.
• Bug reports: only when you choose to send one, we receive your message, app/build version, operating system and version, locale, CPU count, and recent sanitized app log lines. We do not request device hostnames. IP addresses are used transiently for rate limiting and are not stored. Reports remain in the private service database, are not forwarded through email, are deleted after 30 days, and the service also caps stored reports at 1,000.
• Launch notification list: submitting the signup form stores your email address, selected interests, source, and consent time in our private database. We keep active subscriptions until you unsubscribe, and unsubscribed records are deleted after 30 days. If we use a contracted email-delivery provider to send an announcement, it receives only the information needed to deliver that message and process opt-outs.
• Website analytics: most public website pages use Google Analytics to measure visits, link interactions, signup requests, and selected interest categories; the email address is never sent as an analytics event. The confirmation and unsubscribe pages load no analytics or third-party resources and remove their opaque token from the address bar immediately.
• Advertising abuse prevention: during eligibility checks and ad-click reporting, supported free versions send a random installation identifier, app/build version, ad format, placement, and an opaque event or AdMob response identifier, as applicable. Firebase App Check and Google Play Integrity may also process app and device-integrity signals to confirm that a request came from the genuine App. Our server stores keyed hashes of the installation, event, and response identifiers rather than their raw values, uses server receipt time for rolling click limits, does not store the connection address, and schedules these records for deletion once they are 30 days old.

Advertising

The free version of the App displays ads served by Google AdMob. Depending on your platform, consent choices, and settings, Google may process advertising identifiers, approximate location, device information, and ad interactions to provide, measure, and protect advertising, in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy.

To investigate ad quality and unusual revenue, the App sends us AdMob's response ID for a paid impression together with the winning ad-source and mediation-instance labels, ad format, ad unit and in-app placement, estimated value and currency, precision, latency, app/build version, and time. We use the response ID to locate the associated creative in AdMob's private Ad Review Center. These diagnostic records do not include an account or advertising identifier; the server uses the connection address transiently for rate limiting and does not store it. Supported Android versions separately associate ad-click protection records with the random installation identifier described above. These private records are deleted after 30 days.

You can opt out of personalized advertising through your device settings:

• iOS: Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking
• Android: Settings > Google > Ads > Opt out of Ads Personalization

The optional premium upgrade removes all advertising from the App.

Analytics and Crash Diagnostics

The App uses Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics for usage measurement, diagnostics, and stability. Depending on platform configuration, those services may process app-instance identifiers, device and operating-system information, approximate location, app interactions, and crash diagnostics. We use these records to understand feature use and fix defects; Google controls its own retention and processing under the policies linked below.

Platform Gaming Services

If you sign in to Google Play Games or an equivalent platform gaming service, that provider processes your platform account, display name, achievements, and leaderboard scores under its own policy. Platform leaderboard participation and our separately hosted leaderboard are optional.

Third-Party Services

• Google AdMob — advertising
• Firebase Crashlytics — crash reporting
• Google Analytics for Firebase — app usage analytics
• Firebase App Check and Google Play Integrity — app authenticity and advertising abuse prevention
• Google Play Games — optional sign-in, achievements, and platform leaderboards

Website Analytics

On this website, Google Analytics remains disabled unless you choose “Accept analytics” in the consent notice. If accepted, it processes limited page and interaction measurements to help us understand which pages are useful. Advertising storage and personalization signals remain disabled, and we do not send email addresses or free-form form text to analytics. You can return to a necessary-only choice by clearing this site’s storage.

Children's Privacy

The App is rated for a general audience. We do not knowingly request mailing-list signups, custom leaderboard names, or free-form bug reports from children. A parent or guardian may contact us to request deletion.

Retention, Security, and Your Choices

Server retention periods are listed above. We use input limits, rate limits, encrypted transport, access controls, and signed confirmation and unsubscribe tokens to protect server data. No method is completely risk-free.

You can play core gameplay without our hosted leaderboard, decline to send a bug report, opt out of personalized advertising in device settings, and unsubscribe from email using the signed link in every message. To request access, correction, or deletion of information you provided—or deletion of a leaderboard entry—contact us with enough information to locate it. Clearing the App's storage or uninstalling removes the on-device copy of local game data. Android App backups are disabled; Apple and desktop platform backup or device-transfer features may retain a separate copy under your platform account and settings.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at sirus20x6@gmail.com.