Privacy policy

Last updated: 29.09.2026

This privacy policy covers the game Cheese Tycoon for iPhone, iPad and Android (including test versions before release), the website www.cheesetycoon.com and the newsletter. It follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Controller

Joel Horlacher
Wildern 1, 9556 Zezikon, Switzerland
Email: datenschutz@cheesetycoon.com

The game

Cheese Tycoon does not collect personal data. The game has no account and no server, shows no ads and contains no services for analytics, tracking or crash reporting. It sends nothing to the internet by itself. It stores saves and settings only on your device, including the name you enter when you start a game. They are not sent to me. If you delete the game, your device deletes them too.

Backups. On iPhone and iPad, saves are part of your device backup in iCloud or on your computer if you have turned it on. Apple or your computer manages that backup; I have no access to it. On Android, the game opts out of Google's cloud backup.

Purchases. Apple (App Store) and Google (Google Play) handle the purchase of the game and any additional purchases, under their own privacy policies. I never see payment details such as card numbers. Apple sends me aggregated sales figures per country; for purchases in the USA and Canada, the city of the billing address is added for tax purposes. Names and email addresses are not included. Google sends me sales reports with one line per order: they show the country and, for some sales, the region, city and postcode, but no name and no email address. If you contact me about a Google Play purchase, I can find the order in the Play Console by its order number or your email address. I use this information only for bookkeeping and to help you with questions about a purchase. I keep the sales reports as accounting records for ten years, as tax law requires.

Operating system data. If you allowed your device to share analytics with app developers, Apple or Google pass crash reports and aggregated usage figures on to me, such as device model, system version and the time of a crash. The operating system collects this data, not the game. I use it only to find bugs. You can turn it off in your device settings.

Links from the game. If you open a link in the game (for example to this page), your browser takes over. The section "The website" applies there.

Tests before release

Before the game is released, invited people test it through TestFlight (Apple) and the testing feature of Google Play.

Invitation. To invite you, I need the email address of your Apple ID or Google account, which you give me, and I enter it at Apple or Google, at Apple together with your name. If you join through a public TestFlight link, I see neither your name nor your email address, unless you enter your address when sending feedback.

Feedback and crashes. If you send feedback through TestFlight, I see your text, any screenshots, your name and email address as far as Apple knows them, and technical details about the device: model, system version, battery level, carrier, time zone, connection type, free storage and screen resolution. If a TestFlight version crashes, I receive the crash report regardless of your device settings, together with your comment if you write one. Apple keeps feedback for one year. I see feedback sent through Google Play in the Play Console.

In-person playtests. If you play with me present, I copy saves and measurement data from the test device with your consent. They contain the name you entered in the game.

I use this information only to test and improve the game. If you no longer want to take part, leave the test in TestFlight or Google Play or write to me; I then remove you from the list of testers. I delete tester lists, feedback and measurement data once I no longer need them for testing, at the latest one year after the game is released. The legal basis is your consent to take part in the test (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). Apple and Google also process the data for TestFlight and Google Play under their own privacy policies.

The website

The website sets no cookies, uses no advertising services and loads nothing from third-party servers. Fonts, images and scripts are served from the same server as the page.

Hosting. The website is hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA. When you open a page, Vercel processes technically necessary data: IP address, location derived from it (city, country), date and time, requested address, browser and operating system. This is needed to deliver the site and to fend off attacks. These logs are visible in my account for one day. How long Vercel keeps them internally is up to Vercel; its privacy notice does not state a period. Vercel processes the data as a processor under its Data Processing Addendum. Data may be transferred to the USA. Vercel is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

Visitor statistics

To see how many people visit the website and how many sign up for the newsletter, I use Vercel Web Analytics. Its script comes from the same server as the page and sets no cookies. For each page view it records: time, the page, the page you came from (if your browser shares it), country, region and city (derived from the IP address), browser, operating system and device type. After a sign-up an event named «Anmeldung» (sign-up) is added, with the language and the form you used (top or bottom of the home page). Your email address is not sent to the statistics.

To count visits, Vercel derives a hash from the request and discards it after 24 hours. According to Vercel, it stores no IP addresses and no identifiers that would allow visits to be followed across other websites. I only see aggregated figures, not individual visits. The pages for confirming and unsubscribing do not load the script.

The legal basis is my legitimate interest in knowing whether the website does its job (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Vercel processes the data as a processor, as described under hosting. If you do not want to be counted, block the script in your browser; the website and the sign-up work without it.

When you sign up for the newsletter, I store your email address, the language you chose, the time of sign-up and the version of the sign-up text you agreed to.

After you send the form, you get an email with a confirmation link (double opt-in). You are only subscribed once you click it. I delete unconfirmed addresses 30 days after that email.

Before storing an address, I check in the DNS whether its domain has a mail server. Only the part after the @ is looked up, not the whole address. This keeps typos and made-up addresses off the list, and no email goes nowhere.

The newsletter comes about once a month: a short update from the dairy, the invitation to the beta and a note when the game is released. I do not track whether you open it or click links.

You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in every email or by emailing me. I then delete your address.

To keep anyone from flooding the form, I count sign-ups per hour and sender. I do not store your IP address for this, only a key derived from it that cannot be reversed and changes every hour. These counters are deleted after one day.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). Sign-ups are handled by a Vercel function in Frankfurt. Addresses are stored in a database by Neon, LLC (USA, a Databricks, Inc. company) in Frankfurt; Neon is certified under the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Your browser only connects to this website.

The confirmation email is sent on my behalf by Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc., 2261 Market Street #5039, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA) as a processor. For this, Resend receives your email address and the content of the email with the confirmation and unsubscribe links. Sending runs through servers in Ireland. Resend stores the email and the delivery log in the USA for 30 days. Resend does not track for me whether you open the email or click links.

Every morning, Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, compiles how many new sign-ups came in. To do so, Claude reads from the database the number of entries and, for each new sign-up, a shortened address (the first two characters before the @ and the domain, such as “ma…@example.com”), the language and the time. The full address is not sent to Anthropic for this. Anthropic Ireland, Limited (Ireland) processes this data under its own privacy policy and may transfer it to the USA, relying on standard contractual clauses.

For sending the newsletter later I will use a mailing service based in Switzerland or the EU. I will update this policy before that.

Emailing me

If you write to me (support, press, privacy), I use your address and message only to reply. I delete the message once the matter is closed, at the latest after two years. The mailboxes are hosted by Hostpoint AG, Switzerland, on servers in Switzerland.

Security

The little personal data that reaches me (emails, newsletter addresses, tester lists, sales reports) is kept in the accounts of the providers named above. I protect these accounts with unique passwords and two-step sign-in. Connections to the website and to the services are encrypted (HTTPS).

Transfers abroad

Data may be transferred to Germany (newsletter function and database in Frankfurt), to Ireland (sending the confirmation email, daily sign-up report) and to the USA, because Vercel, Neon and Resend are US companies and Anthropic may transfer data there. Under the FADP, Germany and Ireland provide adequate protection. For the USA this applies to companies certified under the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Annex 1 of the Data Protection Ordinance); Vercel and Neon are certified. Resend and Anthropic rely on standard contractual clauses for transfers to the USA, Resend with the modifications for Switzerland; Resend also participates in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

For tests, I register testers with Apple and Google. For people in Switzerland and the EU, the responsible companies there are Apple Distribution International Ltd. and Google Ireland Ltd., both in Ireland. Both may transfer data to the USA: Apple relies on standard contractual clauses, Google on the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, under which Google LLC is certified, and on standard contractual clauses where needed.

Your rights

You can ask what data I hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, and object to its processing. You can withdraw consent at any time. Write to datenschutz@cheesetycoon.com. The game itself sends me nothing about you; you delete your saves by deleting the game.

You can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), in the EU the authority of your country of residence.

Changes

If anything here changes, I update this page. The version with the latest date at the top applies.