Privacy Policy

Effective 26 September 2026

The short version

We collect only what's needed to run games between friends.
No advertising. No tracking. No selling or sharing your data. No third-party analytics.
Photos you take for challenges stay inside your game, are seen only by the players who review them, and are deleted 7 days after the game ends.
Your location is used only while you're playing, never in the background.
You can delete your account any time from inside the app.

1. Who we are

Blake Olinger-Royer ("we", "us", "our") makes The Side Quest, an iPhone game for groups on trips, and runs this website at mobileside.quest. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the app or the website, what we do with it, and the choices you have.

Blake Olinger-Royer
3801 S Main St
Elkhart, IN 46517

Questions or requests: contact@mobileside.quest

2. Information we collect

We collect only what the game needs to work. Here is what that includes, and why.

What	Details	How it is used, and who can see it
Sign in with Apple	A stable identifier that Apple gives our app for your Apple Account, and the name you choose to share the first time you sign in. Apple lets you hide your email address. We don't ask for your email address, phone number, or a password.	To create your account and sign you in. Only we can see the identifier. We never receive your Apple password.
Display name	The name other players see. You can change it in the app.	Shown to the other players in your games.
Game activity	Games you host or join, invite codes, team names, scores, Quest Coins, the cards you draw and complete, your reviews of other players' proof, the timestamps and timing data the app sends so races are decided fairly, and when you were last active in a game so the app can tell whether a team might be out of signal.	To run the game and show scores. Visible to the players in that game. Your private cards stay hidden from everyone else until you submit proof, and then only your teammate sees them.
Photos for challenges	Photos you capture in the app (or choose from your library) as proof for a challenge. Photos can carry hidden details such as when and where they were taken; see section 4.	See section 4. Shared only with the players who review that proof.
Precise location	Your device's precise location while you are using the app, to place The Arena (the play area) and to check challenges that must be completed at a place. When a challenge asks for it, your location and its accuracy at the moment you submit proof are sent with that submission and kept with the game record. The host chooses The Arena (a point and a radius on the map); it is stored with the game and shown to the players in it.	We ask only while the app is in use. We don't track your location in the background, and we don't show your location to other players on a map.
Notification token	A token from Apple that lets us send push notifications to your device, such as "a card was claimed" or "you have proof to review".	Used only to deliver game notifications through Apple's push service.
Reports and messages	If you report a player or a photo, or email us, we keep what you send us.	To investigate, respond, and keep players safe.
Server and diagnostic logs	When the app or this website contacts our servers, our systems record standard technical information: IP address, date and time, the request made, app version, device model and operating system version, and error details.	To run, secure, and troubleshoot the service. Not used for advertising.
Purchases	If you buy the Host Pass, Apple processes the payment and we don't receive your card or payment details. The app sends us Apple's signed purchase record (Apple's transaction identifiers, the product, the purchase date, and whether it was a test or real purchase), which we check using Apple's certificates. Apple may also tell us if a purchase is refunded.	To unlock hosting on your account and to honour refunds. Only we can see it.

What we don't collect

We don't collect your contacts, your photo library (beyond photos you choose to submit), health data, payment card numbers, advertising identifiers, or your location in the background. We don't build advertising profiles.

3. How we use information

To create your account and run games, teams, boards, scores, and reviews.
To decide races fairly, using the timing data the app sends.
To send the notifications you allow.
To keep the service and its players safe: handling reports, blocking abuse, and preventing cheating.
To fix bugs, maintain the service, and answer your questions.
To meet legal obligations.

We don't use your information for advertising, and we don't sell it.

4. Photos

Only inside the game. Photos are stored within the game session they belong to. There is no public feed, no gallery, and no explore page.
Only the reviewers see them. A photo is shared only with the players who review that proof: players on the other teams for a public card, and your teammate for a private card. If a review dispute needs settling, the game's host may also see it.
Hidden details are removed. A photo file can contain the time and place it was taken, the phone model, and other metadata. Our server reads the capture time and, for challenges that must be done at a place, the location, only to check that the photo was taken during the challenge. It then stores a copy of the JPEG photo with that metadata removed, so reviewers see the picture and not where or on what it was taken. The original file you sent is not kept.
Deleted after the game. Photos are deleted 7 days after the game ends, or sooner if you delete your account.
Not backed up by default. Photos captured in the app are not backed up to iCloud by default.
Our staff don't browse them. We look at a specific photo only when it has been reported, when we need to investigate abuse or a safety issue, or when the law requires it.
Screenshots are possible. Anyone who can see a photo can screenshot it. Only photograph what you're comfortable sharing with the players in your game, and ask before photographing anyone who is identifiable.

Other players in your game, as described above.
Apple, which provides Sign in with Apple, push notifications, App Store purchases and, on your device, Apple Maps (the map and place search when the host sets The Arena) under its own terms and privacy policy (see apple.com/legal/privacy).
OpenStreetMap (place data). To find real named places for challenges (a landmark, a café), our server asks a public OpenStreetMap place-data service for places around the centre of The Arena. That request comes from our server and contains only the Arena's coordinates and radius: no name, no account, no device information and not your own location. Place data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence.
Our hosting provider, which hosts our servers, database, and file storage on our behalf.
Authorities and others when the law requires it, or when it is necessary to protect someone's safety or our rights.
A future owner, if we merge with or are acquired by another company. We'd update this policy and tell you if your choices change.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. The app contains no third-party analytics or advertising code, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

6. How long we keep information

Information	How long
Account (Apple identifier, display name)	Until you delete your account.
Game records (teams, scores, reviews, event history)	While your account exists, so you can look back at past games. When you delete your account, records other players still rely on are kept without any link to you (see section 8).
The Arena and location check-ins (coordinates, accuracy)	With the game record, like other game activity. When you delete your account, records other players still rely on are kept without any link to you.
Photos	Deleted 7 days after the game ends, or sooner if you delete your account.
Notification token	Until you turn notifications off or delete your account.
Invite codes	Each code belongs to one game; codes expire, and the host can rotate them.
Purchase records (Apple transaction identifiers, product, date)	Kept so that refunds and Restore Purchases keep working. If you delete your account, the record is kept but is no longer linked to you.
Reports	Only as long as needed to handle safety and abuse issues.
Server and diagnostic logs	A limited period, for security and troubleshooting.
Emails you send us	As long as needed to help you and keep a record of the conversation.

Routine backups, if any, are overwritten on their normal schedule.

7. Security

The app talks to our servers over encrypted connections. Photos are served only through short-lived links, and only to players allowed to see them. Access to our systems is limited to people who need it. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't promise absolute security.

8. Your choices and rights

Edit your display name in the app.
Location, camera, and notifications are controlled in iOS Settings under The Side Quest. Some challenges can't be completed without location or camera access.
Delete your account from the app: Settings, then Delete Account. See Delete your account for exactly what is deleted and when. When you delete your account we remove your sign-in link, display name, notification tokens, and photos, and we keep any game records other players still rely on without any link to you.
Ask us to access, correct, or delete your information by emailing contact@mobileside.quest. Because we don't hold your email address, we may ask for details only you would know, such as your display name and a game you played, to confirm the account is yours.
Your local law may give you additional rights, such as to object to or restrict processing, or to complain to a data protection authority. Contact us and we will respond to valid requests as the law requires.
Sign in with Apple can be managed in your Apple Account settings. Removing The Side Quest there stops sign-in but does not delete your game data; use in-app deletion for that.

9. Reporting and blocking

Players can report content and block other players from any photo they review and from Settings. We review reports and may remove content or players who break the Terms of Use. Contact us at contact@mobileside.quest to report a problem.

10. Children

The Side Quest is rated 17+ and is not directed to children. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 17. If you believe a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.

11. Where information is processed

Depending on where our hosting provider operates, your information may be processed in a country other than the one you live in. Wherever it is processed, we handle it as described in this policy.

12. This website

This website uses no cookies, analytics, advertising, or third-party fonts, scripts, or embeds. Our web server keeps standard access logs (IP address, date and time, page requested, browser type). The invite page (/join/) shows the code that is in the link you opened. That code is part of the link, so it is in the request our server receives, but the page doesn't send it to anyone else.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we'll update it here and change the effective date. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we'll also tell you in the app or by another suitable means.

14. Contact us