Privacy Policy
Evening Dispatch Studio
This policy explains how this application handles information and how to contact us about privacy.
Information we process
Evening Dispatch Studio stores your game progress on your device: the current issue, trust score, source checks, headline and image choices, published editions and pending corrections. Downloaded story text is cached locally in SQLite; illustrations and a complete story set are bundled with the app. Language, sound and motion preferences are stored locally. The app automatically requests a random installation identifier and secret, without an account, name, email address or password. The identifier and secret are stored in the device Keychain; the server stores the identifier, a hash of the secret, a creation timestamp, a revision number and the synchronized game progress. Requests to the game API and public website pass through Cloudflare, which terminates public HTTPS and proxies requests over HTTPS to Railway. Cloudflare processes API request data in transit, including synchronization payloads and authorization headers, to deliver the service. Both infrastructure providers receive technical request information needed for delivery, such as IP or connection addresses, request time, path and user-agent information. The application server logs request method and status, not authentication headers or game payloads. Short-lived rate-limit counters use the connection peer address in memory. There are no advertising, analytics or social sign-in SDKs.
How we use information
Local storage makes the entire game playable offline and preserves your draft when you close the app. The installation secret authorizes access to your private server save. Synchronization keeps this installation's progress on the server, while public content requests retrieve updated story text. Revision checks prevent conflicting writes. Technical request handling, readiness checks and rate limiting keep the service available and protect data access. Public website requests deliver the home page and this policy. We do not use game choices to target advertising or build marketing profiles.
Service providers and sharing
Cloudflare provides the public HTTPS reverse proxy for api.evening-dispatch-studio.fun and evening-dispatch-studio.fun and processes requests in transit. Railway provides the backend hosting, origin network routing and persistent storage and processes requests and infrastructure logs as the hosting provider. The app also relies on Apple's operating system networking, Keychain and device storage. No other external SDK or messaging provider receives game progress through this implementation. Progress is not publicly visible, sold or shared with advertisers. Public story content is available without authentication, but installation progress requires its matching secret. We may disclose information if legally required; this policy does not claim any certification or special legal status.
Data retention
Local game progress and cached story text remain until you reset the game, delete game data in Settings, or remove the app's local data. Preferences can remain after a game reset. Server installation records and progress have no automatic expiry and remain until deletion is requested using the installation secret. Reset Progress replaces the server progress on the next successful synchronization rather than deleting the installation record. Rate-limit counters expire after their one-hour window or a server restart. We do not configure a separate application backup service or promise a fixed infrastructure-log retention period. Cloudflare and Railway infrastructure records follow their configured services and provider lifecycles; we do not promise a fixed retention duration for those records. Any Railway provider-managed storage snapshots follow the hosting configuration and provider lifecycle. Deleted data may remain temporarily in database journals, storage remnants, device backups or provider snapshots; deletion of the active record does not promise immediate forensic erasure of all copies.
Deleting your information
Settings offers Delete Game Data. With a network connection and successful server authorization, it deletes this installation's active server record, resets local game progress and removes the device secret. If the request fails, the app retains the data and secret so you can retry. Playing again creates a new installation save. Reset Progress separately clears drafts, editions and corrections, returns trust to 50, and queues the new state for synchronization. Removing the app alone does not request server deletion, and Keychain entries may survive removal. There is no login or cross-device recovery: if you lose the secret, the app cannot recover or authorize deletion of the old installation record. Contact WiglafEldermond@icloud.com for privacy questions; never send your installation secret. Local preferences and cached public stories are not personal server records and can be removed through device app-data removal. Backup copies are subject to the retention limits described above.
Permissions and your choices
The game requests no camera, microphone, location, photo-library, contacts or notification permission. It uses ordinary internet access, local storage, audio playback and Keychain storage. Sound volume and reduced motion can be changed in Settings, and the system Reduce Motion setting is respected. You can disable network connectivity and continue offline; pending progress changes synchronize when connectivity returns. Changing device backup settings is controlled by iOS. Withdrawing network access does not itself delete an existing server record.
Your privacy rights
For questions or requests concerning access, correction, deletion or applicable privacy rights, contact WiglafEldermond@icloud.com. Your available rights depend on your location. The game exposes your saved editions and current progress inside the app and provides reset and deletion controls without requiring an account. We may need enough non-secret information to identify the relevant request and establish authority; we cannot promise recovery of a save after its installation secret is lost. You may also contact the relevant data-protection authority where applicable. The contact email is a privacy contact only, not an in-app email delivery or support-ticket system.
Security
API traffic uses HTTPS from the app to Cloudflare and from Cloudflare to the pinned Railway service origin. The app keeps the random installation secret in a device-only Keychain entry accessible after first unlock; it is not embedded as a shared credential. The server stores a SHA-256 hash of each secret and checks authorization for reading, replacing or deleting progress. Private responses are marked not to be cached. SQLite transactions protect revisions and progress writes, and local game storage uses iOS file protection. Payload limits, input validation and installation-creation rate limits reduce abuse. No networked service or device storage can be guaranteed completely secure. Keep your device secure and do not share the installation secret.
Children’s privacy
Evening Dispatch Studio is a narrative journalism game intended for players aged 16 and older. It does not ask for an age, child profile or identity information and is not designed to solicit personal information from children. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through the service, contact WiglafEldermond@icloud.com so the concern can be reviewed.
Changes to this policy
This policy describes the current app and backend processing as of its effective date. We will update this page and its effective date when processing practices change. Review the Privacy Policy link in the app's Settings for the current published policy. Material changes will be described in the updated policy or app release information; no email notification system is operated by this game.