Sway Privacy Policy

Last updated 11 November 2026. Effective when first published on the Sway website.

This policy explains what information the game Sway collects about you, why, who else handles it, and what you can do about it. We've written it in plain English. If anything is unclear, email us at [email protected].

The short version

You play without an account. Sway never asks for your name, email address, phone number, photos, contacts or birth date, and it never uses your device's location services.
Your game is saved on your device. There is no online save in this version of Sway.
Other players can't see anything about you. This version has no chat and no playing with other people. The Regatta's rivals are computer sailors, and the names you give your boat and your town stay on your device.
Play statistics and crash reports help us fix Sway. Unity runs them for us. You can turn play statistics off in Settings with "Help improve Sway".
Ads are always your choice. They come from Google AdMob, they aren't based on what you do in other apps, and Sway never asks to track you.
We don't sell your information.

1. Who we are

Sway is made by Guilherme (William) Fernandes, a sole trader in Perth, Western Australia (ABN 70 457 001 033). In this policy "we", "us" and "our" mean him, as the developer of Sway. "You" means anyone who plays Sway or contacts us about it.

You can reach us about privacy at [email protected].

This policy covers the Sway game, our website at playswaygame.com and any help we give you by email.

2. What we collect, and why

Your game

As you play, Sway keeps your progress:

levels won, stars and scores;
doubloons, boosters, lives and ship parts;
postcards, sea friends freed and the stories you've heard;
events, your town and everything in it;
the names you give your boat and your town;
your settings, like sound and accessibility.

In this version all of this stays on your device. Your device's own backups (iCloud or a computer) may include it, and those backups are kept by Apple or on your computer, not by us.

Your voyage starts from a home port that Sway picks from your device's time zone, never from location services. You can change it in Settings. It stays on your device too.

Why: so the game works and you never lose your place.

Purchases

When you buy something in Sway, Apple takes the payment through the App Store. We never see your card or bank details. Apple tells the game on your device what was bought, so it can give you your items. Our play statistics (below) count what was bought and its price, never your payment details. Apple keeps its own records of your purchases, under Apple's privacy policy.

Sway has no ads that interrupt play. Some buttons let you choose to watch a short video ad for a reward. When you do, the ad comes from Google AdMob. Sway asks Google not to personalise the ads it shows and to show only ads rated G.

Google's ad SDK can prepare an ad in advance when rewarded ads are available, before you choose whether to watch it. During this preparation and when an ad is shown, Google receives information such as your device model, operating system, IP address, device identifiers and ad interactions. Google uses it under its own policy, How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. Choosing not to watch an ad does not undo information already sent to prepare it.

Sway doesn't use your device's advertising identifier, so it never asks to track you. If an ad ever seems wrong for Sway, tap the AdChoices icon on the ad to block it, or email us.

Why: rewarded ads let you earn extras without paying, and they help pay for Sway.

Making Sway better

To find levels that are too hard, fix bugs and keep the game running smoothly, Sway sends play statistics to Unity Analytics and crash reports to Unity's crash reporting (Unity Diagnostics), both run for us by Unity Technologies. For example:

which levels you start, win or leave, and how many moves you had left;
what you earn and spend in the game, and what you buy;
which settings you use, such as bigger text;
how fast the game runs on your device, and what went wrong if it crashes.

With them, Unity receives your device's IP address (and uses it to work out a rough area, such as your country or city), a code made for this copy of Sway on your device, and the code Apple gives our apps for your device. These are linked to each other so we can follow a level's numbers over your tries. They're never linked to your name, and never used for advertising. They never include the names you type.

Help improve Sway. Play statistics are on unless you turn them off. Turning "Help improve Sway" off in Settings stops them and asks Unity to delete the ones already sent from your device. Crash reports can't be turned off on their own, because Unity's crash reporting has no switch for each player. We use them only to find and fix crashes.

Notifications

If you say yes, Sway can remind you about things like full lives. You can turn reminders off at any time in Settings or in your device's settings. We'll never send offers or sales by notification or email unless you've said yes to them separately, and every one will let you stop them.

In this version reminders are set on your device, and nothing about them is sent to us.

When you contact us

If you email us, we keep your email address and what you wrote so we can help you.

Our website

Our website has no cookies, no analytics and no ads. The company that hosts it, Cloudflare, sees your device's IP address when you visit, to deliver the pages and keep the site secure.

3. What we don't collect

We never ask for your real name, email address, phone number, address, photos, voice or contacts from your device. We never keep your birth date. Your email address reaches us only if you email us.

Sway never uses your device's location services, and never collects your precise location. Unity and Google may work out a rough area, such as your country or city, from your IP address (section 2).

Your home port is picked from your device's time zone when you first play, and you can change it.

Sway has no typed chat. We don't send your information to AI services, and we don't use it to train AI.

We don't sell your information. Google receives the information in section 2 when its SDK prepares, shows and counts ads, and we've asked Google not to use it to personalise ads.

Companies that run parts of Sway for us. They may only use your information to provide their service to us, and must protect it at least as well as we do:

Unity Technologies, for play statistics and crash reports, under Unity's privacy policy;
our email provider, VentraIP, when you contact us;
Cloudflare, which hosts our website.

Companies that also act under their own privacy policies:

Apple, for purchases and the App Store;
Google, for preparing and showing ads (AdMob), as explained in section 2.

When the law requires it, for example a valid request from police or a regulator, or to protect someone's safety.

If Sway is sold or passes to another business, we'll tell you first, and this policy will still protect what we already hold.

5. Where your information is kept

Unity's Analytics documentation identifies Belgium and the Netherlands as storage locations, with a replicated copy in Iowa, United States. Unity also processes crash reports; its subprocessor list explains the companies and countries used to provide its services. We do not promise that crash reports stay in Australia. Apple, Google and our website host may also handle information outside Australia.

We choose providers that protect information to a standard similar to Australia's privacy law, and bind the ones that run parts of Sway for us by contract to use it only for our service. Apple and Google act under their own policies (section 4).

6. Younger players

Sway is a game for everyone. It isn't made specially for children, but we know younger players enjoy it, so we've built it to be safe for them:

this version has no chat and no playing with other people, and no way to send pictures or links;
the names your child types stay on the device;
Sway never uses location services, and never asks for contacts or real names;
nothing in Sway that is bought is left to chance;
ads are always optional, rated G, and never based on what you do in other apps;
spending real money needs the App Store's approval, which parents can control.

If you're under 18, please check with a parent or carer before buying anything.

If you're under 15, we treat a parent or carer as the person who decides about your information with you. Parents can read our page for parents, and can ask us at [email protected] to see, fix or delete their child's information.

7. Your choices

Play statistics: turn "Help improve Sway" off in Settings.
Notifications: off until you say yes; switch them off any time in Settings, under Alerts and events, or in your device's settings.
Ads: always your choice. Tap the AdChoices icon on an ad to block it.

8. Seeing, fixing and deleting your information

This version of Sway has no accounts, so there is no account to delete. Here is what you can do:

Delete the app to remove your game, your settings and everything else Sway keeps on your device. Your device's own backups may keep a copy until they're replaced or deleted.
Turn off "Help improve Sway" in Settings to stop play statistics and ask Unity to delete the ones already sent from your device. Do this before you delete the app: the statistics carry no name or account, so once the app is gone we can't tell which ones are yours.
Crash reports are deleted by Unity after 90 days.
Ads: Google keeps what it received under its own policy.
Emails you sent us: ask us to delete them.

Our page Delete your data says the same, step by step.

See or fix your information: email [email protected]. It's free to ask, and we'll reply within 30 days.

9. How long we keep it

We keep your information only as long as we need it for the reasons in this policy:

your game and settings: on your device, until you delete the app;
raw play-statistics events: up to 13 months; per-player metrics and profiles are kept until you or we ask Unity to delete them;
crash reports: Unity's default retention is 90 days;
purchase records: Apple keeps its own, and the sales reports Apple gives us don't name you;
support emails and related attachments: deleted within 2 years after the last message about the request, or earlier if they are no longer needed;
ad data held by Google and website service data held by Cloudflare: under their own retention policies, which may depend on the type of data and legal or security needs. See Google's policy and Cloudflare's policy. These periods are not controlled by Sway.

If a law requires us to keep a record, or it is needed for an unresolved complaint or legal claim, we keep only what is needed for that purpose and delete it when the need ends. Deleting our copy does not delete records that Apple or another provider must keep under its own obligations.

10. Keeping it safe

What Sway sends to Unity and Google travels encrypted. Your game on your device is protected by your device's own security. Access to our service dashboards is restricted to people who need it to run and support Sway.

No system is perfect. If a breach ever puts you at risk of serious harm, we'll tell you, and we'll tell the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where the law requires it.

11. Decisions made by computer

In this version, only a few small things are decided by computer, without a person looking first:

checking names: a boat or town name isn't accepted if the word filter finds something on its blocked list (the name never leaves your device);
store refunds: when the App Store tells Sway that a purchase was refunded or revoked, Sway marks that purchase and takes back its items where they are still held. The game shows a notice when this happens.

If you think one of these got it wrong, email us and a person will look at it.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change matters, for example we start collecting something new, we'll tell you in the game before it takes effect.

Online play is coming in an update. It will add accounts, an online save and playing with other people, and it will change this policy. We'll publish the new policy here, and the game will tell you before the update collects anything new.

13. Questions and complaints

Email us at [email protected]. We aim to respond to privacy requests and complaints within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. The OAIC can explain whether it can handle your complaint.

For online safety worries, such as bullying, you can also go to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au.