Legal · Zerb’s Hideout
Zerb’s Hideout Privacy Policy
What the game collects, who collects it, and how to delete it.
Zerb’s Hideout has no accounts, and the game never asks for your name, email or any other personal information. Your hut, your crew and your shinies stay on your device. Three outside things are involved: a time check with our own server, Google AdMob for the one optional reward video, and Google Play with RevenueCat for in-app purchases. This page explains exactly what each of them collects. We process personal data in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. The time check (our server)
So that changing your phone’s clock cannot unlock the daily snack crate, the vending machine’s free snack or the “while you were out” gift early, the game asks our server for the current time when it opens. The request carries no information about you: no ID, no game data, nothing but the request itself. Like every web request, it reaches our hosting provider (Vercel) with your IP address, which Vercel may keep briefly in its server logs for security and reliability. We do not use it for anything else. Vercel’s policy is at vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.
2. Ads (Google AdMob)
The game has one kind of ad: after a mini-game, you can choose to watch a short video to double the shinies you won. Ads never interrupt play, there are no banners or pop-up ads, and you never have to watch one.
The ad service is Google AdMob. Google collects the following, sent encrypted, for advertising, measurement and fraud prevention:
- Your device’s advertising ID (and Google’s app set ID);
- Your IP address, which can be used to estimate your general location (roughly your town or region, never your precise location);
- How you interact with ads and the app, such as ad views and taps, and app launches;
- Diagnostic information about how the app and the ad component are performing.
Google acts as an independent controller of this data. Their policy is at policies.google.com/privacy.
Your choices about ads
- In the UK and EEA, the game asks for your consent using Google’s consent form the first time it opens. If you do not consent, Google shows only limited, non-personalised ads, or none.
- Change your mind any time with Privacy settings in the game’s Settings (the button at the top right), where it is shown.
- Reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s settings: on most Android phones, Settings → Privacy (or Google) → Ads.
3. In-app purchases (Google Play and RevenueCat)
Some members of the crew can be bought so they move into the hut, and there are theme sets and disguise packs for the hut. Buying anything is optional, and the whole game is playable without spending anything. Nothing for sale is random, and the game never sells currency. If you do buy something:
- Google Play takes the payment. We never see your card details, your address or your name. Google tells us only that a purchase succeeded;
- RevenueCat records the purchase on our behalf, so the app knows what you own, can restore it if you change phone, and can unlock the same character in our other Zerb games. It stores your purchase history, your country and currency, and a random identifier it generates for your device. It is not given your name or email address, because the game never asks for either.
RevenueCat is a purchase-management service acting as our data processor. Their privacy policy is at revenuecat.com/privacy.
4. What the game stores on your device
- Your hut: who lives there, their needs and friendship, the disguises they wear, your decor, your snacks, your shinies, your Escape Plans, your album and your best scores;
- The time check’s result, so winding the clock back or forward cannot be used to cheat while offline;
- Whether sound is on.
It is not sent to us, and we have no copy of it. So that a reinstall or a new phone does not lose your crew, the Android app keeps a copy in its own app settings, which Android Backup may save to your Google account if you have backup turned on (Settings → Google → Backup). That copy is under your Google account's control, and Delete my data in the game removes it too.
5. Permissions
The game does not use your camera, microphone, precise location, contacts or files, and it asks you to grant nothing. The Android version declares only permissions granted automatically at install: network access (the time check, the optional ad and purchases), vibration (the buzz when the crew eats), billing, the advertising ID and Android’s ad services (used by Google AdMob as in section 2), and the foreground service and wake lock that Google’s own ad and Play components add. The game itself does not run in the background.
6. Children
Zerb’s Hideout is made for players aged 13 and over and is not designed for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has made a purchase, contact us and we will help with a refund and delete the record.
7. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have rights to access, correct, erase and restrict the use of your personal data. Your hut is on your own device and under your control; we hold none of it. For purchases and ads, see below. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
If you live in the United States
Some US states, including California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah, give you extra rights over your personal information. Here is how they apply to Zerb’s Hideout.
- We do not sell your personal information for money. Google AdMob uses your device’s advertising ID to show personalised ads, which some state laws call “sharing” or “targeted advertising”.
- Opt out of that sharing with Privacy settings in the game’s Settings: choose not to allow the sale or sharing of your personal information. You can also stop personalised ads on your whole phone: Settings → Privacy (or Google) → Ads → Delete advertising ID.
- Know, correct or delete: we hold only your purchase record (section 3). Email support@hackneylanegroup.com with the subject “Zerb’s Hideout privacy request” and your Google Play order number, and we will reply within 45 days.
- No penalty: the game plays exactly the same whichever choices you make.
- Appeal: if we turn down a request, reply to our answer to appeal. If you are still unhappy, you can contact your state’s Attorney General.
Delete your Zerb’s Hideout data
Zerb’s Hideout has no accounts, so there is no account to close. Here is how to delete each kind of data, what is deleted, and what is kept.
- Your hut, crew, shinies and settings: in the game, open Settings → Delete my data. Or uninstall the game, or go to your phone’s Settings → Apps → Zerb’s Hideout → Storage → Clear storage. It is deleted from your phone immediately. We never had a copy.
- Your purchase record (held for us by RevenueCat): email support@hackneylanegroup.com with the subject “Delete my Zerb’s Hideout data” and your Google Play order number (it starts GPA.). We delete the record within 30 days and email you when it is done. After that, those purchases can no longer be restored on a new phone. Because a character bought in one Zerb game unlocks it in all of them, this deletes the record for every Zerb game; we will tell you which purchases that covers first.
- Kept: Google keeps its own record of the payment as the seller, under Google’s retention rules. Vercel’s short-lived server logs of the time check expire on their own. We keep nothing else.
- Ad data (Google AdMob): reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s settings, and use Google’s privacy controls for data Google holds as its own controller.
8. Changes to this policy
If a future version adds online features, such as a crew account, analytics, or anything else that sends data, we will update this policy and the store listing before that version is released.
9. Contact us
Hackney Lane Group Ltd
Email: support@hackneylanegroup.com
Registered office: 7 Victoria Gardens, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 5YJ.
Last updated: 17 October 2026.
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