• Privacy Policy – Games In Hand Apps

    Effective date: 21 October 2026

    This privacy policy explains how Games In Hand Ltd (“Games In Hand”, “we”, “us” or “our”) handles information when you use our mobile apps on iOS and Android. That includes GOS Companion (App Store, Google Play) and any other app we publish under the Games In Hand name that links to this policy (together, “the Apps”).

    We’ve tried to keep it short and in plain English. If anything is unclear, please contact us.

    Who we are

    Games In Hand Ltd is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. Games In Hand Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales.

    • Address: 320 Firecrest Court, Centre Park, Warrington, WA1 1RG, United Kingdom
    • Privacy requests and questions: info@gamesinhand.com
    • General GOS Companion app support: SDGC@steamdeckgaming.net

    The short version

    • The Apps are free and show ads from Google AdMob. We use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how the Apps are used, and Firebase Crashlytics to find and fix crashes.
    • These Google services collect device identifiers (such as the advertising ID) and app usage data. Google may use them to show and measure ads, including across other apps and websites.
    • On iOS we only use your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA) if you allow tracking. In the UK, EEA and Switzerland we ask for your consent before showing personalised ads.
    • If you choose to link a Steam account, your Steam ID, library and wishlist are stored only on your device. We don’t keep them on our servers.
    • We don’t sell your personal information for money. We don’t ask for your name, address or payment details. Apple and Google handle all payments, and RevenueCat helps us manage purchases.

    Information we collect

    We only collect what we need to run the Apps, keep them working and pay for them through advertising.

    1. Device identifiers and device information

    • Advertising ID: Apple’s IDFA, only if you allow tracking, or Google’s Android Advertising ID.
    • App instance and Firebase identifiers: random IDs created when the app is installed. They’re used for analytics, crash reporting and push notifications.
    • IP address and basic device information, such as model, operating system version, language, country/region and app version. Google’s SDKs collect this automatically.

    2. App usage data

    • Which screens you view and which features you use (for example searching for a game or opening a game’s details page), and how long sessions last.
    • Ad interactions, such as ads shown, tapped or skipped.

    3. Crash data (Firebase Crashlytics)

    If an App crashes, Firebase Crashlytics collects a crash report. It includes technical details such as the crash trace, the time of the crash, app version, operating system version, device model, available memory and storage, and Crashlytics/Firebase installation identifiers. We use these reports only to find and fix bugs.

    4. Steam account information (optional)

    You can sign in with Steam to sync your library or wishlist. If you do, the App receives your Steam ID from Steam’s sign-in service. We never see your Steam password. The App uses your Steam ID to fetch your public game library and wishlist from Steam. Your Steam ID, library and wishlist are stored only on your device. They aren’t stored on Games In Hand servers. Your Steam profile and game details need to be public for sync to work. To remove this data, sign out of Steam in the App or delete the App.

    5. Compatibility reports and reviews (optional)

    If you submit a compatibility report or review for a game, we process what you submit, including the game, the device it relates to (for example Steam Deck, Steam Machine or Steam Frame), the status you chose and any text you enter. This goes through Google Firebase / Google Cloud services and is linked to an app or installation identifier. Other users of the App can see the reports. Please don’t include personal information in report text.

    6. Notifications (optional)

    If you turn on notifications, for example for compatibility status changes or free-game alerts, the App registers your device with Firebase Cloud Messaging (which uses Apple’s push notification service on iOS). This gives the device a push identifier. Your notification choices, such as the games or lists you follow, are processed through Firebase / Google Cloud services so the right alerts reach you. You can turn notifications off at any time in the App or in your device settings.

    7. Purchases

    The Apps are free to download. GOS Companion offers an optional in-app purchase (“Pro Features & Ad Removal”).

    • Payments are processed entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We never receive your card details.
    • We use RevenueCat to manage in-app purchases. RevenueCat receives purchase and receipt information from Apple or Google, plus an anonymous app user identifier and basic device information. This lets us unlock Pro features, remove ads and let you restore a purchase. See RevenueCat’s privacy policy.

    8. Support emails

    If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message.

    9. Things we don’t collect

    We don’t ask you to create an account, and we don’t ask for your name, postal address, phone number, contacts, photos, precise location or payment card details.

    Under UK and EU data protection law (UK GDPR and EU GDPR) we must have a legal basis for using personal information:

    What we do Legal basis
    Run the App’s features: game search, Steam library/wishlist sync, compatibility reports, notifications, unlocking and restoring purchases Contract: providing the service you asked for
    Analytics and crash reporting to understand usage, fix bugs and improve the Apps Legitimate interests in running and improving the Apps. Where the law requires consent to store or access information on your device, we rely on consent
    Personalised ads (AdMob) Consent, collected through Google’s consent message in the UK, EEA and Switzerland, and through Apple’s tracking prompt on iOS
    Non-personalised (contextual) ads Legitimate interests in funding a free App. Limited ad-measurement and fraud-prevention data is still processed
    Moderating compatibility reports and preventing abuse Legitimate interests
    Replying to support emails and privacy requests Legitimate interests, and legal obligation for privacy requests
    Meeting legal obligations Legal obligation

    Advertising (Google AdMob)

    The free version of the Apps shows ads through Google AdMob. AdMob may collect your device’s advertising ID, IP address, device information and ad interaction data, and use them to:

    • choose which ads to show (personalised ads, if you’ve agreed),
    • limit how often you see the same ad,
    • measure ad performance and prevent fraud.

    Personalised and non-personalised ads. Personalised ads are based on your interests, inferred from your activity across apps and websites. Non-personalised ads are based only on context, such as the app you’re in and your general location (for example country or city). Even non-personalised ads use identifiers for frequency capping, aggregated reporting and fraud prevention.

    Consent in the UK, EEA and Switzerland. We use Google’s User Messaging Platform, a Google-certified consent management platform under the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework, to ask for your consent before personalised ads are shown. You can review or change your choice at any time through the privacy options in the App’s settings.

    Ad removal. If you buy the in-app purchase that removes ads, the App stops showing AdMob ads.

    Read more in Google’s guides: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services, How Google uses cookies in advertising and AdMob: privacy and messaging / EU user consent.

    Analytics and crash reporting (Google Firebase)

    We use Google Analytics for Firebase to see how the Apps are used, for example which features are popular and where the App crashes or slows down. It collects app instance IDs, device information, usage events and, on Android, the Advertising ID (and on iOS the IDFA only if you’ve allowed tracking). We look at this data in aggregate. We don’t use it to identify you personally. Depending on Google’s settings and your consent choices, Google may also use analytics data to improve its own services and, where you’ve consented to personalised ads, for advertising.

    We use Firebase Crashlytics to receive crash reports (see above) so we can fix problems quickly.

    See Firebase privacy and security and the Google Privacy Policy.

    Tracking on iOS (App Tracking Transparency)

    On iPhone and iPad, Apple requires us to ask permission before we access your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA) to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. If you choose Ask App Not to Track, we and our partners won’t access the IDFA and you’ll see ads that aren’t based on cross-app tracking. You can change this at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

    Advertising ID on Android

    On Android, the Apps and Google’s SDKs use the Android Advertising ID. You can reset or delete it, or opt out of personalised ads, in Settings → Google → Ads (wording varies by device). If you delete it, apps receive a string of zeros instead of an ID.

    Who we share information with

    We share personal information only with:

    • Google (AdMob, Google Analytics for Firebase, Firebase Crashlytics, Firebase Cloud Messaging and other Firebase / Google Cloud services), as described above. For Firebase services Google generally acts as our processor. For some advertising purposes it acts as an independent controller. See the Google Privacy Policy.
    • RevenueCat, which manages in-app purchases for us. See RevenueCat’s privacy policy.
    • Apple and Google, which process app downloads and in-app purchase payments under their own privacy policies.
    • Valve (Steam), when you choose to sign in with Steam and the App requests your public library and wishlist.
    • Authorities, if the law requires it, or to protect our rights, users or the public.

    The Apps also show game information that they fetch from Steam and other third-party game-data services, such as How Long To Beat and IsThereAnyDeal. Those requests may be handled by those services, which, like any website, can see technical information such as an IP address. If you tap a link to an outside website or store, that site’s own privacy policy applies.

    We don’t sell your personal information for money.

    International transfers

    Google, RevenueCat and our other providers may process data outside the UK and EEA, including in the United States. Where that happens, transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards. These include the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension (Google is certified) and standard contractual clauses.

    How long we keep information

    We follow the standard retention periods of the services we use:

    • Google Analytics for Firebase: user-level event data is kept for the retention period set in our Google Analytics settings, then deleted automatically. Google offers 2 or 14 months for standard properties. Aggregated, non-identifying reports may be kept longer.
    • Firebase Crashlytics: Google keeps crash reports and their identifiers for 90 days, then begins deleting them (Firebase privacy).
    • Firebase Cloud Messaging: push registrations stop being used when you turn off notifications or uninstall the App. On Android, Firebase treats a registration as expired after 270 days of inactivity (Firebase docs).
    • AdMob: kept by Google under its own retention policies. See How Google retains data.
    • RevenueCat: purchase records are kept under RevenueCat’s own policies, and only as long as needed to provide and restore purchases.
    • Steam ID, library and wishlist: stored only on your device until you sign out of Steam in the App or delete the App.
    • Compatibility reports: kept while they’re useful to the community, unless you ask us to delete them.
    • Support emails and privacy requests: kept only as long as needed to resolve your request and meet any legal obligations.

    Your choices and rights

    Choices you can make in the App or on your device:

    • Review or change your ad consent through the privacy options in the App’s settings.
    • Limit tracking on iOS (Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking) or reset/delete your Advertising ID on Android.
    • Turn off notifications.
    • Sign out of Steam to stop library and wishlist sync and remove that data from the App.
    • Buy ad removal to stop seeing ads.
    • Uninstall the App to stop all further collection by the App.

    Your rights under UK and EU law. You have the right to:

    • access the personal information we hold about you,
    • have it corrected,
    • have it deleted,
    • restrict or object to our use of it, including objecting to processing based on legitimate interests,
    • receive it in a portable format,
    • withdraw consent at any time. This doesn’t affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

    To use any of these rights, email info@gamesinhand.com. We don’t hold names or accounts for most users, so please include anything that helps us find your data, such as the game and date of a compatibility report you submitted. We’ll reply within one month. For data held by Google, you can also use Google’s privacy tools.

    If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk) or, in the EU, to your local data protection authority. We’d appreciate the chance to sort it out first.

    US privacy rights (including California)

    If you live in California or another US state with a consumer privacy law, you have the right to:

    • know what personal information we collect, use and disclose,
    • ask us to delete it,
    • correct it,
    • opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising,
    • not be treated differently for using these rights.

    In the last 12 months we collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (advertising ID, app instance and installation IDs, IP address) and internet or other electronic network activity (app usage, crash data and ad interactions). They were collected from your device, for the purposes described above. We disclosed identifiers and usage data to Google for advertising and analytics. Under California law this may count as “sharing” for cross-context behavioural advertising. We don’t sell personal information for money, and we don’t knowingly sell or share the data of people under 16.

    To opt out, you can:

    • turn off ad personalisation on your device (iOS: Ask App Not to Track; Android: delete your Advertising ID or opt out of ads personalisation),
    • use any privacy options shown in the App’s settings,
    • email info@gamesinhand.com.

    Children

    The Apps are not directed at children. They’re rated 16+ on the App Store and Teen on Google Play. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under the age of digital consent in your country (up to 16 in some EU countries). If you think a child has given us personal information, email info@gamesinhand.com and we’ll delete it.

    Security

    Data sent between the Apps and the services they use is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS). We limit access to the data we hold and use reputable providers. No system is completely secure, but we work to protect your information.

    Changes to this policy

    We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we add new features or change providers. We’ll change the effective date at the top. If the changes are significant, we’ll let you know in the App or on the store listing. Please check back now and then.

    Contact us

    Games In Hand Ltd
    320 Firecrest Court, Centre Park, Warrington, WA1 1RG, United Kingdom
    Privacy requests: info@gamesinhand.com
    GOS Companion app support: SDGC@steamdeckgaming.net