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Default Alive privacy policy

Last updated: October 1, 2026

Default Alive is a single-player game for iPhone, made by Dave Paola and published by Enginery. In this policy, "I" is Dave. Here is exactly what the app collects, including the gameplay data it sends so I can see how the game plays and where players get stuck.

In short

  • There is no account. The app never asks for your name, your email address or your Apple ID.
  • There are no ads, and the app does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
  • The app sends gameplay events to PostHog, an analytics service, tied to a random ID made for your install.
  • Your company's save stays on your iPhone. Deleting the app deletes it.

Data I collect about you

No account and no contact details. Default Alive has no accounts. It does not ask for your name or your email address, and it does not ask for access to your contacts, photos, camera, microphone or location. It does not use the advertising identifier. It does send gameplay analytics, described below.

Data the app stores

The app keeps your company (the save) in its own private storage on your iPhone, with a few settings, such as your answer to the "How did you hear about Default Alive?" question. I do not run a server for the game. The save does not leave your iPhone unless you send it yourself (see TestFlight builds, below).

If you back up your iPhone to iCloud or to a computer, the backup includes the save, as it does for other apps. I cannot see that backup.

Deleting the app deletes the save, the settings and the install ID from your iPhone. A new install starts a new company with a new ID. Deleting the app does not delete the events that PostHog already has; to have those deleted, see Your choices, below.

Gameplay analytics

The app sends gameplay events to PostHog, an analytics service. PostHog stores them on its US cloud, in the United States. I use them to see how the game plays: which cards players answer and how, where they get stuck, and whether they come back. The events include:

  • When you open the app, and how many game weeks passed while you were away
  • The cards the game shows you, the answer you pick, and how many seconds you took
  • The plan settings you change, such as your price, your hours, ad spend and hiring
  • Your speed and your pauses in the garage
  • The stories, board decks and numbers you open, and the people you tap in the office
  • The term sheet you take: its valuation, its terms, and whether the investor takes a board seat
  • What you do with someone on your team, such as feedback or a promotion, with their role (never a name)
  • The founder's week: the moves you book, their hours, and their results
  • When a notification opens the app, and which kind of notification it was
  • How a run ends, and whether you share its card
  • Your answer to the one-time question "How did you hear about Default Alive?": a friend or colleague, a post in a community or online, something else, or skip
  • With every event: the game week, the stage of the game, and the app's build number
  • Your device model, iOS version, app version, language and region setting, time zone, screen size, and network type (Wi-Fi or cellular), which PostHog's software adds
  • A timestamp, and a random ID that PostHog's software makes the first time the game runs, so events from the same install can be grouped

PostHog also receives the IP address of each request. PostHog keeps it with the event and uses it to estimate an approximate location: the city, the region, the postal code, the country, and an approximate latitude and longitude for that area (not the position of your iPhone). The app itself never asks for your location.

Every event carries the same install ID, so PostHog groups your events into one profile for your install. Under Apple's definitions, this data is linked to you. It is not linked to your name, your email address or your Apple ID, because the app never has them. The events do not contain the name you give your company or an advertising identifier. I never sell this data or use it for advertising.

What the App Store privacy details say

The App Store privacy details for Default Alive declare four data types. Each one is used for analytics only, is linked to you through the install ID, and is not used to track you:

  • Coarse Location: the approximate location that PostHog works out from the IP address
  • Device ID: the random install ID
  • Product Interaction: the gameplay events listed above
  • Other Usage Data: the properties on each event and the device details that PostHog adds

What the app does not do

  • No ads, and no advertising software.
  • No tracking. The app does not combine its data with other companies' data for advertising, and it does not share data with data brokers. It does not use the advertising identifier, so it never shows Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt.
  • No screen recording. The app does not record its screens.

Notifications

Notifications are local. The app schedules them on your iPhone, and no server sends them. The game asks for permission when you start the clock, and it sends at most three a day, none from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. When a notification opens the app, the gameplay events record that, and which kind of notification it was.

TestFlight builds

The beta on TestFlight has two features that the App Store version does not have:

  • Send my run. In the tester menu and on the ending screen, Send my run opens the share sheet with three files: the save, the app's state, and a log of every move in the run. Nothing leaves your iPhone unless you choose where to send the files, for example in an email to me. I use them only to find bugs and to tune the game, and I delete them when you ask.
  • Send the beta. This shares the TestFlight link through the share sheet. The app records that you tapped it and on which screen. It does not see who you send it to.

TestFlight is Apple's service. Apple sends me crash reports from the beta and any feedback you submit, with its screenshot and comment. If you joined through the public link, Apple does not show me your name or your email address; it shows me your number of sessions and crashes, the day you installed the game, and the version you have. Apple's TestFlight terms and privacy policy cover what Apple collects.

Crash reports

If the App Store version crashes and you have turned on Share With App Developers in your iPhone's settings, Apple sends me a crash report. It holds what went wrong in the code, your device model and your iOS version, not who you are or what is in your save.

This website

This page is on enginery.co, which counts its own visits with PostHog. The site's privacy page describes that.

Children

Default Alive is rated 4+ on the App Store and is not directed at children under 13. It collects nothing from any player beyond what this page lists. I do not knowingly collect any data from children.

Your choices

  • Turn off notifications in Settings, then Notifications, then Default Alive.
  • Stop all collection by deleting the app. Its save, its settings and its install ID go with it, and the app sends nothing more.
  • See or delete what PostHog holds. Email me. The install ID is random and I cannot see who you are, so tell me your iPhone model, roughly when you started playing, and your city. I will find your install's events and send them to you or delete them, whichever you ask for.

Anyone can use these, wherever you live. If you are in the EU or the UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority, though I hope you would tell me first.

Changes to this policy

If I change this policy, I will update the date above and post the new version at this address. I will also note material changes in the release notes for the next version of the game.

Contact

For any question about this policy or how the game handles your data, email [email protected]. Default Alive is published by Enginery, Pittsburgh. There is no support team, so I answer it myself.