Privacy policy

TestersGuild is an Android app where apps test each other. This page lists everything the app and the server collect, what each item is for, who can see it, how long we keep it and how you delete it. Questions: hello@testersguild.dev. We do not sell your data and we show no advertising.

TestersGuild is the data controller for what is described here. You can reach us at hello@testersguild.dev.

What we collect, what for, who sees it

• Google sign-in: your email, your name and your Google account identifier (“subject”). To sign you in and tell accounts apart. The email and name are shown to the people who run TestersGuild (“operators”) in the operator panel. Other members never see them. We do not store your Google sign-in token.
• A hashed Android ID. Your phone’s Android ID is turned into a one-way hash on our server and the raw value is never stored. It limits starter credit to one account per phone and helps operators spot one phone behind many accounts. Operators can see the hash; nobody else can.
• A random install key. The app makes a random code once and sends it with install and usage reports so a report can be tied to one installation. Operators only.
• Which assigned apps are installed. The app checks whether each app assigned to you is installed on your phone, which version, and which store installed it, and reports only those. To do that Android lets the app see launchable apps on the phone (the package-visibility rule); we look up the assigned packages and send nothing about any other app. Used to check that testing really happened. Visible to operators.
• Foreground time and sessions per assigned app. With the usage-access permission you grant in Android settings, the app reports, for each assigned app and day, how many seconds it was in the foreground, how many separate sessions made that up and the longest one. Used for the daily check-in and to flag impossible patterns. Operators see it. App owners see only totals in their report, never who.
• Purchase records. When you buy credit or a paid seat through Google Play we store the product, the Play order and purchase token, the amount and whether it was refunded. Used to credit you once, refund and tax records. Operators see it. We never see your card; Google handles payment.
• Credit ledger. Your credit, stake, penalties and returns, in US cents. Credit has no cash value. Operators see it.
• Your apps. The package name of each app you add, and what we read about it from Google Play (tracks, releases, countries, name, icon). The other members assigned to test your app see its name and icon, never you.
• Feedback notes and ratings you write. Your ratings and notes about other members’ apps. The app’s owner reads them anonymously (as “Tester 3”, not your name) and can report one that breaks the rules; operators can see who wrote a reported note. Notes must be honest and must not contain abuse, insults or personal details (see the terms).
• Inbox. The messages the app shows you (missed day, removed, refund, reminders). Only you and operators.
• Push token. When notifications are switched on, the Firebase Cloud Messaging token of your phone, so we can send reminders. It goes to Google’s push service to deliver them. Deleted when you sign out or delete the account.
• Play Integrity verdicts. When you report installs or usage, the app asks Google Play Integrity whether the phone and the app are genuine and sends us the verdict (not your Google identity). Used to refuse fake reports. Operators see the verdicts.
• IP address. Our server’s own request log records the path, status and duration of requests, not your address. The server briefly counts requests per address in memory to stop floods, and does not save that count. Cloudflare sits in front of our site and server. It sees your connection address and request details in order to deliver and protect them, and keeps its own logs under its own policy, not ours.

We do not read what is on your screen, your messages, your contacts, your location or apps that are not assigned to you.

Who else gets data

• Google, as the provider of sign-in, Google Play (billing and the app checks), Play Integrity and, once switched on, push delivery. Their own policies apply to what they receive.
• Our host, Hetzner, which stores the database and runs the server, in Germany.
• Cloudflare, which passes traffic to our site and server and can see connection addresses, as described above.
• Nobody else. We do not sell or rent data and do not share it with advertisers or for profiling.

Play Console access

Connecting Play Console is optional. We ask for one read-only permission, “View app information”, on the one app you add, for our service account. It cannot edit or publish. If you agree to automatic Google Group changes we ask for one more permission, only for the testing tracks of that app. You can remove access at any time in Play Console under Users and permissions.

How long we keep it

• While your account exists: everything above, because the cohort, the credit rules and your reports need it. Sign-in sessions last 30 days. Nothing deletes old data automatically yet (for example expired sessions, old integrity verdicts, old inbox messages): it stays until you delete your account.
• After you delete your account: personal data is erased at once, as listed on the delete your account page. Records the ledger and the law need stay without your name: the credit ledger, purchase records, cohort history without names, the star ratings of your notes, the app package names and the starter-credit record, and our internal audit log. Purchase and ledger records are kept only as long as refunds, disputes and tax and accounting rules require.
• A banned account that is deleted leaves one-way hash of its Google account identifier, so the ban holds. We keep it for as long as the ban is in force.

Where data goes

The database and server are hosted by Hetzner in Germany. Cloudflare passes traffic to them from anywhere in the world, and Google processes sign-in and purchases under its own terms. Your data can therefore be handled outside the country you live in.

Security

Traffic between the app and our server is encrypted. We store only a one-way hash of your sign-in session token, and your Android ID only as a one-way hash. Only operators can see account data, and each operator action that changes something is recorded in an internal log. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot promise it.

Deleting your data

In the app: Profile, then Delete my account. Without the app: email hello@testersguild.dev from the account’s address and follow our reply. Full details, including what deleting costs if your cohort is running, are on the delete your account page. If you asked us for a copy of your data or to correct it, write to the same address. We send a copy by email on request, by hand, and answer within the same time as deletion requests (14 days).

The waiting list

If you leave your email on our website to hear when the first cohort opens, we store three things: the email address (written in lower case), the time you added it, and a random code that lets you remove it again. Nothing else is saved with it: not your connection address, your browser or your device. The form sets no cookies.

To stop automated sign-ups, the server counts requests per connection address in its memory for a short time. That count is not saved with your email.

The people who run TestersGuild can see the list, search it, export it and delete entries; each of those actions is recorded in an internal log, and the log does not contain the addresses of deleted entries. We do not send mail from the list yet, and we do not give it to anyone else.

We keep your email until the first cohort has opened and we have written to you, or until you remove it, whichever comes first. Nothing deletes entries automatically yet, so after we have written, we delete the list ourselves. You can remove your email at any time with the “Remove my email” link shown right after you sign up. We do not email that link to you. If you did not keep it, write to hello@testersguild.dev from the address you signed up with and we will delete it.

Children

TestersGuild is for people who publish apps on Google Play. You must be 18 or older to use it.

Changes

If we change what we collect we will change this page and update its date. This page is a draft that has not been reviewed.