This is a translation of the Dutch privacy policy. If there is any difference, the Dutch text applies.

Privacy policy

Last updated: 26 October 2026.

In brief

Competition has no account of its own. Your group, games, photos and videos are stored in iCloud. We cannot see them.
To deliver notifications and live score sheets, something does pass through us: a push address of your device, your first name and the text of a notification. We keep this for as short a time as possible, usually hours or days.
No ads, no analytics services, no tracking. We do not sell anything on.
You can turn off the push server yourself and erase your own join codes and fallback notifications, under Account, Privacy and data.

Who is responsible

Competition is an app by Sander Hoozemans.

For all questions about privacy and your data: sanderhoozemansbv@gmail.com.

We are the data controller for the data that we process ourselves, as described below: in the app's public iCloud database and on our push server. For what is stored in your iCloud, Apple is your service provider under the iCloud terms; we have no access to it.

How Competition works

Everything you put in a group, such as games, scores, members, profile photos, photos, videos, game nights, challenges and locations, is stored in iCloud: in the iCloud of the group owner, shared with the members of the group. We cannot see it, search it or erase it.

Anyone who has the invitation link or a valid join code for your group can join and will then see everything in the group. So only share the link and the code with people you want in the group. The group owner can remove members; after that the group gets a new key for notifications.

Games played against each other store every move and the time of it in the group, so that the app can show how a game went. If you play in iMessage, the standing (with the names of the players) is also in the message itself; that goes through Apple, like your other messages. The position of your ships in Sea Battle is stored in the group and in the message, but the app only shows it to the other player after the game.

Which data we do process

What	Which data	Purpose	How long
Join codes	The code, the invitation link, the name and emoji of the group, your first name and which place in the group the code is for. Stored in the app's public iCloud database.	So that someone with the code can join your group.	Valid for 3 days, then erased.
Fallback notifications	Title and text of a notification (for example names, game, score, a challenge with your message or the location of a game night), who it is for (an iCloud ID number that only applies within Competition) and which group it belongs to. Stored in the app's public iCloud database.	Only when a notification cannot go through our push server, so that the recipient still receives it.	Erased after 1 day.
Registration for notifications	A random device number, your member number in the group, the group number, the push address of your device, the start address for Live Activities (only if these are turned on) and whether it is a test or a regular version. Of the group key we only store a hash. Stored on our push server.	Delivering notifications and Live Activities to the right devices.	Until you turn off notifications or the push server, leave the group or are removed from the group, and otherwise until 90 days after your device last checked in.
Live score sheets	The standing of a score sheet in progress: names and colours of the players, scores, the game and the name of the group, plus the push address of the Live Activity for each device. Stored on our push server.	Keeping the standing on the other players' Lock Screen up to date.	At most 12 hours; a finished score sheet 1 hour.
Notifications	Title, text, the name of the sender and, for larger groups, the group name.	Forwarding to Apple, who delivers the notification.	Not stored. Only which members received a notification (as numbers, without names or text) is kept for 2 days, to prevent duplicate notifications.
Abuse counters	Per group number, how many requests there were per hour.	Preventing anyone from overloading the server.	2 days.
Messages to us	If you email us, for example to report a photo: your email address, your message and what the app adds to it (the reason, and numbers of the photo and the group).	Handling your question or report.	Until your question has been handled, and after that at most 12 months.

Our server's log does not contain names or notification texts, only counts and the beginning of a group number. Cloudflare, where the server runs, sees your IP address with every request; we do not store it.

Why we are allowed to do this

To make the app you use work (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR): join codes, notifications, fallback notifications and live score sheets. Without this data we cannot deliver them.
Legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): the names of other group members in a notification, the abuse counters and the handling of reports about photos and videos. The interest is an app that is safe and works for the whole group. You can object to this.
Consent: iOS asks you first for notifications, Live Activities, camera, microphone, location and calendar. Without consent for notifications, the app does not register your device with our server.

What is only on your device or in iCloud

On your device: a copy of your groups, your profile, your preferences, what you have hidden or reported, and the device number for the push server.
Profile photo in notifications: the sender's photo comes from your own phone, not from our server.
Widgets and Live Activities: show names and scores on your Home Screen and Lock Screen. Anyone who can see your phone can therefore see them too.
Location: if you allow it, the app stores where a game or photo was made, in the group in iCloud. To look up a place name for it, your device sends the location to Apple Maps. We do not receive your location.
Calendar: the app can add a game night to your calendar, but does not read your calendar.
Photos: you choose which photos and videos you share. The app has no access to your whole photo library; it can only add something to your library when you ask it to.

Photos and videos

Photos and videos that you put in a group can only be seen by the people in that group. If you see something that isn't allowed, open it and choose Report this: the photo or video disappears for you straight away, and you can send us an email about it. You can also hide everything from one person. The person who posted it and the group owner can delete a photo or video for everyone. Because we cannot see into the group, we cannot delete photos ourselves; we will help you reach the group owner or Apple.

Purchases

You buy Competition Pro through the App Store. Apple handles the payment. We receive no payment details and no data that identifies you as the buyer; the app checks with Apple, on your device, whether you have Pro. If you link a group subscription to a group, the app stores in that group in iCloud who pays for the subscription, which subscription it is and until when it runs. The members of that group can see this; we cannot.

What we never do

We do not sell or rent your data, do not track you in other apps or on websites, and do not show ads. The app contains no third-party analytics, advertising or crash reporting service. We do not make decisions about you that are based solely on automated processing.

Consent and choices

You turn on notifications, Live Activities, camera, microphone, location and calendar yourself, and you can always turn them off again in your iPhone settings. Competition also works without them. In the app, under Account, Privacy and data:

Turn off Use push server: your device is removed from our server and notifications go through iCloud.
Erase my join codes and fallback notifications: erases everything this device has created of them, even if it hasn't expired yet.

If you leave a group, the app unregisters your device for that group from our server.

Retention periods

Join codes: 3 days.
Fallback notifications: 1 day.
Live score sheets: 12 hours, or 1 hour after the end.
Registration for notifications: until you turn off notifications or the push server or leave the group, and otherwise 90 days after your device last checked in.
Data to prevent duplicate notifications and abuse: 2 days.
Emails to us: until your question has been handled, after that at most 12 months.

Who helps us

Apple delivers push notifications, stores the app's public iCloud database (join codes and fallback notifications), looks up place names and sells Competition Pro.
Cloudflare hosts our push server and its database. We have a data processing agreement with Cloudflare.

Apple and Cloudflare also operate outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. If data goes there, this is done on the basis of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. We do not give your data to anyone else, unless the law requires us to.

Security

All connections are encrypted (HTTPS). Each group has its own secret key for the push server; of this we only store a hash. If someone is removed from a group, the group gets a new key. We store as little as possible and clean up automatically. If something does go wrong with data, we will report it where necessary to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) within 72 hours and, if the risk is high, to you as well.

Your rights

You have the right to access, rectification and erasure of your data, to restriction of processing, to object, and to data portability. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Email us at sanderhoozemansbv@gmail.com; we will reply within one month. Because Competition has no account, we sometimes ask you for something that lets us find your data, such as the name of your group.

You can also do a lot yourself: turn off the push server and erase your join codes and fallback notifications (Account, Privacy and data), delete games and photos, or leave a group. For what is stored in iCloud, we cannot erase anything; you do that in the app or through your iCloud settings.

If you disagree with how we handle your data, you can lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

Children

Competition is intended for people aged 16 and over. If you are younger, only use the app with the permission of your parent or guardian. If you think we are processing data of a child under 16 without that permission, email us and we will erase it.

This website

This website uses no cookies, no analytics services and loads nothing from other parties. The party that hosts the website may temporarily record technical data such as your IP address for security purposes.

Changes

We update this policy when the app changes. The date at the top shows when that last happened. The same text is in the app, under Account, Privacy and data.