The Third Party
Privacy policy
17 October 2026
The Third Party is a game by Tim Attewell. It runs on your device and keeps its save there. It has no accounts, no sign-in, no advertising, no analytics and no tracking.
What stays on your phone
Everything: your saved games, your settings, and your progress. Deleting the app deletes them.
Assimilate friends
The game has two optional features that talk to a server. The first is Assimilate friends, a referral code you can share. Nothing is sent until you turn it on yourself, on its own screen. If you never open it, the server never hears of your install.
If you do turn it on, the game stores, on Google Firebase, exactly this and nothing else:
- an anonymous identifier the server generates (not your name, email, phone number or Apple ID or Google account);
- the two words of the in-game name you chose from the game's own lists;
- your six-character referral code;
- the identifier of the one friend whose code you entered, if any;
- the time your side first won a seat in the game.
Nothing you type is sent, except a friend’s code if you enter one. Nothing about how you play is sent. The data is used only to count collectives and is never sold or shared. To have it deleted, write to the address below.
From that data the game works out the size of each collective and a public leaderboard. The leaderboard shows a collective only by its in-game name and its size; anyone can see it, in the game, without turning anything on.
To keep fake players out, the game asks Apple (App Attest and DeviceCheck) or Google (Play Integrity) to confirm that it is talking to the real app on a real device. That check sends nothing about you to us; Apple’s and Google’s own privacy policies cover it.
In builds sent to testers and the press this feature is switched off.
New content notifications
The second is a notification when new content for the game is released, and at no other time. The game asks once whether you want it, and it is a switch in Options after that. Nothing is sent unless you say yes, and your phone asks its own permission too.
If you say yes, the game stores, on Google Firebase, exactly this and nothing else:
- your phone's push token, the address Apple or Google deliver a notification to (Expo, the service the game is built with, passes the notifications on);
- whether the phone is an iPhone or an Android phone;
- the time it was last stored.
It is filed under the same kind of anonymous identifier as above and is never joined to anything else. Turning the switch off deletes it. It is used only to send those notifications and is never sold or shared.
Crash reports in test builds
Test builds of the game (the ones installed through TestFlight on iPhone, or through Google Play testing on Android) send a report to Sentry, a crash-reporting service, when the game crashes or hits an error. A report holds the error and where in the game’s code it happened, your device model and operating system version, and which build you are running. It holds nothing about you and nothing about how you play: no name, no identifier, no save. Reports are used only to fix the game. The released game sends no crash reports.
Feedback you send
The FEEDBACK window on the game's menu sends what you write there to Firebase, with the game's version and build and your phone's model and operating system version. If you add an email address, it is used only to reply to you. A note carries nothing that ties it to you or to your play beyond what you write in it, and it is read only to improve the game. To have a note deleted, email the address below.
The window has a box, INCLUDE RECENT LOGS, ticked unless you untick it. With it ticked the note also carries a log of the last few minutes of play kept on your phone: where you were in the game, the moves you made, the game's own errors and warnings, and the version of your save. It holds nothing about you. Nothing in it leaves your phone unless you send a note with the box ticked.
While you have a run in progress there is a second box, INCLUDE MY SAVE FILE, also ticked unless you untick it. With it ticked the note also carries your saved game, so a problem can be played back exactly as you met it. A save holds the state of your run, the hometown you picked when you began it and any names you typed into the game, such as your candidate's and your party's. It holds nothing else about you. Nothing in it leaves your phone unless you send a note with the box ticked.
TestFlight
If you install the game through Apple's TestFlight, Apple may collect crash logs and any feedback you choose to send, under Apple's own privacy policy. Feedback you send reaches the address below.
Google Play
If you install the game through Google Play, including its test tracks, Google may collect crash logs and any feedback you choose to send, under Google's own privacy policy.
Deleting your data
To have the data of The Third Party, by Tozi Cabin Games, deleted from Firebase or Sentry, email the address below from any account with the subject "Delete my data" and, if you have one, your six-character referral code. It is deleted within 30 days and you get a reply when it is done. Deleting the app deletes everything kept on your phone.
Children
The game is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.
Changes
If any of this changes, this page changes, with a new date at the top.