Privacy Policy

IRON VAULT (鐵穹戰記)

Effective Date: 2026-10-17

1. Introduction

Welcome to IRON VAULT (鐵穹戰記), an iOS game (bundle ID: com.neuralworks.mecha) published by Neuralworks. This Privacy Policy explains what information the game handles, how it is used, and the choices you have. This version applies to IRON VAULT 1.2 and later. Version 1.1 added online play. Version 1.2 adds missions, a season pass, achievements, Game Center leaderboards, replays, duo parties, quick signals, and optional anonymous usage and crash reporting. Version 1.3 adds online co-op boss raids (raid results and boards are kept with your Player ID, and boards show pilot names), destructible cover, weather, training lessons and accessibility settings. Accessibility settings are stored only on your device.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 No Account Needed for Offline Play

You can play single-player content (story, VS CPU, training) without creating an account or signing in. Offline play does not send personal data to us.

2.2 Data Stored on Your Device

Your game progress, settings, and redemption records are stored only on your device. They are not uploaded to our servers, except where sections 2.4, 2.8 and 2.10 describe online play, anonymous data sharing and progress sync.

2.3 Nearby Battles

Nearby battles use Apple's MultipeerConnectivity framework, which connects devices over Bluetooth and the local network. Your device name or player name is used to identify you to the other player. This information is used only while the connection is active and is not uploaded to us.

2.4 Online Battles and Your Online Player Record

If you use online play (rooms, invitations, quick match, and online ranking), the game creates an anonymous Player ID and a secret token and stores them on your device. We do not ask for your real name, email address, or password to play online. We store the following data on our online servers, which are operated by Neuralworks:

• Identity: your Player ID (a random identifier), your pilot name (2 to 12 characters, chosen by you or taken from your Game Center alias), and a hashed copy of your secret token. We store only a hash of the token, not the token itself.
• Rankings and statistics: rank points, rank and season history, wins, losses, match count, play time, kills, deaths, assists, battle scores, win streak, and your most-used mech class.
• Co-op raids: if you play online co-op raids, your raid results, clear times and best records are stored with your Player ID. Raid boards show your pilot name to other players, in the same way as other online boards. Co-op raid results are verified by our server.
• Match records: for each online match, the date, mode, duration, result, your score, and the input log of the match. Input logs are used to verify results and to play back replays (section 2.9). They do not contain your name or contact details.
• Social data: your friends list, friend requests, blocked players, and your invitation preference (for example, "friends and recent opponents only" or "off").
• Reports: if you report another player, we store the reported player's Player ID, the reason you selected, an optional note of up to 200 characters, and the match ID if relevant. Your Player ID is stored with the report so that it can be handled.
• Progress: if you play online, your missions, login-reward claims, season pass progress and achievement unlocks are synced to our server as a merged progress record. The server also records your online match counts itself (section 2.10).
• Duo parties and quick signals: while a duo party exists, we keep it linked to the two Player IDs in the party so the pair can queue together. Quick signals are preset messages with no free text (section 2.11).
• Connection data: your IP address when you connect to our online servers, which is used for rate limiting, abuse prevention, and security. In our logs, IP addresses are masked (the last octet of an IPv4 address and the host part of an IPv6 address are removed). See section 7 for how long it is kept.

Battle packets for an online match are forwarded in real time through our relay server between the players in that match. The relay only forwards packets while the match is running and does not store the content of battles.

2.5 Game Center (Optional)

If you sign in to Apple Game Center, we receive from Apple your Game Center player identifiers (game player ID and team player ID), your Game Center alias, and a signature that proves these identifiers are genuine. We use them to link your online player record to your Game Center account, so that your rank and statistics can follow you to a new device or a reinstalled app. You can use online play without Game Center. To stop using Game Center with the game, sign out of Game Center in iOS Settings or delete your online data (section 7). Your Game Center account is governed by Apple's privacy policy.

If you are signed in, achievement unlocks and leaderboard scores (for example, your ranked rating and total wins) are reported to Game Center, which is provided by Apple. Game Center shows them to other players according to Apple's settings. Scores and achievements that have already been reported to Game Center are managed by Apple; deleting your online data does not remove them from Game Center.

2.6 Push Notifications (Optional)

If you allow notifications, we store an Apple Push Notification service (APNs) device token so that we can send you invitations, match-found messages, friend-online alerts, and friend requests. You can turn each type of notification on or off in the game. The system permission is requested only when a notification is first needed. Notifications are delivered through Apple's service, and we do not use push notifications for advertising.

2.7 Friends, Blocks, and Reports

Friends, blocks, and reports are used only to operate online play, for example to decide who can invite you, to keep blocked players out of your games, and to review reported behavior or names. Where needed, we review reports manually. We may change a pilot name that has been reported by several different players.

2.8 Anonymous Usage and Crash Data (Optional)

To find bugs and improve the game, IRON VAULT can send anonymous usage, performance and crash data to our own server. This is on by default and you can turn it off at any time in Settings (設定) > Support (支援) > "Anonymous Data Sharing" (匿名數據分享). When you turn it off, collection stops immediately, data that has not been sent yet is deleted from your device, and the random identifier described below is deleted.

• What is collected: game events such as starting and ending a session, tutorial steps, story chapters and stages started, cleared, failed or abandoned, which modes you play, match length and result, and changes to game settings; performance summaries (frame rate, device temperature state, graphics setting); and crash reports (where in the game's code the crash happened, the build number, your device model and iOS version, and the names of the last few game events). On iOS we also receive crash and hang diagnostics that Apple's MetricKit provides to the app, with the region setting removed.
• What is not collected: your name, pilot name, Player ID, Game Center information, friends, chat or any text you type, contacts, location, advertising identifier (IDFA) or vendor identifier (IDFV). Events contain only predefined codes and numbers, never free text.
• Identifier: the app creates a random installation identifier that is not linked to you, your online player record, your Game Center account or your device's other identifiers, plus a new random identifier for each play session. Turning the setting off and on again creates a new, unrelated identifier.
• Not linked to you, not used for tracking: we do not link this data to your identity or your online player record, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not sell it or share it with third parties. Our server uses your IP address only momentarily to limit abusive traffic; it is not stored with the data.
• Where it goes: data is sent over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) to our server and is processed only to operate, fix and improve IRON VAULT.

2.9 Replays and Highlights

Replays of your own recent matches are stored on your device (the most recent 20 matches; older ones are removed automatically). Online matches also have input logs stored on our server for 30 days, so that results can be verified and replays played back. Replays are visible to others only in the following cases:

• Featured replays: for 7 days, the game shows ranked matches in which at least one human player is in the top 100 of the current season or all-time leaderboard. Featured replays show each human player's pilot name and tag (for example, #1234), their result and score, and the match result. They do not show Player IDs, Game Center information, or other statistics.
• Deleted players: if a player deletes their online data, their name is no longer shown in featured replays, and their match records show "deleted".
• Highlight clips: if you record a highlight clip, it is saved to your device and shared only through the share sheet that you choose.

2.10 Missions, Login Rewards, Season Pass and Achievements

Missions, login rewards, the season pass and achievements are free. They give only points, pass experience and cosmetic items, and never affect battles. Progress is kept on your device. If you play online, a merged copy of your progress record is also kept on our server, so that it can follow you to a new device or a reinstalled app. Our server keeps its own count of your online matches, and does not accept those counts from your device. Purchases of the season pass premium track are processed by Apple (section 4). Achievement unlocks are also sent to Game Center (section 2.5). Deleting your online data removes the progress record from our server.

2.11 Duo Parties and Quick Signals

A duo party lets two players queue together and be placed on the same team. The party is kept only while it is active. It ends when a member leaves, when a member is disconnected for longer than about 60 seconds, or when a member deletes online data. Quick signals are preset in-match messages (for example, "Focus fire", "Cover me" and "GG"). They are chosen from a fixed list, and the game does not send or accept free text. Signals are sent to the other players in the match, and their voice lines play on each player's device. Signals are not part of the replay input log.

2.12 Public Leaderboard and Pilot Card on the Website

Your pilot name, rank, rating, win count, most-used mech, cosmetic items and season medals may be shown on our public website (ironvault.neuralworkshk.com): as a leaderboard and as a pilot card, but only if you choose to show them. From version 1.4.3, the first time you enter the online lobby you are asked whether to show your pilot card and rank on the website. The choice is pre-set to "show", and it is saved only after you confirm it. If you have never answered, or you chose not to show, your name and card are never shown on the website. The website shows only these fields, never your Player ID, device identifiers, IP address or Game Center information. Your pilot card is reached through a random public identifier that our server derives from your Player ID with a secret key; it cannot be used to recover your Player ID. You can turn this off at any time in Settings > Online Settings ("Show my pilot card and rank on the website"). When it is off, the website lists you as an anonymous pilot with your rank and rating only, and your pilot card is no longer available. Turning it off does not delete your online record. This information is part of your user content and is public to anyone who visits the website.

2.13 Region and Faction (Website Statistics)

Region: if you choose, the online service uses your device's region setting (a country code such as HK or JP, the same value your device reports in its region settings). We do not use your IP address, your location, or GPS for this. You can choose "Automatic", pick a country yourself, or choose "Do not show". A country code is shown on the leaderboard, on your pilot card and in the in-game leaderboard only if you have chosen to show your pilot card, and a continent is derived from it. Faction: you pick UCA or FRL once when you first enter the online lobby, and you may change it once per season. Your faction is used for the faction war statistics. The website shows region and faction only for players who chose to show their pilot card. The aggregate statistics (player counts per faction and per country, and mech usage) are built from players who chose to show their card; any country with fewer than 3 such players is merged into "Other", so that no individual can be identified. Turning off the pilot card on the website hides your region and faction there as well. You can change your region or turn it off at any time in Settings > Online Settings.

3. Advertising (Google AdMob)

4. In-App Purchases

In-app purchases are processed entirely by Apple. We never see or handle your payment information. We only receive purchase receipts from Apple, which are used to unlock "Remove Ads", the "Supporter Pack" and the season pass premium track.

5. Redeem Codes

Redeem codes are verified locally on your device. The codes you enter are not uploaded.

6. Version Check

The game queries Apple's iTunes lookup API to find the latest version number of the app. No personal data is sent in this request.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

• Data on your device: stays on your device for as long as the game is installed. Deleting the app deletes all local data.
• Online player record (Player ID, pilot name, rank points, statistics, friends, blocks, and settings): kept until you delete your online data.
• Match records and input logs: kept for 30 days, then deleted. Aggregated statistics (for example, total wins and play time) are kept until you delete your online data.
• Push notification tokens: kept until Apple reports the token is no longer valid, you turn off notifications or unregister the device, or you delete your online data.
• Reports you submitted: kept for 1 year.
• Connection and security logs (IP addresses masked): kept for up to 7 days.
• Game Center data: we keep only the identifiers described in section 2.5. Deleting your online data removes the link; it does not change your Game Center account.
• Progress record (missions, season pass and achievements, section 2.10): kept until you delete your online data.
• Replays on your device: the most recent 20 matches are kept on your device and removed automatically as new ones are added, or when you delete the app.
• Anonymous usage and crash data (section 2.8): individual events are kept for 30 days; daily totals (for example, how many players finished a tutorial step on a given day) are kept for 90 days; crash reports are kept for 180 days. Because this data is not linked to you, we cannot find or delete it for a specific person; turn off "Anonymous Data Sharing" to stop sending it and delete any data still waiting on your device.

Delete your online data in the game: Online Versus (網上對戰) > Settings (設定) > "Delete My Online Data" (刪除我的網上資料), then confirm twice. This deletes your Player ID, tokens, settings, rank points, statistics, your missions, season pass and achievement progress, friends and blocks (in both directions), push notification tokens, and the reports you submitted (your identity is removed from them). In your match records, your Player ID is replaced with "deleted". After deletion, the same Player ID can no longer be used. Deletion takes effect in our live systems immediately.

Request deletion by email: if you cannot access the game, email us at the address in section 11 with the subject "Delete my online data", and include the Player ID shown in Settings (if you know it) or the Game Center account you used. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children's Privacy

IRON VAULT is not designed for children under 13, and online play is intended only for players aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you are under 13, please do not use online play or send us personal data. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Third-Party Services

We do not sell your personal data. Online play data is not used for tracking across other companies' apps or websites.

• Google AdMob / User Messaging Platform (UMP): Displays ads and manages consent in regions that require it
• Apple StoreKit: Processes in-app purchases
• Apple MultipeerConnectivity: Provides nearby device-to-device battles
• Apple iTunes lookup API: Used for the version check
• Apple Game Center (GameKit): Optional sign-in and identity verification for online play
• Apple Push Notification service (APNs): Delivers optional notifications
• Apple MetricKit: Provides crash and hang diagnostics to the app, which are shared with our own server only as described in section 2.8

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed. Please review it periodically.

11. Contact Us

• Email (support and data deletion requests): [email protected]

© 2026 Neuralworks. All rights reserved.