FERMENTAL / PRIVACY
Privacy
A space on your device
FERMENTAL is an ambient visual and sound experience. You influence an environment and observe its changing patterns. This policy describes the current iOS app. Operator: Atsushi Ito. Privacy questions: contact-fermental@variations.ooo. Last updated: 12 October 2026.
Your observations and recordings
Culture state, observation images, unlocked expressions and settings are stored on your device. Recorded videos are also stored locally. The app does not upload these materials to an operator-managed database and does not require an account. Removing the app may remove its local data. Keep a backup of observations you want to preserve.
Camera and microphone
Camera access is optional. When enabled, the app analyses image brightness on the device to influence its visuals and can show live video as a background. Camera imagery is included if you record with that background visible. The app does not send camera frames to us. Recording captures the app’s generated sound; microphone recording is disabled. Check your surroundings before sharing a recording.
Location and motion
Location access and device tilt are optional. Approximate location can influence the generated environment. To suggest a place name, the app rounds coordinates to approximately 0.02 degrees and sends them to Apple’s geocoding service. Apple processes this request under its own policies. Place names may be saved with observations and included in backups or recordings when you choose to show them. You can edit the suggested name and turn location access off. Device motion is processed on the device.
Backups and sharing
You can export a backup containing normal culture state, observation images and unlocked expressions. It may include saved place names. Videos are not included in that backup. You choose where to store it, including an iCloud Drive folder if available; the app does not automatically synchronise it. When you share a video or image, the destination service handles the information you send under its own policies.
Purchases
Apple processes Pro subscriptions and payment information. The app uses StoreKit transaction and entitlement information to check access and restore purchases. We do not receive your payment-card details. Subscription management and Apple transaction retention are handled by Apple.
Notifications
Optional observation reminders are scheduled locally on your device. The current app does not register a remote push token with our own notification server. You can change notifications in the app and in iOS Settings.
Usage research and advertising
Starting with version 1.0 build 3, optional usage research uses Google Firebase Analytics. It is off by default and is enabled only when you choose to help improve FERMENTAL during onboarding or in Settings → Usage and privacy. This choice does not affect free features or Pro access. When enabled, Google processes an app installation identifier, device and app information, app/session activity, coarse experience and hands-off duration, model and sound choices, recording activity, and Pro viewing and purchase interactions. Analytics may also process automatically collected purchase events. General region may be inferred from network information. This helps us understand repeat visits and improve the experience and Pro offering. We do not send observation images, camera frames, recordings, GPS coordinates, place names, notes, names or email addresses to Analytics. We do not set a personal account identifier. Advertising identifier (IDFA), vendor identifier (IDFV), ad storage and advertising personalization are disabled; we do not link Google Ads or use this information for cross-app advertising tracking. Google processes analytics data under its Privacy Policy. You can switch research off at any time: future collection stops and the on-device analytics identifier is reset. Switching off does not remove reports already sent to Google; their retention is governed by the Analytics property's settings. Contact us with privacy requests. We do not sell personal information. Apple may process purchases and diagnostics according to your device settings and its policies.
Retention and your choices
Local data remains until you remove it, replace it through a restore, or remove the app. Copies you export or share remain at destinations you chose and must be managed there. You can disable camera, location and notification permissions in iOS Settings. Contact us for privacy questions. If you email us, your message and contact details are used to respond and retained as needed to handle the enquiry.
This website and changes
This website uses no advertising trackers, analytics tags, contact form or account sign-in. Hosting services may process IP addresses and request logs to serve and protect the site. Email links open your email application. We will update this page when the app’s data use changes.