Your Data Is Yours (Yes, Even Your Goblin's Backstory)
We only collect the data app stores require. No ads, no tracking, no selling your character sheets to Big Tavern. Here's exactly what we do — and don't do — with your data.
Let’s talk about data privacy. Specifically, let’s talk about why a D&D companion app doesn’t need your contacts, your location, your browsing history, or your firstborn child.
Somewhere along the way, the tech industry decided that every app should harvest as much data as possible, just in case it might be useful later. Your flashlight app wants microphone access. Your weather app is tracking your location 24/7. Your calculator has a privacy policy longer than War and Peace.
We think that’s absurd. So we don’t do it.
Our Philosophy: Collect Nothing, Sleep Well
At CafeG Labs, our data collection policy is simple: we only collect what Apple and Google require us to collect. That’s it. That’s the whole policy.
No ad networks. No tracking pixels. No analytics SDKs phoning home every time you roll a d20. No “anonymized” data that’s somehow still tied to your device fingerprint. No third-party data brokers. No “partners” who want to show you targeted ads for longswords.
Your character sheet lives on your device. Your spell slots are your business. We don’t want them, and frankly, we don’t have time to look at them — we’re too busy squashing bugs.
What We Actually Collect
Let’s break this down product by product, because transparency shouldn’t require a law degree.
Nat20 (D&D 5e Companion)
- Your characters, dice rolls, campaign data, and compendium searches stay on your device in a local SQLite database.
- If you sign in (Apple or Google), we store the minimum authentication token needed to connect you to campaign sessions. We don’t store your email, your name, or your profile photo.
- If you join a campaign, your data syncs through our relay in real-time (more on that below). We don’t keep copies.
- In-app purchases are handled entirely by Apple/Google. We never see your payment information.
QPad (QA Checklist Manager)
- 100% local. Your checklists, test results, and reports live on your iPad and nowhere else.
- GitHub integration is optional and authenticated directly with GitHub — we never touch your token.
Switch Family Controls (Browser Extension)
- Open source. You can read every line of code yourself at github.com/cafeglabs/nswitch-pcons-chrome.
- All parental control data is stored locally in your browser with encrypted storage. Nothing leaves your machine.
”Why Does a Dice App Need My Camera?”
Fair question. Here’s every device permission Nat20 requests, why we need it, and what we do with it (spoiler: nothing shady).
Camera — Snap a photo for your character portrait or scan a campaign QR code. We only look through the lens when you tell us to — no Scrying allowed.
Face ID / Biometrics — Use Face ID to protect your account. Not even mimics can copy your face. Good thing too, because — yeesh.
Microphone — Dictate campaign notes hands-free. What happens at the table stays at the table — we don’t record or store audio.
Motion Sensors — On iOS, the motion sensor is tethered to Health Data (thanks, Apple). We access the motion sensor so you can shake your device to roll dice — because sometimes you just need to feel the chaos. No motion data leaves your device. We’re not peeping your health info, although you probably should go for a walk soon.
Photo Library — Choose portraits for your characters, upload textures for custom dice skins, or set battlemap backgrounds. Your photos stay on your device — we’re adventurers, not data hoarders.
Every one of these permissions is opt-in. Deny any of them and the app works fine — you just won’t be able to use that specific feature.
How Campaign Relay Works (The Nerdy Bit)
When you join a Nat20 campaign, your device connects to our relay server via WebSocket. Initiative updates, token movements, fog of war changes, and dice rolls flow through the relay to other connected players in real-time.
Here’s the important part: data flows through, nothing sticks. Our relay is ephemeral by design. It’s a pipe, not a bucket. When your session ends, the data is gone. We don’t log your rolls, we don’t archive your maps, and we definitely don’t save the message where your Bard tried to seduce the dragon.
Campaign state lives on the DM’s device. The relay just makes sure everyone sees the same thing at the same time.
Why This Matters
You’re trusting us with your characters — the ones you’ve spent hours building, the ones with the perfect backstory about being orphaned by a rogue gelatinous cube. You’re trusting us with your campaign notes, your encounter plans, your secret BBEG plot twist that would absolutely devastate your party.
That trust matters to us. A lot.
We’re a small, independent studio. We don’t have investors demanding “engagement metrics” or a growth team trying to figure out how to monetize your scroll behavior. We make apps. You use them. That’s the deal.
Our Commitment
If we ever change our data practices — and we have no plans to — we’ll tell you first. Clearly, in plain language, with enough time to make an informed decision.
But honestly? We built these apps for ourselves first. We’re the players and DMs who use them every week. And we wouldn’t want our own data harvested either.
Your data is yours. Full stop. Now go roll for initiative.