Legal

Privacy Policy

PitWall — Formula 1 App • Effective: August 31, 2026

Most of PitWall works without an account and stores data only on your device. Some optional features — signing in with Google, race predictions, the leaderboard and Rewards — require us to store data on our servers. We use Google’s Firebase services for analytics, crash reporting and push notifications, and Google AdMob for the rewarded videos in the Rewards tab. Watching one is always your choice: nothing in PitWall shows an ad you did not ask for. We do not sell your data.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account information (only if you sign in)

Signing in is optional and only needed for race predictions and the leaderboard. We use Google Sign-In via Firebase Authentication. When you sign in, we receive and store the following from your Google account on our servers (pitwall.site):

  • Google account identifier (UID)
  • Email address
  • Display name
  • Profile photo URL

1.2 Predictions, points & settings (signed-in users)

When you are signed in, we store on our servers:

  • Your race predictions (your picks for each session)
  • Your scored points, season total and prediction streaks
  • Your diamond balance and the record of how you earned and spent it, including your daily-video streak
  • Features unlocked with diamonds, and when that access expires
  • Your synced preferences: theme, favorite wallpaper IDs and pinned news sources
  • Your push notification token (see Section 4), linked to your account

1.3 Data stored only on your device

When you are not signed in, the app stores the following locally on your device only (using SharedPreferences), and it is not sent to our servers:

  • Theme preference (dark / light mode)
  • Favorite wallpapers selection (wallpaper IDs only)
  • Cached wallpaper, standings and news metadata (expires automatically)
  • Subscription status (product ID, activation date, expiry date)
  • Home screen widget configuration and cached F1 data
  • Notification and news language preferences
  • Scroll positions and UI state

1.4 Usage & diagnostics data

We use Firebase Analytics to understand how the app is used and Firebase Crashlytics to diagnose crashes. These Google services may collect app usage events (for example wallpaper downloads, screen/tab navigation, filters used, and subscription steps), crash reports, and technical information such as app instance identifiers, device model, OS version and approximate region. If you are signed in, your Firebase user identifier may be attached to crash reports to help us debug issues.

1.5 Advertising data (Rewards tab)

The Rewards tab lets you watch a rewarded video once a day to earn a diamond. Those videos are served by Google AdMob. You are never shown an ad anywhere else in PitWall, and never without tapping to start one.

To serve them, AdMob receives your device’s advertising identifier (a resettable ID you control in your system settings) along with technical information such as device model, OS version, IP address and coarse region. To credit the diamond, we ask AdMob to call our server when a video has been watched in full; that callback carries a single-use token we issued, which tells us which account to credit. The token is deliberately not your account identifier, so nothing about your account leaves the app in the process.

  • Consent: in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland we show Google’s consent form before any ad is requested, and you can reopen your choice at any time from Settings → Ad privacy. Refusing personalised ads does not stop you earning diamonds.
  • Your control: Android and iOS both let you reset the advertising identifier, or switch off personalised advertising entirely, in your device settings.
  • What we see: we receive the fact that a video was watched and by which account. We do not receive the advertising identifier, and we do not build any profile of you for advertising.

For details on how Google handles this data, see How AdMob uses data and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide core features (wallpapers, calendar, standings, widgets, news)
  • To run predictions and calculate your points and leaderboard ranking
  • To sync your preferences across your devices when signed in
  • To send push notifications you have opted into
  • To measure usage, fix crashes and improve the app
  • To show the rewarded videos you choose to watch, credit the diamonds they earn, and keep track of what you unlock with them
  • To process subscription purchases (handled by the app store)

3. Publicly Visible Information

If you sign in and take part in predictions, your display name, profile photo and season points are shown to other users on the in-app leaderboard. Do not sign in if you do not want this information to be visible to others.

4. Push Notifications

PitWall uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) to send push notifications (for example when new wallpapers are available, and reminders related to F1 sessions and predictions). All notifications are generated by Firebase and our own servers and delivered to your device — PitWall does not schedule them locally on your device.

  • Topic-based notifications: General notifications — new wallpaper releases (new_wallpapers) and F1 session updates (f1_events) — are delivered to topics that any device can subscribe to. Every subscriber receives the same message; these are not targeted at, or identified to, individual users, and you can opt out of the F1 events topic in the app.
  • Account-linked notifications: Personalised notifications — such as prediction reminders and your scoring results — are only sent if you are signed in. Firebase generates a device token used to deliver notifications, and when you sign in we store this token on our servers linked to your account so we can send you these relevant notifications.
  • Opt-out: You can deny the notification permission when prompted, and you can disable notifications at any time in your device's app settings. Signing out stops account-linked notifications.

For details on how Google handles FCM data, see Firebase Privacy Information.

5. Permissions

The app requests the following permissions, each for a specific and legitimate purpose:

Permission Purpose
Internet Load wallpapers, F1 data and news, and sync account data
Network State Check connectivity before making network requests
Storage (Android 12 and below) Download and save wallpapers to your device
Set Wallpaper Apply selected wallpaper to your home/lock screen
Billing Process in-app subscription purchases via the app store
Notifications Send push notifications you have opted into
Advertising ID Serve the rewarded videos in the Rewards tab, and let Google detect invalid traffic

6. Third-Party Services

Google Sign-In & Firebase Authentication

Used for optional account login. We receive your basic Google profile (UID, email, display name, photo). See Google's Privacy Policy.

Firebase Analytics & Crashlytics (Google)

Used to measure app usage and diagnose crashes. Google processes usage events, crash data and technical/device information on our behalf to compile anonymous, aggregate statistics. We do not use this data to target advertising. See Firebase Privacy Information.

Google AdMob

Serves the rewarded videos in the Rewards tab, as described in Section 1.5, and verifies that a video was genuinely watched before we credit a diamond. Google receives your advertising identifier and technical device information for this purpose. See How AdMob uses data.

Google User Messaging Platform

Collects and stores your advertising consent choice where the law requires one, and hands it to AdMob. See Google’s Privacy Policy.

Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google)

Used to deliver push notifications, as described in Section 4. See Firebase Privacy Information.

App Store Billing

PitWall offers optional subscriptions to unlock premium features. All payment processing is handled entirely by the platform app store (Google Play on Android, the App Store on iOS). We do not collect, store, or have access to your payment details (card numbers, billing address, etc.). See Google's Privacy Policy and Apple's Privacy Policy.

Google Fonts

The app may load typefaces from Google Fonts. When fonts are downloaded, Google may receive your device's IP address. See Google Fonts Privacy FAQ.

News sources

The News section aggregates F1 headlines from third-party publishers. When you open an article, it opens in your device's external web browser. At that point the publisher's website may set its own cookies and receive technical data such as your IP address, governed by that publisher's own privacy policy.

External Data Sources

PitWall fetches data from its own API (pitwall.site) and from public F1 data sources (such as OpenF1, the Jolpica/Ergast API, and media from formula1.com). These requests do not include your account data. Standard HTTP server logs (IP address, user agent, timestamp) may be recorded by these services as part of normal web server operation.

7. Data We Do NOT Collect

PitWall does not collect or access any of the following:

  • Location or GPS data
  • Contacts or calendar
  • Camera or microphone
  • Your photo gallery contents (beyond wallpapers you download)
  • Phone number
  • Payment card details
  • Advertising identifiers — these are handled by Google AdMob for the rewarded videos (Section 1.5) and are never sent to, or stored on, our own servers

8. Data Sharing

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share data only with the third-party service providers listed in Section 6 (Google/Firebase, Google AdMob and the platform app stores), strictly to operate the features described above, and your public leaderboard information is visible to other users as described in Section 3. The one thing shared for an advertising purpose is your device’s advertising identifier, which goes to Google when you choose to watch a rewarded video, as described in Section 1.5.

9. Data Retention & Deletion

Device data: you can remove all local data at any time by clearing the app's data in your device settings or uninstalling the app.

Account data: if you signed in, your account information, predictions, points, diamonds, unlocks and synced settings are stored on our servers until you request deletion. To delete your account and everything stored with it, follow the steps on our account deletion page — in short, email contact@pitwall.site from the address linked to your account, and we delete it within 30 days. Signing out stops further collection of account data without deleting what we hold.

10. Children's Privacy

PitWall is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. The core app works without an account; account-based features should only be used by users old enough to have a Google account under Google's terms.

11. Security

All network communication uses HTTPS encryption. Account data on our servers is protected by access controls, and authentication is handled by Firebase. Data stored on your device is protected by your device's own security measures (lock screen, encryption, etc.). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the PitWall app, please contact us:

Email: contact@pitwall.site