Backlit

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 September 2026

Backlit is a game backlog tracker for iPhone. This policy explains what Backlit collects, why it is collected, where it is stored, and the choices you have.

The short version

Backlit keeps a full copy of your library on your device and another copy on our server so it can reach your other devices. We do not sell personal information, run advertising, or use analytics or attribution trackers.

Who we are

Backlit is made and operated by Colin Hwang, an individual developer. Questions about this policy can be sent to colin@nomorro.com.

Information we collect and why

Account and sign-in information

Backlit requires an account. We store an internal account identifier, the identifier supplied by each sign-in provider you connect, and your email address when the provider supplies it. If you use Sign in with Apple and hide your email, we receive Apple's relay address rather than your personal address.

Amazon Cognito handles sign-in, verification, password reset, and access tokens. Backlit's application servers do not receive or store your plaintext password.

Version 1.0 can start email, Apple, or Google sign-in. If you choose Google, Google gives Backlit an opaque account identifier and may provide your email address. You can also connect a Steam account as described below.

Backlit does not ask for a name or public handle to create an account. A name or handle added later is optional and stays in the private profile described below.

We use this information to sign you in, keep the same library available across your devices, and protect access to your account. We do not send marketing email.

Device and service information

For each device you use, we store a device identifier generated by Backlit, the platform, app version, last sync position, and the last time the device reached the service. Backlit's release reminders are scheduled on the device itself, so no push token is collected and none is sent to our servers.

Our operational request logs record the requested address and the route you reached. A requested address can contain the numeric identifier of a game, while the route pattern leaves that value as a parameter name. The line also records the method, whether the request succeeded, how long it took, how large the answer was, a request id, the identifier the app generated for your device, and, on a signed-in request, the identifier your sign-in provider uses for you. If something you saved could not be written, the line also carries the identifier of that one item so the problem can be traced to it. These logs are kept for 30 days and are used to secure, operate, and debug the service. They are not used for advertising or product analytics. In plain terms: no game title, review text, note or photograph is in a log line.

Your library

We store the games you save and the information you add to them, including statuses, progress, playtime, sessions, finish records, ratings, reviews, notes, lists, list memberships, tags, grids, custom artwork choices, import records, and preferences.

The server is the system of record and each device keeps a full local mirror. The app reads from the mirror so your library remains available without a network connection. Changes made offline are sent when a connection is available.

Deletion markers may remain while your account exists so another device can learn that an item was removed. They are removed with the rest of the account when you delete it.

Profile information

If you create a profile, we store the optional handle, display name, bio, profile visibility, avatar, and header image you choose. The version 1.0 app presents profiles, ratings, reviews, and lists only to their owner. Its released interface has no public-profile, following, public-review, list-sharing, or public-activity door.

Accounts used before the public release may retain dormant follows, shares, or public-review markers in the service until their owners delete them. Version 1.0 neither presents nor creates that activity. Deleting the account removes those rows subject to the moderation exception below.

Moderation records

The version 1.0 app does not present public content or reporting. If a moderation record already exists, it may remain after an account is deleted when it is needed to investigate abuse, protect people using Backlit, or meet a legal obligation. The account link is removed when that account is deleted.

Images you upload

You can upload an avatar, profile header, replacement game cover, or replacement background. The app reduces the image before sending it. The image is uploaded directly to our storage on Amazon Web Services, and we keep a record tying the stored object to your account so it can be removed when you delete it or delete your account.

Uploaded images are delivered through a content URL so they can appear on your devices. Do not upload an image you do not have the right to use.

Purchases

Backlit uses RevenueCat to manage Backlit Plus. We store the product identifier, whether access is active, when it expires, and the customer identifier RevenueCat assigns, linked to your Backlit account.

Apple handles payment. Backlit and RevenueCat do not receive your card number. RevenueCat processes purchase information under its own privacy policy: https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.

Steam imports

If you connect Steam, Steam gives Backlit your Steam identifier and public profile information. Backlit uses the Steam Web API to read the games, playtime, and achievement information that your Steam privacy settings make available. We store the Steam identifier so the connection and later imports belong to the right Backlit account.

You sign in on Steam's page. Backlit never sees your Steam password. You can disconnect Steam in Backlit.

YouTube links

Some catalog entries include a YouTube video identifier. Backlit turns it into a normal YouTube web link only when you choose Open on YouTube. Version 1.0 does not call the YouTube Data API, request YouTube account access, or send your Backlit account or library to YouTube. Opening the link leaves Backlit and is then covered by YouTube's own terms and privacy policy.

Screenshots and catalog searches

When you add a game from a screenshot, Apple's Vision framework reads the text on your device. The source screenshot is not stored on our server. The extracted text is sent to our catalog service to find possible game matches.

IGDB and Twitch supply the catalog data Backlit mirrors. Individual searches, account identifiers, and library information are not sent to IGDB or Twitch.

RetroAchievements imports

If you choose to import from RetroAchievements, you give Backlit your public RetroAchievements username. Backlit sends that username to RetroAchievements with a Backlit-controlled server credential and receives your stable public RetroAchievements account identifier, games, and achievement progress. Backlit stores the username, stable account identifier, imported games, and achievement progress with your account so the import can appear in your library and be refreshed when you ask.

Backlit never asks for or stores your RetroAchievements password or personal API key. It contacts RetroAchievements only when you start an import or refresh.

Where information is stored

Your device holds a local mirror. Server data, uploaded images, authentication, and operational logs are hosted on Amazon Web Services in the United States. If you use Backlit from another country, your information is transferred to the United States.

Service providers and other recipients

We disclose information only as needed to run the service:

We require service providers processing personal information for Backlit to use it only for the service they provide and to protect it to at least the same standard described in this policy, subject to their own published terms and privacy commitments.

We do not sell or rent personal information. We do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use data brokers.

How long we keep information

Account and library information in active systems is kept while your account exists. Operational logs are kept for 30 days. Encrypted automated database backups can retain a point-in-time copy for up to seven days and then age out. They are isolated from the live service and used only for disaster recovery.

Apple, Google, Steam, RevenueCat, RetroAchievements, and Amazon may retain information under their own policies and legal obligations.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account inside Backlit. Before destructive work, Backlit verifies the authenticated sign-in identity and any Apple deletion credential the account requires. If that verification cannot complete, nothing is deleted. Once the service confirms deletion, it immediately removes the account, library, profile, relationships, and purchase entitlement record from the active database, and the app clears the local mirror on that device. It then removes your uploaded images. If storage does not complete that removal, an image may remain in active object storage while the request and an automatic hourly worker retry. During that retry we keep only the deleted account and sign-in identifiers and the exact object keys needed to find and remove those images. A signed upload link issued just before deletion can remain valid for up to 15 minutes, so we retain the cleanup record through that time plus a five-minute delivery margin and delete it only after a final storage removal succeeds. It has no fixed expiry if removal still fails, because discarding its object key would make the image impossible to find and delete. After an image is removed from object storage, it can remain in an edge delivery cache for up to five minutes. Encrypted database backups can retain a copy for up to seven days as described above. The app has no way to restore a deleted account.

Identity cleanup can finish after the active account and library are gone. If you signed in with Apple and Apple could not accept or complete revocation at that moment, we keep the encrypted refresh token, when one was captured, and the pseudonymous identifiers needed to retry. The token remains encrypted with AWS Key Management Service for its entire account-and-retry lifetime. We delete the retry record when Apple accepts the revocation. If Apple has not accepted it after 30 days, we delete the record anyway and stop retrying; that expiry does not mean Apple accepted the revocation. If the identity service could not remove your sign-in after the active account deletion committed, we keep its verified username, which may be your sign-in email address, and its opaque identifier only until that cleanup finishes, and then delete them. That sign-in cleanup record has no fixed expiry while deletion remains owed, because discarding the verified username would make the identity record impossible to delete reliably.

An unresolved report about your content can also outlive deletion. It stays in the moderation queue with your content removed from it, and nothing in it identifies you. Pending image removal, these cleanup records, bounded cache and backup copies do not leave the active account or library available in Backlit.

Deleting your Backlit account does not cancel an App Store subscription and does not delete purchase records held by Apple or RevenueCat. Manage or cancel the subscription through the Apple subscription-management screen linked in Backlit or through your Apple ID settings. Subscription management does not block account deletion.

If you want to keep your library, export it before deleting the account. The export is a file you control.

Getting a copy of your information

Backlit can export your library to a file from inside the app. For a request about other information associated with your account, email colin@nomorro.com.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or object to certain uses of your personal information. Email colin@nomorro.com to make a request. We may need to verify that the account is yours before acting on it.

Children

Backlit is not directed to children under 13, or below the minimum age required to consent to an online service where they live. If you believe a child has created an account contrary to this section, email colin@nomorro.com.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Backlit changes. The date at the top will show the latest version. If a material change affects how we collect or use personal information, we will provide notice in the app before it takes effect when required.

Contact

colin@nomorro.com