Follow The Villa ("the app", "we", "us") is an independent, unofficial fan app that brings publicly available Aston Villa content from third-party platforms into a single feed, alongside fixtures, a table, and The Predictor, a free score-prediction game with a leaderboard. This policy explains what data the app collects, why, who it's shared with, and the choices you have.
The short version
- You can browse the feed, fixtures, table and news without an account.
- If you create an account, we store your email, display name, and your predictions, votes and preferences. Your display name, avatar, points and predictions are visible to other users on the leaderboard.
- We use OneSignal to send push notifications, only if you allow them.
- We don't sell your data, show ads, use advertising identifiers, or track you across other apps and websites.
- You can delete your account and its data at any time from inside the app.
Information we collect
When you browse without an account
The app requests content listings, fixtures and news from our server. These requests contain no personal identifiers. Like any internet request, our server receives your device's IP address, which is used only to serve the response and for routine security and abuse prevention. We don't use it to build a profile of you.
When you create an account
An account is needed for The Predictor, favourites, and choosing which channels appear in your feed. Depending on how you sign up, we store:
- Email address: to identify your account and let you sign in. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose "Hide My Email", we receive Apple's relay address instead of your real one.
- Password: only if you sign up with email; stored as a one-way hash, never in readable form.
- Sign-in provider ID: if you use Sign in with Apple or Google, the identifier that provider gives us for your account.
- Profile photo link: if you sign in with Google, the link to your Google profile photo, used as your avatar. Apple doesn't provide one; other accounts get an initials avatar.
- Display name: the name you choose, shown to other users.
- Predictions, man-of-the-match votes and points: what you enter in The Predictor and the points you earn.
- Preferences: the channels you've favourited or turned off.
Push notifications
If you allow notifications, the app registers your device with OneSignal, our push notification provider. OneSignal receives your device's push token and, if you're signed in, our internal account ID (not your email or name), along with tags recording which channels you've favourited and whether you've turned on Predictor reminders, so we can send you only the notifications you've asked for. You can turn notifications off at any time in the app's Settings or your device settings.
Bug reports
If you choose to report a bug (from Settings, or by shaking your phone), we receive the description you type plus your app version, device model and operating system version, to help us reproduce the problem. Reports are filed in our private issue tracker on GitHub. Please don't include personal information in the description.
Reports and blocks
If you report another user, we store the report (who reported whom, the reason, any details you add, and the reported user's display name at the time) and file it in our private issue tracker on GitHub so it can be reviewed. The reported user isn't told who reported them. If you block someone, we store that so we can hide them from you; they aren't told.
Waiting lists
If you joined one of our waiting lists (for example, before The Predictor launched), we hold the email address you submitted, and nothing else.
Anonymous feature interest
When you see or tap a card for a feature that isn't built yet, we record which card it was (the feature, screen and fixture) together with a random identifier generated by the app on your device. That identifier isn't linked to your account, email or anything else about you. It only lets us count how many different people are interested rather than how many taps there were. It's reset if you reinstall the app.
The app does not use analytics SDKs, advertising identifiers, or third-party tracking services.
What other users can see
If you have an account, other users of the app can see your display name, avatar, total points, rank, and your predictions (for example, on the leaderboard and in a fixture's list of predictions). Choose a display name you're comfortable being public. Your email address is never shown to other users.
How we use your information
- To run your account and The Predictor: saving predictions, scoring them, and showing the leaderboard.
- To personalise your feed based on the channels you favourite or turn off.
- To send push notifications you've opted into.
- To investigate and fix bugs you report.
- To review reports and enforce our Terms of Use.
- To keep the service secure and prevent abuse.
We don't use your data for advertising or send marketing emails.
Who we share it with
We don't sell, rent or trade your personal data. We share it only with the service providers that help us run the app, and only as needed for them to do so:
- Railway: hosts our server and database.
- OneSignal: delivers push notifications (privacy policy).
- GitHub: stores bug reports and user reports in a private issue tracker (privacy statement).
- Apple and Google: if you choose to sign in with them, they handle that sign-in under their own privacy policies.
We may also disclose information if required by law.
Some of these providers process data outside the UK (for example, in the United States). Where they do, it is protected by appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or Standard Contractual Clauses.
Lawful basis
Under UK data protection law, we rely on:
- Contract: to provide your account and The Predictor when you sign up.
- Consent: for push notifications and waiting-list emails. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Legitimate interests: to keep the service secure and to fix bugs you report.
How long we keep it
- Account data (email, display name, predictions, votes, points, preferences) is kept until you delete your account. Deleting your account removes it from our database immediately and permanently, along with your sign-in sessions.
- Bug reports are kept for as long as needed to investigate and fix the issue.
- User reports are kept while they're reviewed and for a reasonable period afterwards, in case of repeat problems. Blocks last until you unblock someone or delete your account.
- Waiting-list emails are kept until the feature launches and we've let you know, or until you ask us to remove them.
- Push notification records held by OneSignal are removed if you uninstall the app or ask us to delete them.
Information stored on your device
The app stores the following on your device:
- Cached content: recently fetched feed items (titles, thumbnails, dates, links) so the app loads faster and works briefly offline. You can clear this in Settings → Clear cached content, or by deleting the app.
- Your in-app preferences: such as whether you've seen the onboarding.
- A random install identifier: used only for the anonymous feature-interest counts described above.
- Sign-in tokens: if you have an account, these are kept in your device's secure storage (the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore) so you stay signed in.
Cookies on this website
The followthevilla.com website (separate from the app) uses Google Analytics to understand roughly how many people visit and how they use the site (for example, which pages are viewed). This only runs if you accept the cookie banner shown on your first visit; declining keeps it off.
- Google Analytics sets cookies to distinguish visitors and sessions.
- We don't use this to identify you personally, and we don't combine it with any account or waiting-list email.
- Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage. Clearing it (or your browser's site data for followthevilla.com) will show the banner again.
- See Google's Privacy Policy for how Google itself processes this data.
Third-party content and links
The app displays content published on third-party platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and X. Playing or opening this content, whether embedded in the app or opened in an external app or browser, means interacting with that platform, and its own privacy policy and terms apply. We don't control and aren't responsible for their data practices.
- YouTube / Google Privacy Policy
- TikTok Privacy Policy
- Spotify Privacy Policy
- Apple Privacy Policy
- X Privacy Policy
Children's privacy
The app is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.
Your rights
You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data, and to object to or restrict how we use it. In practice:
- Correct your display name at any time from the Account screen.
- Delete your account and everything tied to it from Account → Delete account in the app, or at followthevilla.com/delete-account if you don't have the app installed. If you signed up with Apple or Google (so have no password), email us from your account's email address instead. Deletion is immediate and permanent.
- Access a copy of what we hold, or make any other request, by contacting us using the details below.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Affiliation
Follow The Villa is an independent, unofficial application. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aston Villa Football Club, nor by any of the third-party platforms whose content it displays. All trademarks and content belong to their respective owners.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to: everyweekwefollowavfc@gmail.com