Legal

Gamble B Gone Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 13, 2026
Developer: Forgewell Studios
Contact: dax@consultant.com
App: Gamble B Gone for Android (package com.forgewell.gamblebgone), version 1.2.8 and later

The short version

Gamble B Gone blocks gambling websites on your phone. It has no accounts, no servers, no analytics, no ads and no crash-reporting tools. Forgewell Studios never receives your personal data. Almost everything the app does happens on your phone. The two exceptions are normal DNS lookups for websites that aren't blocked, which go to public DNS services, and payments, which Google Play handles.

All features are 100% voluntary. You opt in after seeing plain-language screens that explain what the app will do (setup, Maximum Protection / Maximum Lockdown disclosure, and the commitment screen). Nothing strong turns on until you choose it.

Blocking websites (VPN on your phone)

Gamble B Gone uses Android's VPN feature only as a filter on your phone. It does not send your internet traffic to a VPN server.

  • When an app or browser looks up a website name (a "DNS lookup"), Gamble B Gone checks the name against a gambling blocklist built into the app, plus any sites you add yourself.
  • Blocked names are answered on your phone, so the site doesn't load.
  • Names that aren't blocked are passed on to public DNS services (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1 and Google 8.8.8.8, plus their IPv6 addresses) so the website can load. This is the same kind of lookup your phone makes without the app. These lookups use standard, unencrypted DNS. Cloudflare and Google handle them under their own privacy policies.
  • Only website names pass through the filter. The app never sees the content of pages or other traffic. It does not keep a list of the sites you visit, and nothing is sent to us.

Data kept on your phone only

The app stores the following in its private storage on your phone. None of it is sent to us or anyone else, and none of it is included in Android cloud backups or device transfers:

  • Your commitment: its length, start and end times, and whether it was set up by you or by a guardian
  • Websites you added to the blocklist
  • Your free-trial start time, which plan you bought (product ID), and the last prices Google Play showed you
  • Setup progress and preferences, such as which tips you dismissed
  • Your daily pledge streak (check-in dates and a count). The pledge text you type is checked and then thrown away.
  • Which known gambling apps were found on your phone, so you aren't warned twice
  • Maximum Lockdown: that you agreed to the in-app explanation, and when. Starting in 1.2.8 there is no in-app unlock code or password stored for this feature.
  • Guardian mode: a salted one-way hash of the guardian's PIN (never the PIN itself) and a count of wrong tries
  • Results of the tamper check (see below)

Commitment seal file. While a commitment runs, the app also writes a small file, Documents/GambleBGone/commitment.seal, to your phone's shared storage. It holds only the commitment length, start and end times, and setup status. It exists so that uninstalling and reinstalling can't end a commitment early. Uninstalling the app doesn't delete it. After the commitment ends the file is ignored, and you can delete it with any file manager. It is never sent anywhere.

Maximum Protection / Maximum Lockdown (Accessibility service)

Maximum Lockdown is optional. It stays off unless you turn it on yourself after reading a separate in-app explanation and agreeing to it. Starting in 1.2.8 it is a one-click control on the Protection page. There is no in-app password screen to enable it.

  • What it reads: Android sends Accessibility events from all apps, but Gamble B Gone ignores everything except Android Settings, the package installer, the Google Play Store and Samsung Home. In those apps it reads the text on screen, only to recognise screens about Gamble B Gone that would switch it off:
  • its VPN / Always-on VPN settings;
  • Device Admin deactivation;
  • App info (force stop, clear storage);
  • uninstall;
  • its own Accessibility page;
  • Reset network settings.
  • What it does: while a commitment is active, it taps Cancel on that screen, or presses Back and then Home. It does nothing else. It doesn't use gestures, type anything, or touch other apps or other settings.
  • What it keeps: nothing. Screen text is checked in memory and then thrown away. It is never stored, logged or sent anywhere, and never used for ads or analytics.
  • When it stops: as soon as the commitment ends, Maximum Lockdown stands down completely on its own.

Guardian mode (parents, guardians and accountability partners)

When a commitment is set up, it can be marked as "Set up by a parent / guardian / accountability partner". That person chooses the commitment length and a 4–8 digit PIN. The app keeps only a salted one-way hash of the PIN, on the phone. Entering the correct PIN in the app ends the commitment early. After several wrong tries, the app makes you wait before trying again. Nothing about guardian mode is sent anywhere.

Device Admin

If you enable it, Gamble B Gone becomes a Device Admin app with no admin powers at all. It can't lock, wipe, change passwords or read anything. Being an active admin simply means Android asks you to deactivate it before uninstalling. That turns uninstalling into a deliberate two-step process.

Tamper check

To stop the commitment from being bypassed, the app looks for signs of tampering:

  • a fixed list of rooting and app-patching apps named in the app's manifest (for example Magisk, Lucky Patcher and Xposed);
  • root files;
  • test-key or debuggable builds;
  • emulators (by reading build details such as manufacturer and model);
  • whether this app's signature has been changed;
  • whether its storage was wiped.

If one is found during a commitment, protection stays on until the end date. The results stay on your phone.

Gambling app check

The app checks only for a fixed list of known gambling apps (sportsbooks, casinos, poker). It can't see your other apps. If one is found, it suggests uninstalling it. The result stays on your phone.

Notifications

Gamble B Gone shows notifications for:

  • protection status (including the notice Android requires while the filter runs);
  • a daily 9 AM check-in message;
  • a warning if a known gambling app is installed or Device Admin is switched off;
  • free-trial reminders.

All of them are created on your phone, and no server sends them. You can turn any of them off in Android settings.

Purchases (Google Play)

After the 7-day free trial, Gamble B Gone offers a monthly subscription (gbg_premium_monthly, $5.99/month) and a one-time lifetime unlock (gbg_premium_lifetime, $45). Google Play handles payment under Google's own terms and privacy policy. The app only receives purchase status and product IDs from Google Play to unlock features. We never see your card or payment details. You can manage or cancel a subscription in the app (Dashboard → "Manage or cancel subscription in Google Play") or in Google Play → Payments & subscriptions.

When a commitment ends

At the end date (or earlier, if a guardian enters the PIN in guardian mode):

  • Maximum Lockdown stops acting;
  • the tamper and storage-wipe locks are released;
  • you can turn protection off in the app;
  • you can deactivate Device Admin and uninstall the app normally.

The app checks the stored end date each time it runs, so this also works after the phone restarts. Some things stay with you as Android settings. If you turned on Always-on VPN, switch it off in Android's VPN settings.

Emergency path outside the app: in a true emergency, Android Safe Mode is a high-effort way to uninstall while Accessibility is not running. That path is intentional friction, not required for a normal end-of-commitment exit.

Children and parental use

Gamble B Gone is meant for adults who want help with gambling, and for parents, guardians or accountability partners who set it up on someone's phone, including a teenager's. It isn't directed at children under 13 and isn't part of Google Play's Designed for Families program. Forgewell Studios receives no personal information from anyone, including children. The only data that leaves the phone is the website-name lookups described above. A parent or guardian who sets it up on a child's phone should tell the child what it does.

Keeping and deleting your data

All app data lives on your phone. Uninstalling the app deletes it, apart from the commitment seal file described above, which you can delete yourself. If Device Admin is on, Android asks you to deactivate it first, and you can do that once the commitment has ended. We hold no data about you on any server, so we have nothing to delete. You can still email us with any request.

What we don't do

  • No analytics, advertising or crash-reporting SDKs. The app's only outside libraries are Android Jetpack (AndroidX), Kotlin coroutines and the Google Play Billing Library.
  • No advertising ID, no tracking, no selling or sharing of personal data.
  • No accounts, no email or password collection, no developer servers.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the effective date above. If a change is significant, we'll also mention it in the app's release notes.

Contact

Forgewell Studios: dax@consultant.com