Fire Sprinkler Layout Prep is a study app for the NICET Water-Based Systems Layout certification. It is published by TapForge Studios, a one-person Android studio operating as 99 Cent Apps LLC in Crown Point, Indiana.
The short version: the app has no accounts, no sign-in and no servers. Your study progress never leaves your phone. The only data that goes anywhere is what Google's advertising SDK collects to serve ads, and that stops entirely if you buy the one-time Pro unlock.
What stays on your device
All of the following is written to local storage on your phone and is never transmitted, backed up to us, or synced anywhere:
- Which questions you have answered, and whether you got them right
- Your readiness and mastery scores for each of the twelve domains
- Mock exam results and elapsed times
- Flashcard and drill history, streak counts
- Your settings, including whether study reminders are switched on
- Your Pro unlock status
This is stored in a local database and a local preferences file inside the app's private storage area. Uninstalling the app deletes all of it permanently. We cannot recover it, because we never had a copy.
What we collect
Nothing. TapForge Studios operates no servers, collects no personal information, and has no analytics, crash reporting or telemetry of any kind in this app. There is no Firebase, no Crashlytics, no third-party analytics SDK. We do not know who you are, that you installed the app, or how you use it.
The aggregate statistics we can see are the ones Google Play shows every developer: install counts, country-level totals, ratings, and anonymised crash reports Android users choose to send to Google. None of it identifies anyone.
Advertising
The free version of the app shows ads through Google Mobile Ads (AdMob). Google, acting as an independent controller of that data, may collect and process:
- Your device's advertising ID, a resettable identifier
- Device and app information, such as model, operating system version and app version
- IP address, from which a coarse location such as country or region can be derived
- Ad interaction data, such as whether an ad was shown, viewed or tapped
The app declares the com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID permission for
this purpose. Google's handling of that data is governed by its own policies, not ours:
Consent
The app uses Google's User Messaging Platform to ask for consent where the law requires it, including the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland under the GDPR, and US states with applicable privacy legislation. If you decline personalised advertising, the app continues to work and you will see non-personalised ads instead. You can change your choice at any time from the app's Settings screen.
Turning ads off entirely
Buying the one-time Pro unlock removes all advertising from the app. Once purchased, no advertising SDK requests are made and no advertising identifier is read.
Purchases
Pro is a single one-time purchase, not a subscription. It is processed entirely by Google Play Billing. Google handles the payment; the app receives only a confirmation that an entitlement exists.
We never see, receive or store your card number, billing address, name or email address. For questions about a charge or a refund, contact Google Play support — we have no access to your payment records.
Permissions, and why each one exists
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
INTERNET | Loading ads, and contacting Google Play to verify a purchase. The study content is bundled in the app and needs no connection. |
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Checking whether a connection exists before attempting an ad or billing request. |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS | Optional study reminders. Decline it and everything else works normally. |
VIBRATE | Haptic feedback when answering questions. |
BILLING | The one-time Pro unlock. |
AD_ID | Required by Google Play for any app that serves ads via an advertising identifier. |
The app does not request location, camera, microphone, contacts, calendar, storage or phone permissions, and does not read anything from other apps.
Children
This is a professional certification study aid for people working in fire protection. It is not directed at children, is not enrolled in the Google Play Families programme, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided information through this app, contact us and we will look into it — though as described above, the app has no mechanism to send us information in the first place.
Your rights
Because we hold no personal data about you, there is generally nothing for us to disclose, correct or delete. What you can control directly:
- Delete everything the app stored — uninstall the app. All local study data is removed with it.
- Reset or delete your advertising ID — Android Settings → Privacy → Ads. You can reset it or remove it entirely.
- Withdraw advertising consent — use the privacy options entry in the app's Settings screen.
- Stop advertising data collection permanently — buy the Pro unlock, or uninstall.
If you are in the EEA, the UK, California or another jurisdiction with statutory data rights and you want to exercise them against Google as the advertising controller, use the Google links above. For anything directed at us, email the address below and we will respond within 30 days.
Not affiliated with NICET or NFPA
This app is an independent study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NICET, the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, or the National Fire Protection Association. Practice questions are written to the published topic outlines for the Water-Based Systems Layout program. They are not actual exam questions, and no exam content or copyrighted standard text is reproduced. Always study from the code editions and reference materials NICET lists for your own test date.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the effective date at the top of the page changes with it, and the previous version is superseded. Material changes will be noted in the app's release notes on Google Play.
Contact
TapForge Studios (99 Cent Apps LLC)
Crown Point, Indiana, United States
contact@tapforgeapps.com
Found a mistake in a practice question, or something in this policy that does not match what the app does? Email it in. Both get fixed.