Privacy policy

1. Progress and device settings

The game stores your level results, stars, coin and hint balances, unlocked cosmetics and solutions, achievement claims, and tutorial progress on your device. Sound, motion, haptic and notification preferences, your acceptance of our Terms and Privacy Policy, and setup choices are also stored locally. This information lets the game remember your progress and choices.

When platform cloud saving is available and you are signed in, progress can sync through Google Play Games Saved Games on Android or Apple Game Center and iCloud on iOS. Sync may happen automatically after play, when the app opens or resumes, and after progress changes. Saves include your game inventory and results; device preferences, terms acceptance and notification choices stay local. A previous local save may be kept as a backup when cloud progress replaces it.

Platform player identifiers help associate the correct save with your account. Your platform display name may appear in the game. We do not receive your Google or Apple password. Google and Apple process account, device and game-activity information under their own policies. Cloud saves currently work within the same platform; Android-to-iOS transfer is not provided.

2. Advertising and consent

Paint Pals includes Google's AdMob SDK for optional rewarded ads, automatic ad breaks and banners in supporting versions. Automatic ads appear at eligible completion transitions subject to the game's timing and introductory-play safeguards, rather than interrupting an unfinished puzzle. Banners appear on selected menus and result screens. Remove Ads and Ad-free + 5× Rewards disable automatic breaks and banners; optional rewarded offers remain available. Development builds use test ads. Test ads do not mean that the SDK processes no device information.

When the ad SDK runs, Google may collect and share your IP address and approximate location inferred from it, advertising or other device identifiers, app and ad interactions, and diagnostic or performance information. These support ad delivery, measurement, analytics, security and fraud prevention, and ad personalization where permitted. Paint Pals does not request GPS location for gameplay.

Paint Pals is intended for players aged 13 and older, and current versions do not ask for your age. On Android, ads may be personalized where permitted by your consent choices and Google's settings; other eligible ad types, including non-personalized or limited ads, may be served according to those choices. Earlier Android versions and current iOS versions request non-personalized ads. All ad requests use a G-rated ad content limit. Earlier versions that asked for an age range applied child-directed or restricted age treatment based on that choice. Google's publisher first-party ID remains disabled, and the app does not request Apple's tracking permission. These choices do not prevent all SDK data processing described above. The game uses Google’s User Messaging Platform to check consent requirements and show privacy messages when required. You can revisit available ad consent options through Settings → Privacy & updates → Privacy → Ad privacy choices. The button appears when Google requires a privacy-options entry point. Consent status and choices may be stored on your device and processed by Google to apply your preferences. We do not treat this policy as your consent. You can report an inappropriate ad through Privacy → Report an ad or the ad's own reporting controls. You can decline optional rewarded-ad offers. A reward is granted only after the SDK reports that it was earned.

Supporting Android versions also include Unity Ads through AdMob mediation. Unity may serve an ad when it is eligible and selected by AdMob. When the Unity Ads SDK runs, Unity may process device and advertising identifiers, IP address and approximate location, ad interactions, and diagnostic information for advertising, measurement, security and fraud prevention, with personalization subject to applicable choices. We do not use a general permission to request ads as permission for personalized Unity ads. Unity also provides privacy controls through the Unity Data Privacy icon in its ads, including options for opting out and requesting access or deletion. See Unity’s Game Player and App User Privacy Policy and Unity Ads data disclosures.

Google describes its practices in its Privacy Policy and information about partner apps. See also the AdMob data disclosure. Ad data is not a separate player database controlled by us.

3. In-app purchases

Paint Pals offers consumable coin packs and one-time permanent purchases, including Remove Ads, Ad-free + 5× Rewards, and All Solutions, where available in your platform store. Apple’s App Store or Google Play processes payment through your store account. TestFlight and other sandbox purchases are test transactions.

The game uses Unity In-App Purchasing to request product information, process and validate purchases, deliver content and restore permanent ownership. It handles product identifiers, transaction identifiers, receipts or purchase tokens, and purchase status. Local purchase records and hashed transaction markers prevent the same purchase from granting coins twice. Transaction markers are included in progress backups and same-platform cloud saves; permanent ownership is checked separately with the store.

We use Unity In-App Purchasing 5.4. Unity documents processing of installation and session identifiers, device information, country, and player identifiers where available, as well as purchase-related data to provide its purchase services. The information handled depends on the store and enabled SDK features. Our game does not offer a Unity account sign-in or ask for your email address to make a store purchase. Disabling optional analytics does not mean that purchase-service processing stops. See Unity’s Privacy Policy and its IAP privacy information. We do not receive your full payment-card details or store password. We do not operate a central database of individual players’ purchases. If you contact us about a purchase, we may use the order details you provide and the relevant store’s support tools to investigate it.

Permanent purchases can be restored using the same platform store account. Consumable coin packs are not restored as permanent purchases; their remaining balance may be preserved in your saved progress. Remove Ads and the 5× bundle leave optional rewarded-ad offers available.

4. Support and this website

If you email us, we receive your email address and anything you choose to include, such as a message, device details or screenshots. We use this to answer you, troubleshoot the game and handle privacy requests. Please do not send passwords, payment-card details or unnecessary personal information.

This policy page has no advertising, analytics scripts, contact forms or cookies added by us. This page is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Cloudflare may process ordinary request information, such as IP address, browser details and access time, to deliver and secure the page. See Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy. Email and hosting services process information needed to provide those services.

5. Use, sharing and international processing

We use information to provide gameplay and saved progress, deliver and measure ads where enabled, respond to support requests, secure the service and meet legal obligations. Supporting versions send gameplay analytics and recent diagnostics to our reporting services, and signed-in players can contribute scores to our leaderboard service, as described below. These services are separate from platform cloud saves. Older versions may have different features or collection defaults. The operational and diagnostic processing described for ads, purchases and messaging may still occur.

Information is processed by the relevant providers described above, including Google, Apple, Unity, Cloudflare and our email provider. We may disclose information we hold when required by law or reasonably necessary to address fraud, security incidents or legal claims. We do not sell a player contact list. Advertising-related sharing is described above and may have specific meanings under your local privacy law.

Providers may process information outside your country. Their privacy policies describe their international processing and protections. Where applicable law requires a legal basis, we rely on providing the requested service for gameplay, saves and purchase delivery; consent for optional notifications and other processing that requires it; legitimate interests in answering support requests and preventing fraud, where those interests are not overridden by your rights; and legal obligations where records must be kept or requests answered. Providers may have separate legal bases for information they use for their own purposes. Contact us for information about a particular activity or international transfer.

6. Gameplay analytics and recent diagnostics

Supporting versions use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand usage and puzzle difficulty, improve the game and measure ad delivery. In current Android releases, gameplay analytics is enabled by default when no preference has been saved. An existing explicit opt-out remains off. You can turn it off or on in Privacy → Gameplay analytics and continue playing. Build 31 used a separate opt-in prompt; older versions may not include these features. The analytics setting is separate from advertising consent and notification permission.

When enabled, our custom events describe level starts and completions, the game or event played (Paint Pals, Paint Flip, Arrow Flow, Daily or Weekly puzzles), moves, stars, active playing time, retries, exits and hint use. Ad diagnostics include requests, loads, SDK-confirmed impressions, rewards, failures and skipped placements using limited reason and error codes. Events include the app build and platform. Firebase also processes an app-instance identifier, first opens, sessions, engagement and app/device information; it can derive approximate location from masked IP addresses and automatically record purchase or subscription events, including products and prices, when purchases occur.

Our custom analytics events do not include your name, email, platform gaming-account identifier, purchase receipts or complete saved-game file. We do not set a separate Google Analytics user ID. We disable advertising-identifier collection for our Analytics integration and keep its advertising-storage, advertising-user-data and advertising-personalisation consent settings denied. This does not disable the separate processing performed by the AdMob, store or platform-game services described elsewhere in this policy. App-instance identifiers are pseudonymous, not anonymous.

While gameplay analytics is enabled, supporting versions also send a recent diagnostic feed to our private dashboard using Google Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore. This uses a pseudonymous installation account, session and event identifiers, event times, build/platform details and the limited gameplay/ad events described above. The live record holds a rolling tail of up to 40 events per reporting installation. Updated versions also send a running summary for that installation: when it first and last reported, session count, time spent in the app and in puzzles, puzzle attempts, completions, hints and solutions used, activity for roughly the last 35 days, per-puzzle results (attempts, finishes, best stars and moves, time) and a snapshot of game progress (levels completed and stars in each game, coin and hint balances, last puzzle played, and whether the game is signed in to a platform account). It does not contain your complete saved game, email or platform password. Current versions upload shortly after startup and then about every 30 seconds of active use; we can change this interval or switch reporting off remotely, and earlier builds used longer intervals. Network failures may cause retries sooner.

The diagnostic record is separate from your Play Games or Game Center account, but our dashboard can show it alongside the same installation’s leaderboard name (a generated guest name, or your platform gamer name after you sign in) so that we can support players and understand progress. This feed is for diagnostics and game improvement, not a complete history of every event.

Google Analytics manages its own batching, offline delivery and report processing. Turning Gameplay Analytics off stops future collection and direct diagnostic uploads and clears pending direct-feed events on the device. It does not automatically erase previously received data. Analytics retention depends on the service and property settings. The latest direct-feed record, its running summary and its installation account can remain after you stop playing; the 40-event limit is not a timed deletion promise. Contact us for access or deletion requests. See Firebase privacy information and Google’s Privacy Policy.

7. Online leaderboards and result sharing

In current Android versions, the game takes part in our online rankings automatically after you complete your first level, without requiring sign-in. Until you sign in, your entry appears under a generated guest name (for example, an adjective, a noun and three digits) linked to the game’s pseudonymous installation account. If you sign in to Google Play Games, we verify the platform player identifier and receive your platform gamer name, which then replaces the guest name; the earlier guest entry is archived rather than merged into another account. Current iOS versions can view rankings but do not submit scores.

Rankings show one Overall board counting best stars from Paint Pals, Paint Flip and Arrow Flow. Our service stores a player record with the display name, completed-level identifiers, best stars per game, calculated scores and achievement times used to order equal scores. Your display name, rank and score are visible to other players; achievement times are used for ranking and are not displayed. Choose a gamer name you are comfortable showing publicly. We do not receive your platform password. Ranking submission is part of the game and continues if you turn Gameplay Analytics off; contact us if you want your entry removed.

The leaderboard service uses Google Firebase hosting/database services, with authentication, temporary session records and security/rate-limit records to protect the service. Signing out stops further account-linked score updates but does not itself delete an existing leaderboard record or guest entry. Contact us to request removal; continued sign-in and score synchronisation may recreate a removed record. Platform cloud-save deletion and our leaderboard-record deletion are separate.

When you choose a Share button, the game opens your device's sharing controls with an app link or text describing the selected puzzle or challenge result. You choose the recipient or app and whether to send it. The destination service handles the shared content under its own policies. Choosing Rate opens the store when a listing is available; we do not receive or verify the rating you submit.

8. Optional notifications

Notifications are optional. You can choose to enable daily play reminders and occasional Paint Pals news and updates through the in-game invitation or Settings. Your phone may also ask you to allow notifications. We use Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and, on Apple devices, Apple Push Notification service to deliver game news and remote updates after you opt in. Daily reminders are scheduled locally as described below. The messaging service processes an app-installation identifier, registration token and, on Apple devices, an APNs token. It also processes associated device and app information, such as device model, language, time zone, operating-system version and app version, to manage notification subscriptions and delivery. We do not run our own notification-token database or link notifications to your puzzle progress. Notification permission and Gameplay Analytics are separate settings; changing one does not grant or withdraw the other.

If you opt in to daily play reminders, your phone schedules a daily reminder with rotating playful messages. These reminders are scheduled locally and do not require uploading your play history or using Firebase to send each reminder. You can turn notifications, including daily reminders, off in Settings or your phone’s notification settings. Operating-system settings and battery restrictions may delay or suppress delivery.

You can turn notifications off in the game or in your phone’s notification settings. Turning them off in the game requests removal from the notification topic and unregisters the app from Firebase messaging; an internet connection is needed to complete those requests. Turning them off does not itself delete the Firebase installation record or all provider logs. Deleting a messaging token and deleting the installation record are different operations. For access or deletion requests involving notification-service data, contact us so we can identify the relevant service and arrange the applicable request. Google documents a separate installation-deletion process; information it holds for its own purposes may have different retention rules. See Firebase privacy information and contact us for help with privacy requests.

9. Retention, deletion and your choices

• Local progress: retained on your device until app data is cleared or removed. Device or operating-system backups may retain copies. On Android, use the device's app-storage controls to clear data; on iOS, deleting the app removes its local app data, while offloading may retain it.
• Cloud progress: can remain after uninstalling and may restore when you sign in again. Remove the cloud copy as well if you want to erase saved progress. Use Google's Play Games data-deletion controls or Apple's iCloud storage controls where Paint Pals data is listed. Signing out alone does not delete a cloud save. If you keep playing with cloud saving active, remaining local progress may be uploaded again. Contact us for help locating the relevant controls; there is currently no in-game control that deletes every local and cloud copy together.
• Gameplay analytics and recent diagnostics: turn Gameplay Analytics off to stop future reporting. Contact us to request access or deletion of previously received records. We may need limited information to locate a pseudonymous installation, and will explain what can be identified and deleted. Uninstalling or opting out does not automatically erase server records; provider retention, backups and lawful retention requirements can still apply.
• Leaderboards: contact us with your gamer name, platform and app version to request removal. We may need additional limited information to verify the relevant record. Do not send account passwords. Signing out prevents further score updates, but deleting a cloud save or uninstalling does not automatically remove leaderboard data.
• Advertising: use your device's advertising-ID and privacy settings, and consent controls where available. Revoking consent affects future processing; it does not undo processing that already lawfully occurred. Google handles retention and deletion of data held in its own systems under its policy.
• Purchase-service data: email us if you want to access or request deletion of personal data handled by Unity’s purchase services for Paint Pals. We will verify the request and, where Unity processes the data for us, submit the request to Unity. For data Unity uses for its own purposes, Unity asks the player to contact unity-iap-contact@unity3d.com directly. We can explain which route applies. This does not delete Apple’s or Google’s store purchase history or guarantee deletion of records they must retain. See Unity’s purchase-data request procedure.
• Support messages: kept only for as long as needed to resolve your request, maintain necessary support records or address legal obligations and disputes. You may request deletion of information we hold.
• Store records: Apple, Google and relevant purchase-service providers may retain transaction and payment records under their own retention and legal requirements. Local ownership records and transaction markers are retained to restore purchases and prevent duplicate grants. Uninstalling the app does not delete the store’s purchase history.

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, restrict or object to processing, withdraw consent, or complain to your local data-protection authority. Contact us to exercise rights over information we hold. We may ask for limited information needed to verify and locate a request. We will explain any applicable exception or retention requirement rather than promise deletion of every record. We respond within the period required by applicable law. We cannot delete your Google or Apple account or directly erase information controlled only by those providers.

10. Age and security

Paint Pals is intended for players aged 13 and older and is not directed to children. Current versions do not ask for your age and do not provide child-directed advertising treatment. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, contact us so we can investigate and delete information we hold as appropriate. Where local law requires parental permission for a young person's data processing, that requirement still applies.

Some earlier versions asked once for an age range (under 13, 13–17, or 18 and older) and used it only to choose advertising treatment. That choice stayed on the device and was not included in cloud progress. Current versions no longer ask or use it.

We use reasonable measures to protect information we handle. Our direct reporting and leaderboard connections use HTTPS. Google states that AdMob and Firebase Analytics SDK data is encrypted in transit. Local saves rely on your device's protections. No storage or transmission method is completely secure.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the game and its services change. The effective date above identifies the current version. Material changes will be explained through an updated policy and additional notice or consent where required.