Privacy Policy

1. Information kept on your device

The app saves your game on your device: unlocked levels, best scores and stars, the level you are playing, your Daily puzzle history and streak, statistics, settings such as sound, vibration, motion and appearance, your hint balance, and whether you have bought Remove Ads.

This information stays on your device and is removed when you delete the app. It is not sent to us except as described in the sections below.

2. Leaderboards

When you open the leaderboard, or start a timed level (Level 6 and later) or the Daily puzzle while online, the app signs in anonymously with Google Firebase Authentication. This creates a random identifier that is stored on your device. It is not linked to your name, email address, or Apple or Google account.

When you finish a ranked run, the app sends us:

• the level number and board layout, or the Daily puzzle date;
• each tap you made: the board position and its timing;
• your score;
• whether you used a hint or a second chance.

Runs that used a hint or a second chance are not ranked. Our server replays your taps to confirm the score is genuine. This automatic check only decides whether a score counts on the leaderboard. The server then stores, for each board, your best score, number of moves and mistakes, best combo, and the time you set it, plus your combined total. These are stored under a pseudonymous ID derived from your anonymous identifier. While a run is in progress, the server also keeps the time it started, and deletes that record when the run is submitted or replaced.

Other players see your total score, your rank, and a six-character code derived from your pseudonymous ID. They do not see anything else about you. Your own row shows "You" with your code. If you reinstall the app or clear its data, you get a new anonymous identity, and earlier scores stay on the leaderboard under the old code.

These services run on Google Cloud (Firebase Authentication, Cloud Functions and Cloud Firestore), including in the United States. Google also processes technical data, such as your IP address, to provide them. See Privacy and Security in Firebase.

3. Purchases

You buy Remove Ads and hint packs through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handles your payment, and we never see your card or bank details.

We use RevenueCat to confirm purchases and remember what you have bought. RevenueCat receives an anonymous app user ID, the product you bought, its price, currency and date, the store's transaction identifiers, your store country, and basic app and device information. See the RevenueCat Privacy Policy.

4. Advertising

The app does not currently use any advertising network, so no advertiser receives information about you or your device. If we add ads in a future version, we will update this policy before they appear, name the companies involved, and ask for your permission where the law or your device requires it.

5. Analytics and crash reports

The app does not send gameplay analytics or crash reports to us or to any analytics provider. The statistics you see in the app are worked out on your device. If we add an analytics or crash-reporting service in a future version, we will update this policy first and name the provider.

6. When you contact us

If you email us, we receive your email address, your message, and anything you choose to include, such as screenshots or your leaderboard code. We use them only to reply to you and help with your request. Our email provider stores these messages for us.

7. This website

This website does not use cookies, analytics or advertising. Our hosting provider processes technical information, such as IP addresses and request logs, to deliver pages and keep the site secure.

8. How we use information

We use the information described above only:

• to run the game, save your progress, and provide leaderboards;
• to verify scores and keep the leaderboards fair;
• to process, confirm and restore purchases;
• to reply when you contact us and fix problems you report;
• to meet our legal obligations and protect the game and its players.

9. Legal bases

Data protection laws, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and, for players in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the GDPR, require a legal basis for using personal information. We rely on:

• Contract: to provide the game, the leaderboards you choose to use, the purchases you make, and replies to your messages.
• Legitimate interests: to keep leaderboards fair and secure the service.
• Legal obligation: for records we must keep, such as for tax.
• Consent: only where we ask for your permission. You can withdraw it at any time.

We do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects using automated processing alone.

10. Who we share information with

We share information only with the service providers named in this policy: Google (Firebase), RevenueCat, Apple, Google Play, our email provider, and our website host. They process it on our behalf or under their own privacy policies. We may also share it when the law requires, to protect the rights and safety of players or others, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of the business.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising.

11. International transfers

Our service providers process information in the United States and other countries, which may be outside the country where you live. Where the law requires, these transfers rely on recognised safeguards, such as our providers' data processing terms and standard contractual clauses.

12. How long we keep information

• On your device: until you delete the app or its data.
• Unfinished ranked runs: until you submit that run or start another on the same board.
• Leaderboard scores and your anonymous identifier: for as long as the leaderboards are available, or until you ask us to delete your scores.
• Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting laws require.
• Support emails: up to two years after your last message, unless we need them longer to resolve a dispute.
• Information held by our service providers: under their own retention policies.

13. Your rights

Depending on where you live, including in Nigeria, the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, you may have the right to:

• be told how we use your personal information;
• access it and receive a copy;
• have it corrected or deleted;
• restrict or object to how we use it;
• move it to another service;
• withdraw any consent you have given.

To use these rights, email kolosafo@gmail.com. We will reply within 30 days and will not treat you differently for asking. You can also complain to a data protection authority. In Nigeria, this is the Nigeria Data Protection Commission. Elsewhere, contact the authority where you live.

14. Deleting your data

Deleting the app removes your progress, settings and anonymous identifier from your device.

To delete your leaderboard scores, open the leaderboard in the app, note the six-character code next to "You", and email it to kolosafo@gmail.com. Do this before you delete the app, because we don't know who you are and the code is the only way to find your scores. We will delete them within 30 days and confirm by email.

15. Children

Pathflare is not directed to children under 13, or the minimum age for consent in your country, such as 16 in parts of the European Union. We do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian before you make purchases or contact us. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

16. Security

We use reasonable safeguards. For example, leaderboard data can be read and written only through our verified server functions, not directly from the app. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

17. Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change and revise the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also let you know in the app or on this website.

18. Contact us

Haq E-services is responsible for your information. For questions or requests about your privacy, email kolosafo@gmail.com.