Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 5 March 2026 Last Updated: 5 March 2026

1. Who We Are

Apps Foundry Labs Ltd operates the Sudoku Masters: World Champion application. Our company details are:

  • Company Number: 16288141
  • Incorporated: 3 March 2025
  • Type: Private limited company
  • Business Classification: 58290 – Other software publishing
  • Address: Unit 7, 97 Western Road, Southall, England, UB2 5HN
  • Email: privacy@appsfoundrylabs.com

We act as Data Controller under UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018, EU GDPR, CCPA, and Australian Privacy Act 1988.

2. Information We Collect

User-Provided Information

  • Display name / username
  • Email address (optional, for email sign-in)
  • Country code (2-letter, for leaderboards)
  • Profile photo (optional)
  • Apple ID or Google account credentials (if using social sign-in)

Automatically Collected Information

  • Device type and OS version
  • App version
  • Gameplay statistics (puzzles completed, best times, streaks, level, XP)
  • Crash reports and diagnostics (Firebase Crashlytics)
  • Anonymised usage events (Firebase Analytics)
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging token (if notifications enabled)
  • Platform identifier (iOS or Android)

Purchase & Virtual Currency Information

We record your subscription status, expiry date, and coin transaction history (coins earned from gameplay, ads, and purchases; coins spent on hints and undos). Purchase validation is handled by RevenueCat, which receives your app user ID, product identifiers, and transaction identifiers. Payment card details are processed directly by Apple or Google and are never collected or stored by us. Virtual coins have no real-world monetary value and cannot be exchanged for real currency.

Publicly Visible Information

When you participate in leaderboards, certain information is made publicly available:

  • Your display name or username
  • Your country and continent (derived from your selected country or IP-based geolocation)
  • Your best puzzle solve time
  • Your puzzle completion count
  • Your leaderboard rank position

This information is displayed on in-app leaderboards (visible to all authenticated users) and on our public website at sudokumasters.app/leaderboards (accessible to anyone without an account). We do not display your email address, profile photo, coin balance, or internal user ID on public leaderboards.

IP-Based Geolocation

We use your IP address to determine your approximate country and continent for leaderboard placement and regional rankings. This derived country code is stored in your user profile. You may also manually set your country in your profile settings.

Profile Photos

If you upload a profile photo, it is stored in Firebase Storage and displayed alongside your profile within the app. Profile photos are visible to other authenticated users who view leaderboard entries in the app. Profile photos are NOT displayed on the public website leaderboards.

Shareable Rank Cards

The app allows you to generate and share rank cards showing your display name, rank positions (global, continent, country), best solve time, and country flag. Sharing is entirely voluntary and user-initiated via your device’s share functionality. Shared cards may include a link to the public leaderboard website. We do not control or track what happens to rank cards after you share them.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data for the following purposes:

  • Account creation and management
  • Saving gameplay progress and statistics
  • Displaying leaderboard rankings
  • Regional leaderboard placement using IP-derived geolocation
  • Public leaderboard display on our website (sudokumasters.app/leaderboards)
  • Generating shareable rank cards at your request
  • Managing in-app purchases and ad delivery
  • Delivering push notifications for rank changes, milestone achievements, and re-engagement (when enabled)
  • Analytics and performance improvement (anonymised only)
  • Identifying and fixing technical issues
  • Legal compliance

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Contract: Core services including account creation, gameplay, and leaderboards.

Legitimate interests: Security, fraud prevention, crash reporting, and product improvement.

Consent: Optional features like push notifications, profile photos, and camera access.

Legal obligation: When required by law or regulators.

5. Advertising

The App displays advertisements to free (non-premium) users through Google AdMob. We use non-personalised ads only — we do not engage in behavioural tracking, user profiling, or interest-based advertising. The AdMob integration is configured with the npa=1 (non-personalised ads) flag. We do not collect or transmit the Apple IDFA or Google Advertising ID. We do not request App Tracking Transparency (ATT) consent because we do not track users across apps or websites. AdMob may receive coarse location data (country-level, derived from IP) and basic device information (device type, OS version) as part of standard ad serving. Premium subscribers (Sudoku Masters+) do not see any advertisements.

6. Sharing Your Data

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share data with the following service providers, each acting as a Data Processor:

  • Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Functions, Analytics, Crashlytics, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging): Core app infrastructure. Data processed under Google Cloud’s Data Processing Terms.
  • RevenueCat: Purchase validation and subscription management. Receives your app user ID, product identifiers, transaction identifiers, and platform. See RevenueCat’s privacy policy at https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.
  • Google AdMob: Non-personalised ad serving for free users. Receives coarse location and device type. See Google’s advertising privacy policy.
  • Apple App Store / Google Play Store: Payment processing for in-app purchases and subscriptions. We do not receive or store payment card details.

Public Disclosure: Your display name, country, best solve time, puzzle count, and rank are displayed on public leaderboards accessible at sudokumasters.app/leaderboards. This data is served via a cached API endpoint and does not require authentication to view.

User-Initiated Sharing: When you choose to share a rank card, the image or video file and accompanying text are sent via your device’s native share functionality to the platform(s) you select. We do not control the privacy practices of those platforms.

We may also disclose data to legal authorities when required by law, regulation, or valid legal process.

7. International Data Transfers

Data may be processed outside the UK using:

  • Adequacy decisions for approved countries
  • Standard Contractual Clauses approved by UK/EU
  • EU-US Data Privacy Framework certified providers

8. Your Rights

You may have the right to:

  • Access: Request a copy of your personal data
  • Correction: Update inaccurate information
  • Deletion: Request account and related data removal
  • Withdraw consent: Opt out of optional features
  • Object / Restrict: Limit certain processing
  • Portability: Receive data in a machine-readable format
  • Non-discrimination (CCPA): Not be treated differently for exercising rights

Contact privacy@appsfoundrylabs.com to exercise your rights. We may request identity verification.

9. Data Retention

  • Active accounts: Retained while active
  • Deleted accounts: Permanently removed within 30 days
  • Inactive accounts: Removed after 3 years of inactivity
  • Leaderboard entries: Removed upon account deletion
  • Profile photos: Deleted upon account deletion
  • Anonymised analytics: Retained up to 12 months

10. Data Security

Our security measures include:

  • Encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS)
  • Firebase Security Rules and role-based access controls
  • Local-first data architecture (gameplay data stored primarily on device)
  • Limited staff access under confidentiality agreements
  • Regular security monitoring

No digital system is completely secure. We take reasonable steps to protect your data but cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children

  • The App is rated 18+ on both App Store and Google Play
  • We do NOT knowingly collect data from children under 13 without parental consent
  • We collect minimal personal data (display name, optional country code)
  • No social features like messaging or chat
  • Contact privacy@appsfoundrylabs.com if a child provided data without consent

12. Offline Functionality

The App functions fully offline. Gameplay data and progress are stored locally using encrypted storage. Cloud synchronisation with Firebase is optional and automatic when internet is available.

13. Public Leaderboards & Website

Sudoku Masters operates a public website at sudokumasters.app that displays leaderboard rankings. The following information is publicly accessible:

  • Display names of ranked players
  • Country and continent of ranked players
  • Best solve times
  • Puzzle completion counts
  • Rank positions (global, continental, country-level)

This data is refreshed periodically and cached for performance. By participating in leaderboards (submitting ranked or daily puzzle results), you consent to this information being publicly displayed. If you wish to remove your data from public leaderboards, you may delete your account, which will anonymise your leaderboard entries (replacing your display name with “Deleted User” and removing your country information).

14. Global Compliance

We comply with the following frameworks:

  • UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
  • EU General Data Protection Regulation
  • California Consumer Privacy Act / CPRA
  • Australian Privacy Principles
  • Other applicable regional data protection regulations

Users outside the UK/EU may exercise equivalent rights under these laws.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the “Last Updated” date, and we will notify you of material changes.

16. Contact Information

Apps Foundry Labs Ltd
Unit 7, 97 Western Road
Southall, England, UB2 5HN
Email: privacy@appsfoundrylabs.com

ICO (UK): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

© 2026 Apps Foundry Labs Ltd. All rights reserved.