This Privacy Policy applies to every app and game published by Falak Labs on Google Play and the Apple App Store (the “Apps”) and to our website, falaklabs.com (together with the Apps, the “Services”). If an App needs to collect information this policy doesn’t describe, we will add it here and tell you in the App before collecting it.
1 Who we are
Falak Labs (“we”, “us”) is an independent software studio based in California, United States, and the trade name of Ahmad Shawkhah, an individual developer. He is responsible for the personal information described in this policy, and his name appears in the developer details of our Apps on Google Play and the App Store. You can reach us at info@falaklabs.com; please put “Privacy” in the subject line.
This policy doesn’t cover other companies’ websites or services, even when an App links to them.
2 Information we collect
2.1 Information stored on your device
Our Apps save your progress, scores, settings, unlocked items and purchase status on your device. If an App asks your age, it keeps only the resulting age group (for example, “under 13”), not your birth date. This information stays on your device unless you use an online feature described in section 2.5. Purchase records are held separately by our purchase service (section 2.4), and usage statistics are sent only if you agree (section 2.6).
2.2 Age information from app stores
Where the law requires it, an App may receive an age range and, for minors, a parental consent status from Google Play or the App Store. Apps use this only to apply age rules, comply with the law and keep players safe. They keep only the resulting age group on your device and don’t share it.
2.3 Advertising
Some Apps are free and show ads. These Apps use Google AdMob to show ads and Google’s User Messaging Platform to ask for consent. When an ad is requested or shown, Google may collect:
- device identifiers: on Android, the advertising ID and the app set ID; on iPhone and iPad, the identifier for vendor (IDFV) and, only if you allow tracking, the advertising identifier (IDFA);
- your IP address, which can indicate your approximate location;
- device and app information, such as device model, operating system, language and App version;
- ad interactions, such as which ads were shown and whether you tapped them;
- diagnostic information about how the App and the ad software perform.
Google uses this information to deliver ads, limit how often you see the same ad, measure ad performance, prevent fraud and, if you agree, show ads based on your interests. Google acts as an independent controller of some of this information under the Google Privacy Policy; see also How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. We receive only aggregated reports on ad performance, which don’t identify you.
2.4 Purchases
Purchases in our Apps are processed by Google Play or the App Store. We don’t receive your name, card number or billing address. To unlock and restore what you buy, our Apps use RevenueCat, a purchase management service. RevenueCat receives the purchase details (product, price, currency, date and store transaction ID), a random identifier created by the App (shown in the App’s settings as your player ID), and your IP address when the App connects to it.
2.5 Accounts and online features
Some Apps offer optional online features, such as cloud save, leaderboards and playing on more than one device. These Apps also work without them. When you use these features, we collect:
- a random account identifier, created the first time you use the feature;
- if you choose to sign in with Apple or Google, an identifier from that service and your email address (with Apple, you can use a private relay address). Google also provides your name and a link to your profile picture; we don’t display or use them, and we delete them with your account;
- the display name you choose for leaderboards;
- your saved progress and scores, and the moves of a daily puzzle you submit, so we can check that the score is genuine;
- your country or region, taken from your device settings;
- the date you last used the feature;
- your IP address, which our servers log when the App connects.
2.6 Usage statistics and crash reports
Some Apps can send us basic usage statistics, such as which levels players finish, how long sessions last and which settings are used. They are sent only if you agree, and never from players we know are under 16. They include a random identifier and the App version, but not your name, contact details or advertising ID.
If an App crashes, it may send a crash report with your device model, operating system version, App version and technical details of the error. Before an App uses a crash-reporting service, we will add that service to section 4.
2.7 AI features
Some Apps include AI features. Unless an App says otherwise, these features run on your device, and what you type, say or add for them stays on your device. If a feature needs to send your content to another company’s AI service, the App will name the provider and ask your permission first, and we will add the provider to section 4. We don’t use your content to train AI models unless you choose to let us.
2.8 Device permissions
Our games don’t use your camera, microphone, contacts, photos or precise location. If another App needs one of these for a feature you choose to use, it asks your permission first, explains why, and uses the data only for that feature.
2.9 When you contact us
If you email us, we receive your email address, your message and anything you attach. We use them to answer you and to keep a record of your request.
2.10 Our website
falaklabs.com doesn’t use cookies, analytics or ads, and it doesn’t load content from other websites. It is hosted on GitHub Pages. GitHub logs the IP address of each visitor for security purposes; see the GitHub General Privacy Statement.
3 How we use information
We use the information described above to:
- provide the Services and the features you ask for, such as saving progress, unlocking purchases and syncing between devices;
- show ads in free Apps, and personalize them only with your consent;
- keep the Services secure, prevent fraud and cheating, and check that leaderboard scores are genuine;
- find and fix bugs, and improve how the Apps work and perform;
- answer your messages and handle requests about your data;
- apply age rules, comply with the law and enforce our Terms of Use.
We don’t make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
5 Ads and your privacy choices
- Consent. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and other places where the law requires it, the App asks for your consent before ads use information stored on your device. If you don’t agree, the App shows limited ads that don’t use that information, or no ads.
- Change your choice. Open the App’s Settings and choose Privacy choices.
- Opt out of sale, sharing or targeted advertising. Under US state privacy laws, personalized ads may count as “sharing” or “targeted advertising”. To opt out, turn off personalized ads in Privacy choices, or email info@falaklabs.com with the subject “Do not sell or share” and your player ID.
- Android. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings (under Privacy > Ads, or Google > Ads, depending on the device).
- iPhone and iPad. Apps can use the IDFA only if you allow tracking. You can change this at any time in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
- Remove Ads. In Apps that offer it, the Remove Ads purchase turns off interstitial and banner ads. Ads you choose to watch for a reward remain available.
6 Children and teens
This section applies to Apps made for a general audience that children may also use, and to Apps made for children.
- Age screen. Apps that may appeal to children ask your age with a neutral question that doesn’t suggest an answer, and keep only the resulting age group on your device. Until the question is answered, the App treats the player as under 13.
- Players under 18. Apps show them only non-personalized ads.
- Players under 16. Apps don’t send usage statistics from them.
- Players under 13. Apps show them only non-personalized ads rated for general audiences, from ad services approved for children’s apps, and don’t collect or send their advertising ID. They can’t type a display name (the App assigns a random one) or link an Apple or Google account.
- Apps made for children. These Apps don’t show personalized ads, don’t include third-party analytics, and keep links that leave the App and purchases behind a parental gate.
6.1 Notice to parents
We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, other than persistent identifiers used only to support the internal operations of an App, as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) allows.
- What is collected, and why. In Apps with ads, Google collects the device’s IP address and basic device information to show a non-personalized ad, limit how often it appears and prevent fraud. In Apps with cloud save, a random account identifier and the child’s game progress are stored so that progress isn’t lost. Children can’t make information public in our Apps; their leaderboard names are assigned at random.
- How these identifiers stay limited to those purposes. We mark ad requests for children as child-directed, which turns off personalized advertising and remarketing. We don’t link these identifiers to a name, contact details or any other information that identifies the child.
- Who collects it. Falak Labs (Ahmad Shawkhah) and Google LLC (through ads in our Apps). Falak Labs answers parents’ questions about all collection in our Apps, including Google’s.
- How long it is kept. A child’s account identifier and saved progress are kept while the App is in use, deleted within 30 days of a parent’s confirmed request, and deleted automatically after 24 months without use. Google keeps advertising data according to its retention policies.
- Parents’ rights. A parent or guardian can ask to review the information we hold about their child, have it deleted, and stop further collection. Email info@falaklabs.com with the App name and the player ID shown in the App’s settings. Deleting the App, or using Settings > Delete my data, also stops collection on that device.
Contact: Ahmad Shawkhah, doing business as Falak Labs, California, United States, info@falaklabs.com. Our Safety page explains how we design for younger players.
7 How long we keep information
We keep each type of information for the period below, then delete it or make it anonymous.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Progress, settings, purchase status and age group stored on your device | Until you delete them in the App (Settings > Delete my data) or uninstall the App |
| Account data, cloud saves and leaderboard entries | While your account is in use. Deleted within 30 days of a confirmed request, or automatically after 24 months without use. |
| Daily puzzle moves | 30 days after the puzzle closes |
| Usage statistics | Up to 13 months |
| Crash reports | Up to 90 days |
| Server logs on our services, including IP addresses | Up to 30 days |
| Backup copies | Overwritten within 90 days |
| Purchase records held by RevenueCat | Until you delete your account or ask us to delete them. Your purchases stay linked to your Apple or Google account either way. |
| Emails you send us | Up to 24 months after your request is resolved |
| Record that we completed a deletion request | 24 months |
| Advertising data held by Google | Set by Google; see How Google retains data |
| Website visit logs held by GitHub | Set by GitHub; see its privacy statement |
We may keep information longer if the law requires it, or to resolve a dispute or investigate a security incident, and only for as long as that takes.
8 Security
Information sent between the Apps and our servers is encrypted in transit. Our databases are set up so that each player can access only their own records, apart from public leaderboard entries. Access to our systems is limited to the people who run them and is protected with two-factor authentication. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
9 International transfers
Falak Labs is based in the United States, and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries. When personal information is transferred from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we rely on the safeguards in our providers’ data processing terms, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK Addendum) or the provider’s certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions.
10 Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
- correct it;
- delete it;
- stop using it for personalized ads.
Many of these choices are in the Apps: Settings > Privacy choices for ads, Settings > Delete my data, and in Apps with accounts, Settings > Account > Delete account. To make any other request, email info@falaklabs.com. We may ask for information that confirms the request is yours, such as the player ID shown in the App’s settings. We reply within 30 days. You won’t be treated differently for using these rights.
10.1 European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland
We rely on these legal bases:
- Contract: to provide the Apps and the features you ask for, such as saving progress, purchases and accounts.
- Consent: for personalized ads, for storing or reading information on your device for ads where the law requires consent, and for usage statistics. You can withdraw consent at any time in Privacy choices. This doesn’t affect processing that took place before.
- Legitimate interests: to keep the Services secure, prevent fraud and cheating, fix problems, and show non-personalized ads in free Apps. You can object to this processing.
- Legal obligation: where the law requires us to keep or disclose information.
You also have the right to restrict our processing, to receive your data in a portable format, and to complain to your local data protection authority.
10.2 California and other US states
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to delete or correct it; and to opt out of its “sale”, “sharing” or use for targeted advertising. The categories of personal information we collect are:
- identifiers, such as random App and account IDs, advertising IDs and IP addresses;
- commercial information, such as purchase records;
- internet or other electronic network activity, such as App usage and ad interactions;
- approximate location, derived from IP address or device region settings;
- inferences about interests that Google may draw for personalized ads, if you allow them.
We collect this information from you, your device and our providers, for the purposes in section 3, and we disclose it to the providers in section 4. We don’t sell personal information for money. Personalized ads may count as “sharing” or “targeted advertising”, and you can opt out as described in section 5. We don’t sell or share the personal information of people we know are under 18, and we don’t collect sensitive personal information as defined by California law. We don’t share personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
You can make a request yourself or through an authorized agent; we may ask the agent for proof of authorization. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision, and we will respond within 45 days. If we deny your appeal, you can contact your state attorney general.
10.3 Do Not Track
Our website doesn’t track visitors, so Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals have nothing to switch off.
11 Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you in the Apps or on our website before it takes effect, and ask for your consent where the law requires it. Earlier versions are available in our website’s public change history.
12 Contact us
Questions or requests about privacy: info@falaklabs.com.
Falak Labs (Ahmad Shawkhah), California, United States.