Tuftlings Privacy Policy

At a glance

• No accounts. There is no login and no sign-up. We never ask for your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, files or GPS location.
• Your game stays with you. Progress, coins, stars, settings and your Daily Puzzle streak are stored on your device, and in your own Android backup if you have it turned on. We don’t have a copy.
• Players 18 and older: Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics help us improve the game and fix crashes. Google AdMob shows ads, which may be personalised where you consent or where the law allows it.
• Players under 18: analytics and crash reports are switched off, and ads are never personalised. There is no tracking, behavioural monitoring or targeted advertising for anyone under 18.
• Players under 13 also see only G-rated ads, and only as rewarded videos they choose to watch. There are no full-screen ads between levels for them.
• We do not sell personal data.

Who we are

This policy is published by the developer of Tuftlings (“Tuftlings”, “we”, “us”), based in India. We are responsible for the information described in this policy. Under the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we are the “controller”, and under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 we are the “Data Fiduciary”. Our full contact details are in Contact us.

This policy covers the Tuftlings app for Android, available on Google Play, and the web version of Tuftlings. The web version works a little differently, as explained in Web version.

This policy does not cover other apps or websites, including Google Play itself, third-party game portals or any site you visit by tapping an ad. Those have their own privacy policies.

What we don’t collect

Tuftlings has no accounts, no login and no sign-up. We do not ask for, and do not collect:

• your name, email address or phone number;
• your contacts, photos or other files;
• your location from your device’s GPS or location services, precise or approximate.

The only location-related information involved is the country or region that Google Analytics works out from your IP address, for players 18 and older (see Analytics and crash reports), and the IP address that ad servers and our web server receive with any internet request.

The age screen

The first time you open Tuftlings, a neutral age screen asks you to pick your birth year. It does not suggest an answer or encourage any particular choice.

The game uses your birth year to work out an age band: under 13, 13 to 17, or 18 and over. Only the age band is kept, on your device. Your birth year is not stored, and the age band is not sent to us.

The age band decides how ads and analytics behave, as explained below. For players under 18, the game tells Google AdMob that its ad requests come from someone under the age of consent. For players under 13, it also marks them as child-directed.

What stays on your device

The following are saved in the app’s own storage on your device:

• your game progress, coins and stars;
• your settings;
• your Daily Puzzle streak;
• your age band;
• your nickname, if you added one.

We do not have a copy of any of this.

Android backup

If you have Android backup turned on, Android includes this data in the backup of your own Google account. That backup is yours. It is managed by Google under your Android settings, and we cannot access it. Android may use it to restore the game, for example when you set up a new phone. You can turn backup on or off, or manage your backups, in your phone’s settings.

Erasing your data

• Settings → Reset progress removes the copy on your device.
• Uninstalling the app also removes the copy on your device.
• Because we do not have a copy, we cannot restore your data for you.

Optional nickname

Players aged 13 or older can choose to type a nickname. It is shown in your on-device records. It stays on your device, and in your own Android backup if you have backup turned on. It is never sent to us or to anyone else. Players under 13 are never asked for a nickname.

Analytics and crash reports (18 and older only)

If you are 18 or older, Tuftlings uses two Google services to help us understand how the game is played and to fix problems:

• Google Analytics for Firebase shows us how the game is played, for example which levels are too hard.
• Firebase Crashlytics sends us a report when the game crashes, so we can fix the bug.

What they collect

• Gameplay events: level started, won or failed; moves; time taken; boosters used; ad placements viewed; Daily Puzzle played or shared.
• Device and app details: device model, operating system version, app version and language.
• Coarse location: your country or region, worked out from your IP address. Not your GPS location.
• An app-instance identifier: a random ID for this installation of the app. It is not your name, your phone number or your Advertising ID.
• Crash diagnostics: technical details about a crash, such as where in the game’s code it happened and the state of the device at the time.

What we have switched off

• Collection of the Advertising ID by analytics is turned off.
• Analytics data is not used to personalise ads.
• We cannot link analytics data to you as a person, because we don’t know your name or any contact details.

Analytics data is kept for up to 14 months and crash reports for up to 90 days, in line with Google’s default settings. You can read more in Firebase’s privacy information.

Ads

Tuftlings is free to play, and ads pay for it. In the app, ads are provided by Google AdMob. There are two kinds:

• Rewarded videos, which you choose to watch in return for an in-game reward.
• Full-screen ads shown between levels, for players 13 and older only.

There are no banner ads.

Players 18 and older

AdMob may use your device’s Advertising ID, along with device and IP information, to show ads, to measure how they perform and, where you have given consent or where the law allows it, to personalise them to your interests.

If you are in a region where consent is needed, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, a Google-certified consent message asks for your choice first. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.

On Android, you can also reset or delete your Advertising ID in your device’s settings (usually under Settings → Privacy → Ads or Settings → Google → Ads, depending on your phone).

Players under 18

• Every ad request is marked as coming from a user under the age of consent.
• Ads are non-personalised: the Advertising ID is not used for personalisation, and there are no interest-based ads and no remarketing.
• Because ads are never personalised for players under 18, the consent message is not shown to them.

Players under 13, in addition

• Every ad request is also tagged as child-directed, using Google’s settings for the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Google Play’s Families policy.
• Only ads rated G (suitable for general audiences) are shown.
• The Advertising ID is not used for ads.
• There are no full-screen ads between levels. The only ads are rewarded videos that the player chooses to watch.

For all players under 18, AdMob still receives the basic technical information that any internet request carries, such as the IP address, so that it can deliver the ad.

Learn more

• How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services
• AdMob and AdSense policies
• Google Privacy Policy

Game settings file

So that we can keep the game balanced without releasing an update, Tuftlings downloads a small settings file from our website. It contains game values such as timer lengths and hints. This happens for all players of the app.

Like any web server, ours may log the IP address and the time of each request. We use these logs only for security, and we keep them only briefly.

Sharing your Daily Puzzle result

Your Daily Puzzle result is shared only when you tap Share. The game then opens your phone’s own share sheet, where you choose the app and the people to send it to. We receive nothing. After that, what you shared is handled by the app you chose, under its own privacy policy.

For players 18 and older, analytics records that a Daily Puzzle was shared, as listed in Analytics and crash reports.

Web version

If you play Tuftlings in a web browser, including on a third-party game portal:

• your progress is kept in your browser’s local storage, and clearing your browser’s data for the site erases it;
• our app analytics and crash reporting are not used;
• any ads are served by the portal, under the portal’s own privacy policy. Please read that policy to see how the portal handles information.

Purchases

There are no in-app purchases in Tuftlings at launch. If we add optional purchases later, payments will be processed by Google Play under Google’s terms. We will never receive your card or bank details. We will update this policy before any purchases are added.

Who we share information with

We do not sell personal data. We do not share it with anyone except the service providers that run parts of the app for us:

• Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics, for analytics and crash reports (players 18 and older only).
• Google AdMob, for ads (for players under 18, only non-personalised ad requests marked “under the age of consent”, and also child-directed for players under 13).

Google explains how it handles the information it receives in the Google Privacy Policy. Google may process this information on servers outside your country, including in the United States, using legal safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

We would only disclose information we hold if the law required us to. Because your game data stays on your device, we hold very little.

Children and teens

Tuftlings is made for a general audience, and we know children and teenagers enjoy it too. We use a mixed-audience approach: the neutral age screen at first launch decides how the game behaves. Nobody is asked to create an account or give contact details.

For all players under 18

• analytics and crash reporting are switched off entirely;
• ad requests are marked “under the age of consent” and ads are non-personalised, with no interest-based ads, no remarketing and no use of the Advertising ID for personalisation;
• the ad-consent message is not shown, because personalised ads are not used;
• progress, settings and the age band stay on the device (and in the player’s own Android backup, if it is turned on).

For players under 13, in addition

• the game never asks for a nickname;
• every ad request is also tagged as child-directed, only G-rated ads are shown, and the Advertising ID is not used for ads;
• there are no full-screen ads between levels, only rewarded videos the player chooses to watch.

For a player under 18, the only information that leaves the device, apart from the player’s own Android backup, is the basic technical information any internet connection needs, such as the IP address, when the game loads an ad or downloads its settings file. It is used to deliver that content and keep the service secure, not to build a profile of the player or to personalise ads.

United States (COPPA)

Tuftlings is designed to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, other than the technical information needed to support the internal operation of the game as described above. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information in some other way, for example by email, please contact us and we will delete it.

Google Play Families policy

Tuftlings follows Google Play’s Families policy, including its rules on ads and on data collected from children.

India (DPDP Act, 2023 and DPDP Rules, 2025)

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 treat everyone under 18 as a child, and do not allow tracking or behavioural monitoring of children, or targeted advertising directed at children. Consistent with this, Tuftlings does no tracking, behavioural monitoring or targeted advertising for any player under 18: analytics and crash reporting are off, and ads are never personalised.

Parents and guardians

You can erase your child’s game data from the device at any time with Settings → Reset progress, or by uninstalling the app. If you have a question, or want us to delete anything, email clsaini032032@gmail.com.

How long information is kept

• On your device: until you use Reset progress or uninstall the app. Any copy in your own Android backup is managed by Google under your Android settings.
• Web version: until you clear your browser’s data for the site.
• Analytics data (18 and older): up to 14 months.
• Crash reports (18 and older): up to 90 days.
• Web server logs for the settings file: a short time, for security.
• Ad data: Google keeps it under its own policies.
• Emails you send us: only as long as needed to handle your request and any follow-up.

Your rights and choices

Because Tuftlings has no accounts and keeps your game data on your device, most of your information is already in your hands:

• Delete your game data: use Settings → Reset progress, or uninstall the app. To remove a copy in your Android backup, use your phone’s backup settings.
• Ad choices (18 and older): use Settings → Privacy choices where a consent message applies, and your device’s Advertising ID settings.

Deleting analytics data

Analytics data exists only for players 18 and older. We cannot link it to a person, because we don’t know who you are. But we can delete it if you ask. Open Settings → Privacy choices in the game, where the app shows your app-instance ID, and send that ID to us. We will ask Google to delete the analytics data linked to it.

Making a request

To ask for access, correction or deletion, or about any other privacy matter, email clsaini032032@gmail.com and tell us what you would like. If it concerns analytics data, include your app-instance ID. We will reply within 30 days. We will only ask for the information we need to deal with your request.

If you are in the EEA, UK or Switzerland

Under the GDPR and UK GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• have it corrected;
• have it erased;
• restrict how we use it;
• object to our use of it, including use based on our legitimate interests;
• receive it in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time (for ads, in Settings → Privacy choices), without affecting anything done before;
• complain to your local data protection authority, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK.

The legal reasons we rely on are:

• Analytics and crash reports (18 and older): our legitimate interest in keeping the game working and improving it.
• Ads: your consent, collected through the consent message, where the law requires consent; otherwise our legitimate interest in funding a free game through ads.
• Web server logs: our legitimate interest in keeping our service secure.
• Replying to you: our legal obligations and our legitimate interest in helping you.

Players in Switzerland have similar rights under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection.

If you are in India

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the DPDP Rules, 2025 you have the right to:

• get a summary of the personal data we process about you, how we process it, and who we have shared it with;
• have it corrected, completed, updated or erased;
• withdraw any consent you have given, as easily as you gave it;
• have your grievances addressed by us;
• nominate another person to exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to do so.

Contact our Grievance Officer at clsaini032032@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Security

• All of the app’s connections, to Google’s services and to our settings file, use encrypted HTTPS.
• Your game data is kept in the app’s own storage on your device, separate from other apps.
• We collect as little as we can. Information we never collect cannot be lost or misused.

No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable care to protect the information involved in running Tuftlings.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the game changes or when the law changes. The “Last updated” date at the top always shows the current version. If we make an important change, such as collecting a new kind of information or adding purchases, we will update this page before the change takes effect and, where required, tell you in the app or ask for your consent.

Contact us

For questions, requests or complaints about privacy, contact:

Game

Tuftlings

Email

clsaini032032@gmail.com

Grievance Officer (India)

Reachable at clsaini032032@gmail.com. We respond within 30 days.