Privacy Policy

1. Who we are
2. What the app collects and why
3. Tracking and your choices
4. Delete my online data
5. What we never collect
6. Who processes data
7. How long data is kept
8. Your rights
9. Children
10. This website
11. For the App Store and Google Play
12. Changes and contact

1. Who we are

PuffyWings Studio (“we”, “us”) is the name under which Pascal Khazzoum, an independent developer based in the United Arab Emirates, publishes games, including Boxdini for iPhone and Android, and this website, puffywingsstudio.com. Pascal Khazzoum is responsible for the data practices described here. Boxdini is coming soon to iPhone and Android. You can reach us at puffywingsstudio@gmail.com.

Our other game, PuffyWings, has its own privacy policy. This page is only about Boxdini.

2. What the app collects and why

Boxdini is a group guessing game. Most of it works without sending us anything. Here is every kind of data, and why.

On your phone only

These stay on your phone and we never receive them: your settings, which boxes you have played, which packs you own, your Daily Box streak and last result, your choice about anonymous usage counting, and the player names you type for a one phone game (they stay in that game). The pictures, sounds, and fonts are inside the app, so it does not download them.

The one phone game and the Daily Box work offline. They do not use the online play service described below. The only things they can send are the optional usage counting and, in the Daily Box, a suggested answer if you choose to send one. Your phone’s own backup, such as iCloud Backup or Android backup, may include this data. That is under Apple’s or Google’s control, not ours.

Optional usage counting (Google Analytics for Firebase)

The first time you open Boxdini, it asks once whether it may count how the game is used. Both answers are one tap. Counting is off until you say yes, and nothing is counted before you answer. You can change your mind any time in Settings > Privacy > Share anonymous usage. If you allow it, Boxdini itself sends exactly three events:

• game_start: a game was started. It records the mode (quick or classic), the pack, the number of players, and the number of boxes.
• game_finish: a game was played to the end. It records the same four things.
• daily_finish: you finished the Daily Box. It records whether you got it (yes or no) and how many hints you used.

These three events never include names, typed answers, or room codes. Firebase adds its own standard events too, such as the first app open, session starts, screen views, time spent in the app, and app or operating system updates. If you buy a pack, it may also record a purchase event with the pack and price. Firebase also records standard technical information: a random app-instance ID created when you install the app, device model, operating system and app version, language, approximate location (country, region, or city, worked out from your IP address; Google Analytics does not log or store the IP address itself), and basic session timing.

This data is not linked to your identity and never used for advertising or tracking. Boxdini uses Analytics with the advertising identifier switched off: the app does not read your advertising identifier, and every advertising-related consent signal is set to “denied”. If you turn counting off, it stops straight away, and the counting data stored on your phone is cleared and the random ID is reset.

Online play: Live and Challenge

Two ways to play need the internet: Everyone on their own phone (Live) and Send a challenge. They run on Google Firebase. The online sign-in, rooms, and challenges only start when you open one of them. If you allow usage counting, the Analytics part of Firebase (described above) also starts when the app opens. This is what Live and Challenge use:

• An anonymous ID. The first time you play online, Boxdini signs you in anonymously with Firebase Authentication. This creates a random ID. There is no email and no password.
• A nickname. Boxdini gives you a made-up one, like “Quick Fox”. You can change it. Use a nickname, not your real name. The other players in your room or challenge see it.
• Live rooms. A room has a four-letter code and up to 8 players. Its record holds the code, the pack and settings, the players’ nicknames and anonymous IDs, whether each phone is still connected, and how far the game has got, including each player’s results and score. It is stored in Firebase Realtime Database in Belgium (europe-west1) and deleted within 24 hours.
• Challenges. A challenge has a six-character code and 5, 10, or 15 boxes. Its record holds the players’ nicknames and anonymous IDs, and their scores and results, box by box. While you play, it also keeps where you are in the current box, so closing the app does not restart it. It is stored in Cloud Firestore in Belgium (europe-west1) and stays open for 7 days after it is made. It is then deleted automatically, usually within two days after that. Friends see everyone’s results once they have finished.
• Typed answers. In both modes, your own phone checks your answer. The answer text you type is never sent. Only the result goes online: whether you were right, on which hint, and your score. In a live room it also includes how many wrong guesses you made and when you answered. The one exception is Suggest this answer, which you choose to use (see below).
• Reports and removing players. You can Report a player or a nickname, and a host can Remove a player from a room. A report holds the nickname, the room or challenge code, when it was made, your anonymous ID, and a short reason if you add one (200 characters at most). We use reports to look into problems and keep online play friendly. Nicknames go through a word filter on your phone before they are sent, and again before another player’s nickname is shown.
• Keeping out fake apps. Firebase App Check asks Apple or Google to confirm that the app is genuine. The check is about the app and the device, not about you.
• Terms. Before your first online game, you are asked to accept our Terms once.

As with any online service, Google’s servers see your phone’s IP address when it connects. Google keeps short-lived security logs that include IP addresses: for a few weeks for sign-in, and for a few days for the live-room database.

Suggest this answer

If Boxdini rejects a typed answer, you can choose to tell us. Tapping Suggest this answer sends the exact text you typed (40 characters at most), the box it was for, and the version of the answer list. It sends no name and no device ID, and it does not change your score. We read suggestions about once a week and keep each one for up to 90 days. If a suggestion is right, we may add the answer to the list in a later update.

Purchases

Paid packs are bought with Apple or Google, who process the payment entirely. We never see your name, payment method, or billing details. There is no subscription. The store tells the app which packs you own so it can unlock them. To get back packs you bought with the same store account, use Restore on the Packs screen or Restore purchases in Settings. Purchases do not carry between iPhone and Android.

Sharing

When you share a Daily Box result, a room code, or a challenge code, Boxdini opens your phone’s standard share sheet. The Daily Box result card has no spoilers. You choose what to share and with whom; we do not receive it. An invite message holds the code and a link to a page on this website. If a friend opens the link, our host handles it like any page view (see This website).

When you email us

Support is by email only; there is no form. If you contact us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message. The Support row in Settings opens an email with the app version and your phone’s operating system added below the space where you write, and you can change or delete them before you send. We use your message only to help you. Our inbox is hosted by Google (Gmail).

3. Tracking and your choices

• Usage counting. Off until you say yes. Change it any time in Settings > Privacy > Share anonymous usage.
• Tracking. Boxdini has no ads and does not track you across other companies’ apps or websites, so it has no tracking prompt.
• Online play is optional. It needs an anonymous ID and a nickname. If you do not accept the Terms or do not want that, you can still play the one phone game and the Daily Box.
• Your nickname. Change it any time. Use a nickname, not your real name.
• Reports. In Live and Challenge, you can Report a player or a nickname.
• Delete my online data. See the next section.
• Purchases. Use Restore on the Packs screen, or Restore purchases in Settings. Apple or Google handles payments and refunds.
• Start boxes over. In Settings, this makes every box count as new again. Your packs and streak stay.
• Delete local data. Deleting the app removes the data stored on your phone.

4. Delete my online data

You can delete your online data at any time, without giving a reason.

• In the app: open Settings > Online and tap Delete my online data.
• By email: write to puffywingsstudio@gmail.com with the subject “Delete my online data”. The button in the app is the surest way, because only the app knows your anonymous ID. If you email us, tell us your nickname and the room or challenge code if you remember them, and we will do what we can.

What is erased: your anonymous sign-in ID, and the records tied to it in live rooms and challenges that are still stored, such as your nickname, scores, and results. Challenges you created are deleted too, so friends lose the results in them, and the app tells you this before it deletes anything. You can still play online afterwards. Boxdini simply gives you a new random ID and nickname. It can take Google up to 180 days to finish removing deleted data from its backup systems.

What is not part of it:

• Data on your phone, such as your settings, played boxes, packs, and streak. Delete the app, or use Start boxes over, to clear it.
• Anonymous usage counts. They are tied to a random app-instance ID, not to your online ID. Turn counting off in Settings to clear the counting data on your phone. Google deletes event-level counts it already holds on the schedule in section 7.
• Suggested answers and reports. Suggested answers carry no name or device ID, so we could not find yours. Reports are kept for their 90 days because they protect other players. Both are deleted automatically on the schedule in section 7.
• Purchase records, which Apple or Google keep under their own policies.

5. What we never collect

No sign-up, real name, email address (unless you email us), phone number, contacts, photos, microphone or camera access, precise location, health data, advertising identifier, or browsing history. The names you type for a one phone game stay on your phone and are never sent to us. Boxdini has no ads. We do not sell your personal information.

6. Who processes data

We only work with providers whose own privacy commitments give your data the same or equal protection as this policy. Live room and challenge records are stored in Belgium. Other data handled by these providers, such as sign-in and usage counting, may be processed in the United States and other countries. Where data leaves the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, Google and Netlify rely on recognized safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. For Apple, see its privacy policy, linked above.

Legal bases (EEA, UK, Switzerland): your consent for anonymous usage counting; the performance of a contract when you play online or make a purchase; and our legitimate interest in keeping online play safe, secure, and working, and in improving the answer lists.

7. How long data is kept

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, UK GDPR, or California and other US state laws), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, to object to or restrict processing, to withdraw consent at any time, and to complain to your local data protection authority. We will never treat you differently for exercising these rights.

The quickest way to delete your online data is the button described in section 4. For any other request, email puffywingsstudio@gmail.com. Because we hold no names or email addresses for players, and usage counting is only tied to a random ID, we usually cannot match online or counting data to a specific person without the app. Rooms, challenges, reports, and suggested answers are deleted on the schedules above. For data held by Google, you can also use Google’s own tools. You can withdraw your consent to usage counting at any time in Settings.

California residents: we do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising, because Boxdini has no ads and does not use the advertising identifier.

9. Children

Boxdini is made for people 13 and over and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent and believe your child has shared personal information with us, email us and we will help remove it. In some countries, the age at which you can agree to data use on your own is higher than 13 (up to 16). If that applies to you, ask a parent or guardian before you turn on usage counting or play online. Parents can manage purchases with Apple’s Screen Time and Ask to Buy, or with Google Play’s parental controls.

10. This website

The Boxdini pages on puffywingsstudio.com use no cookies, no analytics, and no advertising trackers. Fonts and images are served from our own site. Our host, Netlify, keeps standard server logs (such as IP address, browser type, and the page requested) for a limited time to deliver the site and keep it secure. Invite links open a page on this site. When Boxdini is in the stores, links from this site to the App Store or Google Play take you to Apple or Google, where their privacy policies apply.

11. For the App Store and Google Play

The privacy information we give Apple and Google matches this policy:

• Boxdini has no ads, does not track you, and does not use the advertising identifier.
• Anonymous usage counting is optional and off until you allow it.
• Online play uses an anonymous ID and a nickname, and its records delete themselves. You can delete your online data in the app.
• The audience is 13 and over. Boxdini is not made for children.

12. Changes and contact

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page, and for significant changes we will also post a notice on this site. Questions or requests: puffywingsstudio@gmail.com.