Puzzlemore
Privacy policy
This policy explains what data the Puzzlemore apps collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what you can do about it. It covers Sudoku and any future Puzzlemore game that links to this page.
The short version. You do not need an account and we never ask for your name or email address to play. Your puzzle progress stays on your device. The free versions of our games show advertisements, and our advertising partners collect device identifiers to serve them. You can switch that off at any time in the app under Settings → Privacy. We do not sell your data.
On this page
1. Who we are
The controller responsible for your data is:
- Kulufornia, trading as Puzzlemore
- Oude Apeldoornseweg 45-067, 7333 NR Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number: 42138317
- VAT number: NL869890979B01
- Email: info@puzzlemore.nl
We are established in the Netherlands and are supervised by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens). We are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer, and we have not appointed one voluntarily.
2. What we collect
2.1 Data that never leaves your device
The following is stored locally in the app’s own storage and is not transmitted to us or to anyone else. Deleting the app deletes all of it.
- Your puzzle progress, saved games and completion history
- Your statistics: solve times, streaks, puzzles completed per difficulty
- Your settings: theme, text size, hint behaviour, sound, mistake checking
- Your record of in-app purchases and subscription status
2.2 Data collected automatically
| Data | Collected by | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising identifier (IDFA on iOS, Advertising ID on Android) | Google AdMob | Serving and measuring advertisements. Only collected if you consent to personalised advertising. |
| Approximate location derived from IP address (country / region level) | Google AdMob | Showing regionally appropriate advertisements and applying the correct privacy rules. |
| Device model, operating system version, screen size, language, country | Google AdMob, Firebase | Rendering advertisements correctly and diagnosing crashes on specific devices. |
| App events: app opened, puzzle started, puzzle completed, difficulty chosen, purchase completed | Firebase Analytics | Understanding which features are used so we know what to improve. |
| Crash reports: stack trace, device state at the moment of the crash | Firebase Crashlytics | Finding and fixing bugs. |
| A pseudonymous app instance identifier | Firebase | Distinguishing one installation from another in aggregate statistics. Reset by reinstalling the app. |
| Purchase receipt, subscription status and transaction identifier | Apple / Google / Epic | Validating that a purchase or subscription is genuine and restoring it to your device. |
2.3 Data you choose to give us
If you email support, we receive your email address and whatever you write. If you attach a screenshot or a diagnostic report generated by the app, we receive that too. We use it only to answer you.
2.4 What we never collect
- Your name, postal address or telephone number
- Precise GPS location
- Your contacts, photos, camera, microphone or calendar
- Payment card details. Payments are handled entirely by Apple, Google or Epic and we never see the card
- Any special category data as defined in Article 9 of the GDPR
3. Why we use it
- To run the game. Saving your progress, restoring your purchases, remembering your settings.
- To fund the free version. Advertising pays for the games that cost you nothing.
- To fix what is broken. Crash reports tell us a bug exists before you have to.
- To decide what to build. Knowing that almost nobody uses a feature tells us to fix it or drop it.
- To answer your questions when you contact support.
- To comply with the law, including tax obligations relating to purchases and responding to lawful requests.
We do not use your data to build advertising profiles ourselves, and we do not make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects for you.
4. Legal basis for processing
Under the GDPR we rely on the following bases:
| Processing | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Running the game and restoring purchases | Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Personalised advertising and the identifiers it needs | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), collected through the consent prompt shown on first launch and revocable at any time |
| Non-personalised advertising | Legitimate interest in funding a free product (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Crash reporting and aggregate usage analytics | Legitimate interest in a working, improving product (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Answering support requests | Legitimate interest in supporting our users (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Keeping purchase records for tax | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
Where we rely on legitimate interest, we have weighed that interest against your rights and freedoms and concluded that the processing is limited, expected and low-risk. You can object at any time; see Your rights.
5. Who we share data with
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising outside the advertising described below. We share data with the following processors and partners:
| Party | Role | Their privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ireland Ltd (AdMob) | Serving advertisements | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Google Ireland Ltd (Firebase) | Analytics and crash reporting | firebase.google.com/support/privacy |
| Apple Inc. | App distribution and payment processing on iOS | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| Google LLC | App distribution and payment processing on Android | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Epic Games, Inc. | App distribution and payment processing on the Epic Games Store | epicgames.com/privacypolicy |
A full, current list of the advertising partners that may receive data through AdMob is available in the consent prompt inside the app, under “Manage partners”.
We may also disclose data if we are legally required to, or if we sell or transfer the business, in which case you will be told before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
6. Advertising and your choices
The free versions of our games show advertisements supplied by Google AdMob.
6.1 Consent
On first launch in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland you are shown a consent prompt built on Google’s UMP SDK and the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework. Personalised advertising only happens if you agree. If you decline, you still see advertisements, but non-personalised ones that are not based on tracking identifiers.
6.2 Changing your mind
You can change your advertising consent at any time:
- In the app: Settings → Privacy → Advertising preferences.
- On iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking, and turn off permission for the app. Under Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, we cannot access your IDFA without this permission.
- On Android: Settings → Google → Ads, where you can delete your advertising ID or opt out of ad personalisation.
6.3 Removing advertising entirely
Puzzlemore Premium is a subscription that removes all advertisements in every Puzzlemore app. While it is active, the advertising SDK is not initialised at all and no advertising identifiers are collected.
7. How long we keep data
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Progress, settings and statistics on your device | Until you delete the app or clear its data |
| Analytics events | 14 months, then deleted automatically by Firebase |
| Crash reports | 90 days |
| Support email correspondence | 24 months after the conversation closes |
| Purchase and tax records | 7 years, as required by Dutch tax law |
8. International transfers
Our service providers are largely based in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area, that transfer is covered by the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, and, where the recipient is certified, by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. You may request a copy of the safeguards we rely on by emailing info@puzzlemore.nl.
9. Your rights
If you are in the EEA or the UK, the GDPR gives you the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Rectify data that is inaccurate
- Erase your data (“the right to be forgotten”)
- Restrict how we process it
- Object to processing based on legitimate interest, including profiling
- Portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that already happened
- Complain to a supervisory authority, which in the Netherlands is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
To exercise any of these, email info@puzzlemore.nl. We respond within 30 days and we do not charge for it.
Deleting your data works in two parts. Everything on your device (progress, statistics, settings) is removed by deleting the app; it is never uploaded, so nothing of it remains with us. For the pseudonymous analytics and crash data we hold, email us the request. It also expires on its own: analytics after 14 months, crash reports after 90 days.
Because we do not hold an account for you, we may need you to tell us your app instance identifier (Settings → Privacy → My identifiers) in order to find any data relating to you. Without it we may genuinely be unable to identify your data, in which case we will say so.
9.1 If you are in California
Under the CCPA/CPRA you have the right to know what personal information is collected, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information as that term is defined by the CCPA. Serving personalised advertising may constitute “sharing” for cross-context behavioural advertising; you opt out by declining personalised advertising in the app. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
10. Children
Our games are rated for all ages but are general audience apps, not directed at children.
We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 (or under 16 where local law sets that age). Where a user is identified as a child, we serve only non-personalised advertising, we do not collect advertising identifiers, and Google’s tagging for child-directed treatment is applied.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, email info@puzzlemore.nl and we will delete it promptly.
11. Security
Data in transit is encrypted with TLS. Access to the analytics and crash reporting consoles is limited to the people who need it and protected by two-factor authentication. No system is perfectly secure, but the honest mitigation here is that we hold very little: there is no account database to breach.
12. Changes to this policy
If we make a material change we will update the date at the top of this page and show a notice inside the app before the change takes effect. Where the change requires it, we will ask for your consent again.
- 23 August 2026: first published.
13. Contact
Privacy questions, rights requests and everything else: info@puzzlemore.nl
Postal: Kulufornia, Oude Apeldoornseweg 45-067, 7333 NR Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.