SudoBloom Privacy Policy

Applies to the SudoBloom: Sudoku Puzzles app for Android and iOS. Last updated: 6 October 2026.

SudoBloom ("the app", "we") is a Sudoku puzzle game made by Partha Hudati. This policy explains what information the app handles, why, and the choices you have. We do not ask for your email address, phone number, contacts or location. You may choose a display name, which is public on the leaderboard, and, if you want, a profile photo.

Information the app handles

• Anonymous account ID. When you first open the app it signs you in anonymously with Firebase Authentication, which creates a random user ID. It is not linked to your real identity.
• Player ID. The app creates a random player ID for your device (on Android it is derived from the device's app-scoped Android ID, on iOS it is stored in the Keychain). It stays the same if you uninstall and reinstall the app, so your progress and statistics stay connected to the same player. It is not your name and we cannot use it to identify you in real life. You can see it in Settings.
• Game progress. Your puzzle progress, streaks, XP and settings are stored on your device and backed up to Google Cloud Firestore under your anonymous ID so your progress is kept.
• Leaderboard entry. If you earn XP, your player name (an automatically generated name such as "Player 4821" until you choose your own in Settings) and your XP are shown on the public in-game leaderboards, together with your profile photo if you added one.
• Friends and challenges. To let you play with friends, our server stores a random public ID and a short friend code (for example SUDO-AB12) for your player, your display name, your avatar or profile photo, your level and the XP you earned this week. When you add a friend with their code (or an invite link), you become friends both ways, and each of you can then see the other's name, picture, level and weekly XP. For a head-to-head challenge we store the puzzle type, difficulty and seed, each player's finish time and number of mistakes, and who won. Finished, declined and expired challenges are deleted after 30 days. You can remove a friend at any time. We do not read your phone's contacts: friends are added only by code or link.
• Profile photo (optional). If you add a photo, you can take it with the camera or choose one from your gallery. The camera is used only when you tap “Take a photo”, and the gallery picker lets you choose a single picture without giving the app access to your other photos. The app shrinks the picture (to at most 512 pixels) and uploads it to our server, where it is shown to you, to the friends you add, and next to your name on the public leaderboards if you rank there. It is served through an image link that contains your random public ID; the link is not listed anywhere, but anyone who has it can open the picture, so choose a photo you are comfortable sharing. You can switch to an avatar or remove the photo at any time in Profile → Edit profile, which deletes it from our server. We may remove a photo that breaks the rules of the app.
• Daily login bonus and streak. Our server stores your bonus points, login streak, the number of Streak Freezes you hold and the days you claimed the bonus, linked to your player ID, so the bonus cannot be claimed twice and survives a reinstall. If you tap “Notify me” for upcoming rewards, we record that you asked.
• Notifications inbox and settings. Our server keeps up to 100 recent messages for you (for example a friend added you, a challenge arrived or finished, or an announcement) and your choice of whether to receive friend and challenge push alerts.
• Usage data on our own server (only if you allow it). The first time you open the app we ask whether you want to share usage data. If you say yes, the app sends your player ID to our server together with: when you start and stop using the app and for how long, which screens you open, which game modes and features you use (for example Classic, Killer or the daily puzzle), where you leave the app, your platform (Android or iOS) and OS version, your approximate country, your display name, and a summary of your progress (streak, XP and puzzles solved). It also includes ad events: when an ad is shown, which kind it was (rewarded video, interstitial or banner), where in the app it appeared (for example while asking for a hint, an extra life or after finishing a puzzle) and whether a reward was earned. It does not include what the ad was. If the app offers in-app search, what you search for is included. If you say no, none of this is sent. You can change your mind at any time in Settings → Share usage data; turning it off stops collection and clears anything not yet sent.
• Push notifications. If notifications are available on your device, the app registers a Firebase Cloud Messaging token with our server so we can send you reminders and announcements, and records when you open a notification we sent. This also depends on your usage-data choice above.
• Analytics by Google. Google Analytics for Firebase collects information about how the app is used (for example screens viewed and puzzles played), device model, OS version and an app-instance identifier, so we can improve the game.
• Crash reports. Firebase Crashlytics collects crash logs and diagnostic information (device state, stack traces) when the app crashes, so we can fix bugs.
• Advertising. The app shows ads through Google AdMob; ads are loaded in the background so they are ready when needed. AdMob may collect your device's advertising ID, IP address and ad-interaction data to serve, measure and personalise ads and to prevent fraud.

How the information is used

We use this information only to run the game (saving progress, showing leaderboards, friends, challenges and the daily bonus), to understand and improve the app (for example which modes are popular, where players get stuck and how often ads are shown), to send you notifications such as your daily puzzle reminder, to fix crashes, and to show ads that keep the app free. We do not sell your personal information.

Third-party services

The following Google services process data on our behalf, under their own privacy policies:

• Our own server, hosted by Hostinger on a virtual private server, stores the friends, challenge, profile photo, bonus, inbox and usage data described above, protected by access controls and encrypted connections.
• Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Analytics, Crashlytics, Cloud Messaging) — firebase.google.com/support/privacy
• Google AdMob — policies.google.com/technologies/ads
• Google Privacy Policy — policies.google.com/privacy

Security

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). Access to stored game data is restricted by security rules so that each player can only change their own records.

Data retention and deletion

You can delete your data yourself: open Profile → Settings → Delete account. This removes your friends, challenges, profile photo, bonus points, inbox messages and usage data from our server, tries to remove your public leaderboard entries, and resets the progress on your device. Anything the app could not delete automatically (for example if you were offline) can be removed on request: email us at the address below and include your player ID (shown at the bottom of Settings); we will delete it within 30 days. You can also remove just your profile photo or a friend at any time. Game progress and leaderboard entries are otherwise kept while your account is in use, and uninstalling the app removes local data from your device. Finished challenges are deleted after 30 days. Usage data on our own server is kept for up to 24 months and then deleted. Firebase analytics and crash data are retained according to Firebase's default retention settings.

Your choices

• You can turn usage-data sharing off at any time in Settings → Share usage data, turn friend and challenge alerts off in Settings → Notifications, and turn all notifications off in your device settings.
• You can skip the profile photo entirely, deny the camera permission and still use every feature, or remove a photo you added.
• You can reset your advertising ID or opt out of personalised ads in your device settings (Android: Settings → Google → Ads; iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking).
• You can stop all data collection at any time by uninstalling the app.

Children

SudoBloom is intended for users aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and profile photos are not meant for anyone under 13. If you believe a child has used the app, contact us and we will delete the related data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions or deletion requests: iamparthahudati@gmail.com