01Who we are
Lost Calendars ("the game", "the app") is a logic-puzzle game for Android and iOS. It is published by Barrens Soft (trade name), the independent software studio operating under the name Barrens Soft ("we", "us"). Barrens Soft is the controller of the personal data described in this policy. If a company takes over the game, we will update this policy and tell you in the app.
Postal address: Barrens Soft, Mihaylovo village 6051, Bulgaria. Contact for anything privacy-related: apps@barrenssoft.com.
02The short version
- You can play without an account. When the game first backs up your progress, Firebase gives the app a random user ID (sign-in without an account, using a random, pseudonymous ID). It contains no name, email or phone number.
- Your game progress (solved pieces and their answers, streak, counters, saved Ink and hint tokens, settings) is kept on your device and copied to one backup document in Google Cloud Firestore, stored in the European Union. Only the ID that created it can read, change or delete it.
- Google or Apple sign-in is optional and only links your progress to that account so you can restore it on another phone. If you link Google, Firebase receives your Google email address, name and profile picture link. We never use them to contact you and never share them.
- We use Firebase for crash reports, remote settings and pseudonymous usage analytics (generic game events tied to a random app-instance ID, never your name, email or answers; you can switch analytics off in Settings → Privacy and purchases → Share usage statistics), and Google AdMob for optional rewarded videos and occasional full-screen ads. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google's consent message asks you first; change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
- Purchases are made through Google Play or the App Store. We never see your payment details.
- To delete your cloud backup (and your account, if you linked one), use Settings → Account. Questions: apps@barrenssoft.com.
03Data on your device
Lost Calendars is built to play offline. It keeps a save file in the app's private storage on your phone or tablet, containing:
- your progress: the state of each puzzle piece and the answers of solved pieces, the record of puzzles you have already seen (so you never get the same one twice), counters, your daily streak and the onboarding step;
- your Ink, saved ("bottled") Ink, hint tokens and boosters such as an active Lantern;
- your settings, and the time of the last full-screen ad (so the minimum gap between ads survives a restart);
- a record of which store purchases have already been delivered, so a purchased item is credited exactly once.
If a save file is damaged or comes from a newer version of the app, the app keeps a copy of it on the device for recovery. The save file contains no name, email or device identifier. If you link a Google or Apple account, the app shows its email address in Settings; it reads it from Firebase on the device and never writes it into the save file or the backup.
Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data in your device settings, removes everything stored on the device. It does not delete the cloud backup (section 12).
04Cloud backup
So that your progress survives a reinstall or a new phone, the app keeps one backup document per user in Google Cloud Firestore (a Firebase service), in the database location eur3, a European multi-region (data centres in Belgium and the Netherlands).
- What it contains: your solved pieces with their answers, the record of puzzles you have seen, counters, streak, saved Ink and hint tokens, your settings and the onboarding step, plus a format version and the time of the last update. It never contains unfinished work, your name, email, device identifiers or purchase details.
- Who it belongs to: it is stored under your Firebase user ID. Our database rules allow only a user signed in with that ID to read, change or delete it, and allow nothing else in the database.
- How often: the app reads it once when it starts and writes it at most every few minutes, typically about once per session. Firestore keeps a copy on the device so the game also works offline.
- Restoring: without a linked account, a reinstall finds your backup only if the random ID survives (on iPhone it is kept in the keychain; on Android it is kept when Android restores the app's data from your device backup). With a linked Google or Apple account you can always restore by signing in with it (section 5).
05Optional Google or Apple sign-in
You never need an account to play. In Settings → Account you can choose "Continue with Google" or "Continue with Apple". This links your existing random ID to that account (Firebase Authentication), so the same backup can be restored on another phone by signing in with the same account.
- Google: Firebase receives your Google account's user ID, email address, name and profile picture link, as Google provides them for sign-in.
- Apple: the app does not ask Apple for your name or email. Firebase receives your Apple user ID and, if Apple provides one, an email address, which may be an Apple private relay address that hides your real one.
- What we do with it: only sign-in and restoring your progress. We do not send you emails, do not use the data for advertising or analytics, and do not share it with anyone.
- On another phone: if you sign in with an account that already has a backup, the app combines it with the progress on that phone (solved pieces are kept from both).
- Unlink (Settings → Account → Unlink): removes the link to the Google or Apple account. Your random ID and its backup stay; without a linked account, a reinstall may not find the backup again.
- Sign out: the account keeps its backup, the phone keeps its local progress and continues under a new random ID.
Google's or Apple's own processing of your sign-in is governed by their privacy policies (section 6).
06Services we use
We run no servers of our own. The game uses the following services. For the Firebase services, Google processes the data on our behalf as our processor under the Firebase data processing terms. For ads, sign-in accounts and store purchases, Google and Apple also act as independent controllers under their own policies.
| Service | What is processed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Firebase Authentication (Google) | Your random Firebase user ID, the time it was created and last used; if you link an account, the provider (Google or Apple), its user ID and, as described in section 5, email address, name and profile picture link. | To give the backup an owner, and to let you restore it with your Google or Apple account. |
| Cloud Firestore (Google) | The backup document described in section 4, stored in the EU (eur3). | To back up and restore your progress. |
| Google Analytics for Firebase | Game events from a fixed list, such as "piece started", "piece solved" (with the puzzle type, difficulty and number of hints), "hint used", "out of Ink", "ad offered", "paywall viewed", "purchase completed" and "daily streak", each with preset values only; the app-instance ID; device model, operating system and app version; approximate country or region derived from the IP address. This data is pseudonymous: it is linked to a random app-instance ID, not to your name. Never your name, email, user ID or puzzle answers: the app drops any parameter that could identify you. Data collection follows your answer to the consent message (section 7). | To understand which puzzles are too hard or too easy and improve the game. |
| Firebase Crashlytics (Google) | Crash reports: stack traces, device model, operating system and app version, a crash-report installation ID and a few technical log lines. This data is pseudonymous. Never your user ID, email or save content. | To find and fix crashes and keep the game stable. |
| Firebase Remote Config (Google) | A Firebase installation ID and basic device and app information, used to fetch settings. | To adjust game settings (such as ad limits, Ink values or when new chapters open) without an app update. |
| Google AdMob and its consent tool (User Messaging Platform) | Advertising ID or app set ID (where available and permitted), IP address and approximate location derived from it, device information, your consent choices, and ad-request and ad-interaction data. | To show rewarded and full-screen ads (section 7), measure them and prevent ad fraud. For ads, Google acts as an independent controller. |
| Google Sign-In / Sign in with Apple (only if you choose it) | The sign-in exchange between your device, Google or Apple, and Firebase. | To link your account (section 5). |
| Google Play Billing / Apple App Store | Which product you bought, its status, and renewal and trial dates. Payment details are handled entirely by Google or Apple. | For in-app purchases (section 8). |
Privacy and security in Firebase: firebase.google.com/support/privacy. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy. How Google uses data from apps that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Apple's privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy.
07Advertising and consent
Lost Calendars is free to play and is partly paid for by ads from Google AdMob. There are two kinds:
- Rewarded videos that you can choose to watch for extra Ink. They are always optional and clearly labelled.
- Full-screen ads between puzzle pieces: never in your first session, never right after a wrong answer, never while you solve, and at most one after every three solved pieces and at least four minutes apart.
With the Expedition Pass the app makes no ad requests at all. With Remove Ads there are no full-screen ads; rewarded videos remain available if you want them. Ads are limited to Google's "PG" content rating.
- EEA, UK and Switzerland: no ad is requested until your consent choice allows it. Google's consent message (User Messaging Platform) appears after you have solved your first piece, never during the tutorial. Its first screen offers "Consent" and "Manage options"; under "Manage options" you can switch individual purposes and partners off and confirm your choice. You can play either way; if you do not consent, Google may show only non-personalised or limited ads. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
- Analytics follows the same choice. Until the answer is known, and if you do not allow storing information on your device, Google Analytics runs in Google's consent mode with storage denied: it does not store analytics identifiers on your device and Google receives only limited signals. Analytics data is pseudonymous, not anonymous, and you can also turn analytics off at any time with the switch Share usage statistics in Settings. If you do not see the message (for example because you have the Expedition Pass), Analytics stays in that mode. Outside these countries no consent message is required, and Analytics and ads run normally.
- Android: AdMob uses your device's advertising ID. You can reset or delete it in your device's Google settings.
- iOS: Lost Calendars does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission, so Apple's advertising identifier is not available to us or to AdMob.
Ads never receive your backup, your answers, or the email or name of a linked account.
08In-app purchases
The game is free to play. Optional purchases through Google Play and the Apple App Store are: the Expedition Pass subscription (yearly with a 7-day free trial, or monthly), Remove Ads (one-time), and consumable items (Ink Pot S, Ink Pot M, Ink Chest L and the Lantern). On the yearly plan the paywall says:
"7 days free, then $29.99/year. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime in your store settings – you keep access until the end of the paid period."
Payments are processed entirely by Google or Apple; we never see your card or payment details. The app reads which products you own from the store on your device and keeps a record of delivered consumables on the device. We run no purchase server and do not receive your purchase history. If you have allowed analytics, purchase events from the list in section 6 are counted. Google and Apple keep their own purchase records under their policies. Prices, renewal, cancellation and refunds are described in our Terms of Use.
09Legal bases (EEA and UK)
- Performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR): providing the game, the cloud backup and restore, the optional account link you ask for, and delivering what you buy.
- Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, and the national rules on storing information on your device): personalised ads, storing and reading advertising and analytics identifiers on your device, and analytics in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy choices; this does not affect processing before the withdrawal.
- Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): crash reports and remote settings to keep the game working and secure, fraud prevention and measurement for non-personalised ads, and analytics where no consent is required. Our interest is a stable, fair and improving game; you can object at any time (section 13).
- Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR): answering requests about your rights and keeping the records the law requires.
11How long data is kept
- Save file on the device: until you uninstall the app or clear its data.
- Cloud backup and Firebase user: until you delete them in the app or ask us to (section 12); a backup unused for 24 months is deleted automatically within about a month after that. When you sign out, sign in to another account on the same phone, or reinstall without restoring, the backup of the earlier random ID can stay behind. It holds game progress only. If you want it gone, delete it in Settings → Account before you sign out or uninstall, or write to us.
- Analytics (pseudonymous): user-level data for the retention period set in Google Analytics, at most 14 months; aggregated reports without identifiers may be kept longer.
- Crash reports: 90 days.
- Ads and purchases: under Google's and Apple's own retention policies.
- Emails to us: as long as needed to answer, and up to 3 years for records of rights requests.
12Deleting your data
- In the app (fastest): Settings → Account → "Delete cloud backup", or, if you linked an account, "Delete account and cloud backup". The app asks you to confirm, deletes the backup from Firestore and then the Firebase user with its Google or Apple link. It needs an internet connection. Your local progress stays on the phone; the game continues under a new random ID.
- On the device: uninstall the app, or on Android go to Settings → Apps → Lost Calendars → Storage → Clear data.
- By email: write to apps@barrenssoft.com with the subject "Delete my data" and the email address of the Google or Apple account you linked. We delete the account and its backup within one month, usually much sooner, and confirm by email. Without a linked account we cannot tell which random ID is yours, so please use the in-app option.
- Apple: you can also stop using Sign in with Apple for the game in your Apple Account settings (Sign-In & Security → Sign in with Apple).
- Analytics and ads: change your consent in Settings → Privacy choices, and reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings.
13Your rights
Depending on where you live, and in particular under the GDPR, you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data deleted;
- restrict processing, and object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- data portability;
- withdraw consent at any time;
- lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live or work. Our lead authority in Bulgaria is the Commission for Personal Data Protection (2 Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd., 1592 Sofia, cpdp.bg); in the UK it is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).
To use them, email apps@barrenssoft.com. Because you play under a random ID, we may need details that help us find the data, such as the email of a linked account. We reply within one month, free of charge. We make no decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
If you live in the United States. We do not sell personal data for money. When you see ads, Google receives identifiers (such as the advertising ID), IP address, approximate location and ad-interaction data. Under some state laws this can count as "sharing" for targeted advertising. You can limit it by deleting or resetting your device's advertising ID, and the Expedition Pass turns ads off entirely. Depending on your state, you may also have the right to know, access, correct and delete your personal data and to appeal our answer; email us to use them. We will not treat you differently for doing so.
14Children
Lost Calendars is a general-audience puzzle game. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. In the EEA, a child under 16 (or the lower age set by their country, for example 14 in Bulgaria) can give consent for ads and analytics only with a parent's or guardian's approval, and should link a Google or Apple account only with that approval. If you believe a child has given us personal data, write to apps@barrenssoft.com and we will delete it.
15Security
All data travels encrypted (TLS) between the app and Google's or Apple's services, and Google encrypts Firestore data at rest. Our database rules let only your own signed-in ID reach your backup, and the backup holds no contact details. Access to our consoles is limited to us. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach ever affected your data, we would inform you and the authorities as the law requires.
16Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when the game or the law changes. The effective date at the top shows the current version. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app before it applies.
17Contact
Barrens Soft, Mihaylovo village 6051, Bulgaria · apps@barrenssoft.com