01Who we are
Squarro ("the game", "the app") is a daily logic-grid puzzle game for Android and iOS. It is published by Barrens Soft (trade name), an independent software studio ("we", "us"). For the personal data described in this policy we are the data controller.
Postal address of the controller: Barrens Soft, Mihaylovo village 6051, Bulgaria. Contact for anything privacy-related: apps@barrenssoft.com.
02The short version
- You do not need an account. Playing never asks for your name, email address or phone number. You can optionally sign in with Google or Apple (version 1.1.0 and later) to keep your progress on a new phone and to join the leaderboard. Then we receive your email address from Google or Apple (for Apple it can be a private relay address).
- On first launch, Firebase gives the app a random anonymous user ID. From version 1.1.0, your progress (stats, streaks, solved grids and Challenge results) is backed up under your user ID in Google Cloud Firestore, in the EU, only if you sign in. Copies made by earlier versions for anonymous IDs stay until deleted.
- We use Google Firebase for crash reports, usage analytics, remote configuration and abuse protection, and Google AdMob for ads.
- In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland we ask for consent before ads are personalised. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
- To have your data deleted: in the app, Settings → Account → Delete account and online data (if you signed in), or email apps@barrenssoft.com.
03Data stored on your device
The game works locally first. It keeps the following on your phone or tablet:
- your results: which grids you solved, when, in what time, and whether the solution was revealed;
- your stats and streaks;
- your settings (for example theme, haptics and display options) and whether you have finished the tutorial;
- whether you own Remove Ads or Squarro Plus (and, on the App Store, when the current Plus period ends), so the game knows this when you are offline.
Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data in your device settings, removes this local data. Your purchases stay with your Google Play or Apple account and can be restored with "Restore purchases" in Settings.
04Progress backup
So that your progress is not lost, the app keeps a copy of it in Google Cloud Firestore, a Firebase database. The copy is stored in Google's multi-region location eur3 (Europe).
- The backup is one record per player, stored under your Firebase user ID (the anonymous ID, linked to your Google or Apple account if you sign in). It contains your solve history, stats and streaks, your solved grids, your Challenge results (stage, time, hints, mistakes), your leaderboard choice, and the time of the last update.
- It does not contain your name, email address, contacts, location or any content from outside the game.
- Our security rules allow only the signed-in owner of the record to read or write it. The app writes to it at most once a day, or three times a day if you are on the leaderboard.
- Leaderboard (only if you join): a generated public name (picked from fixed word lists plus a number; you cannot type your own), a random entry ID, and your XP, highest stage and level. Other players see only that name and your scores, never your email, user ID or real name. The boards are shared between the Android and iPhone versions and are recalculated every few hours by a scheduled job that runs on GitHub Actions (see section 5). You can leave at any time in the app (Leave the leaderboard), which removes your entry at the next refresh.
- Optional account: signing in only links your anonymous ID to your Google or Apple account. We use your email address for this and nothing else: we do not send you email and do not read your contacts. Firebase may also hold the name and profile picture that Google shares; the app does not read or show them.
05Data processed through third-party services
To run the game we use the following services from Google and GitHub (and the app stores for purchases). They process limited data on our behalf or, where stated, as independent controllers.
| Service | What is processed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Firebase Authentication | A random anonymous user ID created on first launch. If you choose to sign in: your Google or Apple email address and the account ID at that provider. | To link your progress backup to you, and to restore it on a new phone if you sign in. |
| Cloud Firestore | Your progress backup and leaderboard choice (see section 4), stored under your user ID in the eur3 (Europe) location. | To keep your stats, streaks, solved grids and Challenge progress safe, and to calculate the leaderboard. |
| Firebase Crashlytics | Crash reports and diagnostic data: device model, OS version, app version, stack traces, and a crash-report installation ID. | To find and fix crashes and errors. |
| Firebase Analytics | Gameplay and app events (for example "grid solved" or "hint used"), the app-instance ID, device and OS information, and approximate country (derived from the IP address, which is not stored by us). | To understand how the game is played and improve it. Analytics data is not used for advertising; see section 6. |
| Firebase Performance Monitoring | Performance traces (for example app start time and network request timings), device and OS information, app version and an installation ID. | To find and fix slow screens and requests. |
| Firebase Remote Config | An installation ID and basic device and app information, used to fetch configuration values. | To adjust game settings without an app update. |
| Firebase App Check | An attestation from Google Play Integrity (Android) or Apple App Attest (iOS) that the request comes from a genuine copy of the app on a genuine device. | To protect the backup and our Firebase services from abuse. |
| Google AdMob | Advertising ID (where available and permitted), IP address, device information, and ad-interaction data. | To show banner, interstitial and optional rewarded ads. See section 6. |
| Google Play Billing / Apple App Store | Purchase and subscription status. Payment details are handled entirely by Google or Apple. | For in-app purchases (see section 7). We never see or store your card or payment details. |
| GitHub Actions (GitHub, Inc., a Microsoft company) | Only if you sign in: the leaderboard job reads the Challenge results in the progress backups and keeps a working copy for players who joined the leaderboard (user ID, generated name, entry ID and scores) in the GitHub Actions cache. | To calculate the leaderboard. GitHub acts as our processor. |
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.
06Advertising and consent
Squarro is free and is supported by ads from Google AdMob: banner ads, interstitial ads between puzzles, and rewarded ads that you can choose to watch for an in-game benefit. Rewarded ads are always optional.
- EEA, UK and Switzerland: before any ad is requested, we ask for your consent using Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP), a certified consent tool. If you do not consent, only non-personalised ads (or no ads) are shown. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
- Analytics and consent: in these regions, Firebase Analytics only stores analytics data on the device if you have agreed to it in the same consent form. Analytics data is never shared for advertising, personalisation or ad measurement.
- Android: AdMob uses your device's advertising ID for ads. You can reset or delete it in your device's Google settings.
- iOS: Squarro does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission, so Apple's advertising identifier is not available to us or to AdMob.
07In-app purchases
Squarro offers a one-time Remove Ads purchase and a Squarro Plus subscription (monthly or yearly). They are sold through Google Play and the Apple App Store. Payments are processed entirely by Google or Apple. The app reads the purchase and subscription status from the store on your device to unlock the feature and keeps that status on the device; we do not run a purchase server, we do not receive your purchase history, and we never see your card or payment details. Google and Apple keep their own purchase records under their privacy policies.
Subscriptions are managed and cancelled in your Google Play or App Store account. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
08Sharing and device permissions
- Sharing results: when you tap Share, the app creates a result card (an image and a short text) on your device and opens your system's share sheet, or copies the text to your clipboard. Nothing is sent unless you choose where to share it, and the share is made by the app you pick, not by us.
- No contacts, location, camera or microphone: Squarro does not request access to your contacts, location, camera, microphone or photos.
09Legal bases (EEA and UK)
- Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): providing the game, the optional account and progress backup you sign in for, the leaderboard you join, and your purchases.
- Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): crash and performance reporting, remote configuration, usage analytics where consent is not required, and protecting our services from abuse (App Check).
- Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): personalised advertising, the related use of device identifiers, and storing analytics data on your device where consent is required. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy choices; this does not affect processing that took place before.
- Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): where we must keep or disclose data by law.
11How long we keep data
- On your device: until you uninstall the app or clear its data.
- Progress backup, account and anonymous ID: until you delete your account in the app or ask us to delete them. The leaderboard entry is removed at the next refresh after you leave or delete; older copies of the leaderboard job's working cache expire within about 7 days.
- Crashlytics crash reports: kept by Google for up to 90 days.
- Analytics: event data is kept for no longer than 14 months, the maximum retention setting of Google Analytics for Firebase.
- Advertising data: retained by Google under its own policies.
- Emails you send us: as long as needed to answer you, and then deleted within a reasonable time unless we need them to establish or defend legal claims.
12Deleting your data
- Data on your device: uninstall the app, or clear its data in your device settings.
- In the app (account holders): Settings → Account → Delete account and online data. This deletes your online progress and Challenge results, your leaderboard entry and your sign-in account; Challenge progress on the phone is cleared too. If you signed in with Apple, you can also stop using Apple sign-in for Squarro in your Apple ID settings (Sign in with Apple).
- Without the app, or if you never signed in: email apps@barrenssoft.com and we will delete your backup and account or anonymous ID. We may ask for details that help us find your record, such as the account email, your platform, device model and roughly when you started playing. If we cannot identify a record with reasonable certainty, we will tell you. We reply within one month.
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 or object to processing, including 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. In Bulgaria this is the Commission for Personal Data Protection (cpdp.bg).
To exercise a right, email apps@barrenssoft.com. Because we do not know who you are, we may need details that help us find your data (see section 12). We reply within one month.
14Children
Squarro is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
15Security
Data sent to Firebase and AdMob is encrypted in transit. The progress backup can only be read or written by the signed-in or anonymous owner of its user ID, and App Check helps make sure requests come from the genuine app. Data on your device is protected by your device's own security, such as screen lock and storage encryption.
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 also tell you in the app.
17Contact
Barrens Soft, Mihaylovo village 6051, Bulgaria · apps@barrenssoft.com