Privacy Policy
This policy explains how Karambola ("we", "us") handles information in our mobile games and on this website (karambola.app). It covers these games, on iPhone and Android:
Trail Recall, Code Vault, Orbit Shelves, Parcel Inspector and Lights Out Lab, and any future game that links to this page.
- No accounts, no sign-in, no in-game chat, and we don't run our own analytics.
- Your progress and settings are saved on your device only. We never receive them.
- The only ads are rewarded videos you choose to watch, for example to get a hint. When an ad is requested, Google AdMob and its ad partners collect device data such as your advertising ID and IP address.
- Where the law requires it, we ask for your consent before ads are personalised. You can change your choice at any time in the game under Settings → Privacy choices.
- We don't sell your personal data, and we hold none about you unless you email us.
- Data stored on your device
- Ads
- Your privacy choices
- Game engine (Unity)
- When you email us
- App stores
- This website
- Legal bases (EEA and UK)
- International transfers
- How long data is kept
- Children
- Your rights
- US state privacy rights
- Security
- Changes to this policy
- Contact
1. Data stored on your device
Each game saves a small file on your device with your progress and settings. This includes your current level, stars, best results, sound, vibration and accessibility settings, and whether you've seen the tutorial. The file stays on your device and is never sent to us or anyone else. You can erase it in the game with Settings → Reset progress, or by deleting the game. Because we never receive it, we can't restore lost progress.
Device backups made by your phone's operating system (iCloud or Google backup) may include this file. Those backups are controlled by you and Apple or Google, not by us.
2. Ads
Our games are free and are paid for by optional rewarded ads. An ad plays only when you tap a button that offers one, for example a hint, a slower replay or a retry with more time. Our games show no banner ads and no ads between levels, and you can always keep playing without watching one.
Ads are provided by Google AdMob. AdMob uses mediation, so the ad you see may come from another ad network that works with AdMob. Today that is Unity Ads (Unity Technologies). If we add another network, we'll list it here.
To request, show and measure an ad, these providers collect information from your device directly. We don't receive it:
| Information | Why it is used |
|---|---|
| Advertising identifier: the Android Advertising ID, or on iPhone the IDFA, but only if you allow tracking. Also app-scoped identifiers such as the IDFV or app set ID. | Frequency capping, measuring ads, preventing fraud and, if you consent, personalised ads |
| IP address and the approximate location derived from it (country or city level, never GPS) | Choosing ads suited to your region, legal compliance, preventing fraud |
| Device and app information: model, operating system, language, screen size, network type, app name and version | Delivering an ad that works on your device |
| Ad interactions: ad requests, views, taps and whether a rewarded video was completed | Granting your reward, measuring and billing ads, preventing fraud |
| Diagnostics: ad loading errors and performance data | Keeping ads working reliably |
Personalised and non-personalised ads. If you consent, or where consent is not required, ads may be personalised from your activity across other apps and websites. If you decline, AdMob shows non-personalised ads. These are chosen from limited context such as the app and your approximate location, and still use identifiers for fraud prevention and frequency capping.
Google and Unity handle this data under their own policies:
- Google: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy
- Unity: Unity Game Player and App User Privacy Policy
3. Your privacy choices
- Consent (EEA, UK and Switzerland). On first launch the game shows Google's consent message, which uses the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework. It lets you accept, decline or customise how ad partners use your data. Until you answer, no personalised ads are requested.
- US state privacy laws. Where these laws apply, Google's message lets you opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information for targeted advertising.
- Change your mind at any time. In the game, open Settings → Privacy choices. This button appears wherever the law requires it.
- iPhone. The IDFA is available to ad networks only if you allow tracking when iOS asks. You can change this at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
- Android. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in Settings → Privacy → Ads (the path varies by device). Once it is deleted, apps can't use it.
- Don't watch ads. Ads are always optional. If you never tap an ad button, no ad is shown. The game may still contact AdMob in the background to have an ad ready.
4. Game engine (Unity)
Our games are built with the Unity engine. The Unity runtime may send Unity Technologies limited technical information about your device and how the game runs, such as device model, operating system, graphics hardware, memory and performance. Unity uses it to improve the engine, under the Unity privacy policy linked above. It does not include your progress or anything you type.
5. When you email us
If you write to support@karambola.app, we receive your email address and whatever you include, such as your phone model or a screenshot. We use it only to answer you and fix the problem. This is the only personal data we hold about players. Our email is handled by our email providers, and messages to this address pass through Cloudflare Email Routing.
6. App stores
When you download a game, Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) process your account and download information under their own privacy policies. The stores give us only aggregated statistics, such as download counts, ratings and crash summaries from users who opted in. None of this identifies you.
7. This website
karambola.app sets no cookies, has no analytics or tracking scripts and has no forms. Its small script only switches between games on the home page and stores nothing on your device. The site is hosted by Cloudflare, which processes technical data such as IP addresses to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.
8. Legal bases (EEA and UK)
- Consent: personalised advertising, and storing or reading information on your device for it where the ePrivacy rules require consent.
- Legitimate interests: showing non-personalised rewarded ads to fund free games, preventing ad fraud, keeping the games and website secure, and replying to your emails.
Google and Unity determine their own legal bases for their processing. Their policies, linked above, explain them.
9. International transfers
Our ad, engine, email and hosting providers may process data in the United States and other countries. They rely on safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and, where they are certified, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.
10. How long data is kept
- Game progress: on your device until you reset it or delete the game.
- Support emails: as long as needed to resolve your request, then deleted within 24 months. You can ask us to delete them sooner.
- Data collected by ad providers, Unity and Cloudflare: under their retention policies.
11. Children
Our games are general-audience puzzle games and are not directed at children under 13, or under the equivalent minimum age in your country. We don't knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has emailed us, contact us and we'll delete the message. If a child has used a game with personalised ads, you can switch them off under Settings → Privacy choices and reset the device's advertising ID.
12. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or port your personal data, to object to or restrict its processing, and to withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect processing done before you withdrew it.
We don't hold game or ad data about you, so for most requests there is nothing on our side to return or delete. For data held by ad providers, use the choices in section 3 or contact them through their policies. For anything else, including emails you sent us, write to support@karambola.app. We'll reply within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
13. US state privacy rights
Residents of California and other US states with privacy laws have the right to know, delete and correct personal information, and to opt out of its "sale" or "sharing" for targeted advertising. We don't sell personal information for money. The personalised ads described in section 2 may count as "sharing" under these laws. To opt out, use Settings → Privacy choices in the game or your device's advertising ID setting. We won't treat you differently for using these rights. The categories involved are identifiers, internet or other network activity (ad interactions) and approximate location, collected by our ad partners for the purposes in section 2.
14. Security
The games don't send your progress anywhere. Ad SDK traffic and this website use encrypted connections (HTTPS). No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we hold to a minimum.
15. Changes to this policy
If our games change how they handle data, for example by adding an ad network, we'll update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect. If a change is significant, we'll also mention it in the game's store listing or update notes.
16. Contact
Karambola · support@karambola.app · karambola.app