Unknotted Privacy Policy

Hi! This policy explains what happens to your information when you play Unknotted, our puzzle game for iPhone. We've tried to write it the way we'd explain it to a friend. If anything's unclear, just email us.

1. Who we are

Unknotted is made by Pocket Pickle Games, a small independent game studio in the United Kingdom. For data protection law (the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and, for players in the EU/EEA, the EU GDPR), the "controller" responsible for any personal data handled by the game is:

Daniel Beenshill trading as Pocket Pickle Games
United Kingdom
Email: pocketpicklegames@icloud.com

This policy covers the Unknotted app for iPhone (App Store ID 6826661409, bundle ID com.pocketpicklegames.unknotted).

2. What we collect (hardly anything)

We, Pocket Pickle Games, don't collect or receive personal data from the game. There are no accounts, no logins, and no Pocket Pickle servers. We can't see who you are, what you play or how you play it.

Some things do happen on your device or are handled by Apple and Google, and we explain each one below so you know exactly what's going on:

Things the game does not do: ask for your name or email, read your contacts, photos, microphone, camera or precise location, read your advertising identifier (IDFA), track you across other apps and websites, or sell or rent data to anyone.

3. Ads and Google AdMob

Unknotted is free to play, and ads help pay for it. We use one ad provider only: Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK). We don't use any other ad networks or "mediation".

Non-personalised ads only

Every ad request from Unknotted asks Google for non-personalised ads. That means ads are not chosen based on a profile of you or your activity in other apps. They are chosen using things like the context of the app and your general (coarse) location, such as your country or region.

No tracking, no ATT prompt

Because Unknotted never reads your device's advertising identifier (IDFA) and doesn't track you, it doesn't need to show Apple's "Allow this app to track your activity?" prompt.

What Google's ad SDK collects

To show and measure ads, Google's SDK collects some data from your device. As declared on our App Store privacy label, this data is not linked to your identity and not used for tracking:

• Device ID: a device or app-level identifier (not the IDFA), used for things like limiting how often you see the same ad and preventing fraud.
• Coarse location: general location (for example country or city), worked out from your IP address. Not your precise GPS location.
• Advertising data: which ads were shown and whether they were tapped.
• Product interaction: for example, app launches and ad interactions.
• Diagnostics: technical data such as crash and performance information about the ad SDK.

Google uses this for showing non-personalised ads, ad measurement, fraud and abuse prevention, and keeping the service working. Google is responsible for how it handles this data. You can read more in Google's Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.

Consent in the UK and EEA

If you're in the UK, EU/EEA or Switzerland, the game shows a consent message from Google (Google's User Messaging Platform) the first time you play. It asks whether Google may store and access information on your device for ads. You can say yes or no. If you say no, you may still see some limited ads. You can change your choice any time in Settings → Privacy choices in the game (this option appears where the law requires it).

Which ads you'll see

• Rewarded ads are always optional. You choose to watch one in return for something in the game.
• Interstitial ads (full-screen ads) can appear between levels or Versus games.
• Buying Remove Ads stops the ads you don't choose. Optional rewarded ads stay available if you want them.
• Junior mode never shows ads.

4. Apple features we use

These features are provided by Apple, so Apple's Privacy Policy applies to them. We don't receive personal data from any of them.

• iCloud sync: your progress and settings are saved on your device and synced between your own devices using iCloud key-value storage. It's stored in your iCloud account. We can't see or access it.
• Game Center (optional): if you use Game Center, your scores and achievements are handled by Apple and may be visible to other players according to your Game Center settings.
• In-app purchases: energy refills, hints, Scissors, Peeks, premium themes, Remove Ads and the Everything bundle are bought through Apple. Apple handles payment, and we never receive your card or payment details. The game just learns which items you've unlocked.
• Analytics and crash reports: if you've turned on "Share with App Developers" in your iPhone's settings (Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), Apple shares anonymous, aggregated usage stats and crash reports with us. You can turn this off at any time.
• Daily puzzle reminder (optional): if you switch it on, the reminder is scheduled on your device itself. No push server is involved and nothing is sent to us. You can turn it off in the game or in iPhone Settings → Notifications.
• Sharing your result (optional): you can share an image of your Daily result using the iPhone share sheet. You choose where it goes, and nothing is sent to us.
• Rating prompt: the game may occasionally show Apple's standard "Enjoying Unknotted?" rating prompt. Your rating goes to Apple's App Store, not to us.

5. Our legal reasons (lawful bases)

Data protection law says we need a valid reason to use personal data. Here are ours:

• Consent: for storing and reading information on your device for ads where the law requires consent (the UK/EEA consent message), and for optional features like reminders. You can withdraw consent any time.
• Legitimate interests: for serving non-personalised ads that keep the game free, preventing ad fraud, and fixing bugs using Apple's crash reports. We've made sure these are low-impact for you: no profiling, no tracking, and no data linked to your identity.
• Contract: for delivering things you buy in the game.
• Legitimate interests: for replying to emails you send us.

6. Children and Junior mode

Unknotted is made for a general audience and isn't in the App Store's Kids category. We don't knowingly collect personal data from children.

We know families share phones, so Unknotted has a Junior mode for young children:

• Junior mode is completely ad-free.
• Junior mode never offers purchases during play. The Store is locked behind a grown-up gate.
• There's no Game Center in Junior mode.
• If Junior mode has been used on a device in the last 30 days, every ad request from that device (in any mode) is marked to Google as child-directed and for users under the age of consent, and limited to G-rated (general audience) ads. This tells Google to treat the requests under its rules for children, which switches off personalisation and limits the data used.

If you're a parent or guardian and think your child has sent us personal information (for example by email), contact us at pocketpicklegames@icloud.com and we'll delete it.

7. Who we share data with

We don't hold player data, so there's nothing for us to share or sell. The only other companies involved are:

• Google, for ads, as described in section 3.
• Apple, for the App Store, purchases, iCloud, Game Center, notifications and optional analytics, as described in section 4.

We'd only ever disclose information if the law required it, for example a valid court order. We will never sell or rent personal data.

8. International transfers

Google and Apple may process data outside the UK and EEA, including in the United States. They rely on recognised legal safeguards for this, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (with its UK extension).

9. How long data is kept

• Game progress: stays on your device and in your iCloud until you delete the app and its iCloud data. You're in control of it.
• Ad data: kept by Google in line with Google's retention policy.
• Apple data (purchases, Game Center, analytics): kept by Apple in line with Apple's privacy policy.
• Emails you send us: kept only as long as we need them to help you, and deleted within 12 months of our conversation ending, unless we need to keep them longer for legal reasons.

10. Your rights and choices

Under UK and EU data protection law you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of personal data held about you (access);
• ask for it to be corrected or deleted;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, how it's used;
• ask for it in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting anything done before.

Because we don't hold player data, most requests are quickest handled with these controls:

• Ad consent: in the game, go to Settings → Privacy choices (UK/EEA).
• Ad data held by Google: see Google's privacy tools at myaccount.google.com and Google's Privacy Policy.
• Game progress: delete the app. To remove the synced copy, go to iPhone Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage (wording varies by iOS version).
• Analytics sharing: iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.
• Data held by Apple: privacy.apple.com.

For anything else, or if you're not sure, email pocketpicklegames@icloud.com. We'll reply within one month.

You also have the right to complain to a data protection regulator. In the UK that's the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113). In the EU/EEA you can contact your local data protection authority. We'd love the chance to sort things out first, though.

11. Security

Not collecting your data in the first place is the best protection there is, so that's our approach. The data that does exist is handled by Apple and Google, who use strong security measures.

12. Changes to this policy

If the game changes in a way that affects your privacy, for example a new feature or partner, we'll update this page first and change the "Last updated" date at the top. If it's a big change, we'll tell you in the game too.

13. Contact us

Questions, worries or requests about privacy? We're real people and we'll happily help.

Daniel Beenshill trading as Pocket Pickle Games, United Kingdom
Email: pocketpicklegames@icloud.com