Wickstacks Privacy Policy
Wickstacks — Daily Nonogram (“Wickstacks”, “the app”) is published by Lifelift Software, Inc. (“we”, “us”). This policy explains, in plain language, what the app does with information about you.
The short version
- You do not need to create an account, give a name, or give an email address to play. The app creates an anonymous player identifier for you.
- When you finish a puzzle, the app sends your solve time for that day to our server so it can tell you how you compare with everyone else. That is the only thing the app itself sends us.
- On iOS you can optionally Sign in with Apple so your player identifier follows you across devices.
- The app shows ads from Google AdMob. Google’s advertising software receives device information for that purpose. The app asks Google to serve non-personalised ads only.
- Everything else — your progress, your streak, your settings — stays on your device.
- The app has no analytics or crash-reporting library.
What we collect, and why
An anonymous player identifier
The first time the app runs it asks Google Firebase Authentication to create an anonymous account and gives you a random identifier (a “uid”). The app uses it to attach your solve times to you and to nobody else. It is not your name, email, phone number, or device serial number, and on its own it does not identify you to us.
Your daily solve time
When you complete the day’s puzzle, the app writes one record to our database (Google Cloud Firestore): your player identifier, the puzzle date, how many milliseconds you took, and the time the record was written. This lets the app show you a single comparison line — how your time relates to the median of everyone who solved that day. The app never shows a ranked list, names, or anyone’s identifier.
Two things you should know about these records:
- They are readable by anyone who queries the database — that is how the comparison works without an account. Each record contains only the identifier, the date, and the time; nothing that names you.
- Once written, a record cannot be changed, and there is one per player per day at most.
Sign in with Apple (optional, iOS only)
If you choose Sign in with Apple, the app links your anonymous player identifier to your Apple ID so the same identifier can be restored on another device. The app requests your name and email from Apple as part of that sign-in flow; the app itself does not store your name. Apple lets you hide your real email address and share a relay address instead. Firebase Authentication retains your Apple user identifier and the email address Apple provides at sign-in — your real address or, if you chose “Hide My Email”, Apple’s private-relay address.
Data that stays on your device
The app keeps the following on your device only, in the app’s private storage: the current puzzle board state, your solve history (puzzle date and time for each day you solved), streak-restore records, whether you have finished the tutorial, a count of how often you opened the puzzle shelf, whether the app has already asked about tracking (iOS), and your Firebase sign-in session. None of this is sent to us. Deleting the app deletes it.
Third parties
| Who | What for | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore) | Creating your anonymous player identifier; storing solve-time records; linking to Apple sign-in if you choose it | Your player identifier and solve-time records; the credential Apple returns if you sign in with Apple; the technical information Firebase needs to serve requests (such as your IP address). See Firebase’s privacy documentation. |
| Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK) and the Google User Messaging Platform | Showing banner and interstitial ads; collecting your consent choices where the law requires them | Device and app information used to request and measure ads, which may include your device’s advertising identifier, IP address, and coarse location derived from it, subject to your consent and settings. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services. |
| Apple (Sign in with Apple, App Tracking Transparency) | Optional sign-in; the iOS tracking permission prompt | Handled by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy. Apple tells us only what you allow it to. |
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with anyone other than the providers above, who process it to run the app for us.
Advertising and consent
- The app shows a banner ad and, after you finish a puzzle, an interstitial ad, both served by Google AdMob.
- The app asks AdMob for non-personalised ads only, regardless of any other setting.
- EEA, UK and Switzerland: before any ad is requested, the app shows Google’s consent form (User Messaging Platform). If you do not consent, ads may not be shown; the puzzle works either way. You can change your choice later by deleting and reinstalling the app, or by contacting support.
- iOS: after you finish your first puzzle, the app asks once for permission to track (App Tracking Transparency). Saying no changes nothing about how the app works. You can change the answer at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
- You can also reset or limit your device’s advertising identifier in your device settings (iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising; Android: Settings → Google → Ads).
Children
Wickstacks is not directed at children under 13, and it does not participate in Apple’s Kids category or Google Play’s Designed for Families programme. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has used the app and you would like their data removed, contact us and we will delete it. The app’s declared store age rating is 4+ on the App Store and Everyone on Google Play.
How long we keep data
- Solve-time records are kept indefinitely — the app currently has no expiry for them — until you ask us to delete your account.
- Your player identifier (the Firebase Authentication account) is kept until you ask us to delete it.
- On-device data is kept until you delete the app or clear its storage.
- Google’s retention of advertising and consent data is governed by Google’s policies linked above.
Your choices
- Play anonymously. You never have to sign in.
- Consent. Where the consent form is shown, you can decline; where tracking permission is asked, you can decline. Neither affects the puzzle.
- Apple sign-in. You can stop using Sign in with Apple for Wickstacks from your Apple ID settings (Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Sign in with Apple).
- Delete the app. Removes everything stored on your device, including your sign-in session. It does not by itself remove your player identifier or solve-time records from our database — see the next section.
- Delete your account and data. See Delete your account and data.
- Access or correct. Ask us at the contact address and we will tell you what we hold against your identifier. Note that solve-time records cannot be edited once written; they can only be deleted.
Depending on where you live, you may have additional legal rights over your personal data — such as access, correction, deletion, portability, and the right to complain to a supervisory authority. To exercise any of them, contact us at the address below and we will honour the request as applicable law requires.
Account deletion
You can have your player identifier and all solve-time records attached to it deleted. The steps are on the Delete your account and data page.
Security
Data in transit between the app and Google’s services is encrypted (TLS). Solve-time records are protected by database rules that allow a player to write only their own record for the current day, once, and allow no edits or deletions by anyone through the app. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your data we will notify affected users and the relevant authorities without undue delay, as applicable law requires.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the effective date at the top of this page and, for material changes, post a notice on this page before the change takes effect.
Contact
Lifelift Software, Inc.
30 N Gould St #10502
Sheridan, WY 82801, USA
support@lifelift.app