Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information BOOMSWEEPER, the Minesweeper incremental game from Biggietronics ("we", "us"; formerly Biggie Boy Games), handles and why. It covers both versions of the game: the free Android version on Google Play (package com.biggieboy.boomsweeper), which links here from its Credits screen and its ad consent message, and the PC version and free demo on Steam. The two versions work a little differently, so this page has a part that applies to both, a part for each store, and the legal details at the end. Our studio-wide policy is at biggietronics.com/privacy.

• Both versions
• Google Play (Android)
• Steam (PC)
• Your rights and legal details

Information we collect

Apart from the Steam leaderboard (see Leaderboard), we, Biggietronics, do not collect, receive or store personal information about you on any server of ours. BOOMSWEEPER has no sign-in of its own, no chat, no friends list and no analytics or crash-reporting service of our own.

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to write, and we use it only to answer you. See Contact.

Your saves

The game saves your boards, talents, crew, achievements, save slots and settings (such as language, sound and colour palette) on your device. They don't leave your device through us. How each store backs them up is described in its own part below.

The game engine

BOOMSWEEPER is built with Unity. We have Unity's own analytics, crash reporting and performance reporting services turned off in both versions. The Unity engine may still gather limited technical information about the device, as described in Unity's Game Player and App User Privacy Policy.

Saves and backups on Android

Your saves, settings and whether you've bought "Remove ads" are kept in the app's private storage on your phone. Uninstalling the game or clearing its storage deletes them.

If Android's device backup is turned on in your phone's settings, Android may include the game's files in your personal Google backup. That backup is managed by Google under your Google account, not by us.

Advertising

The free version shows a full-screen (interstitial) ad between boards, after every few boards you finish, served by Google AdMob, part of Google LLC. To serve and measure ads and to prevent fraud, Google's ads software in the game may collect and share with Google:

• Device identifiers, such as your Android advertising ID and app set ID
• Your IP address, which can be used to estimate your general location
• Information about your device and the app, such as device model, operating system version, language and app version
• How you interact with ads, such as ads shown and ads tapped
• Diagnostic information about the app and the ads software, such as app launch time and hang rate

Google handles this data under its own policies. You can read how Google uses information from apps that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, and Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

Personalized and non-personalized ads

Depending on your choices and where you live, ads may be personalized (based on your interests as Google understands them) or non-personalized (based on general context such as the app and your approximate location). Both kinds may still use device identifiers and your IP address for frequency capping, fraud prevention and measurement.

Your ad choices and consent

• Europe (EEA), the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Before any ad is requested, the game shows Google's consent form. You can agree, refuse or choose purpose by purpose. If you refuse personalized ads, Google may still show non-personalized ads where the law allows.
• U.S. states with privacy laws (such as California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas and others). The game shows Google's U.S. state privacy message, which lets you opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your information for personalized advertising.
• Privacy options. Wherever you are entitled to change your answer, a "Privacy options" entry appears in the game's Settings screen and reopens the form at any time. Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it.
• Your device. In Android settings you can reset or delete your advertising ID and opt out of ads personalization (on most phones: Settings, then Google or Privacy, then Ads).
• Remove ads. Buying "Remove ads" stops the ads. From the next time you open the game, it no longer starts Google's ads software at all, so AdMob stops collecting data through the game.

In-app purchase ("Remove ads")

The Android version offers one optional, one-time purchase that removes ads. It is processed entirely by Google Play Billing. Google handles your payment details under the Google Payments privacy notice; we never receive your card number or billing address. The game asks Google Play whether you own "Remove ads" and remembers the answer on your device. Google shares purchase and order records with us in the Google Play Console so we can handle refunds and support, as it does for every Play developer.

Ratings

The game may occasionally ask whether you'd like to rate it. If you choose to, it opens Google Play's own rating window or the game's Play Store page. Any rating or review you leave is handled by Google Play under Google's policies; the game is not told what you rated.

Device permissions

The Android version asks for these permissions, none of which need your approval at install:

Google's ads software may also declare Android's ad-services permissions, which let Android's privacy-preserving ads features work. The game does not ask for your location, contacts, camera, microphone, photos or files.

No ads, no in-app purchases

BOOMSWEEPER on Steam has no ads and no in-app purchases, and doesn't include Google's ads software. You buy the full game from Steam, and Valve handles that purchase and your payment details; we never see them.

Saves and Steam Cloud

Your save slots and settings are stored on your PC, in your user folder.

If Steam Cloud is turned on in your Steam settings, Steam copies your save slot files (game progress only, nothing personal) to your Steam account so they follow you between PCs. Your settings stay on each PC. Valve stores these copies under Valve's privacy policy. To turn it off for this game, right-click BOOMSWEEPER in your Steam library and choose Properties, then General.

Achievements and what the game reads from Steam

• Achievements. When you unlock an achievement in the full game, the game tells Steam, which records it on your Steam account. Whether other people can see your achievements depends on your Steam profile's privacy settings. The demo doesn't report achievements.
• Language. The game uses Steam's language setting to pick its language.
• Leaderboard names. To show the Going Deeper leaderboard, the game downloads the top entries and your own rank from Steam and shows each player's public Steam name next to their level. It doesn't read your friends list or any other profile details.

Leaderboard

When you reach a new deepest level in Going Deeper, the game sends your Steam ID, that level and a one-time Steam login ticket over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to our leaderboard checker, which runs on Cloudflare. The checker confirms the ticket with Steam and then posts the level to the Steam leaderboard, where other players can see it next to your public Steam name.

• What we keep, and for how long. Your Steam ID, the level posted, the deepest level the game reported, when you were first seen and last posted, and a count of this hour's checks. We keep this for as long as the leaderboard exists, to stop cheating.
• Your IP address is kept for at most two days after your last check, only to limit how many requests can be made per hour.
• Nothing else. We don't receive your Steam name, friends, email or payment details from the checker.
• Removal. Email [email protected] to have your record and your leaderboard entry removed.

What we receive from Valve

Apart from the leaderboard above, Valve gives us aggregate sales and play statistics, such as numbers of players and achievement unlock rates, but nothing that identifies you. If you leave a review or post in the game's Steam community hub, Steam publishes it under your Steam profile, and we can read it like anyone else.

Third-party services

• AndroidGoogle AdMob and Google's User Messaging Platform (ads and consent): Google Privacy Policy
• AndroidGoogle Play (download, purchases, ratings, device backup): Google Privacy Policy
• SteamValve / Steam (purchase, Steam Cloud, achievements, leaderboard): Valve Privacy Policy
• SteamCloudflare (runs our leaderboard checker): Cloudflare Privacy Policy
• BothUnity (the game engine, see Both versions): Unity's Game Player and App User Privacy Policy

How information is shared

We never sell, rent or trade personal information for money. The only data that leaves the game goes directly to the services listed above, for the purposes described. We don't receive the data Google's ads software collects.

Some U.S. state laws, including California's CCPA/CPRA, count letting an ad network use device identifiers for personalized ads as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. In that sense, while you play the free Android version with personalized ads, identifiers, approximate location and ad interactions are shared with Google for advertising. You can opt out at any time in the game's Privacy options, through your device's ad settings, or by buying "Remove ads". The Steam version has no ads and doesn't share your information with any ad network, so nothing is sold or shared there in this sense. Leaderboard information goes to our leaderboard checker and is published on Steam, as described under Leaderboard. We do not knowingly sell or share the information of anyone under 16.

Legal bases (EEA, UK, Switzerland, Brazil)

Where laws such as the GDPR, the UK GDPR, Switzerland's FADP or Brazil's LGPD apply, we rely on:

• AndroidYour consent for personalized ads and for storing or reading information on your device for advertising, given through Google's consent form. You can withdraw it at any time in Privacy options.
• AndroidLegitimate interests for non-personalized ads, ad measurement and fraud prevention, which fund the free game. You can object through Privacy options or by emailing us.
• AndroidPerforming a contract for the "Remove ads" purchase.
• SteamLegitimate interests in a fair leaderboard, for the leaderboard record and the hourly request limit. You can object by emailing us.
• BothLegitimate interests for answering emails you send us.

Google acts as an independent controller of the data it collects through AdMob, and Valve of the data it holds for your Steam account, each under its own terms. You don't have to give any personal information to play; on Android the only effect of refusing ad consent is which ads you see.

Where information goes

Google, Cloudflare (Steam leaderboard only) and our email providers may process information in the United States and other countries whose laws differ from yours. For people in Europe, the UK and Switzerland, Google and Cloudflare rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) and on standard contractual clauses for these transfers.

Categories of information (U.S. state laws)

In the last 12 months, the game has collected, or allowed Google to collect, these categories. None of it is "sensitive" personal information, and none of it is used to make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

Data retention and deletion

• BothSave data stays on your device until you delete it. On Android, uninstalling the game or clearing its storage also deletes it. We keep support emails for up to two years after the conversation ends, then delete them, or sooner if you ask.
• AndroidData collected by Google is kept and deleted under Google's policies; you can manage it at myaccount.google.com and reset your advertising ID in Android settings. Play order records are kept by Google as long as Google's and tax rules require, so they can't be deleted from Google Play on request. We only look at them for refunds, support and our legal obligations; email us if you have a question about yours, and we'll delete any support emails about it as described above.
• SteamWe keep your leaderboard record (Steam ID, levels and dates) for as long as the leaderboard exists, and your IP address for at most two days after your last check. Email [email protected] to have your record and leaderboard entry removed. Steam Cloud copies and achievements are kept by Valve with your Steam account.

Security

Google's services, Steam and our leaderboard checker all use encryption in transit. On Android, your save data lives in the app's private storage, which other apps can't read. The leaderboard record is stored in our Cloudflare account, which only we can reach. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we keep what we handle to a minimum.

Children's privacy

BOOMSWEEPER is made for players 13 and older and is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age of digital consent where you live, such as 16 in some EU countries). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and the Android game's ads are not set up for a child audience. Our Google Play target audience is 13 and older; the game's content rating (such as "Everyone") describes what's in the game, not who it's made for. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• know what personal information is processed about you and get a copy of it;
• correct it, or have it deleted;
• restrict or object to processing, including for direct marketing;
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing done before;
• data portability;
• opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information and of targeted advertising (U.S. state laws);
• not be treated differently for using these rights. We won't charge a different price or give a worse game for it.

These rights come from laws including the GDPR and UK GDPR, Switzerland's FADP, California's CCPA/CPRA and other U.S. state privacy laws, Brazil's LGPD and Canada's PIPEDA.

How to use them. For ad data on Android, the fastest route is the game's Privacy options, your device's ad settings, or Google directly, since Google holds that data and we don't. For data Steam holds with your account, use Valve's privacy tools. For anything else, including your Steam leaderboard record, email [email protected]. You may also use an authorized agent. We will reply within 30 days (45 days where U.S. state law allows), and may ask for details to confirm the request is yours. If we turn a request down, you can appeal by replying to our answer.

Complaints. You can complain to your local data protection authority, for example your EU country's supervisory authority, the UK Information Commissioner's Office, Brazil's ANPD or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. We'd appreciate the chance to fix things first.

Changes to this policy

If either version adds new features that affect your information (for example cloud saves or a leaderboard on Android, or another ad network), we will update this page before they ship and change the date at the top.

Contact

Biggietronics is responsible for the processing described here (the "controller"). Our privacy contact, including for the GDPR, LGPD and PIPEDA, is:

Biggietronics
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.biggietronics.com