Legal
PRIVACY POLICY
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data Pipeline Pixels collects when you play Glowsmith or visit pipelinepixels.com, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and how you can have it deleted. We've tried to write it the way we'd want to read it.
1. Who we are and how to reach us
The data controller responsible for the processing described in this policy is Pipeline Pixels:
- Studio: Pipeline Pixels
- Privacy contact: privacy@pipelinepixels.com
- General contact: hello@pipelinepixels.com
- Website: pipelinepixels.com
You can use the privacy contact address above to ask a question, exercise any of the rights in section 12, or request deletion of your data under section 11. We answer within 30 days.
2. What this policy covers
This policy applies to:
- Glowsmith — our puzzle game for Android, distributed through Google Play.
- pipelinepixels.com — this website.
It does not cover Google Play itself, or any third-party website an ad or link takes you to. Those services have their own privacy policies.
3. Summary
| Data | Where | Why | Kept for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising identifiers and ad interaction data | Game | Showing and measuring non-personalised ads, fraud prevention | By Google, per Google's policies |
| App usage events and device information | Game | Understanding which puzzles work | Max 14 months |
| Crash reports and diagnostics | Game | Fixing crashes | Max 90 days |
| Game progress | Your device only | Remembering which rooms you've lit | Until you uninstall |
| Server logs | Website | Serving the site, security | Max 90 days |
| Your email address | If you write to us | Replying to you | Max 24 months |
We do not sell your personal data. We do not ask you to create an account. We do not collect your name, address, phone number, contacts, photos, files, microphone or precise location.
4. Data collected in Glowsmith
4.1 Advertising — Google AdMob
Glowsmith shows advertising supplied by Google AdMob.
Advertising is served in non-personalised mode for every player. Ads are selected from general context — such as the fact that you are playing a puzzle game — and not from a profile of your interests or behaviour.
To serve and measure ads and prevent fraud, Google collects:
- Advertising identifiers — your Android Advertising ID (unless you have opted out of ad personalization in your device settings or reset it).
- Device identifiers and network data — IP address (used by Google for coarse geographic lookup, e.g. country or city, and fraud detection), device model, manufacturer, OS version, language and approximate screen dimensions.
- Ad interaction events — whether an ad was shown, viewed, tapped or dismissed, and technical metrics such as latency and rendering success.
Google acts as an independent controller for this data. For details, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use their services.
How to control this: you can reset your Advertising ID or delete it entirely in Android settings under Settings → Google → Ads (or Settings → Privacy → Ads depending on Android version).
4.2 Analytics and diagnostics — Firebase
We use Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics to understand how the game performs and fix crashes. These services collect:
- App instance identifier — a pseudonymous ID generated by Firebase when the app is installed, unique to that installation. It is not linked to your Google account or Advertising ID.
- Game events — level started, level completed, puzzle retries, time to solve, hint requested, and settings changed. We use these to find puzzles that are too hard or too easy.
- Device and performance data — device model, OS version, memory, battery state, orientation, and whether the app was in the foreground or background.
- Crash reports — stack traces, device state at the moment of a crash, and diagnostic logs that help us reproduce and fix bugs.
We configure Firebase with Google Signals disabled and advertising reporting features turned off. Analytics data is kept for a maximum of 14 months (the minimum Google allows) and is not used for ad targeting. We do not upload email addresses or any other directly identifying information into Firebase. Google acts as our processor for these services.
How to control this: turn analytics and crash reporting off in the game under Settings → Privacy. The game works exactly the same with them off.
4.3 Your game progress
Which rooms you have lit, your settings and your consent choices are stored on your device only. There is no account, no login and no cloud save. We cannot see your progress, and deleting the app deletes it.
4.4 What Glowsmith never collects
The game does not request or collect your name, email address, phone number, contacts, calendar, photos, files, microphone, camera, precise GPS location, payment or financial information, health data, or any other sensitive category of personal data. It contains no social login, no chat and no user-generated content.
5. Children and families
Glowsmith is listed on Google Play for a mixed audience: we expect both children and adults to play it. We comply with Google Play's Families Policy and, for players in the United States, with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
In practice that means:
- Every player is treated as a child. We do not attempt to distinguish adults from children, so the strictest protections apply to everyone.
- Advertising is non-personalised for all players. No interest-based or behavioural advertising is served in Glowsmith to anyone, ever.
-
Every ad request is tagged for child-directed treatment
and as coming from a user below the age of consent in Europe, using
Google's
TagForChildDirectedTreatmentandTagForUnderAgeOfConsentsettings. - No advertising profile is built. The Android Advertising ID is not used to profile any player.
- Only Google Play certified ad SDKs are used. AdMob is certified for use in Families programme apps.
- No personal data is knowingly collected from children beyond what is listed in section 4, all of which is limited to supporting the game's internal operations, advertising in non-personalised mode, analytics and crash reporting.
Parents and guardians: if you believe your child has provided us with personal data, or you want any data associated with your child's device deleted, email privacy@pipelinepixels.com. We will delete it and confirm within 30 days. You may also refuse any further collection by turning analytics off in Settings → Privacy, or by uninstalling the game.
6. Data collected on this website
pipelinepixels.com currently runs no advertising and no analytics. There is no Google AdSense, no Google Analytics, no tracking pixel and no third-party cookie on this site. The only data processed is what our hosting provider records in standard server logs: your IP address, the date and time of the request, the page or file requested, the referring page, and your browser and operating system string. We use these to keep the site online and to investigate abuse, and we do not use them to profile you.
If you email us — about a bug, a press kit, or to be told when a game ships — we keep your message and your address so we can reply.
If we later add advertising or analytics to this website, we will update this policy, change the "last updated" date above, and ask for your consent through a cookie banner before anything loads.
7. Cookies and similar technologies
This website sets no cookies. There is nothing to consent to and nothing to opt out of.
Mobile apps do not use cookies. Glowsmith uses the equivalent technologies described in section 4: local device storage for your progress and settings, a Firebase app instance identifier, and the limited non-persistent identifier Google uses for non-personalised ad delivery and fraud prevention.
8. Who we share data with
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. The complete list of parties with which personal data is shared, and what each one receives, is below — there are no others:
| Recipient | Role | What they receive | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC — AdMob | Independent controller | Section 4.1 advertising data | Serving and measuring non-personalised ads; fraud prevention |
| Google — Firebase Analytics & Crashlytics | Processor | Section 4.2 usage and crash data | Product analytics and crash diagnostics |
| Our website hosting provider | Processor | Server logs | Serving pipelinepixels.com |
| Law enforcement or regulators | Controller | Only what we are legally compelled to provide | Legal obligation |
We do not use any other advertising network, attribution SDK, social media SDK or data broker.
9. Legal bases for processing
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we rely on these legal bases under the GDPR:
- Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — analytics and crash reporting, and non-personalised advertising where consent is required. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy, without affecting processing that already happened.
- Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — delivering the game you installed and maintaining your local game state.
- Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — keeping the game and the website available and secure, preventing advertising fraud, and replying to messages you send us.
10. How long we keep data
| Data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Firebase Analytics event and user data | No longer than 14 months, then deleted automatically |
| Crashlytics crash reports | No longer than 90 days |
| Website server logs | No longer than 90 days |
| Email correspondence | No longer than 24 months after our last exchange |
| Game progress on your device | Until you delete the app data or uninstall |
| Advertising data held by Google | Per Google's own retention policies; we hold no copy |
When a retention period ends, the data is deleted or irreversibly anonymised. We do not keep data "just in case".
11. How to delete your data
Glowsmith has no accounts, so there is no account to delete. To remove your data:
- Data on your device — clear the app's storage in Android Settings → Apps → Glowsmith → Storage → Clear data, or uninstall the game. This deletes your progress, your settings, your consent choices and the Firebase app instance identifier.
- Analytics and crash data already collected — email privacy@pipelinepixels.com with the subject line Delete my data. If you can include the app instance ID shown in Settings → Privacy → My data, we can find and delete your records precisely; if you cannot, tell us the approximate date and device and we will do our best. We complete deletion requests within 30 days and confirm by reply.
- Email correspondence — ask us and we will delete it.
12. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have some or all of these rights over your personal data:
- Access — ask what we hold about you.
- Rectification — have inaccurate data corrected.
- Erasure — have it deleted (see section 11).
- Restriction — ask us to pause processing.
- Portability — receive it in a machine-readable format.
- Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Withdraw consent — at any time, in Settings → Privacy.
Email privacy@pipelinepixels.com and we'll respond within 30 days, free of charge. If you think we've got it wrong, you can complain to your local data protection authority — in the Netherlands that is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
13. If you are in the United States
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising — advertising in Glowsmith is non-personalised for every player. Depending on your state, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, to have it deleted or corrected, and to appeal a refusal. Use the deletion route in section 11 or email privacy@pipelinepixels.com. We honour Global Privacy Control signals on this website. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.
14. International transfers
Google processes some of this data outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Those transfers rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and on Google's certification under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards that apply.
15. Security
All data in transit between the game, this website and our providers is encrypted using TLS. We keep the number of systems that touch personal data deliberately small — we have no user database, no accounts and no server that stores player data. Access to the Firebase and AdMob consoles is limited to the people who need it and protected by two-factor authentication. No system is perfectly secure, and we won't pretend otherwise; if a breach ever affects your data we will notify you and the relevant supervisory authority as the law requires.
16. Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the "last updated" date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your data — adding an ad network, enabling personalised advertising, or introducing accounts — we will tell you in the game before it takes effect and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent again.
17. Contact
Privacy questions, data requests and deletion requests:
privacy@pipelinepixels.com
General inquiries:
hello@pipelinepixels.com