Dot Art — Privacy Policy
The short version
Dot Art does not collect, store, or transmit any personal information. There are no accounts, no login, and no registration of any kind. Everything you do in the app — puzzles solved, drawings saved, settings chosen — stays on your device.
The app does use three Google services that need the internet: Google AdMob, if you choose to watch an ad, Google Play Billing, if you choose to buy something, and Google Play's in-app review, which may ask you to rate the app. Those are described below.
What stays on your device
The app saves the following locally. It is never sent to me or to any server of mine, and it is deleted when you uninstall the app:
- Which challenge cards you have solved, and your best result on each
- Your picture of the day streak: the current and best run, how many days you have solved, the last day you solved, and any streak freezes you have banked
- Pictures you draw yourself in MY DRAWINGS
- A picture you share as a link. The picture is written into the link itself; opening it, in the app or on the web page, sends the picture nowhere, and the page collects nothing
- How many hints you have left, and the day they were last topped up
- Your chosen colour theme, and your dark mode, sound and vibration settings
- The day the app was first opened and the day it last asked for a rating, so it does not ask too soon or too often
- A record of what you have purchased, so your purchases still work when you are offline
If you have Android's backup turned on, Android may include this data in your device backup, which Google stores in your Google account. That backup is yours; I cannot see it.
Sharing your drawings
You can share a picture you have made. The app draws it as an image on your device and hands it to the app you pick from Android's share sheet. Nothing is uploaded unless you send it somewhere, and once you do, the app you sent it with handles it under its own privacy policy.
Advertising
Ads are shown by Google AdMob, and only when you ask for one. The app shows a single kind of ad: a rewarded video you can choose to watch, in two places:
- When your hints have run out, in exchange for more hints
- To show the SHAPE of the picture you are copying
There are no banners, no pop-ups, and no ads between levels. Until you first choose to watch an ad, the app does not start the ad service or make any ad request. After you have watched one, the app loads the next ad in the background so it is ready if you ask again.
When you do watch one, AdMob may use your device's advertising ID to select and measure ads. Google's own handling of that data is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in Android's Settings → Privacy → Ads.
If you are in the UK or the EU, the app shows Google's certified consent form the first time you ask to watch an ad — before any ad is requested — and your choice there controls whether personalised ads may be used. If you decline, or the consent step cannot be completed, no ad is shown. You can change your choice later from PRIVACY in the app's settings.
Buying Unlimited Hints, or the Everything bundle that includes it, removes ads completely. The app then never contacts an ad network and never shows a consent form.
Purchases
Optional purchases (Unlimited Hints, Unlimited Saves, the All Themes bundle, individual theme packs, and the Everything bundle) are handled entirely by Google Play Billing. I do not receive, store, or have access to any payment or financial information. The app only asks Google Play which items you own, so it knows what to unlock.
Ratings
Now and then the app may ask Google Play to show its rating prompt. The prompt is shown by Google Play's in-app review service, not by the app. The app is never told whether you rated it or what you wrote, and a review you post is handled by Google Play like any other review on the store.
Permissions the app requests
- Internet — for ads, for verifying purchases with Google Play, and for the rating prompt
- Billing — for in-app purchases
- Advertising ID — used by AdMob when you watch an ad
- Vibrate — for a buzz when you finish a picture; you can turn it off in settings
The app requests no other permissions. No camera, no microphone, no location, no contacts, no files.
Children
Dot Art is a general-audience puzzle app. It is not directed to children under 13, and I do not knowingly collect any information from children. The app requires no account, no login, and no registration, and asks for no personal details at any point.
If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has provided personal information through this app, please contact me at ludwigbdev@gmail.com and I will respond promptly.
Your choices and rights
- Delete everything the app has saved by uninstalling it, or by clearing its data in Android's app settings
- Reset or delete your advertising ID in Android's Settings → Privacy → Ads
- Avoid ads and the ad network entirely by not choosing to watch one, or by buying Unlimited Hints
- If you are in the UK or EU, you have rights of access, correction, and erasure under the UK GDPR and GDPR. Because the app holds no personal data about you and I hold none on any server, there is nothing for me to retrieve or erase — but you are welcome to contact me with any question about this.
Third-party services
- Google AdMob — Google Privacy Policy
- Google User Messaging Platform (the consent form) — Google Privacy Policy
- Google Play Billing — Google Privacy Policy
- Google Play in-app review — Google Privacy Policy
The app uses no analytics service, no crash reporting service, and no advertising network other than AdMob.
Changes to this policy
If the app's handling of data changes, this page will be updated and the effective date above will change with it.
Contact
Byron Ludwig — ludwigbdev@gmail.com