The short version
What The Heck Is That? does not require an account. There is no sign-up, no password, and no email address. Your scores, streaks and badges live on your device.
Two things do leave your device. If you play the Daily Challenge, a display name you choose and a randomly generated player ID are sent so your score can appear on the leaderboard. And because the game is free and supported by advertising, Google AdMob receives the information it needs to serve those adverts.
What the game collects
Display name
The first time you play the Daily Challenge you are asked for a display name. It appears on the public daily leaderboard alongside your score. You choose this name yourself. You are not required to use your real name, and we recommend you do not.
Player ID
The game generates a random identifier on your device the first time you play a Daily Challenge. It exists so the leaderboard can tell entries apart and show you your own rank. It is not linked to your Apple ID, your email address, or your phone number. It cannot be used to identify you outside of this game.
Your scores and progress
Best score, games played, streaks, statistics and achievements are stored on your device only. They are never transmitted, and deleting the app deletes them.
The single exception is your Daily Challenge score, which is submitted to the leaderboard along with your display name and player ID.
Advertising
The game shows an advert at the end of a game, and offers an optional advert you can choose to watch in exchange for extra time on a round. These are served by Google AdMob.
The adverts are non-personalised. The game asks AdMob for non-personalised adverts only, which means they are chosen from general context rather than from a profile of you. AdMob receives basic technical information about your device, an approximate region derived from your network connection, and whether you interacted with an advert.
The game does not track you. It does not use your device's advertising identifier to follow you across other apps or websites, it does not share data with third parties for their own advertising, and it therefore does not show an App Tracking Transparency prompt. There is nothing to opt out of, because nothing is being tracked.
What the game does not collect
- No email address, password, or account of any kind
- No precise location
- No contacts, photos, microphone, or camera access
- No payment information
Where the data goes
Daily leaderboard scores are stored in Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore). Your display name, player ID and score are held there so the leaderboard can be shown to other players. Google processes this as our service provider, governed by the Google Privacy Policy.
Advertising is provided by Google AdMob, also governed by the Google Privacy Policy. More detail on how Google uses data from apps that use its services is at google.com/policies/technologies/partner-sites.
Data is transmitted over encrypted connections.
How long it is kept
Leaderboard entries are stored against the day they were set. Your display name and player ID are stored on your device and persist until you delete the app.
If you would like your leaderboard entries removed, email us at the address below with your display name and we will remove them.
Children
The game is rated suitable for all ages and contains nothing intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Because the display name is typed by the player and shown publicly on the leaderboard, we ask that children use a nickname rather than their real name. Parents who would like a name changed or removed may contact us.
A note on display names. Your display name is shown publicly on the daily leaderboard. Please do not enter your full name, your address, your school, or anything else you would not want a stranger to see.
Image credits
Most of the photographs in the game come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under Creative Commons licences. Every image is credited to its author inside the app, under Settings, then Image Credits.
Your choices
- Play the standard game only, and no score data is transmitted at all
- Nothing to opt out of for advertising — the adverts are already non-personalised and the game does not track you
- Delete the app to remove your display name, player ID and progress from your device
- Email us to request removal of your leaderboard entries
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a revised date. Material changes affecting how data is handled will also be noted in the app's release notes.
Related
See also the What The Heck Is That? Terms of Use and the Tartan Studios privacy policy covering our other products.
Contact
If you have questions about this policy or about the game, please get in touch: