Privacy policy

Introduction and overview

This privacy policy applies to the game Swarmglow: the website at swarmglow.software-zimmerer.at, the browser version and the apps for Android and iPhone. In line with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) it explains which personal data we process and which rights you have.

No cookies, no ads, no analytics

Swarmglow uses no cookies and embeds no external services. Fonts, images and videos are served from our own server, not by third parties such as Google Fonts. There are no analytics tools, ad networks or trackers, neither on the website nor in the app.

To learn which recommendations work, we count visits without any personal reference: per day only the website a visit came from (just the site's name, such as “google.com”, or a tag in the link such as “?k=instagram”), which of our pages was opened and how often. Likewise the app counts per day how often it was started, on which system, in which version, and whether it was the first start. No IP address, cookie or device identifier is stored; two visits by one person cannot be told apart from visits by two people. This is therefore not personal data.

Server logs

When you open the website or the browser version, and with every request the app makes, the web server automatically stores log data. This is technically necessary to deliver the content, detect faults and fend off attacks.

Stored are:

• your shortened IP address: for IPv4 the last part is removed, for IPv6 only the first two blocks are kept, so your individual connection can no longer be identified
• date and time of the request
• the requested address and the status code
• the previously visited page, if your browser sends it
• browser and operating system
• the amount of data transferred

We do not combine this data with other data and do not build user profiles from it. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is secure and reliable operation. The logs are deleted automatically after 10 days at the latest.

If a request causes a technical error, the server records it in a separate error log, which may contain the full IP address. It is used only for troubleshooting and is also deleted after 10 days at the latest.

Player account and leaderboard

To appear on the leaderboard you create a player account. All it takes is a player name of your choice; no e-mail address and no real name. Please choose a name that does not identify you personally: your player name is public and visible to everyone, on the leaderboard in the app and on this website.

Stored are:

• the player name and the time you signed up
• an access key that identifies your device. The server only keeps a one-way hash of it.
• the time of your last visit
• for every night you play: the night number, points, duration, shadows defeated, largest swarm, level reached, whether you won, and the time

The purpose is the leaderboard with all-time, weekly and per-night rankings. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR: the leaderboard is a feature of the game that you use by signing up. Without an account you can play offline, and nothing is sent.

To prevent mass sign-ups, the server keeps the IP address of a sign-up in memory for at most one hour. It is not stored permanently. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Your account and results are kept until you ask us to delete them. A short e-mail with your player name to office@software-zimmerer.at is enough; we then delete the account and all results. They may remain in our backups (see “Hosting and backups”) for up to 3 more days.

Storage on your device

Progress, settings, language and the access key are kept in your browser's or the app's storage on your device (not a cookie). This data stays on your device; only the access key is sent along with leaderboard requests. The storage is strictly necessary for the game to keep your progress (§ 165(3) Austrian Telecommunications Act 2021). You can delete it at any time by clearing the site data in your browser or uninstalling the app.

If you redeem a promo code, the code is sent to our server. There we only count how often it has been redeemed, so it cannot be used more often than intended. Who redeemed it is not stored; the app keeps the unlock on your device.

Buying the full version

You buy the full version in the Google Play Store or Apple's App Store. The store handles the purchase and the payment; Google's or Apple's privacy terms apply to that. We do not receive payment details, your name or your e-mail address.

After the purchase the app sends our server the store's order number, the price, the currency, the store and the app version. We do not link this to your player account. The purpose is our sales overview and reconciling it with the stores' statements; the legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in traceable bookkeeping) and the statutory retention duties (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR, § 132 Austrian Federal Fiscal Code, seven years).

Updates

When it starts, the app asks our server whether a new version is available. No data about you is sent; only the server logs described above are created.

Hosting and backups

Swarmglow runs on our own server in Vienna, Austria, which we operate ourselves. No hosting provider is involved. The data is not passed on to third parties and is not processed outside the EU.

We back up the game data every night on the same server. Only the last 3 backups are kept; older ones are overwritten. Server logs are not backed up.

TLS encryption

All connections use HTTPS (TLS encryption). Nobody can eavesdrop on the transfer between your device and our server.

Contact by e-mail or phone

If you contact us by e-mail or phone, we use the data you send only to handle your request and do not pass it on. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. We keep your request as long as we are handling it and follow-up questions can be expected.

Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. For any questions, contact office@software-zimmerer.at.

Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): the server logs and the protection against mass sign-ups are based on our legitimate interest. You can object to this processing at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. An informal message is enough.

Right to lodge a complaint (Art. 77 GDPR): if you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law, you can complain to the supervisory authority. In Austria this is the Datenschutzbehörde, Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna, www.dsb.gv.at.

Controller

Matthias Gattringer e.U., Die Software Zimmerer
Lobmeyrgasse 5/2/42, 1160 Vienna, Austria
office@software-zimmerer.at

This is a translation. The German version is legally binding.