Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how Zone Gaming, LLC ("we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our mobile game Polandball Go and related websites (collectively, "the Service"). Zone Gaming, LLC, a limited liability company registered in New Mexico, United States, is the data controller for the information described in this policy.

Polandball Go is operated by Zone Gaming, LLC under license from The Polbies Company, Inc.; the Polbies™ brand and the Polbies ID sign-in service belong to The Polbies Company, Inc., which maintains its own privacy policy for that service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Account information (username, email address)
• Sign-in identities: if you sign in or link an account with Polbies ID, Google, Apple, Discord, Facebook, or a phone number, we store the identifier that provider shares with us and, where provided, the associated email address
• User Generated Content (art, text submissions)
• Chat messages you send in the game (for example, alliance chat) — see Section 5.3 for who can view them
• Communications with us (support requests, Discord feedback)

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically (Mobile App)

• Location Data: GPS coordinates when you enable location services to play the game.
• Device Identifiers: Advertising IDs (Apple IDFA or Android AAID) and unique device tokens.
• Gameplay Data: Progress, inventory, territories claimed, interaction logs, and purchase history.
• Technical Data: Device model, OS version, IP address, and crash logs.
• App analytics and crash reporting: the app includes Google Firebase Analytics (usage events such as sessions and feature use) and Sentry (crash and error reports, which can include device and app-state information at the time of a crash).

2.3 Cookies and Analytics (Website)

On our website, we use PostHog to understand user behavior. With your consent, we may collect:

• Session Replays: Visual recordings of your interactions (clicks, scrolls, mouse movements) to identify usability issues.
• Usage Metrics: Page views, navigation paths, and retention data.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the purposes below. For players in the European Economic Area and the UK, the legal basis for each purpose is shown in brackets:

• Provide, maintain, and secure the Game, including saving your progress and operating location-based gameplay. [Performance of our contract with you]
• Process and verify in-app purchases and deliver what you bought. [Performance of our contract with you]
• Personalize your experience within the Game. [Performance of our contract with you]
• Serve Ads: Deliver rewarded video ads or banner ads (via AdMob). [Consent, where required (personalized ads); legitimate interest in funding a free-to-play game (non-personalized ads)]
• Analyze game performance, fix bugs, and improve the Service. [Legitimate interest in maintaining a working product]
• Marketing emails (opt-in only): Send you news, updates, and gift codes by email if you have opted in. You can opt out at any time in your account settings or via the unsubscribe link, and marketing email is always disabled for Young Player accounts. [Consent]
• Prevent fraud, cheating (including GPS spoofing), and abuse. [Legitimate interest in protecting the Service and its players]
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service. [Legal obligation; legitimate interest]

4. Location Information

The Game is a location-based experience. We collect your precise location only while the app is in use (foreground) to:

• Display your avatar on the map.
• Determine which in-game items or territories are accessible to you.
• Verify fair play (e.g., detecting GPS spoofing).

We do not track your location while the app is fully closed (background). You can revoke location permissions at any time in your device settings, though the Game will not function without them.

Precise geolocation is considered sensitive personal information under some laws. We use it only to provide the location-based Service you request and to protect its integrity — we do not use it to infer characteristics about you, do not sell it, and do not share it with advertising partners.

5. Information Sharing

We do not sell personal data for money. Sharing device identifiers with advertising partners may qualify as "sharing" under some U.S. state laws — see Sections 7 and 11 for how to opt out. We share data with the following partners to operate the game:

5.1 With Polbies ID (The Polbies Company, Inc.)

Polandball Go uses Polbies ID, the sign-in service owned and operated by The Polbies Company, Inc., as its account system. When you use Polbies ID with the game:

• What we receive: when you sign in, Polbies ID shares your basic profile with us — your Polbies ID account identifier, email address, display name, Polbies Tag, and avatar — which we use to sign you in and link your game account.
• What we send: if you ask us to create a Polbies ID from your existing game account ("claim" flow), we send The Polbies Company, Inc. the verified sign-in identities already on your account (such as your verified email address or Google identity) so the account can be created without re-verification. We also confirm which game your Polbies ID was used with, so your played-games list stays accurate.
• Account matching: if you sign in with a Polbies ID whose verified email matches exactly one existing game account, we link the two so you keep your progress.
• This exchange happens to provide the sign-in service you request (performance of our contract with you), and is governed by a data-sharing agreement between Zone Gaming, LLC and The Polbies Company, Inc. The Polbies Company, Inc. processes this information under its own Polbies ID Privacy Policy.

5.2 With Service Providers

• Infrastructure: Cloud hosting (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud) to store game data.
• Payments: Apple and Google process in-app purchases (see Section 6).
• Analytics and crash reporting: Google Firebase Analytics and Sentry (in the app); PostHog (on the website).
• Email delivery: providers that send our service and opt-in marketing emails on our behalf.

Service providers process data on our instructions to run the Service and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes. Advertising partners are different: AdMob acts as an advertising partner, not a service provider, and is described separately in Section 7.

5.3 With Other Players

• Your username, avatar, and "Artist Portfolio" are public within the game.
• Your in-game location is visible to nearby players only when you perform actions (e.g., capturing a territory).
• Chat messages you send are visible to the players in that chat (for example, your alliance). We store chat messages and may review them when they are reported or to enforce our Terms of Service.

6. Purchases and Payments

In-app purchases are processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We never receive or store your card number or full payment details. We receive purchase verification data — receipts, transaction identifiers, product purchased, and purchase state — which we use to deliver your items, keep your purchase history, prevent fraud, and handle support and refund questions. Apple and Google process your payment information under their own privacy policies.

7. Advertising (AdMob)

We use Google AdMob to display advertisements in the Game. AdMob may use your device's Advertising ID (IDFA/AAID) to serve personalized ads based on your interests. Personalized (behavioral) advertising is disabled for Young Player accounts (see Section 10); those accounts receive at most contextual, non-personalized ads.

• Google's Data Use: Google collects and processes data as described in Google's Privacy & Terms.
• Consent: In regions where consent is required (such as the EEA and UK), personalized ads are shown only if you consent through the in-game consent prompt. You can change your consent choice at any time in the game under Settings ➔ Privacy; otherwise you receive non-personalized ads.
• Opt-Out: You can opt out of sharing your data with advertising partners at any time in the game under Settings ➔ Privacy, or by adjusting your device settings (e.g., "Ask App Not to Track" on iOS or "Opt out of Ads Personalization" on Android).

8. Data Security

We use technical and organizational measures designed to protect your data, including encryption in transit and access controls. However, no internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete your personal information within 30 days, except where we need to retain limited data to comply with legal obligations (for example, purchase and tax records), prevent fraud and cheating (for example, records of banned accounts and devices), resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Copies in routine backups are removed as those backups cycle out. We retain only anonymized usage data for analytics.

10. Children and Young Players

Players under 16 may only use the Service through the Polbies ID Young Player flow, which requires a parent or guardian's verified consent before the account becomes active: the young player provides their birth year and a parent or guardian's email address, and the account is created only after the parent shares the emailed verification code. Young Player accounts automatically receive extra protections: marketing email is permanently disabled, personalized (behavioral) ad tracking is disabled, and child-safe privacy and chat controls apply. A guardian can revoke consent at any time, which deactivates the account; if consent is never given, the guardian's email address is removed from the system within 30 days. See the Polbies ID information page for parents.

We retain a Young Player's data under the same rules as other accounts (Section 9): only while the account is active, plus records of the parental consent itself, which we keep as long as the account exists to demonstrate that consent was given. The only third parties that receive Young Player personal data are The Polbies Company, Inc. (which operates the Polbies ID account and the consent flow) and the service providers listed in Section 5.2, which process it only to run the Service. On Young Player accounts, the app runs in child-directed mode: advertising identifiers are not collected, and analytics and crash reports are sent without them. Young Player personal data is never shared with advertisers.

Outside of that flow, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover we have collected such data without the required consent, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child is using the Service without appropriate consent, contact us at the address below.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you have specific rights regarding your data:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Right to Deletion: Request that we delete your account and personal data.
• Right to Correction: Update inaccurate information.
• Right to Portability: Receive your data in a portable format.
• Right to Opt-Out: Direct us not to share your personal info for advertising purposes.

European Economic Area and UK: You may also object to processing based on legitimate interests, withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing), and lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

US State Privacy Rights: Under the CCPA/CPRA and similar state laws, you have the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. We do not sell data for money, but sharing identifiers with ad networks (AdMob) may constitute "sharing" under these laws; you can opt out in the game under Settings ➔ Privacy or via your device settings (Section 7), and on our websites we honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals as an opt-out of such sharing. We use precise geolocation only to provide the Service you request (Section 4), so no separate "Right to Limit" request is needed. You may designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf; we will verify the request with you directly. We will never discriminate against you — in price, features, or quality of the Service — for exercising any privacy right.

12. International Data Transfers

We are based in the United States, and the Service is provided from there: if you use the Service from outside the U.S., your information is transferred to and processed in the United States (and other countries where our service providers operate). Where required, we protect these transfers with appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

13. Changes to this Policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will post the updated version on this page, update the "last updated" date above, and — where changes are significant — notify you in the app or by email before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect means the updated policy applies.

14. Contact & Account Deletion

To exercise your rights, ask questions, or request account deletion, please contact us at:
Zone Gaming, LLC
1209 Mountain Road Pl NE, Ste N
Albuquerque, NM 87110, United States
Email: support@polandballgo.com

Immediate Deletion: You can also delete your account instantly inside the app by navigating to: Settings ➔ Support ➔ Delete Account.