Hackquest Privacy Policy
# Privacy Policy for HackQuest
This Privacy Policy explains how the **HackQuest** mobile application (the "App") handles information. The App is published by **Buildify Apps**, an individual developer ("we", "us"). If you have any questions, contact us at **appsbuildify@gmail.com**.
HackQuest is an offline-first tips-and-lifehacks app. Its content ships inside the App and works without an account. We designed it to collect as little information as possible.
## Summary
- **No account, no sign-in.** We never ask for your name, email, phone number, or address.
- **Your saved data stays on your device.** Your feedback votes, premium status, and preferences are stored locally.
- **We use Google AdMob** to show ads (unless you buy the ad-free upgrade) and **Google Play Billing** to process that purchase. These are operated by Google and have their own privacy policies.
- **We collect anonymous, aggregate feedback signals** (which tip you rated helpful or not) so we can improve and prune content. This data is not tied to your identity.
## Information Stored on Your Device
The following is saved **only on your device** (using your browser's local storage and the app's local preferences) and is **not** sent to us as personal data:
- **"Did it work?" votes** — the 👍 / 👎 rating you give a tip, keyed to the tip's identifier.
- **Premium / ad-free status** — a flag recording whether you have purchased the ad-free upgrade.
- **Preferences** — such as your chosen home-screen widget category and interface language.
- **Ad frequency counter** — a simple count of how many tips you have opened, used to pace interstitial ads.
You can clear all of this at any time by clearing the App's storage or uninstalling the App.
## Information We Collect (Anonymous Analytics)
To understand which tips are useful and which should be improved or removed, the App may send a small, best-effort event when you rate a tip or complete a purchase. Each event contains only:
- The type of event (for example, a tip rating, a rating cleared, or a purchase completed);
- The identifier of the tip and whether the vote was up or down, **or** the identifier of the purchased product;
- A timestamp.
This data is **anonymous and aggregate**. It contains no name, no email, no account, and no device identifier that we generate. It is sent to a private analytics endpoint that we control. As with any internet request, the receiving server may transiently see your device's IP address at the network level; we do not use it to identify you and do not store it as part of the analytics record. If the App is built without an analytics endpoint configured, this data never leaves your device at all.
## Advertising (Google AdMob)
Unless you purchase the ad-free upgrade, the App displays ads through **Google AdMob**. To serve ads, Google and its partners may collect and use certain data, which can include advertising identifiers and device information, and may use it to show personalized ads. We configure AdMob with a content rating of "PG" and do **not** direct our ads to children.
We do not control what Google collects. Please review Google's policies:
- **How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services:** https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
- **Google Privacy Policy:** https://policies.google.com/privacy
- **AdMob / Google Mobile Ads:** https://support.google.com/admob/answer/6128543
You can manage ad personalization in your device's Google/Ads settings. Buying the ad-free upgrade removes ads from the App.
## Purchases (Google Play Billing)
The optional "remove ads" upgrade is a one-time in-app purchase processed by **Google Play Billing**. We do not receive or store your payment details (card number, billing address, etc.) — Google handles the entire transaction. We only receive confirmation that a purchase was made or restored, which we use to unlock the ad-free experience on your device. See Google Play's terms and Google's Privacy Policy for how your payment information is handled.
## Permissions
The App requests these Android permissions:
- **Internet** and **Network state** — to load ads, process the ad-free purchase, and send the anonymous feedback event described above.
- **Billing** — to offer the in-app "remove ads" purchase through Google Play.
The App does not request access to your contacts, location, camera, microphone, photos, or files.
## Children's Privacy
The App is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Ads are configured for a "PG" maximum content rating. If you believe a child has provided information to us, please contact us and we will address it.
## Data Sharing and Retention
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share the anonymous analytics data with third parties for their own use. The third-party services listed above (Google AdMob and Google Play Billing) process data under their own privacy policies. Anonymous, aggregate feedback data is retained only as long as needed to improve the App's content.
## Your Choices
- **Remove ads:** purchase the ad-free upgrade.
- **Stop local data collection:** clear the App's storage or uninstall the App, which deletes all locally stored data.
- **Ad personalization:** adjust it through your device's Google Ads settings.
## Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the App after a change means you accept the updated policy.
## Contact Us
If you have questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, contact:
**Buildify Apps**
Email: **appsbuildify@gmail.com**