Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 October 2026

This policy explains what information Sleuth Grid (“the app,” “we”) collects, how it’s used, and your choices. It covers the mobile app published on Google Play with package id com.xpdev.sleuthgrid.

1. Summary (plain English)

• Sleuth Grid is a logic puzzle game. It doesn’t need a user account. Your progress and settings stay on your phone. We have no servers and we collect nothing ourselves, and the app has no analytics or crash reporting of its own.
• The free game shows ads from Google AdMob. Where the law requires it (the European Economic Area, the UK, Switzerland and other regulated regions), Google’s consent form (UMP) asks you first. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
• Sleuth Grid Premium is bought through Google Play. Google’s own terms and privacy policy apply to that purchase.

2. Information we collect

Nothing, ourselves. We don’t collect, receive, or store any information from your use of the app on any server of ours. The free game does contain Google’s advertising software (AdMob), which collects some information itself; section 2.2 explains what. This section also describes what the app keeps on your device and what happens when you use its features.

2.1 Stored on your device

• Your solved puzzles (time, hints used, mistakes) and the boards you have in progress (your marks, crossed-off clues, timer, and undo history). Your daily streak is worked out from them.
• Your settings: language, theme, auto-✗, the timer, and tap sounds.
• Counters: how many free hints you have used today, how many puzzles you have solved (in all, and since the last full-screen ad), when the last full-screen ad was shown, how many times you have opened the app, and whether you have seen the tutorial and the rating prompt.
• Whether Premium is unlocked.

All of the above is stored in the app’s private storage on your device and is never sent to us — we don’t have servers.

If backup is turned on in your Android settings, Android may include this data in your own Google account backup, so it can come back when you reinstall Sleuth Grid or move to a new phone. That backup is managed by Android and your Google account, and we can’t see it.

2.2 Advertising (Google AdMob)

The free game shows ads served by Google AdMob: a banner on the menu screens (never on a puzzle), a full-screen ad between puzzles (at most after every third puzzle you solve, and never after the daily puzzle), and an optional video you can watch for an extra hint. Premium shows none of them.

To show, measure, and protect these ads, AdMob may receive your device’s advertising ID, an approximate location worked out from your IP address, your interactions with ads, and diagnostic information. Where consent is required, ads are personalised only if you agree to it; otherwise they are limited or non-personalised. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your Android settings.

Google’s handling of this data is described in its Privacy Policy and in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

2.3 Consent (Google UMP)

Where the law requires consent for ads, Sleuth Grid shows Google’s consent form, from Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP), and asks first. The form stores your choice on your device. You can change it at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.

2.4 In-app purchases (Google Play Billing)

If you buy Sleuth Grid Premium, the purchase is processed by Google Play. We receive no payment details. The app only asks Google Play whether your account has bought Premium, and keeps a yes/no flag on your device so Premium keeps working offline. The purchase screen and the connection to Google Play come from Google’s Play Billing Library, so Google’s own terms and privacy policy apply to that processing: Google Play Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy.

2.5 Rating prompt

After you have solved a few puzzles, Google Play may show its in-app review sheet. Google handles it, and we receive nothing from it.

2.6 Share

When you tap Share on the solved screen, the app hands a short text, such as the puzzle name, your time, your hints and mistakes, and a link to the game’s Google Play page, to Android’s share sheet. Nothing is sent by the app itself: what happens to the text depends on the app you choose there, and that app’s own privacy policy applies.

3. How we use the data

• Show your progress and your daily streak.
• Remember your settings and whether Premium is unlocked.
• Decide when an ad may be shown.

Nothing is used for analytics or profiling by us.

4. Data we never receive

• Your name, email address, or phone number.
• Your contacts or your photos.
• Your precise location.
• Your puzzle progress — it stays on your phone.
• Payment card or account details.

What Google AdMob collects (section 2.2) goes to Google, not to us. AdMob only gives us totals, such as how many ads were shown.

5. Your choices

• Privacy choices — where consent applies, change your ad choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
• Android’s ad settings — reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ad personalisation, in your phone’s settings.
• Premium — a one-time purchase that removes all ads. On a new phone, use Settings → Restore purchase. You can also see your purchases in Google Play.
• Uninstall — removes your progress and settings from your phone. If you use Android backup, your Google account may keep a backup copy until Android removes it or you delete it in your backup settings.

6. Children

Sleuth Grid is a puzzle game for adults and is not directed at children. Its target audience is 18 and over. We collect no personal information ourselves, from anyone, including children under 13.

7. Data retention

We don’t hold any data about you, so there is nothing for us to retain or delete. Data the app stores stays on your device (and in your Android backup, if you use it) until you clear the app’s storage or uninstall Sleuth Grid. Information that Google collects for ads is kept by Google under its own policy.

8. Third parties and international transfers

Sleuth Grid’s own code sends no data to any server of ours. Three Google services run inside the app: AdMob serves the ads, the User Messaging Platform shows the consent form, and Google Play handles purchases and the rating prompt. They run on Google’s global infrastructure, including servers in the United States, under Google’s own terms and privacy policy.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this page when we add features or change providers. The “Last updated” date at the top of the page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be announced in the app’s Play Store release notes.

10. Contact

Questions, requests to delete data, or anything else:
[email protected]