Privacy policy

Pyropals is made by Deacon Corn Soft. We are responsible for this policy. For anything about your privacy, write to privacy@deaconcornsoft.net.

Pyropals has no account and no sign-in. Your username, your Pyropal and your settings (sound, display, controls, chat) are stored only on your device, in the game’s own storage. A match against the computer needs no internet and sends nothing anywhere.

The game has no analytics and no crash reporting, and it has no purchases or notifications.

To play with others, you create a room, join one with its code, or pick a public room from the list. Our server brings the players of a room together. For that it receives your device’s IP address, the username you chose, the room’s code and settings (map, rounds, who is ready), your game’s version, the network addresses your device can be reached at, and the chat messages you send in the room.

The other players in the room see your username, your Pyropal and your messages. In a public room, anyone browsing the list sees the host’s username as the room’s name. During a match, devices connect to each other directly where they can, so the other players’ devices receive your IP address, as in most online games. When a direct connection fails, the match’s traffic passes through our server, which forwards it without reading or keeping it.

The server keeps a room only in its memory, while the room is open, and forgets it when the room closes. It does not store chat. Its logs record room codes and the usernames of players who open or join a room, but no chat and no IP addresses; they are kept for up to 30 days. The server runs on Fly.io, in Frankfurt, Germany; as more regions open, you play on the one you choose in the game.

On the same Wi-Fi, a room can also work without our server: the devices find each other on your local network. On iPhone, the game asks your permission first.

By default you see only the game’s ready-made phrases and emotes. Typed messages from other players appear only if you set chat to All in Settings, and you can turn chat off or mute a player in the room. We do not read or keep chat, so do not share personal details in it.

The phone versions show ads through Google AdMob, run by Google. An ad can appear when you leave a room for the menu, and you can choose to watch a rewarded ad for an in-game reward. Ads never appear during a match. The computer versions show no ads.

To show ads, measure them and prevent fraud, Google’s software in the game collects data from your device, such as the device’s advertising identifier, your IP address and the approximate location it implies, the device model, operating system and language, and how you interact with the ads. Google uses this as described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and in Google’s privacy policy. Google may process this data outside your country.

We do not get this data. AdMob only shows us totals, such as how many ads were shown and what they earned.

In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the game asks for your consent before any personalised ads, using Google’s consent form. There you can agree, refuse, or choose ad partners one by one. If you refuse, you may still see ads, but they are not personalised.

On iPhone, the game also asks Apple’s permission to track. If you say no, your advertising identifier is not shared and ads are less personal. Nothing in the game changes either way.

Change your ad consent at any time in the game’s settings (shown where consent is required). On iPhone, turn tracking off for Pyropals in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. On Android, delete or reset your advertising ID in Settings › Google › All services › Ads. You can change your username or turn chat off at any time, and play against the computer without going online. Deleting the game deletes everything it stored on your device.

Once a room closes, our server keeps nothing about you except the logs above, which expire on their own. You can ask what we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, at privacy@deaconcornsoft.net. We answer within 30 days. For the data Google’s ads collect, Google’s own controls and policy apply.

Pyropals is not made for children under 13, and we do not knowingly let ads in the game collect data about them.

If Pyropals adds accounts, purchases or notifications, this policy will say what they collect before they arrive. When it changes, the date at the top changes with it. Our general website policy is here.