Core Ball Privacy Policy

Data we process

• Account information: provider user identifier, display name, and a hashed email address supplied by Apple or Google.
• Gameplay information: completed levels, best times, replay inputs used to verify scores, unlocked content, selected Core Ball avatar skins, and power-up inventory. For the Weekly Tournament: each attempt and the inputs used to verify it, floors cleared, weekly standings, and prize claims.
• Security information: session tokens and timestamps required to authenticate accounts and prevent leaderboard abuse.
• Advertising information: Google AdMob may process device information, IP address, approximate location derived from IP, ad interactions, diagnostics, and advertising identifiers when available and permitted by your device and consent choices.
• Purchase information: Apple App Store or Google Play processes payments, depending on your platform. We receive transaction and entitlement information needed to deliver purchases, but not your full payment-card details.
• Optional usage analytics in supported regions: Google Analytics for Firebase may process an app-installation identifier, app/device details, approximate region, sessions, gameplay events, ad interactions, and purchase events to help us understand usage and improve the game. Our analytics events do not contain your name, email, game-account ID, sign-in tokens, or purchase receipts. Installation identifiers allow return visits to be measured; this data is pseudonymous, not completely anonymous.

Guest progress stays on the device and is not submitted to the leaderboard.

Signed-in players may also access their existing App account from the Core Ball promotion on arealme.com to claim a one-time App item reward and request a leaderboard display-name change. The website receives a short-lived session for this purpose and cannot create or merge App accounts.

Why we use it

We use this information to authenticate accounts, save progress, operate verified leaderboards and the Weekly Tournament, display player profiles, award game items and tournament prizes, process purchases, show and measure ads, prevent fraud, and keep the service reliable.

Advertising choices

Google AdMob provides banner, rewarded, and interstitial ads. On iOS, Core Ball may show Apple’s App Tracking Transparency permission request before accessing the advertising identifier. Denying permission does not limit gameplay, rewards, purchases, or contextual ads. On supported devices and in applicable regions, the app also presents consent and privacy options for advertising. You can revisit available ad privacy choices from Settings.

Usage analytics choices and regional limits

In app versions that include usage analytics, collection starts only after our server confirms that the current network connection is in Japan or the United States. All other regions, including the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland, are excluded. If the region cannot be confirmed, collection remains off. This is a network-based approximation, not precise location tracking; VPNs or other network services can affect the result. The region-check endpoint does not require an account, set cookies, or save your IP address in our application database.

We do not add an analytics permission pop-up. You can disable usage analytics at any time in Settings → Privacy → Usage analytics. Your choice is saved on the device, and an existing opt-out remains in effect after an update. Switching off analytics stops collection and resets locally stored analytics data; it does not automatically delete data already processed by Google. Disabling analytics or being in an excluded region does not affect gameplay, ads subject to their own privacy choices, account access, purchases, saved progress, or leaderboards.

We use these statistics for product improvement, not personalized advertising, cross-company tracking, or merging your website and app behavior. Analytics does not use the advertising identifier or link events to your Core Ball account. Advertising choices are handled separately. Google processes analytics data as described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. Contact us with privacy or deletion questions.

Service providers

Apple provides Sign in with Apple and App Store in-app purchasing. Google provides Google sign-in, Google Play Billing, AdMob advertising, consent messaging, and Google Analytics for Firebase in the supported regions described above. Cloudflare hosts the API and database. These providers may process information outside your country under their applicable terms and privacy commitments.

Visibility and safety

Your display name, avatar skins, public player ID, and verified results appear on the public overall, level, and Weekly Tournament leaderboards, including the standings of past weeks. Players cannot upload photos or write custom profile text. Public avatars are selected from game skins. Initial names are shown to other players only after moderation. Players may submit a new leaderboard name at any time; the current name remains public until the replacement is approved.

Weekly Tournament

Signed-in players who cleared the required campaign level can join the Weekly Tournament for free. Every attempt by a player is verified by our server, and each week's standings stay public after the week ends. The weekly leaderboard may include computer-controlled climbers: our server plays them on the same floors under the same rules, with the reaction speed and accuracy of real players, from beginner to skilled. They never pass floor 50 and do not win prizes; a prize place held by a computer-controlled climber is not awarded. Prizes are in-game power-ups with no cash value; they are added to the account when claimed and are removed if the account is deleted. The tournament rules are shown in the app. Apple is not a sponsor of the Weekly Tournament and is not involved in it in any manner. Google is not a sponsor of the Weekly Tournament and is not involved in it in any manner.

Retention and deletion

Account data is retained while the account is active. In Core Ball, open Settings → Account → Delete Account to permanently delete the account, scores, progress, inventory, Weekly Tournament results and prizes, identity links, and leaderboard entries. Local session credentials and player progress are also removed. This action cannot be undone.

If the account used Sign in with Apple and Apple access was not revoked automatically, you can also revoke Core Ball under Settings → your name → Sign in with Apple on your Apple device.

Young players

Core Ball does not request birth dates, precise location, contacts, photos, free-form messages, or sensitive information. If a parent or guardian believes a young person provided personal data improperly, contact us and we will investigate and delete it where appropriate.

Contact

Privacy questions: admin@arealme.com