Privacy Policy (English)
Last updated: 7 October 2026
This privacy policy explains how Taha Alrowaily ("we", "us", "our"), the developer of the «أسئلة ثقافية» app on Google Play ("the app"), may access, collect, store, use and share ("process") your personal information when you:
- download and use the app, or any other app of ours that links to this policy;
- contact us.
Questions or concerns? Reading this policy will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. We are responsible for deciding how your personal information is processed. If you don't agree with this policy, please don't use the app. If you still have questions or concerns, write to us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com.
Summary of key points
This summary gives the key points of this policy. Each section below has the details.
- What personal information do we process? It depends on how you use the app and the choices you make. Most of your progress stays on your phone. If you're signed in to Google Play Games, which on most phones happens automatically, we keep on our game server a small player record for the online features, and we also keep a copy of your land in «حضارتي». See sections 1 and 2.
- Do we process any sensitive personal information? Some information is treated as "special" or "sensitive" in certain jurisdictions, for example racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation and religious beliefs. We do not process sensitive personal information.
- Do we receive any information from third parties? When you sign in with Google Play Games, we receive your Play Games player ID and display name from Google, and, only if you allow it in Play Games, the IDs of your Play Games friends. When the integrity check is on and you send a score to our online boards or a bug report, Google Play tells our server whether the app and device passed it. See section 2.
- How do we process your information? To run the app and its online features, keep play fair, improve the questions, show ads, understand how the app is used, fix problems, answer you and comply with the law. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. See sections 3 and 4.
- With whom do we share personal information? With the service providers that run parts of the app for us, with the ad networks that show the ads, and, for your public game profile, with other players. We don't sell your personal information. See section 5.
- How do we keep your information safe? We use reasonable organisational and technical measures. Still, no transmission over the internet and no storage technology is 100% secure. See section 9.
- What are your rights? Depending on where you live, privacy laws may give you rights over your personal information. See section 11.
- How do you exercise your rights? To delete your online data at once, use Settings → «حذف حسابي» in the app. You can also use our data request form, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdo5USAGOm6dSiEUJbldAglhVLoCPzLrnHQWWpVobQpTTv4NA/viewform, or write to us. We will consider and act on any request under the applicable data protection laws. See section 15.
1What information do we collect?
In short: Little, and most of it stays on your phone. This section lists what we collect; section 2 explains what each feature of the game does with it.
On your phone. The app keeps your progress, settings and purchase records on your device (section 2.1). They don't leave it, except as section 2 describes.
Information you give us.
- When you sign in: your Play Games player ID and display name, from Google (sections 2.2 and 7). If Play Games isn't available and you choose to sign in with your Google account, Firebase Authentication (Google) receives your email address and name.
- When you report a player's name: the name, where you saw it, and your player ID (section 2.10).
- When you name your camp in «حضارتي»: the name you type. It is part of your land's save, so it reaches our server with the copy of your land when you're signed in (2.4), or with a bug report you say is about the land (2.15).
- When you send a bug report: what you write, the screenshot if you keep it, and the details in section 2.15.
- When you write to us: your email address and what you write.
We never ask you to enter your real name, phone number, postal address or date of birth.
Sensitive information. We don't process sensitive information.
Payment data. Purchases are paid through Google Play. Google handles and stores your payment details, and we never receive them. Google Payments' privacy notice is at https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/u/0/get_legal_document?ldo=0&ldt=privacynotice&ldl=en-GB. The app on your phone receives only the purchased product and its receipt, to unlock it (section 2.7).
Information collected automatically.
- Device data: your device model, Android version and language, a random install ID that the app creates, and your device's advertising ID, which the ad networks and Firebase Analytics read.
- Usage data: the screens you open, the games you play with their scores and settings, and similar events, through Firebase Analytics (section 2.7).
- Crash reports: through Firebase Crashlytics (section 2.7).
- Your internet (IP) address, which every connection carries. Our server uses it to work out your country once, when you first sign in (section 2.4), and to limit abuse (section 2.6). The ad networks use it for your approximate location.
- Server logs: Cloudflare, which hosts our game server, keeps short technical logs of the requests it receives (section 2.4).
Location. The app doesn't ask for location permission and doesn't collect your precise location. Only an approximate location is used: your country, worked out from your IP address for the flag on our boards, and the approximate location the ad networks use for ads.
Notifications. The app's reminders are local notifications that your phone schedules, with Android's notification permission. We don't send push notifications. You can turn the reminders off in the app's settings or in Android's settings.
Google APIs. Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
2How the game's features use your information
In short: Your progress stays on your phone unless you're signed in to Google Play Games, and on most phones Play Games signs you in to the game automatically. Signing in turns on the cloud save and the online boards. For those, we keep a small player record on our own game server. We also keep a copy of your land in «حضارتي». We check that scores come from the genuine app, we send anonymous statistics about the questions and about how «حضارتي» goes (you can switch these off), and we never sell your information.
2.1On your phone
- The app keeps your progress on your device: games played, answers, coins, cards, your land in «حضارتي», missions, settings and the like.
- When you're signed in, a copy of your land in «حضارتي» is also sent to our server (2.4).
- The figure-card packs are bought with coins earned in the game, never with money. Each one is recorded on your device like the rest of your progress: the coins spent and the pack are written together, so a pack is never lost.
- The name you choose in the app is kept on your device and in your cloud save (2.3). When you're signed in, it is also sent to our server, so that other players see it on the boards and in duels (2.4).
- Your crest is kept on your device and in your cloud save, and is also sent to our server, so that it shows beside your name on the boards (2.4).
2.2Google Play Games
- If your phone has a Play Games profile, Play Games signs you in to the game automatically when you open it. Otherwise you can sign in from Settings.
- Once you're signed in, the app also signs you in to our game server (2.4) and to Firebase Authentication (section 7), and keeps your cloud save (2.3).
- To stop this, turn off automatic sign-in for games in the Play Games app, or use «حذف حسابي» (2.8). After «حذف حسابي», the app stays off our server until you choose to play online again.
- When you sign in with Play Games, Google shares your Play Games player ID and display name with the app.
- Your achievements and the Play Games leaderboards are kept in your Play Games account under Google's privacy policy.
- If you allow the game to see your Play Games friends, the app reads your friends' player IDs to show the friends' board.
2.3Cloud save
When you're signed in, your progress is also saved in your Google account (Play Games "saved games"), so you can restore it on another phone. The save holds your progress database and your progress settings, including the explanation and difficulty settings (2.13), your land in «حضارتي», and the record of your bug reports and their rewards with the random number they are sent under (2.15). It lives in your Google account, and we don't keep this save on our servers. Some of what is in it does reach our server in other ways: a copy of your land in «حضارتي», your name and crest (2.4), and a one-way fingerprint of the number your bug reports are sent under (2.15).
2.4Our game server
The online features run on our own game server, at https://api.thaqafiya.app, hosted by Cloudflare. They are the ranked duels, «كأس الدول» (the countries' cup), the daily challenge's cup points, the season boards, the weekly leagues and the leaderboards (your experience, the daily challenge and your best game in each mode). When you use them, we keep:
- your Play Games player ID;
- your display name: the name you choose in the app (3 to 24 letters; you can change it once every 7 days), with the date you last changed it. Until you choose one, we use the name of your Play Games profile, which Google gives our server when you sign in;
- your country: worked out once from your internet (IP) address when you first sign in; you can change it once a season, or hide your flag;
- your crest and level; if you made a figure card's face your picture, that card's number;
- your match results and rating, your daily challenge results, and the season points your games earned; your leaderboard scores: your total experience points, your daily challenge's score and your best score in each game mode. With a score the app sends that game's number of answers, its right answers and how long it took; our server uses them to check the score, and keeps them only if the score is flagged (2.5);
- your league standing.
Other players see your name, flag (unless you hide it), crest or the card face you made your picture, level, rank, points and leaderboard scores. For the friends' boards, the app sends your friends' player IDs to the server, which ranks your friends' points and scores and doesn't keep the list. Like any web service, Cloudflare processes your IP address to deliver the server's replies, and keeps short technical logs of the requests.
Your land in «حضارتي». While you're signed in to our server, the app sends it your land's save when you leave the land's screen, or leave the app while the land is on screen, if the land has changed, and at most once every ten minutes. The save holds the whole state of your camp: its chapter and its days, its people with their names in the game, their trades and their homes, its buildings and stores, the techniques they have learned, and the camp's name if you named it. We keep one copy per player, your latest land: the next copy replaces it, except a copy less far along that you didn't choose, and any beyond 40 in a day. This version of the app doesn't read it back or restore anything from it: we keep it with your account, and we count from the kept lands how many stand at each chapter. No other player sees it, and «حذف حسابي» deletes it (2.8).
2.5Fair play (anti-cheat)
To keep the boards fair, we can use Google Play's integrity check (the Play Integrity API). When we turn it on, the app asks Google Play for the check from time to time when you send a score to the online boards (a finished game's season points, a leaderboard score, the daily challenge, or joining a ranked duel), or when you send a bug report (2.15). Google Play then tells our server:
- whether the app is the genuine version distributed on Google Play (its package, version and signing certificate);
- whether it runs on a genuine, certified Android device;
- whether it was installed from Google Play.
To make the check, Google Play processes information about the app and the device under its own terms. We keep only the latest result with your player record, and each check replaces it. The result of the check made with bug reports is kept, the latest only, with your reports, and is deleted with them (2.15).
Our server also checks scores itself. Scores that fail the integrity check, or that look impossible for a person (answers faster than anyone can read, or two games at the same time), may be flagged for our review or refused. Flags are kept for 90 days.
2.6Anonymous statistics about the questions and «حضارتي»
- To find questions that are too easy, too hard or wrong, the app sends counts of how each question was answered:
- how often it was shown;
- how often it was answered right or wrong;
- which option was picked;
- how long it took.
- These counts carry no name, player ID, device ID or date.
- To learn how long the chapters of «حضارتي» take and where players stop, the app also sends counts of what happens on your land, about once a day:
- which land and which chapter;
- what happened: a land begun (new, moved from the earlier «حضارتي», or begun again after it was reset), a chapter opened or finished, and a land finished; at each chapter's end, the time since the land began and since the chapter opened, the land's days, the number of visits and the minutes played on the land's screen; a visit with its length and the orders given in it; the elder's forecast when you leave: the work left, whether the camp stays busy, and the first work that stops; an absence and its length, whether the camp fell quiet or a chapter waited in it, and the first work that stopped; a guest offered or taken by an ad or with coins; the night's question right or wrong; «اختبار المعلّم» and whether you passed it; a storm, and whether the camp was tied down for it; a festival;
- the amount, in a rough range (seconds, minutes, days or a number), and the week the chapter was opened.
- These counts too carry no name, player ID, device ID, date other than that week, or your camp's name. Each batch of counts goes with the app's version and a random number for that batch alone. Our server keeps only the sums, the batch's number and day so that it is counted once, and how many batches came from each app version each day.
- Our server uses your IP address only to limit abuse. It turns the address into a one-way daily code, and never keeps the address with the statistics.
- You can switch all of this off in Settings («ساعد في تحسين الأسئلة»). Switching it off also stops your land's events in analytics (2.7), and deletes what is waiting to be sent on your phone. The screens you open in «حضارتي» and the ads you watch there still reach analytics, as everywhere else in the app (2.7).
2.7Analytics, crash reports, ads and purchases
Analytics and crash reports. Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (Google) receive:
- the screens you open and the games you play, with their scores and settings, and the steps of your purchases;
- the ads shown to you between games or that you chose to watch: a rewarded ad's place (for example the guests of «حضارتي») and its result, and the mode you were in;
- the choices you make in Settings, for example sound, reduced motion, reminders and their quiet hours, and the explanation and difficulty settings (the option you picked, never anything you type);
- the difficulty steps of «متكيّف» (2.13);
- while «ساعد في تحسين الأسئلة» is on (2.6): events from «حضارتي» made of numbers and fixed words only, such as the land and the chapter, the length of a visit or an absence, the guests, the night's question, «اختبار المعلّم», and what moved there from the earlier «حضارتي», never your camp's name;
- when you report a question with «إبلاغ عن خطأ», the reason you pick and the question's number (the note you may type stays on your phone);
- if the app has been modified, an event that says so (2.12);
- a few properties about how you play: your level band, the month you installed, your favourite mode, the country code of the flag you show on our boards (or that you hide it), whether you're signed in to Play Games, and whether you own «بلا إعلانات» or «الداعم الذهبي»;
- a random install ID, and your device's advertising ID;
- your device model, Android version and language;
- crash reports.
They never receive your name, email address, player ID or anything you type. Where the law requires consent for ads (the EEA and the UK), the choices you make in the ads' consent form also decide what Firebase may store and use (Google's Consent Mode).
Ads. The ads are served by Appodeal and the networks it works with (Google AdMob, AppLovin, BidMachine and Mintegral), which use your device's advertising ID and approximate location. They are full-screen ads between games, at most one every few games and never in the duel, the daily challenge, «السهرة» or «راجع أخطاءك», plus rewarded videos that you choose to watch. Where the law requires it, the app asks for your consent first, and you can review your choice in Settings («راجع خيارات الخصوصية»). The «بلا إعلانات» purchase removes the ads between games; rewarded videos stay available if you want them.
Purchases. «بلا إعلانات», «الداعم الذهبي» and, during some seasonal events, «تذكرة الموسم» are paid through Google Play. The app on your phone receives the purchase's product and receipt from Google Play to unlock it, and keeps that record on your phone, outside the cloud save and backups. Our game server does not receive your purchases, and we never receive your payment details. We don't sell coins, or anything random, for money.
2.8Deleting your account and data
In the app, Settings → «حذف حسابي» deletes, at once:
- everything our game server holds about you:
- your player record (with the name and the crest you chose), rating, season points, league standing, season cards and leaderboard scores;
- your daily results;
- your integrity result and score flags;
- anything you published in the gallery of mixes (a feature not shown in this version of the app);
- your name as it was before it was hidden, if our check or players' reports hid it (2.10);
- your bug reports (2.15);
- the copy of your land in «حضارتي» (2.4);
- your Play Games saved game (the cloud save);
- the sign-in record that Firebase Authentication (Google) made when you signed in: your Play Games player ID and name, or your Google account's email address.
Your phone then signs out of our server and keeps no cloud save until you choose to play online again, which starts a new, empty record.
What remains:
- Your past matches stay in your opponents' histories, and your country's cup points stay in its total, but without your name or ID (they show «لاعب محذوف»).
- Name reports you made about other players stay until their 90 days end, without your ID; they still count toward hiding that name.
- Your progress on your phone stays. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data in Android's settings, removes it. «مسح التقدّم» in the app clears the game progress but keeps your settings and purchases.
- Your purchases stay with your Google account.
- Your Play Games profile, achievements and leaderboard scores are Google's: manage or delete them in the Play Games app or in your Google account.
- The anonymous statistics about the questions and «حضارتي» never named you, so there is nothing of yours in them.
- Analytics and crash data are tied to a random install ID, not to your account. They are deleted after the periods in section 8. To ask for them to be deleted sooner, use our data request form (section 15).
- If you use Android's backup, its copy is in your Google account, under Google's settings.
- If Firebase can't delete the sign-in record at that moment (for example, when the sign-in is too old), the app signs you out of Firebase instead. To make sure the record is deleted, ask us with the data request form (section 15).
To delete data held by Firebase or other services, use the data request form (section 15).
2.9Family-friendly play
- The game's content is family friendly. It has no free chat.
- Player names on our boards are checked for offensive words, and you can report a name (2.10).
- The gallery's texts are filtered too; the gallery isn't in this version of the app.
- Other players can see only names, flags, crests, levels and scores.
- See section 10 for our policy on children.
2.10Names on public boards, and reporting a name
- The names shown on our boards and in duels are checked, on your phone and on our server, for offensive words in Arabic and English, for contact details and links, and for names that pose as the game's staff. A name that fails the check is replaced, for every other player, by a neutral name: «لاعب» and four digits. We keep the original name for our review. A name you choose in the app that fails the check is not saved: the app tells you why, and you can choose another.
- If you see an offensive name, «أبلغ عن هذا الاسم» on the player's card hides it on your phone at once. When you're signed in to our server, it also sends the server:
- the name as you saw it;
- where you saw it (which board or screen);
- your own player ID on our server, so that reports can't be flooded and abuse can be dealt with.
- Your phone remembers which names you reported.
- When three different players report the same name within 30 days, it is replaced by a neutral name until we review it. We keep a report for 90 days, then delete it. After a review we may put the name back, keep it hidden, or act under our terms of use.
- The reported player is not told who reported them.
2.11The app's configuration
- When the app starts, and when it reconnects, it asks our server for its status. The answer includes a small configuration:
- the oldest app version allowed to play (an older one shows «حدّث التطبيق», with a link to Google Play);
- switches that can pause a mode or a screen while we fix a problem;
- numbers that set the pace of «حضارتي», such as how fast its people work and what each chapter asks, which your land takes at its next dawn or when you next open it.
- The request carries nothing about you beyond what any request to a website carries: your IP address, processed as in 2.4. It doesn't send your app's version: the app compares it on the phone.
- The answer is kept on your phone, so the app works offline too.
2.12The protected questions
- The questions, their answers and explanations ship encrypted inside the app, and are opened only on your phone, one at a time, when a game needs them.
- Before opening them, the app checks on your phone that it is our genuine app (its signing certificate). This check reads only the app itself; nothing about you or your device is collected or sent for it.
- If the app has been modified, it shows a notice instead of the questions, and records an anonymous analytics event that this happened, with no details.
- The question database is left out of Android's backups and device transfers.
- A share of the questions is kept only on our server, and is sent one at a time during ranked duels.
2.13Your explanation and difficulty settings
- What you choose in «الشرح بعد الإجابة» (on or off, after every answer or only after a mistake, full or short) and in «صعوبة الأسئلة» («متكيّف», «سهل», «متوسط», «صعب», «عشوائي») is kept in the app's settings on your phone.
- For «متكيّف», the app also keeps, on your phone:
- a level from 0 to 6 for each of the six categories, which your answers move up or down;
- how many answers it has counted;
- the date you started.
- None of this goes to our game server.
- If you're signed in to Play Games, these settings and levels travel in your cloud save (2.3), so another phone starts where you left off. Android's backup may also copy them (2.14).
- To tune the feature, Firebase Analytics receives coarse signals with the random install ID, never a question's text or your name:
- when a «متكيّف» game starts (the mode, and whether you are new to the app);
- for each answer, the difficulty step before and after it (0 to 6), whether it was right, and the question's format;
- the highest step a game reached;
- which setting you changed.
- «مسح التقدّم» in Settings clears the «متكيّف» levels.
2.14Other things the app does on your phone
- Reminders are local notifications that the app schedules on your phone, with Android's notification permission. Nothing is sent to show them. Their settings stay on the phone; Analytics only learns that you changed them (2.7).
- «كلمات العالم» speaks words with your phone's own text-to-speech voices, when the phone already has them. The app downloads nothing for it and sends nothing.
- Sharing: when you share a result card, a crest or a challenge, the picture and text go only to the app you pick in Android's share sheet. A challenge link (asila://challenge/…) carries the mode, its settings, a random seed, your score and your time, with no name and no ID, and needs no server.
- «أسئلتي»: the quizzes you write stay on your phone. They are not sent to us and are not in the cloud save.
- Android's backup: if you use it, Android may copy your progress and settings to your Google account. The question database, your purchase records and our server's sign-in token are left out.
2.15Bug reports
If you send a bug report from inside the app (Settings → «أبلغ عن خطأ»), we receive: what you wrote; the kind of problem you picked; the app’s version; your phone’s maker and model and its Android version; the name of the screen you came from, and the mode if you came from a game; the last things the app did (screen names and technical errors, never anything you typed or answered); a screenshot of the screen you were on before Settings, if you keep it (you see it before sending and remove it with one tap; it may show your name in the game); and your land’s save in «حضارتي», if you say the report is about it (with your camp’s name, if you named it, 2.4).
A report carries no name, email address or account. Your phone is known by a random number the app makes for its reports alone; it is kept with your progress, so it travels in your cloud save (2.3), and our server keeps only a one-way fingerprint of it. When the app asks for your reports’ rewards, it also sends a second random number that the app makes on this phone; it is not in the cloud save (though Android’s own backup may copy it, 2.14), and our server keeps it with the reward your phone takes, so that two phones can’t take the same reward.
We use a report to find and fix the problem, to answer you inside the app, and to send you game coins if the bug is real and new. Reports are kept on our game server (Cloudflare), are seen only by the app’s developer, and are shared with no one.
A report is deleted 90 days after it is closed; its screenshot and land save, 90 days after they arrive; a report that was never looked at, after a year. You can delete all your reports at any time in «بلاغاتي» → «احذف بلاغاتي», and they are also deleted with «حذف حسابي» (2.8).
3How do we process your information?
In short: We process your information to provide, improve and run the app, to answer you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with the law. We may also process it for other purposes with your consent.
Depending on how you use the app, we process your information:
- to sign you in and manage your account: Play Games, Firebase Authentication and our game server (sections 2.2, 2.4 and 7);
- to provide the game's features: the cloud save, ranked duels, «كأس الدول», the seasons, the leagues and the friends' board (2.3 and 2.4);
- to keep a copy of your «حضارتي» progress with your account (2.4);
- to keep play fair and protect the app: score checks, the integrity check, name checks and reports, and the protected questions (2.5, 2.10 and 2.12);
- to improve the questions and tune the pace of «حضارتي»: the anonymous statistics about the questions and «حضارتي» (2.6), the error reports you send with «إبلاغ عن خطأ» (2.7), and what we count from the kept lands (2.4);
- to show ads, including personalised ads (2.7 and section 6);
- to understand how the app is used and fix problems: analytics and crash reports (2.7), and the bug reports you send from Settings, our replies to them and their rewards (2.15);
- to deliver and restore your purchases (2.7);
- to keep the app working: its configuration (2.11);
- to answer you when you write to us;
- to comply with the law, and to protect someone's vital interests, for example to prevent harm.
4What legal bases do we rely on?
In short: We process your personal information only when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (a legal basis) under applicable law: your consent, a contract with you, our legal obligations, the protection of your rights, or our legitimate interests.
If you are in the EU or the UK. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR require us to explain the legal bases we rely on. We may rely on:
- Contract: to provide the app and the online features you choose to use, under our terms of use (https://thaqafiya.app/terms).
- Consent: for personalised ads, and for what Firebase may store where the law requires consent (2.7). You can withdraw your consent at any time (section 11).
- Legitimate interests: when processing is reasonably necessary for our legitimate interests, and those interests are not outweighed by your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, to:
- develop and show personalised and relevant ads;
- analyse how the app is used, so we can improve it and keep players engaged;
- understand how players use the app, so we can improve their experience;
- keep play fair, protect the app and its questions, and prevent abuse;
- improve the questions.
- Legal obligations: when necessary to comply with our legal obligations, for example to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, to exercise or defend our legal rights, or to disclose information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
- Vital interests: when necessary to protect your vital interests or those of a third party, for example in situations involving possible threats to someone's safety.
If you are in Canada. We process your information with your express consent for a specific purpose, or where your consent can be inferred (implied consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time (section 11). In exceptional cases, the law may allow us to process your information without your consent, for example:
- for investigations, and for fraud detection and prevention;
- if collection is clearly in someone's interests and consent cannot be obtained in time;
- to investigate a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province, where asking for consent would compromise the information;
- to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order or court rules on the production of records;
- if the information is publicly available and specified by the regulations.
5When and with whom do we share your personal information?
In short: We share information with the service providers that run parts of the app for us, with the ad networks that show the ads, and, for your public game profile, with other players.
Service providers. These companies process information on our behalf, under their terms with us, to provide their service:
- Game services: Google Play Games Services, for sign-in, achievements, leaderboards, the cloud save and friends (2.2 and 2.3);
- Account registration and authentication: Firebase Authentication (Google) (section 7);
- Data analytics and performance monitoring: Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (Google) (2.7);
- Payment processing: Google Play (2.7);
- Anti-fraud and app integrity: Google Play Integrity (2.5);
- Data storage and hosting: Cloudflare, which hosts our game server (2.4).
Ad networks. Appodeal and the networks it works with (Google AdMob, AppLovin, BidMachine and Mintegral) receive your device's advertising ID and approximate location to show ads, and use them under their own privacy policies (2.7 and section 6).
Other players. Other players see your public game profile: your name (the one you choose in the app, or your Play Games name until you choose one), your flag (unless you hide it), your crest or the card face you made your picture, your level, rank, points and leaderboard scores (2.4).
Legal reasons. We may disclose information where the law requires it, or to exercise or defend our legal rights (section 4).
Business transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of assets, financing, or acquisition of all or part of our business by another company.
We don't sell your personal information.
6Do we use cookies and similar technologies?
In short: The app doesn't use browser cookies, but the services in it use similar technologies, mainly for analytics and ads.
- The app creates a random install ID, which Firebase Analytics uses instead of your name (2.7).
- Firebase Analytics and the ad networks read your device's advertising ID.
- The ad networks may use their own identifiers and similar technologies to show and measure ads and to tailor them to your interests.
- Where the law requires consent (the EEA and the UK), the app asks for it before personalised ads, and the same choices decide what Firebase may store and use (Google's Consent Mode). You can review your choice in Settings → «راجع خيارات الخصوصية».
- You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or limit personalised ads, in your phone's settings.
- For Google's own practices, see Google's Privacy & Terms page.
To the extent these technologies count as a "sale" or "sharing" (including targeted advertising) under US state laws, you can opt out as section 13 explains.
7How do we handle sign-in with Google?
In short: If you sign in with Google Play Games or with your Google account, we receive certain profile information from Google.
The app lets you sign in with Google Play Games, or with your Google account when Play Games isn't available. When you do, we receive certain profile information from Google:
- With Google Play Games, we receive your player ID and display name. We never receive your Google password. Your Play Games friends list is read only if you allow it in Play Games, and only to rank you among your friends (2.2 and 2.4).
- If Play Games isn't available on your phone and you choose to sign in with your Google account, Firebase Authentication (Google) receives your email address and name for that sign-in.
- Deleting your account in the app («حذف حسابي») deletes this sign-in record too (2.8).
We use this information only for the purposes in this policy. We don't control, and are not responsible for, other uses of your information by Google. Read Google's privacy policy to understand how it collects, uses and shares your information, and how to set your privacy preferences.
8How long do we keep your information?
In short: We keep your information for as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy, unless the law requires otherwise.
We keep your personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law (for example for tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this policy requires us to keep your personal information for longer than you have an account with us, except as listed below.
For the game's online features, our server keeps:
- your player record, for as long as your account exists;
- each game's report sent to our server, for 7 days;
- a score flag, for 90 days; your leaderboard scores, for as long as your account exists (a weekly board's for four weeks, a season's for three seasons, a daily board's until the day after);
- your latest integrity result, until the next check replaces it;
- a report of a player's name, for 90 days;
- the copy of your land in «حضارتي», for as long as your account exists, replaced by a newer copy as 2.4 explains;
- a bug report, for 90 days after it is closed (its screenshot and land save for 90 days after they arrive; a year if it was never looked at), and its reward's record for a year after it was given (2.15).
Deleting your account in the app («حذف حسابي») removes them at once, together with the sign-in record that Firebase Authentication keeps for you, except the reports you made about other players' names: they stay, without your ID, until their 90 days end (2.8).
Other information:
- Analytics data is kept according to the retention setting of Google Analytics for Firebase, at most 14 months, and then deleted.
- Crash reports are kept by Firebase Crashlytics for 90 days.
- Server logs: Cloudflare keeps its technical logs of requests only for a short time.
- On your phone: your progress, settings and purchase records stay on your device until you clear the app's data or uninstall it. The copies in your cloud save and in Android's backup are in your Google account; «حذف حسابي» deletes the cloud save.
When we no longer have a legitimate need to process your personal information, we delete or anonymise it. If that isn't possible (for example, because it is stored in backup archives), we store it securely and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
9How do we keep your information safe?
In short: We aim to protect your personal information through organisational and technical security measures.
We have put in place appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the personal information we process. For example:
- the app reaches our game server, at https://api.thaqafiya.app, over an encrypted connection (HTTPS), and Firebase and Google Play use encrypted connections too;
- our server keeps only what section 2.4 lists, and deletes it when you use «حذف حسابي»;
- your purchase records and our server's sign-in token are left out of Android's backups (2.14).
However, no electronic transmission over the internet and no information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal or modify your information. We will do our best to protect your personal information, but its transmission to and from the app is at your own risk. Use the app in a secure environment.
10Do we collect information from children?
In short: The app is meant for people aged 13 and over, and it is not directed to children under 13.
The app is meant for people aged 13 and over, and it is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under the age at which you can consent to the processing of your data in your country, please use the app with the permission of a parent or guardian. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com.
11What are your privacy rights?
In short: Depending on where you live, for example in some US states or in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland or Canada, you have rights that give you more access to and control over your personal information. You can review, change or end your account at any time.
In some regions (like the EEA, the UK, Switzerland and Canada), you have rights under the applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to access your personal information and get a copy of it, (ii) to ask for it to be corrected or erased, (iii) to restrict its processing, (iv) where applicable, to data portability, and (v) not to be subject to automated decision-making. In some circumstances you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. To make a request, use our data request form (section 15) or contact us (section 16). We will consider and act on any request under the applicable data protection laws.
If you are in the EEA or the UK and you believe we are processing your personal information unlawfully, you also have the right to complain to your Member State data protection authority or the UK data protection authority. If you are in Switzerland, you may contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.
Withdrawing your consent. Where we rely on your consent, which may be express or implied depending on the applicable law, you can withdraw it at any time: review your ads and privacy choices in Settings → «راجع خيارات الخصوصية» where the app offers them, or contact us (section 16). This doesn't affect the lawfulness of the processing before you withdrew it, nor, where the law allows, processing based on other legal grounds.
Controls in the app.
- «ساعد في تحسين الأسئلة» switches off the anonymous statistics about the questions and «حضارتي», and your land's events in analytics (2.6 and 2.7).
- «راجع خيارات الخصوصية» reviews your ads consent, where the law gives you one (2.7).
- You can hide your flag, or change your country once a season (2.4).
- «حذف حسابي» deletes your online account and data (2.8).
Your account. To review or change the information in your account, or to end it, you can:
If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, write to us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com.
12Controls for Do-Not-Track features
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and apps include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") setting that you can turn on to signal that you don't want your online browsing activities monitored and collected. No uniform technology standard for recognising and implementing DNT signals has been finalised, so we don't currently respond to DNT signals or to any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard is adopted that we must follow, we will tell you in a revised version of this policy. California law requires us to say how we respond to DNT signals: because there is no industry or legal standard for recognising or honouring them, we don't respond to them at this time. The app's own controls are listed in section 11.
13Do United States residents have specific privacy rights?
In short: If you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah or Virginia, you may have the right to ask for access to, and details about, the personal information we keep about you and how we have processed it, to correct inaccuracies, to get a copy of it, or to delete it. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing. These rights may be limited in some circumstances by law.
Categories of personal information we collect. In the past twelve (12) months we have collected the following categories of personal information:
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|---|
| A. Identifiers | Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address and account name | YES: your Play Games player ID and display name, the name you choose in the app, a random install ID, your advertising ID, your IP address, and the bug reports' two random numbers (2.15); your email address only if you sign in with your Google account |
|---|
| B. Personal information as defined in the California Customer Records statute | Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history and financial information | YES: only the name of your Google account, if you sign in with it instead of Play Games |
|---|
| C. Protected classification characteristics under state or federal law | Gender, age, date of birth, race and ethnicity, national origin, marital status and other demographic data | NO |
|---|
| D. Commercial information | Transaction information, purchase history, financial details and payment information | YES: your in-app purchases (never your payment details) |
|---|
| E. Biometric information | Fingerprints and voiceprints | NO |
|---|
| F. Internet or other similar network activity | Browsing history, search history, online behaviour, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems and advertisements | YES: how you use the app, through Firebase Analytics (2.7); and the copy of your land in «حضارتي» on our server (2.4) |
|---|
| G. Geolocation data | Device location | YES, approximate only: your country, from your IP address, and the approximate location the ad networks use; never your precise location |
|---|
| H. Audio, electronic, sensory or similar information | Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities | YES: the screenshot you keep in a bug report (2.15) |
|---|
| I. Professional or employment-related information | Business contact details, job title, work history and professional qualifications | NO |
|---|
| J. Education information | Student records and directory information | NO |
|---|
| K. Inferences drawn from collected personal information | Inferences drawn from any of the information above to create a profile or summary about, for example, a person's preferences and characteristics | YES: a few properties about how you play, such as your level band and favourite mode (2.7) |
|---|
| L. Sensitive personal information | | NO |
|---|
We may also receive other personal information when you write to us for help, in order to answer you.
We keep the personal information we collect as long as section 8 says:
- Category A: for as long as your account exists on our server; the bug reports' two numbers, with the reports and their rewards as section 8 says (a reward's record, one year after it is given); the install ID and advertising ID in analytics, as section 8 says for analytics data;
- Category B: until you delete your account with «حذف حسابي»;
- Category D: on your phone, until you clear the app's data; in analytics, as section 8 says;
- Categories F and K: as section 8 says for analytics data (at most 14 months); the copy of your land in «حضارتي», for as long as your account exists on our server;
- Category G: your country, for as long as your account exists on our server;
- Category H: a report's screenshot, for 90 days after it arrives, or until you delete your reports or your account.
Sources of personal information. See sections 1 and 2.
How we use and share personal information. See sections 3 and 5.
Will your information be shared with anyone else? We disclose personal information to our service providers (section 5), which process it for us. We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as internal research to improve the app and its questions; this is not a "sale" of your personal information. We do not sell personal information, and we have not sold any in the past twelve (12) months. In that time we have disclosed categories A, B, D, F, G, H and K to the service providers listed in section 5, for business purposes.
Targeted advertising. The ad networks (section 5) receive your advertising ID (category A) and your approximate location (category G) to show you ads, including ads tailored to your interests. Some US state laws treat this as "sharing" or targeted advertising. You can opt out: in Settings → «راجع خيارات الخصوصية» where the app offers it, by deleting or resetting your advertising ID in your phone's settings, or by writing to us.
Your rights. You have rights under certain US state data protection laws. These rights are not absolute, and in some cases we may decline your request as the law allows. They include:
- the right to know whether we are processing your personal data;
- the right to access your personal data;
- the right to correct inaccuracies in your personal data;
- the right to ask for your personal data to be deleted;
- the right to get a copy of the personal data you shared with us;
- the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights;
- the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for targeted advertising (or "sharing" as defined in California's privacy law), the sale of personal data, or profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects ("profiling").
Depending on the state where you live, you may also have the right:
- to access the categories of personal data being processed (as the law allows, including Minnesota's privacy law);
- to get a list of the categories of third parties to which we have disclosed personal data (as the law allows, including California's and Delaware's privacy laws);
- to get a list of the specific third parties to which we have disclosed personal data (as the law allows, including Minnesota's and Oregon's privacy laws);
- to review, understand, question and correct how personal data has been profiled (as the law allows, including Minnesota's privacy law);
- to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal data (as the law allows, including California's privacy law);
- to opt out of the collection of sensitive data and personal data collected through a voice or facial recognition feature (as the law allows, including Florida's privacy law).
How to exercise your rights. Use our data request form, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdo5USAGOm6dSiEUJbldAglhVLoCPzLrnHQWWpVobQpTTv4NA/viewform, email us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com, or use the contact details in section 16. Under certain US state data protection laws, you can designate an authorised agent to make a request for you. We may deny a request from an authorised agent who doesn't show proof that you have validly authorised them to act for you under the applicable laws.
Request verification. When we receive your request, we need to verify your identity to confirm that you are the person whose information we hold. We will use the personal information in your request only to verify your identity or authority to make it. If we can't verify your identity from the information we already hold, we may ask you for more information, for verification and for security or fraud prevention. If an authorised agent submits the request for you, we may need more information to verify your identity, and the agent must provide your written and signed permission to make the request.
Appeals. Under certain US state data protection laws, if we decline to act on your request, you may appeal our decision by emailing us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com. We will tell you in writing what action we took or didn't take in response to the appeal, with a written explanation of the reasons. If your appeal is denied, you may submit a complaint to your state attorney general.
California "Shine The Light" law. California Civil Code Section 1798.83, the "Shine The Light" law, lets our users who live in California ask us, once a year and free of charge, for information about the categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes, and the names and addresses of those third parties, in the preceding calendar year. If you live in California and want to make such a request, send it to us in writing using the contact details in section 16.
14Do we make updates to this policy?
In short: Yes. We update this policy as needed to stay compliant with the law, and to describe the app accurately.
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows the current version. If we make material changes, we may tell you with a clear notice in the app or on our website. Please review this policy from time to time to stay informed about how we protect your information.
This version replaces our earlier privacy notice, last updated on February 9, 2025.
This policy is published in Arabic and English. If the two versions differ, the Arabic version prevails.
15How can you review, update or delete the data we collect from you?
Depending on the laws of your country, or of your US state, you may have the right to ask for access to the personal information we collect from you and for details about how we have processed it, to correct inaccuracies, or to delete it. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing. These rights may be limited in some circumstances by law.
16How can you contact us about this policy?
If you have questions or comments about this policy, write to us at tahaalrowaily@gmail.com.
Taha Alrowaily, the developer of «أسئلة ثقافية», Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.