Privacy Policy for Lines Ahead

Effective date: July 29, 2026
Last updated: July 29, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Lines Ahead (the App) handles information when you use the App.

Lines Ahead is developed and operated by Siarhei Piatroŭski (the Developer, we, us, or our).

Developer website: https://piatrouski.com/
Privacy contact: use the contact form at https://piatrouski.com/
Intended public URL for this policy: https://piatrouski.com/lines-ahead/privacy-policy/

1. Summary

You can play Lines Ahead without creating an account.
Gameplay saves, settings, and lifetime statistics are primarily stored locally on your device.
We use Firebase Analytics to understand aggregated App usage and Firebase Crashlytics to diagnose crashes and technical problems.
We use Apple Game Center for optional leaderboards and achievements.
Apple processes the one-time Remove Ads purchase and restoration through the App Store.
The free version may display Google AdMob interstitial advertisements at eligible game-over transitions.
The initial advertising configuration does not request App Tracking Transparency permission, does not access the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), and does not use cross-app tracking.
Ads are limited or non-personalized. Where required, Google’s User Messaging Platform asks for consent and provides privacy choices before an ad request is made.
We do not receive your payment-card details.
We do not sell personal information for money.

2. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to the Lines Ahead iOS application and its related privacy, advertising, analytics, crash-reporting, Game Center, and in-app purchase features.

This policy does not describe the independent privacy practices of Apple, Google, or websites and services that you choose to open outside the App.

3. Information stored locally on your device

The App may store the following information locally:

saved games and board state;
scores, move counts, cleared-line counts, destroyed-signal counts, and other gameplay statistics;
tutorial and Daily Signal progress;
sound, music, haptic, language, accessibility, and other preferences;
ad frequency-limit state;
a cached Remove Ads entitlement state;
pending Game Center score or achievement operations;
privacy and consent state maintained by the consent SDK;
diagnostic state needed to recover safely after an interruption.

This information is used to provide the App’s functionality. It normally remains on your device unless a feature described below sends a limited part of it to a service provider.

You can remove local App data by deleting the App. Information already processed by Apple, Google, Game Center, the App Store, Firebase, or AdMob is governed by those services’ retention rules.

4. Information processed through third-party services

Depending on the features you use and the choices available in your region, the following categories of information may be processed:

Service or feature	Information that may be processed	Purpose
Firebase Analytics	App interactions, gameplay events, feature usage, session information, app version, device and operating-system information, approximate region, and an app-installation or app-instance identifier	Measure aggregated usage, understand feature performance, and improve the App
Firebase Crashlytics	Crash logs, stack traces, timestamps, app version, device model, operating-system version, memory and storage information, technical identifiers, and limited gameplay context such as mode, score, move count, board fill, or configuration version	Diagnose crashes, regressions, and technical failures
Google AdMob and User Messaging Platform	IP address, general device and app information, advertising interactions, consent choices, approximate location inferred from network information, diagnostics, and limited identifiers permitted by the device and the selected advertising mode	Deliver limited or non-personalized ads, apply frequency limits, produce aggregated reports, prevent fraud and abuse, and manage privacy choices
Apple Game Center	Apple-managed player identity, authentication state, scores, leaderboard entries, and achievement progress	Provide optional Game Center authentication, leaderboards, and achievements
Apple App Store and StoreKit	Product identifier, purchase status, transaction and entitlement information, storefront information, restoration status, and Family Sharing eligibility	Process, verify, restore, refund, or revoke the Remove Ads purchase

We do not send App Store receipts, transaction identifiers, Apple Account information, Game Center player identifiers, raw consent strings, or raw advertising-request data to Firebase Analytics.

5. Advertising and privacy choices

Advertising placement

The free version of Lines Ahead may display a full-screen interstitial advertisement only at an eligible transition after a completed Classic game. Ads are not intended to appear during active gameplay, the tutorial, Daily Signal, Settings, or a purchase or restoration flow.

If you purchase Remove Ads, the App stops requesting, preloading, and displaying automatic advertisements while the entitlement is active. The purchase does not disable Firebase Analytics, Firebase Crashlytics, Game Center, or essential App Store transaction processing.

Non-personalized and limited ads

The initial App release is configured not to use personalized advertising based on activity across apps or websites owned by other companies.

The App:

does not request App Tracking Transparency permission;
does not access the iOS Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA);
does not use another identifier as a substitute for the IDFA;
does not link Firebase Analytics data to AdMob for advertising personalization;
disables AdMob publisher first-party identifier personalization and sharing;
requests only non-personalized or limited ads when an ad request is permitted.

Non-personalized ads are based on contextual information rather than your past behavior. They may still use limited device or local information for frequency capping, aggregated reporting, security, fraud prevention, and ad delivery. Limited ads further restrict personalization and identifier-dependent features. An IP address may still be used to transmit an ad to your device and infer a general location.

Consent management

We use Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP) to:

check whether a consent message is required;
collect choices required by applicable privacy law;
determine whether an ad request may be made;
offer a Privacy Choices control in the App when required;
select a permitted non-personalized or limited advertising mode.

If consent state does not permit an ad request, or if consent information cannot be obtained and no valid earlier choice permits a request, the App does not show an ad. Refusing advertising consent does not prevent you from playing the game or purchasing or restoring Remove Ads.

You can revisit available advertising choices through Main Menu → Settings → Privacy Choices when that control is required for your region.

6. Analytics and crash reporting

Firebase Analytics helps us understand aggregated patterns such as which screens or features are used, whether a tutorial is completed, and how the App performs. Firebase Crashlytics helps us investigate crashes and technical failures.

We do not intentionally include names, email addresses, Apple Account credentials, payment details, Game Center player identifiers, advertising identifiers, purchase receipts, or free-form user content in analytics events or crash-report custom fields.

Firebase may process technical identifiers and device information as described in Google’s documentation and privacy terms. You can learn more from:

7. Game Center

Game Center is optional and is operated by Apple. If you use it, Apple may process your Game Center identity, scores, leaderboard entries, achievements, and authentication state under Apple’s terms and privacy policy.

Lines Ahead does not require you to create a separate App account. Game Center player identifiers are not sent to Firebase Analytics.

You can manage Game Center through your Apple device settings. For more information, see the Apple Privacy Policy.

8. In-app purchases and Family Sharing

The Remove Ads product is a one-time, non-consumable purchase processed by Apple through StoreKit and the App Store. Apple, not the Developer, processes your payment credentials.

The product supports Family Sharing. When Apple’s purchase-sharing conditions are met, eligible family members may receive their own StoreKit transactions or entitlements for the shared purchase. Apple controls Family Sharing eligibility and purchase-sharing settings.

The App uses StoreKit transaction and entitlement information only to determine whether ads must be removed, restore the purchase, handle refunds or revocations, and resolve purchase problems. The App may keep a local entitlement cache so that a verified purchaser does not see an ad while the store is temporarily unavailable.

For information about Apple’s processing, see the Apple Privacy Policy.

9. Sharing from the App

If you choose to share a result or other content, the App uses the iOS share sheet. You choose the destination service and what to send. The Developer does not operate a server that receives the shared content. The selected destination service processes it under its own privacy policy.

10. Information we do not intentionally collect

The App does not ask you to provide:

your name, email address, postal address, or phone number;
precise location;
contacts, photos, microphone recordings, or health information;
payment-card or bank-account details;
passwords or Apple Account credentials.

The App does not upload raw saved boards or replay payloads to Firebase Analytics.

11. Purposes and legal bases

Where the General Data Protection Regulation, UK GDPR, or similar law applies, information may be processed on the following bases:

Performance of a service: to save and restore gameplay, provide requested Game Center features, and deliver or restore the Remove Ads entitlement.
Consent: where the UMP consent message or another legally required choice asks for permission before advertising-related processing.
Legitimate interests: to maintain security, prevent fraud, diagnose crashes, understand aggregated App usage, and improve reliability, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights.
Legal obligations: to comply with accounting, consumer-protection, platform, tax, regulatory, or lawful-request requirements.

You may withdraw consent through Privacy Choices where available. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before the change.

12. Disclosure of information

We may disclose limited information:

to Google as a service provider for Firebase, AdMob, and UMP;
to Apple for App Store purchases, StoreKit, Family Sharing, and Game Center;
when required by law, regulation, legal process, or an enforceable governmental request;
when reasonably necessary to protect users, the Developer, or the public from fraud, abuse, security threats, or harm;
as part of a business transfer, subject to appropriate notice and safeguards.

We do not receive money in exchange for personal information. Some privacy laws may define certain advertising disclosures as a “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” even when no money is exchanged. Lines Ahead uses non-personalized or limited ads, and applicable opt-out or consent choices are provided through UMP.

We do not permit third-party ad-network mediation in the initial release. Adding another advertising provider would require this policy and the App’s privacy disclosures to be updated before release.

13. Retention

Local gameplay, settings, statistics, entitlement cache, and frequency-limit data remain until the App clears them, you reset the relevant feature, or you delete the App.
UMP consent choices remain until they expire, are reset, or are changed through the available privacy controls.
Firebase Analytics data is retained according to the retention configuration in the Developer’s Firebase and Google Analytics account. Aggregated reports may remain after event-level data expires.
Firebase Crashlytics generally retains crash reports and associated installation identifiers according to Firebase’s documented retention schedule, which may change.
AdMob retains advertising, reporting, security, and consent-related information according to Google’s policies and the applicable advertising mode.
Apple retains App Store transaction, Family Sharing, and Game Center information according to Apple’s policies and legal obligations.

Because Lines Ahead does not maintain App accounts and does not ask for your contact details, we may be unable to connect a particular Firebase or advertising record to you in response to a request.

14. International processing

Apple and Google may process information in countries other than the country where you live. Where required, they use contractual and legal safeguards for international transfers. Their privacy policies provide more information about processing locations and transfer mechanisms.

15. Children’s privacy

Lines Ahead is a general-audience puzzle game and is not designed to collect contact information from children. We do not knowingly ask a child to provide a name, email address, precise location, payment information, or other direct contact information.

Advertising content and age-treatment settings must be configured consistently with the App Store age rating and applicable law. Where a user is treated as a child or under the applicable age of consent, the App must use the advertising restrictions required by Apple, Google, and local law, or make no ad request.

If you believe a child has provided personal information directly to us, contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.

16. Your rights and controls

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

request access to personal information;
request correction or deletion;
object to or restrict certain processing;
withdraw consent;
opt out of certain advertising disclosures;
receive portable information where applicable;
complain to a data-protection authority.

Available controls include:

Privacy Choices in the App, when required;
the Remove Ads purchase;
Game Center and Family Sharing controls in Apple settings;
deleting the App to remove local App data;
contacting us through https://piatrouski.com/.

We may need enough information to understand and verify a request. We cannot delete information controlled solely by Apple or Google, but we can explain how to contact or use the controls of the relevant provider.

17. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures intended to protect the information handled by the App. No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

The App does not store payment credentials, raw App Store receipts, signed transactions, or Apple Account credentials in ordinary local preferences.

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this policy when the App, its service providers, or legal requirements change. The revised policy will show a new “Last updated” date and will be published at the policy URL.

Material changes to advertising personalization, tracking, data sharing, account creation, or service providers will require an updated policy and updated store privacy disclosures before the changed App version is released.

19. Contact

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Siarhei Piatroŭski
https://piatrouski.com/

Please include “Lines Ahead privacy request” in your message and describe the request and the country or region whose privacy law applies.

Lines Ahead - Privacy Policy