Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Sudoku Leader (“we,” “our,” or “us”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to it when you visit our website (sudokuleader.com) and use our online puzzle tools, calculators, and leaderboards.

By using Sudoku Leader, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us, as well as data that is collected automatically when you visit our site.

• Authentication Data (Firebase): If you choose to log in to our Global Leaderboard, we use Google Firebase Authentication. We collect your public Google profile information (Name, Email Address, and Profile Picture) solely to create your player profile and display your rank.
• Gameplay Data: We store your gameplay statistics, including puzzles solved, experience points (XP), best times, and current streaks in our database (Firebase Firestore) to maintain the leaderboards.
• Optional Social Data: If you choose to link your Instagram handle to your player profile, we store this text string.
• Automatically Collected Data: When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and usage through Google Analytics. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and interaction with our puzzles.

3. Google AdSense & Cookies

To keep Sudoku Leader free for everyone, we use third-party advertising companies, specifically Google AdSense, to serve ads when you visit our website.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites.
• Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Opting Out: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the data we collect for the following business and operational purposes:

• To operate and maintain the Global Leaderboards and player profiles.
• To track and analyze website traffic using Google Analytics to improve our puzzles and user interface.
• To serve relevant, non-intrusive advertisements to help fund server costs.
• To prevent fraud, cheating on the leaderboards, or unauthorized automated activity.

5. Data Retention & Deletion Rights (GDPR & CCPA)

We believe your data belongs to you. We retain your profile and gameplay data only for as long as your account is active on our leaderboards.

Requesting Account Deletion: If you wish to permanently delete your player profile, XP, and all associated data from our database, please send an email to our support contact below with the subject line “Data Deletion Request.” We will manually purge your data from our Firebase database within 7 business days.

6. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites or services (such as Instagram). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies when you leave our site.

7. Children’s Privacy

While we offer a “Kids Sudoku” section designed to be safe and educational, we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has created a leaderboard profile, please contact us to have the data removed.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.