Privacy Policy
This Is Locked is a puzzle game made by Define Reality Studios ("we", "us"). It's available as a website at thisislocked.com and as an app for iPhone, iPad and Android. This policy explains what data the game handles, why, and what you can do about it.
The short version: there are no accounts and no sign-up. Your progress is saved on your own device. We collect anonymous gameplay statistics with no identifiers. The app shows ads from Google AdMob, and on the app, Google may use data for advertising if you allow it. The camera, microphone and motion sensors, when you allow them, are used on your device only; nothing is recorded or sent.
Who we are
Define Reality Studios is the data controller for the game. You can contact us at hello@definereality.io.
What we collect, and why
| Data | Where | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Your progress and settings: levels completed, sound and dark-mode choices, best scores, whether you own the Supporter Pack | Web and app. Stored on your device only; never sent to us. | So the game remembers where you are. |
| Anonymous gameplay events: e.g. that a level was started or completed, a chapter was finished, a purchase was made or restored, an ad was shown, with the level name, a few counts (such as levels done), the game version and platform | Web and app. Sent to our own analytics server at signal.definereality.io. | To understand which levels are too hard, where players stop, and whether the game works. The game sends no user, device or session identifier. When an event arrives, our server records your country (worked out at the network edge, not from GPS) and your browser, operating system and device type (read from your browser's standard user-agent header). Your IP address is never stored: it's combined with the current month and a secret value and put through a one-way hash, and only that hash is kept, so we can count roughly how many different players we have each day and month. The hash can't be turned back into your IP address, and it changes every month, so it can't follow you from one month to the next. |
| Feedback you send us: the message you type into the Feedback form, and your country | App. Sent to signal.definereality.io. | To read and act on it. The form doesn't ask for your name or email, so please don't include personal details unless you want us to have them. As with gameplay events, your IP address isn't stored. |
| Advertising data, collected by Google AdMob: device and advertising identifiers, IP address, approximate location, and ad interactions | App only (the website shows no real ads). | To show, measure and limit ads. See "Ads" below. |
| Purchase records | App only. Handled by Apple or Google. | See "In-app purchase" below. |
We don't use cookies on the website, we don't sell your data, and we don't build profiles of you.
Camera, microphone and motion
Some levels in the app are played with the phone itself: tilting it, making a sound, pointing the camera at a colour or covering it. The app asks your permission before using any of these, and you can refuse or change your mind at any time in your device's settings (a level that needs a sensor simply waits).
When allowed, the camera and microphone are read live, on your device, only while that level is on screen, and only for simple measurements such as an average colour, brightness, loudness or pitch. No images, video or audio are recorded, stored or sent anywhere.
Ads
The free version of the app shows occasional full-screen ads from Google AdMob. Buying the Supporter Pack removes them.
- On iPhone and iPad, the app asks, through Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt, whether ads may track you across other companies' apps and websites. If you say no, Google still shows ads, but not ones based on tracking. You can change this any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
- In the UK, EEA and Switzerland, the app shows Google's consent form before personalised ads, and you can change your choice at any time from Settings → Ad choices in the game.
- On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device's Google settings.
Google's use of this data is covered by Google's privacy policy for partner apps.
In-app purchase
The Supporter Pack is sold through the App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handle the payment and your payment details; we never see them. The app asks the store whether your account owns the pack, so it can be restored on a new device. The store's own privacy policy applies to the purchase.
App updates
The app checks thisislocked.com for updates to its game content when it opens. That request carries no personal information beyond what any web request does (your IP address and device type), and we don't use it to identify you.
The website
The website saves your progress in your browser's local storage, sends the same anonymous gameplay events as the app, and shows no real ads. One level plays a video through YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), which is covered by Google's privacy policy. Links to other sites, such as our other games, are covered by those sites' own policies.
Legal bases (UK and EU players)
- Anonymous gameplay events and feedback: our legitimate interest in understanding and improving the game, with minimal data and no identifiers.
- Personalised advertising: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time as described above.
- Camera, microphone and motion: your permission, given through your device.
- Purchases: to perform our contract with you.
How long we keep it
Your progress stays on your device until you use Start over, clear your browser data, or delete the app. Gameplay events are deleted automatically after two years. Feedback is kept until we delete it. Neither carries anything that identifies you, so we can't link them back to you or pick out yours; if you've sent feedback and want it removed, tell us roughly when and what it said and we'll find and delete it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal data we hold about you, to object to or restrict how we use it, and to withdraw consent. In practice we hold almost nothing that identifies you. To ask about any of this, email hello@definereality.io. For advertising data, you can also use the controls above or contact Google.
If you're in the UK, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office; in the EU, to your local data protection authority. We'd appreciate the chance to sort it out first.
Children
This Is Locked is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we'll delete it.
Where data is processed
Our analytics server and our service providers, including Google, may process data outside your country. Where the law requires it, transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.
Contact
Define Reality Studios · hello@definereality.io