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Countlings / Android app for children

Privacy, explained.

This policy explains what the Android app Countlings: 123 Trace & Count (package com.zubaer.countlings) does with data. It is a set of number games for young children, made by Md. Zubaer Ahammed.

Last updated:

What the app itself collects

Nothing. The app has no accounts, no sign-in and no analytics. It never asks for a child’s name, age, photo, voice, location or any other personal information, and I do not run a server for it.

The stars and Countling friends your child earns, the numbers they find tricky, and the settings chosen in the grown-ups’ area are stored only on your device. They are removed when you clear the app’s data, use “Clear stars and friends” in the grown-ups’ area, or uninstall the app. They are not included in device backups.

Spoken words

Numbers and instructions are spoken by your device’s own text-to-speech voice. The app only sends it text to read out. It does not record or listen to anything, and it does not use the microphone.

Advertising

The app is free and shows adverts through Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK). Because the app is made for children, every advert request is:

  • tagged as directed to children and as coming from a user under the age of consent;
  • limited to adverts rated suitable for general audiences (G);
  • non-personalised: no interest-based adverts and no remarketing.

The app does not use the device’s advertising ID or Android’s Privacy Sandbox advertising features; those permissions are removed from the app.

To show adverts, limit how often they appear and prevent fraud, Google may process your IP address (from which an approximate location can be worked out), information about the device such as model, operating system and language, an app-scoped device identifier, how adverts are viewed and tapped, and diagnostic information. This data goes directly from your device to Google. I do not receive it in a form that identifies anyone.

Adverts appear only on the home screen and after a finished game, never while a game is being played. No adverts load while the device is offline; the games work fully without an internet connection.

How Google uses information from apps that use its services ↗ · Google’s privacy policy ↗

Permissions

The app asks only for internet access and network state, which the advert library uses. It does not ask for location, contacts, camera, microphone, files or photos.

The only links out of the app, to this policy and to email, are in the grown-ups’ area, which is locked behind a check that young children cannot pass. There are no social features, chat, sharing or purchases.

Children

The app is made for children aged about 3 to 8 and follows Google Play’s Families Policy. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think any has been collected, email me and I will help remove it.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with a new date. For privacy questions or requests, email [email protected]. The policy for this website itself is the zubaer.com privacy policy.