ORIGINSPrivacy policy
Your data in ORIGINS
ORIGINS is a geography game: you guess where things began by tapping a country on a globe, play a daily challenge, and duel friends. This policy explains what the game collects, why, who else handles it, and how to delete it. The short version: no ads, no tracking, no selling data, no email address or password required, and you can delete everything from inside the app.
Who we are
ORIGINS is made by an independent developer. For anything about your data, email support.playorigins@gmail.com.
What we collect
You never give us your real name, email address, phone number, contacts or location. When you first open ORIGINS it creates an anonymous account for you, identified by a random ID. Everything below is tied to that ID.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Username you choose | So friends can challenge you, and so you appear on leaderboards and in duels. Other players can see it. |
| Game results: your guesses, how long each round took, scores, streak, level and XP | To score the daily challenge fairly on our server, rank the leaderboard, and track your progress. |
| Duels: matches, invites you send and receive, nudges, and which questions you have seen | To run duels between players and avoid giving you the same question twice. |
| Reports and blocks you make, and reports made about you | To keep players safe. Reports are read only by us. A block is never shown to the player you blocked. |
| Push notification token and whether your device is iPhone or Android, only if you allow notifications | To tell you when it is your turn in a duel. |
| IP address and basic request details, in our hosting provider's logs | Needed to deliver the service, and to keep it secure and working. Kept briefly, then deleted by the provider. |
If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write, and use them only to reply.
What stays on your phone
Your sign-in, your daily progress and your offline duels are stored on your device. The sign-in and daily results are kept in the phone's encrypted storage (the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore). Daily records older than 30 days are removed automatically.
What we don't do
- No advertising, and no advertising or analytics SDKs.
- No tracking across other apps or websites.
- We never sell or rent your data, or share it for anyone else's marketing.
- No access to your contacts, photos, camera, microphone or location.
Who else handles your data
We use a small number of service providers, each only for the job listed:
- Supabase hosts our database and servers, where your account, names and game results are stored.
- Expo (650 Industries) delivers push notifications, together with Apple Push Notification service or Google Firebase Cloud Messaging. They receive your push token and the notification text, e.g. "Sam has played. Your turn."
- Wikimedia Commons hosts the question photos. When a photo loads, your phone fetches it straight from Wikimedia, which sees your IP address as it would for any website visit.
These providers may process data in the United States and other countries. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect players from harm.
What other players see
Your username, daily score, rank and streak can appear on the public daily leaderboard. Players you duel also see your duel scores and your answers in games you have both finished. Other players never see your account ID.
How long we keep it
We keep your account and game data until you delete your account. There is no email or password behind an anonymous account, so if you lose your phone without a backup we cannot link you to your old account. Email us and we will delete it.
Deleting your data, and your other rights
- Delete everything: in the app, go to Profile, open Profile & Settings, and tap Delete account. This deletes your account, names, scores, streak, level, duels, invites, blocks, reports and push token from our servers straight away, and clears the app's data on your phone. It cannot be undone. Duels you played against others are removed for them too.
- Change your username: at any time, under Profile & Settings.
- Notifications: turn them off at any time, in the app (Profile, then Profile & Settings) or in your phone's Settings. When they are off in the app, our server sends you nothing at all.
- Access or a copy of your data, or any other request under the law where you live (for example GDPR in the EU and UK, or the CCPA in California): email support.playorigins@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Where EU or UK law applies, we rely on these legal grounds: providing the game you asked for (your account, names, results and duels); our legitimate interest in keeping the game fair, safe and secure (reports, blocks, abuse prevention and server logs); and your consent for push notifications, which you can withdraw in Settings.
Children
ORIGINS is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you think a child under 13 has used ORIGINS, email us and we will delete the account.
Security
Data travels encrypted (HTTPS). On our servers, each player can read only their own records, and scores are calculated by the server so they cannot be forged. No system is perfectly secure, but we collect as little as the game needs, which limits what could ever be exposed.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update it here and change the date at the top. If a change affects how your data is used in a significant way, we will tell you in the app.