Privacy Policy

1. At a Glance

The short version:

• No accounts: you play with a display name only.
• Year of birth is optional. We use it to decide whether 18+ categories can be shown in your room, and for anonymous age-group statistics. Other players never see it.
• Your photos are shown only to the players in your game room.
• Photos and game data are deleted when the room closes, and in any case within about 24 hours of the room's last activity.
• We do not sell your information, show ads, or use your photos to train AI models.

Your photos are temporary Pic by Pic is a game, not a photo storage service. Photos you submit exist only to play the current game and are deleted automatically afterwards.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following information when you play:

• Display name: the name you choose when you host or join a room. Other players in the room can see it.
• Avatar: the character image you pick or are assigned in the room.
• Year of birth (optional): you can enter it on the name screen. You can leave it empty and still play.
• Photos you submit: images you upload from your device, take with your camera, or select through the in-app image search. Images selected from search are copied to our storage so other players can see them.
• Gameplay data: your room code, an anonymous player ID, the prompts you play, your votes, hearts and scores, and any custom prompts you write.
• Search terms: the words you type into the in-app image search.
• Technical information: your IP address and browser user agent, which we use to work out your device type (for example "iPhone, iOS 18, Safari") and an approximate city and country. The location lookup runs on our own server using the DB-IP database (IP geolocation by DB-IP, db-ip.com), and your IP address is never stored.
• Anonymous usage statistics: an anonymous device ID (a random code that is not linked to your name), and how you use the game, for example which screens you visit, how long rounds take and whether a photo upload failed.
• Error reports: if the app crashes or hits an error, it sends us the error message and technical details, together with your anonymous device ID, device type, approximate country and room code.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information above only to:

• Run your game: create and join rooms, show photos, names and scores to the players in the room, count votes and keep everyone in sync.
• Let you reconnect: if your connection drops or you refresh the page, your anonymous player ID lets you return to the same seat.
• Find images: send your search terms to image search providers and show you the results.
• Understand and improve the game: see, in aggregate, how games are played (for example how long sessions last, which categories are popular, and which device types are used).
• Fix problems: investigate crashes and errors.
• Show age-appropriate content: check whether every player in a room is 18 or older before 18+ categories are offered (see section 9).
• Count age groups: our anonymous statistics count players by age group (under 18, 18 and over, or not provided). Our internal reports show only totals, never a single player's year of birth.
• Keep the Android app up to date: when the app opens, it asks our server whether a newer version is available.

4. Your Photos

When you submit a photo, it is converted to a compressed image format (WebP) and stored in a private storage area for your game room. It is shown only to the players in that room.

Only submit photos you are comfortable showing to the other players. Anyone in the room can see your submissions during the game and could, like with any screen, take a screenshot.

• We never use your photos for advertising, facial recognition or profiling.
• We never use your photos to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models.
• We never sell or license your photos to anyone.

5. Who We Share Information With

We do not sell or rent personal information. We share information only with the service providers we need to run the game:

• Supabase: our database and file storage provider. Game rooms, player names and submitted photos are stored there temporarily.
• Our cloud hosting provider: runs the game servers and keeps standard server logs.
• Google Analytics (website only): receives information about your visit, such as pages viewed, device and browser type and approximate location. If you accept analytics cookies, it also receives a random cookie ID that recognizes your browser on later visits. If you decline, it receives only cookieless signals without that ID. Advertising features are turned off. See Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
• Image search providers (Google Custom Search, Unsplash and Pixabay): receive only the search terms you type, sent from our server. They do not receive your name or photos.
• Other players: see your display name, avatar, photos and score in the rooms you join. They never see your year of birth or your age. If 18+ categories are hidden in a room, no one is told which player caused it.

6. How Long We Keep Information

Game rooms are temporary. When the last player leaves a room, its game data and photos are deleted. Rooms that are abandoned are cleaned up automatically: photos and game data are deleted within about 24 hours of the room's last activity.

If you enter a year of birth, it is saved on your device and sent to our server with each room you create or join. The server keeps it with that room only while the room exists, and deletes it together with the room.

Anonymous usage statistics and error reports never include your display name, photos or IP address. Detailed usage events and error reports are deleted after 180 days. Anonymous game summaries (for example how many rounds a game had, and the year of birth of each anonymous player who entered one) are kept to understand how the game is played over time.

Information saved in your own browser (see section 7) stays there until you clear it.

7. Cookies and Browser Storage

We do not use advertising cookies. The app saves a few items in your browser (or in the Android app) so it works smoothly:

• Your display name and language preference.
• Your year of birth, if you entered one, so you do not need to enter it again. You can change or clear it on the name screen.
• The code of the room you are in and your anonymous player ID, so you can reconnect after a refresh.
• An anonymous device ID, kept in local storage and in a first-party cookie for up to one year, so our statistics can tell how many different devices play and how many come back. It is a random code that is not linked to your name.
• Cached game text, categories and images, so the app loads faster.
• On the website only, and only if you click "Accept" on the cookie banner: Google Analytics cookies (_ga and _ga_*, kept for up to two years) that help us understand how visitors use the site. If you decline, or have not chosen yet, no analytics cookies are set and Google Analytics receives only cookieless visit signals (see section 5). You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of the page. The Android app does not use Google Analytics.

8. Device Permissions and the Android App

The app asks for device features only when you use them:

• Camera and photos: only when you choose to take or upload a photo. We never access your camera or gallery in the background.
• Keep screen awake: during a game, the app may keep your screen from turning off so you do not miss a round.
• Photo picker in the Android app: on supported phones, the Android photo picker opens inside the game. The app receives only the photo you choose, never the rest of your gallery.
• Installing updates (Android app): the app downloads new versions of itself from our server and asks your permission to install them. It does not need access to your contacts, location or files.
• Game links: when the Android app is installed, game invite links from our website may open directly in the app instead of the browser.

9. Children

The Service is intended for players aged 16 and over. Younger players may play only with the involvement and permission of a parent or legal guardian.

Some categories are marked 18+ because they are meant for adults. A player counts as an adult only if they entered a year of birth showing they are 18 or older. Players who are under 18, or who did not enter a year of birth, are treated as minors. If even one player in a room is treated as a minor, 18+ categories are hidden for everyone in that room, and our server blocks them from being played there.

We do not verify the year of birth you enter, so the age check depends on players entering their real year of birth.

If you believe a child has shared personal information with us without that permission, please contact us at contact@picbypic.app and we will delete it.

10. Your Rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the Israeli Privacy Protection Law or the EU General Data Protection Regulation), you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict how we use it.

Because rooms are deleted automatically, most information is gone shortly after you play. To make a request about information we still hold, email us at contact@picbypic.app. You can also leave a room at any time and clear your browser storage to remove what is saved on your device.

11. Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), private storage for submitted photos, and separation between game rooms. No online service is completely secure, but keeping photos only for a short time greatly reduces the risk.

12. International Transfers

Our service providers may process information on servers outside your country. When that happens, we rely on providers that apply appropriate safeguards to protect it.

13. Changes and Contact

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last Updated" date above. Significant changes will be highlighted in the app.

Questions or requests? Contact us at contact@picbypic.app.