Privacy Policy

Effective: October 15, 2026

This policy explains what Countryballs and its games, starting with Countryball Defenders, collect when u play, why, how long we keep it, and what u can do about it. We keep it short and in plain words. (Switzerland read all of it. Twice.)

1. Who we are

Countryballs (https://countryballs.org) and its games, including Countryball Defenders, are made and run by Insoola Information Technology Solutions ("sxon", "we", "us"), a company in the Philippines. We decide how ur personal data is used, so we are its "controller" under data protection laws such as the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR. Questions or requests: ben@insoola.org.

2. What we collect and why

2.1 Ur save

When u first play, our server creates a save with the player name u choose (or a funny one we pick for u), the nation u play for (we suggest one from ur country, and u can change it) and ur progress: stages, stars, balls, cards, coins, gems, items and quests. To keep battles fair, the server also gets each battle's starting seed and ur taps, and replays them. We need all this to run the game for u (legal basis: our contract with u).

Ur player name, nation, stars, likes and looks appear on the public ranks, and in the Hall of Fame if u beat a stage first, so please pick a name that does not reveal who u are.

2.2 The key in ur browser

Ur browser stores a random key (a long code) that opens ur save. Our server keeps only a scrambled (hashed) copy of it. The key is also ur save code: Settings can copy it so u can load ur save on another phone. Anyone with the code can open ur save, so keep it secret. If u clear ur browser data without keeping the code or linking Google, we cannot find ur save again, because we don't know who u are.

2.3 IP address and device data

Every time ur browser talks to our server, it sends ur IP address and basic device data (like the browser type). We use the IP address to limit how fast new saves can be made (to stop spam and abuse) and to detect ur country, which we use to suggest ur nation and to show the shop in ur currency. Once a day we note the IP each save plays from and keep it for 90 days, so we can keep banned players out (a banned player's IPs stay while the ban lasts). Our host, Cloudflare, processes this data to deliver and protect the site, and our server logs may keep it for a short time so we can fix errors (legal basis: our legitimate interest in running a secure, working game).

2.4 Chat, friends and private messages

If u use the chat, we store ur messages with ur player name and the time, and show them to other players. Messages are checked by automatic filters and by moderators. We may remove messages and mute or ban players who break the rules. We keep messages only as long as the chat needs them and, when a message is reported, as long as we need to handle the report (legal basis: our contract with u, and our legitimate interest in keeping the chat safe).

Friends: we store who u added, accepted or blocked, the daily gifts u send each other, and the private messages between u and a friend (only friends can message each other). Private messages are seen only by the two of u, unless one of u reports one: then a moderator sees that message.

Reports: when u report a chat line, a private message or a player, we store who reported whom, the reason, and a copy of the reported message, so a moderator can check it. A chat line with several reports hides until a moderator looks.

2.5 Google sign-in and Google user data (optional)

Signing in with Google is optional. It keeps ur save safe when u change or lose ur phone. This is exactly what happens with ur Google user data:

• What we get: when u tap "Sign in with Google", Google sends our server a signed sign-in token. It holds ur Google account ID (a long number that never changes) and, because the sign-in uses Google's basic scopes (openid, email and profile), also ur email address, name and profile picture. We never see ur Google password.
• How we use it: we check the token with Google's public keys, then use only the account ID: to link ur save to ur Google account, and to give the same save back when u sign in on another device. We use nothing else in the token.
• What we store: only a scrambled (SHA-256 hashed) copy of the account ID, next to ur save. We don't store the account ID itself, ur email address, ur name or ur picture: the rest of the token is gone as soon as it is checked.
• Who sees it: nobody. We don't share, sell, rent or transfer Google user data to anyone, we don't use it for ads, analytics or profiles, we don't use it to train AI or machine learning models, and no person reads it.
• Deleting it: Settings → Ur account → Unlink removes the link at once. U can also remove our access in ur Google Account at myaccount.google.com/connections, or write to us to delete ur whole save (see 7). After an unlink we keep only a scrambled mark that the one-time sign-in gift was paid, so it is not paid twice.

Countryballs' use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Legal basis: our contract with u. Google's own privacy policy applies to ur Google account.

2.6 Purchases

Gem packs and other paid items are sold through Xsolla, which acts as the merchant of record: Xsolla takes the payment, handles ur card or other payment details, and deals with taxes and refunds. We never see or store ur payment details.

To open the checkout, we send Xsolla ur player ID (a random code), ur player name and ur IP address or country, so it can show the right currency, taxes and payment methods. Xsolla tells us the order number, the item and whether it was paid or refunded, so we can deliver or remove the item. Xsolla's privacy policy applies to the payment itself. We keep order records as long as tax and accounting laws require (legal basis: our contract with u and our legal obligations).

In our Android app, Google Play sells the same items instead of Xsolla: Google takes the payment, handles ur payment details and deals with refunds, under Google Play's own terms and privacy policy. The app tells Google a scrambled code made from ur player ID, so each purchase lands in the right save. Our server asks Google whether the purchase is real, and Google tells us the order number, the item, the country of the purchase and whether it was paid or refunded.

2.7 Analytics

To learn which parts of the game are fun and which are confusing, we use Google Analytics 4 (by Google) and Microsoft Clarity (by Microsoft). They record things like the screens u visit, taps and scrolls, how long u stay, ur device and browser type, and ur approximate location (country or city). Clarity can also make session replays and heatmaps; we set it up to hide what u type. They use cookies or similar storage to tell visits apart.

Our pages also carry Cloudflare Web Analytics (by Cloudflare), which counts page views and how fast pages load. It uses no cookies, does not follow u across other sites and does not build a profile of u.

To see which of our ads bring new players, our pages and the game also use the Meta Pixel (by Meta Platforms). It tells Meta when u open a page, start a save or buy something, with ur browser and device details and a cookie (_fbp, and _fbc when u came from an ad). Meta can link this to ur Facebook or Instagram account, and uses it to measure and improve our ads. It never runs in the EU, the UK or Switzerland. Elsewhere it runs unless u turn off "Stats and ad tracking" in the game's settings, or ur browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal. The game itself shows no ads.

Our own server also counts visits: the page, the site or link that sent u (a search engine, a social site, or a campaign tag in the link), ur country, and ur device, browser and language. To count each person once, it gives ur browser a random visitor number in a cookie, cb_vid, which lasts a year. The number says nothing about who u are, and only our own visit counts read it. In the EU, the UK and Switzerland we set it only after u say yes to stats in the game, and saying no stores cb_vid=0 so it is never set. Without it, the server counts u once a day with a one-way code made from ur internet address, ur browser and a random key that changes every day. The key is deleted the next day, so the code can never be traced back to u. If u start a save in that visit, the save keeps where the visit came from. We use this only to see which pages and links bring players.

In the EU, the UK, Switzerland and other places where the law requires it, analytics only run after u say yes, and u can change ur mind at any time in the privacy settings (legal basis: ur consent; elsewhere, our legitimate interest in improving the game). Google Analytics 4 does not store IP addresses. Google and Microsoft may process this data in other countries, including the United States.

2.8 Sharing and friend links

When u share the game, the link carries ur public friend code. If someone starts a new save through ur link, their save remembers ur friend code, player name and nation, and u see their player name, nation and stage in the share screen, so we can give u both the gems. The share buttons only open the app u pick (such as Facebook, X, Telegram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Reddit or Discord) with the text and link filled in; we don't learn what u post there, and that app's own privacy policy applies (legal basis: our contract with u).

2.9 Daily pings (optional)

The game can send u one ping a day when a gift or a free summon waits, and only if u turn pings on and ur browser agrees. Ur browser then gives us a ping address at its push service (run by Google, Apple, Mozilla or Microsoft, depending on ur browser) and the keys to encrypt the ping. We store them with ur save, plus ur time zone, the hour pings may come and ur language. No ping comes on a day u already played. Turn pings off in Settings or in ur browser at any time; we delete the address when u do, or when the push service says it no longer works (legal basis: ur consent). A small service worker shows the pings; it caches nothing.

In our Android app, the pings come through Firebase Cloud Messaging (by Google) instead: the app gives us its Firebase address for this phone, and Android asks u first whether the game may send notifications. The app can also remind u when the Swiss Vault is full; that reminder is set on ur phone and never reaches our server. Turn either off in Settings, or in ur phone's settings for the game.

2.10 Our Android app

The Android app is the same game in a window of its own, so this whole policy applies to it. A few things are different: payments go through Google Play (see 2.6), pings through Firebase (see 2.9), and Google sign-in uses the Google account sheet of ur phone. Inside the app, Microsoft Clarity and the Meta Pixel never run, the app shows no ads and it does not read ur phone's advertising ID. Android may ask Google Play to check for updates of the app and to show its rating card now and then; Google handles that under its own privacy policy.

3. Cookies and local storage

The pages around our games, like this one, run Cloudflare Web Analytics (see 2.7), which uses no cookies, and outside the EU, the UK and Switzerland the Meta Pixel (see 2.7). They can set two cookies of our own: cb_lang, only when u pick a language, which remembers it for a year; and cb_vid, our visitor number (see 2.7), outside the EU, the UK and Switzerland, or there after u say yes. The game uses ur browser's local storage for things it needs to work:

• cbd-token: the key to ur save;
• cbd-settings: ur language, music, sound and vibration settings;
• cbd-battle: a battle in progress, so it can go on after a reload;
• cbd-pending: a finished battle still on its way to our server;
• cbd-order: a purchase waiting for Xsolla's confirmation;
• cbd-ref: the friend code of the link that brought u, until ur save is made;
• cbd-best-rank: ur best world rank so far, so the game knows when to cheer;
• cbd-map-legs: how many legs of the tour the map has already stamped;
• cbd-ping: whether u turned daily pings off, and when the game last asked;
• cbd-app: in our Android app only, how many daily gifts u claimed there, so the app knows when to show Google Play's rating card;
• cbd-summit-auto: whether the Summit turns its cards by itself;
• cbd-skill-lab and cbd-story-lab: the last choices in the Skill Lab and the story reader (test pages for the game's makers);
• cbd-sess and cbd-evq: a session number and game events waiting to reach our server (see 2.7);
• cbd-music (IndexedDB): the game's music, made once on ur device and kept so it loads fast next time.

These are strictly necessary, so they don't need consent. Analytics cookies (such as _ga, _ga_*, _clck and _clsk) and the Meta Pixel's (_fbp, _fbc) are only set when they may run (see 2.7). Clearing ur browser's site data deletes all of this, including the key to ur save.

4. Who we share data with

• Service providers who run parts of the game for us, under contracts that protect ur data: Cloudflare (hosting, database and security), Google (analytics, sign-in if u use it and, in our Android app, Google Play payments and Firebase pings) and Microsoft (Clarity analytics, never in the Android app). If u turn on daily pings, ur browser's push service delivers them.
• Xsolla, for payments (see 2.6). As merchant of record, it is responsible for the payment data it handles.
• Meta, to measure our ads (see 2.7), outside the EU, the UK and Switzerland. Meta handles that data under its own privacy policy.
• Other players see ur player name, nation, stars, likes, looks, Hall of Fame entries, chat messages and reactions. Ur friends also see the private messages and gifts u send them.
• Authorities, when the law requires it, or to protect players and the game from fraud and abuse.
• A buyer, if the game or our company is sold. This policy would keep protecting ur data.

We do not sell or rent ur personal data. Outside the EU, the UK and Switzerland, the Meta Pixel helps us measure and improve our ads on Meta (see 2.7), and u can turn it off.

5. Data outside ur country

Our providers may process data outside ur country, including in the United States. When data leaves the EU, the UK or Switzerland, we rely on safeguards the law recognises, such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (with its UK and Swiss extensions) or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. How long we keep it

• Ur save (and the scrambled Google account ID, if u linked one): as long as u play. An unlink removes the Google link at once. Delete account in Settings deletes ur save at once. When u write to us to delete it instead, we do so within 30 days.
• Chat messages: 30 days; a reported one, as long as we need to handle the report.
• Private messages: up to one year. Friend gifts: 30 days. Friends and blocks: until u remove them or ur save is deleted.
• Ping address: until u turn pings off or the push service says it no longer works.
• Battle checks: up to 6 months. Game events (see 2.7): 14 days, then only daily totals. Anti-cheat records: as long as we need them to keep the ranks fair.
• Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting laws require.
• IP addresses for rate limits: about a minute. Server logs: a short time (days, not months).
• Analytics: up to 14 months in Google Analytics, and in Clarity and the Meta Pixel for the time Microsoft's and Meta's rules allow.
• Visit counts: about 6 months; the daily key, one day.

7. Ur rights

Depending on where u live (for example in the EU, the UK or Switzerland, or in some US states), u have the right to:

• get a copy of ur data, also in a portable format;
• correct it (u can also rename urself in the game);
• have it deleted;
• restrict or object to how we use it, including anything we do based on legitimate interests;
• withdraw ur consent at any time (for analytics, in the privacy settings), without affecting what happened before;
• complain to a data protection authority, such as ur local authority in the EU or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK.

To delete ur save urself, open the game, then Settings → Ur save → Delete account. It works the same on the website and in our Android app, and our delete page has every step and what we keep.

To use these rights, write to ben@insoola.org with ur player name. We may ask for details that show the save is really yours (for example, what u see in ur game, or a purchase receipt). We answer within one month.

We don't sell personal information. Our use of the Meta Pixel (see 2.7) may count as "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising, as US state privacy laws use the term. U can opt out at any time: turn off "Stats and ad tracking" in the game's settings, or use a browser that sends a Global Privacy Control signal, which we honour. We will never treat u worse for using ur rights.

8. Children

Countryball Defenders is not made for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If u are under the age of digital consent in ur country (between 13 and 16 in the EU, 13 in the UK), a parent or guardian must agree before u use anything that needs consent, like analytics, and before any purchase. If u think a child under 13 has given us personal data, write to ben@insoola.org and we will delete it.

9. Security

We use HTTPS everywhere, store only a hashed copy of ur key, keep payment details off our servers entirely, and limit who can access player data. No system is perfect, so please keep ur save code secret too.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version on this page with a new effective date. If the change is important, we will also tell u in the game before it applies.

11. Contact

Insoola Information Technology Solutions ("sxon"), the maker of Countryballs
Pasay City, Philippines
Company no. 7429750
Email: ben@insoola.org

Also see our Terms of Service.