🏮 Horong — Privacy Policy

Effective 19 August 2026 · Version 1.6 (first effective 2 July 2026)

1. Personal information we collect

Horong does not directly collect personally identifying information such as your name, email address, phone number, or precise location. The app itself has no sign-up. Signing in to the leaderboard (Google Play Games) is optional and happens only when you open the leaderboard yourself; even then, Horong does not receive or store the name or email address on your Google account (see section 3). For non-identifying information processed by third-party services (advertising and analytics), see section 3.

2. Data stored on your device

The following data is stored only inside your own device so that the game can work.

• Puzzle progress (Journey levels, stars, daily records, streaks)
• Which decorations you own and which are equipped
• App settings (sound, reduce motion, gentle touch, showing time on the share card)
• Anonymous usage statistics (dates the app was opened, completion counts and similar numeric data — no personally identifying information)

This data is deleted together with the app when you uninstall it.

3. Third parties and external services

Horong uses Google Firebase Analytics to improve app stability and features. The information sent consists solely of anonymized usage events (for example: app opened, tutorial completed, number of daily puzzles completed) and never includes personally identifying information such as a name, email address, or contact details. For how Firebase processes data, see the Firebase privacy documentation.

Horong uses Google Firebase Crashlytics to find the cause when the app shuts down unexpectedly. The information sent is limited to the technical detail needed to reproduce the problem — where the error occurred (a stack trace), the device model, the operating system version, and the app version. It never includes personally identifying information such as a name, email address, or contact details, and we use it only to fix the app, never for advertising.

Horong uses Google AdMob to provide rewarded ads. Ads are never shown to you unprompted — they appear only when you yourself choose "watch an ad for a reward". To serve ads and prevent fraud, AdMob may process an advertising ID, device information, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. Purchasing "Support · Remove ads" inside the app removes the ad feature. For details, see the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Advertising Technologies page.

Horong uses Google Play Games Services for the leaderboard in the "Flame Rush" challenge mode. This is entirely optional: the sign-in prompt appears only when you tap "See today's rankings" yourself — never when the app starts — and nothing is sent if you do not sign in.

• What is sent. Your score (the number of lanterns lit) from a single "Today's Flame" run, together with the game profile Google Play Games assigns you (gamer ID, display name, avatar). That profile is managed by Google, and you can change or hide it at any time in the Play Games app.
• Who can see it. Your submitted score and the display name and avatar on your game profile are shown to other players viewing the same leaderboard. That is the purpose of a leaderboard.
• What is not sent. The name and email address on your Google account are not passed to Horong and are not stored by us. Records from other modes — Journey, the daily lantern — are never submitted; only "Today's Flame" goes to the leaderboard.
• How to withdraw. In the Google Play Games app under Settings you can disconnect Horong or delete its game data. After that, nothing is sent again unless you choose to sign in.

For details, see the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Play Games help pages.

Horong uses a server we operate ourselves (a Firestore database on Google Firebase, hosted in the Seoul, South Korea region) for the Lantern Rankings in the challenge modes — the weekly league, the recent-clears feed and the per-country totals. This is entirely optional: it begins only when you open the rankings and tap "create a profile" yourself. Before that, nothing is stored on the server.

• What is stored. An anonymous identifier that stands in for an account (a random string, not linked to your Google account or device), the profile you chose (index numbers into Horong's preset adjective and noun lists, a distinguishing number, and an avatar colour and shape), your lantern points, the number of boards you have finished, your league tier, and the time you last finished a board.
• Country is optional. The default is "don't show". A country code (for example KR) is stored only if you pick one yourself. We do not measure your location, and precise location is never collected.
• Names are not free text. There is no field to type into, and the server stores list indices rather than strings — which is why the same profile appears in each viewer's own language.
• Who can see it. Your profile, avatar, points, finished-board count and country (if you chose one) are shown to other players viewing the same rankings. That is the purpose of a ranking.
• What is not sent. Your name, email address, phone number or Google account details; precise location; and records from other modes such as Journey or the daily lantern.
• How to delete it. Use Settings › Delete ranking account in the app to remove your profile, points, recent clears and the anonymous account itself (see the deletion request page for the exact steps and what is removed). ⚠️ Uninstalling the app does not delete this server-side data — please use that menu before uninstalling. If anything remains, email us at the address in section 7 and we will remove it.
• Retention. Ranking data is kept until you delete it. It is used only to display the rankings; it is never used for advertising, and it is never sold or passed to a third party.

In-app purchases (support and decorative items) are handled by the Google Play billing system. Horong has no access to your payment details, such as card numbers.

We do not send data to any other third-party service. The "share" feature simply hands text to an app you choose yourself (a messenger, for example); Horong does not collect what you share.

4. For users in the EEA and the United Kingdom

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, the controller for the limited processing described above is the developer of Horong, reachable at the address in section 7.

• Legal basis. Analytics and advertising are carried out on the basis of your consent, requested through Google's consent form the first time the app runs. Leaderboard processing rests on the separate, explicit consent you give by signing in to Google Play Games when you open the leaderboard.
• Withdrawing consent. You can change your choice at any time in the app under Settings › Ad privacy settings. If you decline, the advertising SDK is not initialised at all.
• Your rights. You have the right to access, rectify, erase, and port your data, to restrict or object to processing, and to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority. Your game progress lives only on your device, so uninstalling removes it. The one exception is the Lantern Rankings: if you joined, delete that data from Settings › Delete ranking account before uninstalling, or email us. For anything processed by Google, please use the links in section 3.
• Retention. The only data we hold on a server of our own is the Lantern Rankings data described in section 3, kept until you delete it. Retention of anonymous analytics and advertising data is governed by Google's own policies.

5. Future changes

If a new external service is introduced, or the way data is processed changes, we will update this policy first and give notice inside the app. Even then, our principle remains that no personally identifying information is collected.

6. Children's privacy

Horong is suitable for all ages. The app itself collects no personally identifying information, and taking part in the rankings is optional. Names in the Lantern Rankings are combinations chosen from preset lists rather than free text, so there is no field in which a child could reveal a real name or contact detail. Google Play Games accounts are governed by Google's own age policies; guardians can restrict a child's use of game services through Family Link and similar tools.

7. Contact

For questions about this privacy policy, please contact us by email.

• Email: support@viralpulse.net