The short version
Everything you create in Puffy stays on your device. We never receive it, never store it, and could not read it if we wanted to.
What we do receive is diagnostic information: anonymous statistics about which parts of the app get used, and reports describing what went wrong when the app crashes. Usage analytics only happen if you turn them on. Crash reports help us fix faults.
That is the whole of it. There is no account, no profile, and nothing we could sell.
Who we are
Appmellow Ltd (“Appmellow”, “we”, “us”) is the data controller for the information described in this policy. We are registered in England and Wales, company number [company number to be confirmed], with a registered office at [registered office address to be confirmed]. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under number [ICO registration number to be confirmed].
If you have a question about this policy, email us at contact@appmellow.com.
What stays on your device
Puffy is [a short description of what Puffy does, to be confirmed]
The content you create in the app — everything you enter, along with your settings and preferences — is written to storage on your own device. It is not transmitted to us and not stored on our servers. We do not operate a server that holds your content.
Two consequences worth understanding:
- We cannot recover your content. If you delete the app, lose the device, or reset it without a backup, that content is gone. We have no copy to restore from.
- We cannot access your content, and so we cannot produce it in response to a request — from you, or from anyone else.
If your device backs itself up to iCloud or Google’s backup service, your Puffy content may be included in that backup. That backup is between you and Apple or Google, governed by their privacy policies, and we have no access to it or control over it.
What we do collect
Usage analytics — only with your permission
If you turn analytics on, we collect anonymous statistics about how the app is used: which screens are opened, which features are used, how often the app is launched, and the general shape of a session. This is aggregated and tells us which parts of Puffy are worth improving.
Analytics are off until you turn them on. You can change your mind at any time in the app’s settings, and turning them off stops the collection from that point onward.
We do not collect advertising identifiers, we do not build a profile of you, and we do not use this data to make decisions about individual users.
Crash and error reports
When Puffy crashes or hits an error, a report is generated describing what the app was doing at the time: the type of device, the operating system version, the app version, and a technical trace of the code path that failed.
These reports are not anonymous in the strictest sense — they include device and installation identifiers, and the service that receives them will see the IP address the report arrived from. They contain no content you have created.
We rely on crash reports rather than asking permission for them because an app that silently breaks and never gets fixed is worse for everyone. You can object to this — see Your rights below.
Who receives this data
We use the following services to process diagnostic data. Each is bound by a contract that permits them to use the data only to provide the service to us.
| Service | Purpose | Location | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics for Firebase Google Ireland Limited | Anonymous usage analytics — which screens are opened, which features are used. | United States | Consent |
| Firebase Crashlytics Google Ireland Limited | Crash reports — the state of the app at the moment it stopped working. | United States | Legitimate interests |
| Sentry Functional Software, Inc. | Error and crash reporting, including the technical detail needed to fix a fault. | [EU or US — to be confirmed] | Legitimate interests |
We do not sell your data, share it with advertisers, or pass it to anyone else except where the law requires it of us.
Our legal bases
Under UK GDPR we need a lawful basis for each kind of processing:
- Usage analytics — consent. You give it by turning analytics on, and you can withdraw it at any time in settings. Withdrawing does not affect processing that already happened.
- Crash and error reports — legitimate interests. Our interest is in finding and fixing faults that make the app unreliable. We consider this proportionate because the reports contain no content you have created and are used for nothing but diagnosis. You can object at any time.
Sending data outside the UK
Some of these services process data in the United States. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses, which contractually obliges the recipient to protect the data to a UK standard.
How long we keep it
Analytics data is retained in aggregated form for up to 14 months. Crash reports are retained for up to 90 days, which is long enough to spot a pattern across releases. After those periods the data is deleted or fully anonymised by the services listed above.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask us to:
- Give you a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Correct anything inaccurate
- Delete it
- Restrict how we use it, or object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Port it to another provider in a machine-readable format
- Withdraw consent to analytics, at any time
Email contact@appmellow.com and we will respond within one month.
One honest limitation: because diagnostic data reaches us without an account attached, we usually have no way to connect it to you as an individual. If you ask for a copy of your data and we cannot identify which records are yours, we will tell you so rather than guess. Turning analytics off in settings is the reliable way to stop future collection.
If you think we have handled your data badly, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/. We would rather you came to us first so we can put it right.
Children
Puffy is not designed for or directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13.
We recognise that younger people may use the app regardless, so we have set it up conservatively: analytics are off by default, we collect no advertising identifiers, and we do not profile users or target anything at them based on behaviour.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, email us and we will delete it.
Subscriptions
If Puffy offers a paid subscription, it is bought and managed through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Those stores handle the payment — we never see your card details, billing address, or any other payment information. Apple and Google act as their own data controllers for that transaction, under their own privacy policies.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects what we collect or why, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.
Contact
Email contact@appmellow.com, or write to Appmellow Ltd at [registered office address to be confirmed].