Cuzzles Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Commitment

Cuzzles turns your photos into jigsaw puzzles on your device. The photos you pick and the puzzles cut from them are stored locally, and solo play works offline. There is no account to create and no product analytics or telemetry. Photos leave your device only when you explicitly share them through Send Cuzzle or a Together photo room, using the end-to-end encryption described below. Together, introduced in version 1.5, lets two to four people solve a puzzle made from included artwork or a personal photo online. Room gameplay state is shared with the service; photo copies are encrypted before upload.

The following optional features and third-party services can process data:

• Advertising (free tier only): the free version of Cuzzles shows ads through Google AdMob, and Google's advertising SDK collects the data described below. Buying Cuzzles Premium (a one-time purchase) removes ads entirely.
• Game Center (iOS, optional): if you opt in, Apple's Game Center associates your achievements with your pseudonymous Game Center player ID.
• Shared Cuzzles (optional): if you choose Send Cuzzle, an encrypted copy is stored temporarily by Cloudflare. LightPath and Cloudflare do not receive the decryption key and cannot read the picture or message.
• Together (optional): when you create or join a room, Cloudflare temporarily stores the room code, puzzle settings, random room-scoped player credentials, and shared board state. For a photo room, it also stores an encrypted picture whose key stays in the invitation.

AdMob and Game Center never receive your photos or puzzles. Cloudflare processes ordinary connection metadata such as your IP address to deliver sharing and Together requests, protect the service, prevent abuse, and enforce rate limits. LightPath adds no account, cookie, advertising identifier, payload logging, or behavioral analytics to these services.

What we store on your device

Your personal puzzles and solo-play data live locally on your device:

• Puzzles: the puzzles cut from photos you pick, including their piece layouts
• Progress: autosaved puzzle state, so you can pick up exactly where you left off
• History: completions, favorites, and your Daily Puzzle streak
• Preferences: settings such as your daily-puzzle reminder

Uninstalling Cuzzles permanently deletes all of this on-device data. Deleting a puzzle inside the app never affects the original photo in your library.

What Cuzzles itself does NOT collect

Except for optional encrypted sharing and Together rooms described below, Cuzzles' own code does not collect, store off-device, or transmit:

• Your photos or the puzzles made from them (puzzle creation and storage are entirely on-device)
• Usage analytics, behavioral data, or telemetry
• Any account, email address, or login (there is none)
• Location data
• Contact information

Solo gameplay works offline. Browse can download public artwork, the free tier can serve ads, Send Cuzzle can upload an encrypted copy when you request it, and Together needs an internet connection.

Sending a private Cuzzle (optional)

When you choose Send Cuzzle, Cuzzles packages a working-size copy of the picture together with the sender name, optional note, title, and puzzle cut. Your device encrypts that package with AES-256-GCM before upload. The random decryption key exists only in the link you share; it is never sent to LightPath or Cloudflare.

• Storage: only ciphertext is stored in a private Cloudflare R2 bucket.
• Retention: the encrypted copy expires and is deleted after 30 days.
• Access: anyone who has the complete link can open and forward the Cuzzle, so treat the link as private.
• No tracking: the sharing service has no account, cookie, advertising identifier, product analytics, or server-side photo preview.

A recipient's app downloads the ciphertext and decrypts it on their device. Ordinary puzzle creation, storage, and solo play do not use this service. Cloudflare's processing is governed by its Privacy Policy.

Playing Together (optional)

Together connects two to four Cuzzles players on iPhone, iPad, and Android. A host can choose included artwork or a personal photo and create a puzzle with 12, 24, 48, or 96 pieces. The 96-piece size requires the host to have Premium. Participants join with an invitation link or code. The app sends room codes, puzzle settings, random room-scoped player credentials, readiness, and board state to our Cloudflare service. Emoji and preset quick phrases let players react without open-ended chat. Players can start the next puzzle in the same room.

Together uses a secure network connection, but its gameplay state is not end-to-end encrypted: the service must read piece movements to keep every device in sync. No account, name, email address, contacts, or location is required. Photo rooms use the separate encryption described below. The room is temporary: an unstarted lobby expires after 30 minutes; a started room expires after 24 hours without a completed move and can last up to seven days while in progress; a finished room expires after 24 hours. Leaving with all players ends a room sooner. Cloudflare processes connection metadata, including your IP address, and applies rate limits. Together has no account, cookie, or product analytics, and it does not display ads during active co-op play.

Photos in Together rooms

For a photo room, the app removes camera metadata and encrypts a working-size copy on the host device before upload. The photo is end-to-end encrypted: the service stores only ciphertext and does not receive the key. The key travels in the complete invitation link or code. Anyone with that invitation can join an available seat and view the picture, so keep invitations private. A participant's app decrypts the picture in memory and drops it when the player leaves or forgets the room; Together does not save that received picture to the photo library.

The encrypted picture is deleted with the room, or replaced when the host starts the next puzzle. Deletion does not revoke copies already obtained by participants. Photo-room invitations use a short random key protected by password stretching; they are intended for private play, not for sharing highly sensitive images. Share only pictures you have permission to share.

Advertising on the free tier (Google AdMob)

The free version of Cuzzles shows banner and interstitial ads through Google AdMob. To serve and measure those ads, the Google Mobile Ads SDK (code from Google that runs inside the app) collects:

• Device information and an advertising identifier: the IDFA on iOS (only if you allow tracking; see below) or the Android Advertising ID on Android
• Ad-interaction data, such as which ads were shown and whether you tapped them

Google uses this data for advertising purposes, including (only where you have consented) tracking for personalized ads. This processing is performed by Google and governed by Google's Privacy Policy. Google is the only advertising provider in the app, and it never receives your photos or puzzles.

App Tracking Transparency (iOS)

On iPhone and iPad, before the advertising identifier (IDFA) can be used for personalized ads, iOS shows Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt with this explanation:

"Cuzzles uses this to show more relevant ads. The app works fully either way, and ads stay non-personalized if you decline."

That is exactly how it works: if you decline, the SDK gets no access to the IDFA and ads stay non-personalized. Nothing in the app is gated on your answer.

Your ad-consent choices (GDPR and US states)

Where required (in the EEA and UK under GDPR, and in US states with applicable privacy laws), Cuzzles shows a consent form powered by Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) before ads are served. Your choices there control whether Google may use your data for personalized advertising; declining means ads are non-personalized.

Removing ads entirely

Cuzzles Premium is a one-time in-app purchase that removes ads entirely. The current local price and any store-supported sharing options are shown by Google Play or the App Store before you confirm. With Premium, no ads are served.

Game Center (iOS, optional)

On iOS, Cuzzles offers an optional, opt-in integration with Apple's Game Center. If you enable it, your achievements are reported to Apple and associated with your pseudonymous Game Center player ID. This is handled by Apple and governed by Apple's privacy policy; Cuzzles sends no photos, puzzles, or other personal data to Game Center. If you never opt in, nothing is sent to Game Center at all.

Permissions Cuzzles requests

On iPhone and iPad:

• Photo selection: you pick photos for puzzles through the system photo picker. Selected photos are processed on-device. A copy is uploaded only when you explicitly share it through Send Cuzzle or a Together photo room, and that copy is encrypted before upload.
• Photo Library (add, optional): to save your finished puzzles to your photo library. Usage description shown by iOS: "Save your finished puzzles to your photo library."
• Notifications (optional): the daily-puzzle reminder is a local notification you can decline or turn off at any time.
• Tracking (optional): the App Tracking Transparency prompt described above. Decline it and ads simply stay non-personalized.

On Android:

• Internet and network state: used for AdMob, public artwork downloads, encrypted Send Cuzzle uploads when you choose to share, and optional online Together rooms. Solo gameplay remains offline.
• Vibrate: haptic feedback when pieces snap together.
• Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS, optional): the daily-puzzle reminder.

The app does not request location, camera, microphone, or contacts on either platform.

Children's privacy

Cuzzles is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Cuzzles has no account or product analytics; optional encrypted sharing, Together rooms, and advertising on the free tier use the limited processing described above. If you believe a child has used the app in a way that concerns you, contact us and we will help.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected on this page with an updated revision date at the top. Because we don't collect contact information, we cannot notify you directly, so please check this page if you want to confirm the current version.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or about Cuzzles' privacy practices, please contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Support: Cuzzles support page
• Website: https://lightpathapps.com