Joinova
DE EN
Legal

Privacy policy

This policy covers the website joinova.app (Part A) and the Joinova app on Android, iOS and PC (Part B). Deutsche Fassung: Datenschutzerklärung.

1. Controller

KB-Bit Systems UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
Karolingerstr. 20, 67354 Römerberg, Germany
Email: impressum-web [at] kb-bit.de
Full provider details: see Imprint.

2. The essentials

  • Website: no cookies, no tracking, no analytics or advertising services, no external services.
  • App: leaderboard/usage statistics and crash reports only with your voluntary consent. The app remains fully usable without consent.
  • No user account, no real name, no email address. The app works with a randomly generated player ID.
  • You can delete your data yourself in the app at any time, see section 18.

Part A: Website joinova.app

3. Server log files

When you visit the website, the web server automatically stores information transmitted by your browser:

  • IP address
  • date and time of the request
  • page or file requested
  • browser type and version, operating system
  • referrer URL

This data is technically required to deliver the website and keep it secure. It is not combined with other data sources. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

4. Hosting

The website and the app server are hosted by STRATO GmbH, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin, Germany. Data is processed on STRATO servers within the European Union or the European Economic Area. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with STRATO, so STRATO processes the data only on our instructions. Legal basis for using a hosting provider is our legitimate interest in reliable and secure operation (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR).

5. Leaderboard on the website

On the home page and the “Leaderboard” page, your browser loads the public weekly challenge ranking directly from our app server (see section 4). For technical reasons your IP address is transmitted to that server; no other data about you is sent or stored. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (displaying the ranking). The names shown are display names that players chose themselves in the app (see section 10).

6. Local storage in your browser

If you switch between light and dark theme using the button in the top right, your browser remembers this choice in local storage (entry “joinova-theme”). The value never leaves your device and is not sent to us. Storing it is strictly necessary for the function you explicitly requested (§ 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG). You can delete the entry at any time in your browser settings.

7. Contact by email

If you email us, we process your address and the content of your message to answer your request (Art. 6 (1) (b) or (f) GDPR). We delete the data once it is no longer needed for this purpose and no statutory retention obligations apply.

Part B: Joinova app

8. Consents in the app

On first launch the app asks for two separate, voluntary consents: (1) leaderboard & usage statistics and (2) crash reports. Without consent, none of the data listed there is transmitted, and the app remains fully usable. You can withdraw both consents at any time in the app under Settings → Privacy. Withdrawal applies to the future.

9. Player ID

The app generates a random player ID on your device. It is not derived from hardware identifiers or the advertising ID and changes when you reinstall the app. Our server uses it to assign leaderboard entries, statistics, crash reports, image ratings and cloud backups to your app and to delete them specifically.

10. Leaderboard and usage statistics (consent 1)

With your consent, the app transmits: the player ID, device type, operating system, screen size, app version and language, as well as usage events, such as which puzzle was started or finished with which piece count and play style, and how long it took.

If you take part in the weekly challenge, your self-chosen display name, your time and your score are added. The display name is publicly visible: in the app's leaderboard and on the website joinova.app (home page and “Leaderboard” page). The app advises you at the input field not to use your real name.

Purpose: weekly challenge with leaderboard and improving the app. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).

11. Error and crash reports (consent 2)

With your consent, the app sends a diagnostic report when errors or crashes occur: error message or code, affected code location, app version, operating system, device model, language, screen resolution and the player ID. Before sending, the app automatically removes email addresses, URL parameters (e.g. access tokens) and user names in file paths. Game content and photos are not transmitted.

Purpose: finding and fixing bugs. Legal basis: your consent (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This consent is independent of consent 1.

12. Image ratings with comments

After finishing a puzzle you can voluntarily rate the image with 1 to 5 stars and optionally add a short comment (up to 100 characters, free text). The stars, the comment, the address of the rated catalogue image and the player ID are transmitted. Ratings are only possible for images from our catalogue, never for your own photos.

Ratings and comments are not public. We use them internally only to improve the image selection. Please do not include personal details in your comment. Transmission does not depend on the consents above; it only happens when you submit a rating yourself. If your device is offline, the app remembers the rating and sends it later. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a good image selection (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR).

13. Cloud backup

Only if you switch on cloud backup (Premium) yourself in the settings does the app store your saved games on our server: chosen image, grid and position of the pieces. This lets you continue on another device; you pair devices with a short-lived code, no account needed. Legal basis: providing the function you requested (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR).

14. Loading content

The app loads images, music, the weekly challenge and the leaderboard from our server. For technical reasons your device's IP address is transmitted. Your own photos that you choose for a puzzle are processed only on your device and are never uploaded. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (b) or (f) GDPR.

15. In-app purchase

The Premium purchase is handled by the respective store (Google Play or Apple App Store). We do not receive payment data; the app only learns whether Premium was purchased. The privacy policies of Google or Apple apply to the payment. Legal basis: performance of a contract (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR).

16. Advertising (Google AdMob)

Joinova shows ads via Google AdMob (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). This processing runs entirely through Google, independently of our server and the consents above. Consent for it is requested by the Google User Messaging Platform on first launch; you can change it at any time under Settings → “Ad privacy” → “Change consent”. There you decide whether Google may show you personalised or only non-personalised ads. Depending on your consent, Google processes, among other things, your device's advertising ID and technical data for ad delivery. With Premium, no ads are shown. Details: Google Privacy Policy and Google EU User Consent Policy. Legal basis: your consent given to Google (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).

17. Recipients and retention

All data listed in sections 9 to 14 is processed exclusively by our own app server at STRATO (see section 4). It is not passed on to ad networks or other third parties; advertising (section 16) and purchases (section 15) run directly through Google or Apple. The server deletes data automatically:

  • usage statistics: after 12 months
  • crash reports: after 6 months
  • leaderboard entries with display name: 12 months after submission
  • cloud backups: after 12 months without an update
  • image ratings and comments: no fixed period, until you delete your data (section 18)

All transfers between app and server are encrypted (HTTPS/TLS).

18. Deleting your data from the Joinova app

You can do this yourself in the app at any time, with one tap and without email or an account:

  1. Open Joinova and go to Settings.
  2. Choose the Privacy section.
  3. Tap “Delete my data” and confirm with “Delete”.

What is deleted: everything our server has stored for your app's randomly generated player ID:

  • Leaderboard and weekly challenge entries with display name, time and score, including past season results. Your name also disappears from the leaderboard here on joinova.app.
  • Usage statistics and crash reports
  • Cloud backups of your saved games and pairing codes for other devices
  • Image ratings and comments

Afterwards the app no longer sends any data to our server unless you consent again. Saved games stored only on your device are kept; they are removed when you uninstall the app.

How long it takes: Deletion on the server happens immediately once the app is online. If you are offline, the app remembers the request and sends it automatically the next time it connects.

By email: If you can no longer use the app, for example because you already uninstalled it, write to impressum-web [at] kb-bit.de with the subject “Joinova – delete my data”. Include your display name and roughly when you played. We will delete all entries we can match to you this way and confirm within one month at the latest. Since Joinova has no user accounts, matching by email is only possible via the display name. Data without a name, such as statistics and crash reports, is deleted automatically by the server after 12 months at the latest (see section 17).

What we cannot delete: data that is not stored on our server but directly with Google or Apple. You manage your purchase history in your Google or Apple account (see section 15). You can limit advertising data from Google AdMob (see section 16) by changing your consent in the app under Settings → “Ad privacy” and by resetting or deleting your advertising ID in your device settings. You can exercise further rights towards Google at myaccount.google.com.

19. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and to object to processing based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (Art. 21). You can withdraw any consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7 (3)). You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of Rhineland-Palatinate. An email to the address above is all it takes.

20. Children and teenagers

Joinova is not specifically aimed at children. If you are under 16, you need the consent of a parent or guardian for the consents in section 8 (Art. 8 GDPR). The app remains fully usable without them. Purchases run through the Google or Apple store accounts, which offer parental approval for children's accounts.

21. Encryption and changes

The website and the app server are only reachable via encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). We update this policy whenever data processing changes.

Last updated: 11 October 2026