Privacy policy

Last updated: 2026-07-04

Our privacy promises

Recycle Friends is built for children, so privacy is a design constraint, not an afterthought:

We collect no usage analytics. The only thing we collect is crash reports — and only when the app actually crashes — so we can fix bugs.
We collect nothing about your child’s real-world identity — no name, contact details, precise location, photos, microphone, or advertising ID.
No ads, no behavioural profiling, no selling, no cross-app tracking.
No push notifications, and no accounts, chat, or social features.
A grown-up can turn crash reports on or off at any time in the settings — and in the EU, EEA, and UK they start off.

Who we are

Recycle Friends is published by Mousy Click (Pty) Ltd (the “we”/“us” in this policy). For data-protection law (including the EU and UK GDPR), the controller of the personal data described here is Mousy Click (Pty) Ltd.

You can contact us about anything in this policy — including to exercise your rights — using the details below.

Our full company and contact details load with JavaScript enabled. Without it, reach us by email — username privacy, at the domain recyclefriends.app — and we'll share whatever you need.

What this policy covers

This policy covers the Recycle Friends app and the website at recyclefriends.app. It does not cover third-party services that have their own privacy policies (such as your app store).

What we collect

The app has no account and no login. The data involved is:

Crash reports. When the app crashes, we collect a crash report — the error and stack trace, the device model and OS version, and the app version — via Google Firebase Crashlytics, so we can find and fix the bug. To group reports from the same device, Crashlytics uses a per-install identifier (a random token, reset if the app is uninstalled or its data is cleared) together with your device’s IP address. This identifier is not derived from any hardware, device, or advertising ID. It is pseudonymous — we cannot link it to a real child — and we use it only to fix crashes. A grown-up can switch this on or off in the settings at any time. In the EU, EEA, and UK it starts switched off — crash reporting only happens there if a grown-up chooses to turn it on.
Subscription status. Payments are handled by your app store (Google Play / Apple) — we never see your card or billing details. To unlock the premium upgrade and restore it across devices, the purchase record (the product, the date, and the store receipt) is processed by our purchase provider, RevenueCat, under a non-identifying, app-generated identifier not linked to your child and carrying no advertising ID.
On-device progress. Your child’s discoveries, stickers, and garden are saved only on the device. We cannot see them; they are never uploaded.
Support email. Support is for grown-ups. If you email us, we receive your message and email address and keep them only as long as needed to respond.

What we do NOT collect

No usage analytics. We do not track which screens or mini-games are used, how long is spent in the app, or any in-app behaviour. (Aggregate install and retention counts that the app stores give every developer are not collected by the app and carry no identifier we control.)
No name, contact details, precise (GPS) location, contacts, microphone, camera, or photo-library data.
No advertising identifiers, and no third-party advertising or ad-targeting SDKs.
No behavioural profile, and no cross-app or cross-site tracking.
No accounts, chat, friend lists, or other user-to-user features, and nothing your child makes is uploaded.
No data is ever sold, rented, or shared for third-party advertising.

A crash report may carry an IP address, which can indicate approximate (country-level) location for technical purposes only; we do not use it to identify or track your child, and we do not collect precise location.

Permissions the app uses

The app uses only network permissions — neither reads your child’s personal files nor collects personal information:

Network / internet access — to check subscription status with the app store and to send crash reports (only when a grown-up has enabled them). All game content ships inside the app, so the play experience itself runs fully offline.
Network state — to detect whether the device is online before contacting the app store or sending a crash report.

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data, and we do not share it for third-party advertising. The third parties involved in running the app are:

Google Firebase (Crashlytics) — processes crash reports for us so we can fix bugs, under the Google Privacy Policy / Firebase terms. Configured for children — no advertising features, no advertising ID.
Google Play / Apple App Store — billing, payment processing, and app distribution.
RevenueCat — manages the premium upgrade and validates purchases, under the RevenueCat Privacy Policy. It receives a purchase record tied to a non-identifying, app-generated identifier — not your child’s identity — and no advertising identifier.
Cloudflare — hosts this website, under the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

If legally compelled, we may have to disclose the limited data described above.

How we use it, and our legal basis

Crash reports — only to find and fix bugs and keep the app stable and secure. For EU/EEA and UK users this is our legitimate interest in a stable, safe product; under COPPA it is “support for internal operations.” Because it is limited to security and stability and carries no identity, it does not require separate consent — and you can switch it off at any time.
Subscription status — to unlock the premium upgrade for entitled users (basis: performance of a contract).
Support email — to answer your question (basis: legitimate interest / your consent in contacting us).

We do not use any data for advertising, behavioural profiling, or analytics.

The website

The website at recyclefriends.app is for grown-ups, not children. It uses no advertising cookies and no advertising trackers — only privacy-friendly, cookieless measurement of which pages are visited (Cloudflare Web Analytics), with no cross-site tracking and no per-visitor identifier. The web preview of the app contains no crash reporting, no analytics, and no advertising SDKs.

This app is designed for and directed to children (under 13, for COPPA). The app:

Collects no contact details or real-world identity from a child — only the limited crash-diagnostic data above, which supports internal operations (bug-fixing and stability) and which COPPA permits without verifiable parental consent.
Has advertising features and the advertising ID disabled, shows no advertising, and performs no behavioural profiling.
Has no user-to-user communication, chat, social features, or accounts, and no open web browsing inside the play experience.
Gates any purchase, external link, or grown-up settings behind a parental gate that runs on the device and collects no personal information.
Lets a grown-up switch off crash reporting in settings.

If a child contacts us directly (for example, by email), we use that information only to respond once if needed, then delete it as soon as reasonably possible; we encourage parents to contact us on a child’s behalf. If we ever add a feature that would collect personal information from a child, we would first add a verifiable-parental-consent step. If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child, email privacy@recyclefriends.app and we will investigate promptly.

App store compliance

Google Play Families: designed to meet the Families policy — any SDK is configured for children, with advertising and the advertising ID disabled.
Apple Kids Category: designed to comply with Apple’s Kids Category — no third-party advertising, external links and purchases behind a parental gate, and no tracking.

International data transfers

Crash reports (via Google Firebase) and subscription records (via RevenueCat) may be processed on servers in the United States. Where required, such transfers rely on appropriate safeguards in the relevant provider’s terms and applicable law. On-device data and support email are not transferred beyond what is described here.

Your choices and rights

Turn off crash reports — a grown-up can disable them in the in-app settings; the app then sends no crash data.
Remove all app data — uninstall the app, or clear its storage in your device settings. This erases your child’s on-device progress and resets the per-install crash identifier.
Manage the subscription — view, change, or cancel it in Google Play or Apple Subscriptions.
There is no account to delete — the app has no login or server profile.
Crash data — it’s pseudonymous and isn’t tied to your child, so there’s no profile to look up. It’s removed by turning off crash reports (stops collection), and it auto-deletes within about 90 days on its own. Uninstalling or clearing app data also resets the identifier.
Support correspondence — email privacy@recyclefriends.app to access or delete any email you’ve sent us.
EU/EEA & UK residents — for any data that identifies you (in practice, your support correspondence), you have the rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, and object to processing, and to complain to your data protection authority.
US residents (California / CPRA and other state laws) — you have the rights to know, access, delete, and correct personal information we hold that identifies you, and to opt out of its “sale” or “sharing”; we do not sell or share personal information.

Data retention

Crash reports — retained by Firebase Crashlytics for up to 90 days, then deleted automatically. They do not identify your child, and a grown-up can switch off collection at any time.
On-device data — kept on your device until you delete it (we never receive it).
Subscription records — held by the app store / RevenueCat, not by us.
Support email — kept only as long as needed to resolve your request, then deleted; removed sooner on request.

Data security

We collect very little, and nothing the app collects identifies your child. Crash reports are sent over encrypted connections, and we protect the limited data involved — including any support email — with reasonable, standard safeguards.

Links to other services

The app and website may link to other services (for example, your app store or a support page). Those services have their own privacy policies; this one does not cover them.

Changes to this policy

We will revise this page when our practices change and update the “Last updated” date at the top. Material changes will be highlighted, and where the law requires it we will seek consent before applying them.

Complaints and how to reach us

For any privacy question, request, or complaint, contact privacy@recyclefriends.app. EU/EEA and UK residents may also lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority.