Privacy Policy

This policy covers the Duck Frenzy web game and the Android app that opens it. Supported Android versions offer optional Google Play purchases and advertising as described below. Features and data handling differ by platform and version.

Your player and game data

When you start a ranked round, the game creates a random player identifier. A secure, HTTP-only browser cookie remembers it so the server can associate your rounds, unlocked levels and saved results with the same player. The game does not ask for an email address or password to play.

For ranked play, the server receives timed gameplay events, equipment choices and level information to validate scores, accuracy, bonuses and penalties. Saved results include scores, shot and hit counts, streaks, selected equipment and timestamps. Sound preferences, gear choices and practice bests are stored on your device. The game also caches artwork, sound and pages for offline practice.

Optional account recovery

You can create an email-and-password game login on the player account page. Google Firebase Authentication processes and stores your email address, protected password credentials and authentication identifiers, and sends verification or password-reset emails when requested. Our game server receives a signed identity token and checks your sign-in with Firebase; it does not receive or store your password. Firebase also processes connection and device information needed to provide and protect authentication. See Firebase privacy information.

Earlier versions hosted with Sign in with ChatGPT also used a verified user identifier and email address supplied by that hosting platform. The current game uses email login; players who linked their earlier account use that linked email to recover it. For saved identities, we keep a hash of the provider identifier linked to a random game-account ID. Your email is displayed privately on the account page. If you enter an official contest, we also store your verified contact email as described below. Neither your email nor a provider name becomes your public nickname.

Email login uses a secure, HTTP-only session cookie and Firebase sign-in storage on your device so you can stay signed in. ChatGPT sign-in cookies apply only to the original game website. A saved account always opens its own player. We do not merge another device's guest scores into an existing account or link accounts just because emails match. Linking an email login to a ChatGPT-saved player requires both sign-ins and verified ownership of the email. Signing out prevents the old guest cookie from accessing your saved player. Practice bests and device settings do not transfer between phones.

Coins and earned equipment

Saved players can earn non-transferable game coins from qualifying online rounds. The server stores a private ledger of coin awards, verified coin-pack purchases, refund adjustments, equipment redemptions and timestamps, linked to the game account. Coins have no cash value. Coin balances and earned equipment are not posted on leaderboards. Deleting your game account removes this ledger and your earned equipment.

The server also stores your last confirmed play activity for the four-hour return bonus, daily sharing credits, remaining duck calls, standard and spinning-wing decoys, and speed reload kits, and equipment activation/refill records. The game records activity during online play, pausing and finishing. Device sharing may earn a capped bonus; we do not receive your selected recipient or read the resulting social post. A pending refill request is saved on your device so an interrupted coin purchase can retry without charging twice. These game records are private and removed with your player account. Unsaved guest supplies depend on the browser's player cookie.

Invite rewards are not active in this release. When enabled, an optional random invite code will identify the inviting player without exposing their account ID or email. Accepting an invite will store that relationship and a one-way email hash to prevent repeat welcome rewards. That hash becomes eligible for batch cleanup after 90 days, including after account deletion. Referral coins require a qualifying new player; the separate daily sharing bonus does not.

Contest contact details

Before an official contest attempt, a saved player supplies a full name. The server takes the contact email from the verified game login. We store those details, consent and verification timestamps privately with the game account and contest ID so Pointers And Hooks can review eligibility and contact a potential winner. Names are self-reported; email verification confirms control of the inbox. Contact details are not public leaderboard data and are not used to subscribe you to marketing.

Contest contact details become unavailable for winner review and eligible for cleanup 90 days after that contest ends. Deleting the associated game account also deletes these contact details. Contact support to correct them after entries close.

What other players can see

Posting a score makes your chosen nickname, best result, accuracy and level public on the relevant Classic or Outfitted leaderboard. After your first post, new best results post automatically. Each leaderboard keeps one best result per player.

A public leaderboard location is optional. You can enter a city, county, state, region or country; any location you provide appears on your public leaderboard entry and share card. The game does not request GPS permission or automatically fill in this field. Leave it blank to keep location off your public score. Clear it and post again to remove it from future entries and cards. Advertising services may separately infer approximate location from a network address, as described below.

Rank cards contain your nickname, optional location, score, accuracy, mode, rank and the time that rank was checked. You choose whether to download or share a card. Downloaded images and copies shared by you or others do not change when your game profile changes.

Security and hosting

The game uses HTTPS for online requests. To limit spam and abuse, short-lived request counters use the player identifier and, when supplied by the hosting provider, a daily hash of the network address. The application does not store the raw network address in its leaderboard database.

Application error logs record a request identifier, route, method and status; they exclude nicknames and shot transcripts. Our hosting providers, Cloudflare for the game and OpenAI Sites for supporting release resources, process connection information needed to deliver and protect the service. This can include a network address and browser request information.

How long data stays

Firebase retains authentication information until the associated login is deleted. Google states that removal from its live and backup systems can take up to 180 days after deletion, and that authentication IP logs are kept for a few weeks. See the Firebase privacy information linked above for provider retention details.

Individual round records become eligible for cleanup after 30 days. Expired request counters and eligible round records are removed in batches during normal activity. Best posted scores and associated player information remain until removed. Device preferences and cached files remain until you clear them or the browser removes them. Hosting-provider records are subject to that provider's retention practices.

Choices, corrections and removal

You can play practice rounds without posting a public score. You can change your nickname or optional location by posting from your player. Without a saved account, clearing browser data removes access to your guest player but does not delete an existing public score. If you saved your player, sign in with the same account to recover it.

To delete an account, open the player account page, sign in, and choose Delete game account and player. Email users confirm their password. This removes the game-account sign-in links, nickname, location, rounds, coins, earned equipment and public best scores, and requests deletion of the Firebase email login. If the authentication service is unavailable after game data is removed, the page explains how to retry the remaining login deletion. A hashed deletion marker is retained for up to 30 days before becoming eligible for cleanup to prevent a partially deleted login from being reused. Use the linked email login to delete a player that has both sign-in methods.

Deletion does not delete your email inbox, ChatGPT account or images previously downloaded or shared. For Google Play purchase records, encrypted receipts and their random transaction/account identifiers are retained for refund, acknowledgement and security checks, then become eligible for batch removal after 90 days. They no longer have a link to your provider identity or public player. Deletion is not a purchase refund, and the deleted account can no longer restore upgrades.

To request correction or deletion of player information and associated scores, email pointersandhooks@gmail.com with “Duck Frenzy data request” in the subject. Include your nickname and whether the request concerns Classic, Outfitted or both. We may need additional information to identify your entry and verify that the request concerns your data. You can use this contact even if you no longer have the original browser. See Support & data requests for reporting unwanted leaderboard content.

Ads, purchases and other sites

On supported browsers, coin purchases open a secure Pointers And Hooks store checkout using WooCommerce and WooPayments. Available payment options can include cards and Apple Pay. The store and payment processor handle billing information. The game receives no card number; it stores a random checkout code, the selected pack, store order identifier, payment checks and coin/refund entries linked to your saved player. A receipt or return page in your browser cannot add coins: our server checks payment with the store. Your public nickname and game email are not sent in the checkout code. Official contest equipment and attempts remain separate from purchases.

Deleting your game account immediately removes its link from website checkout records and deletes its coin ledger. Unlinked website checkout records become eligible for cleanup 180 days after checkout creation. Store billing and order records are separate and follow the Pointers And Hooks store privacy policy; deleting a game account does not delete a store order or issue a refund. Contact support with the store order number for a website purchase question.

Duck Frenzy is free to play. Compatible Google Play versions can offer optional coin packs, equipment purchases and Remove Automatic Ads. Availability differs by version and platform; Google Play shows the local price before payment. When you buy or restore, the app sends Google Play receipt tokens to our server for verification with Google and stores them encrypted. Verified ownership, delivered supplies and purchased coins are linked to your signed-in game account, not a nickname or device cookie. Google handles payment details; Duck Frenzy does not receive your card information. Designated internal testers may use Google test purchases.

Android versions with advertising enabled offer optional rewarded videos and automatic ads between completed runs. The app uses Google's User Messaging Platform to refresh applicable consent information when the app opens and present required choices. Where Google requires it, a Privacy choices entry lets you revisit those choices. Automatic ads do not interrupt a round. A verified Remove Automatic Ads purchase suppresses automatic ads for that saved game account; user-chosen reward videos remain optional. The Google Mobile Ads SDK and participating ad providers may process device and app identifiers, approximate location derived from a network address, ad interactions, consent choices and diagnostic information to select, deliver, measure and protect ads. Their handling is governed by their own notices, including Google's Privacy Policy. Duck Frenzy does not ask for GPS access for ads.

Watching a reward video is optional. Duck Frenzy sends the ad unit and a random, account-bound reward code to the Android app. Our server stores that code, the game account, creation and expiration times, and—only after Google confirms completion—the provider transaction identifier and verification time. A local “video finished” message cannot add coins; the server requires Google's signed server-to-server confirmation. Unverified sessions expire, and expired session records become eligible for batch removal seven days later. The resulting 25-coin award remains in the private coin ledger until the game account is deleted. The code sent to Google does not contain a nickname, email address or coin balance.

The browser game does not use the native Google Mobile Ads SDK or Google Play checkout. Declining optional reward videos does not prevent play. If consent or the ad service is unavailable, the game remains playable. Advertising may still involve the collection described above even when ads are not personalized.

The game links to the Pointers And Hooks shop, Instagram and Facebook. Opening those links or sharing through another app is subject to that service's privacy practices. The game does not receive your social-media login or treat opening a share sheet as proof that you published a post.

Contact and updates

For privacy questions, contact Pointers And Hooks, LLC at pointersandhooks@gmail.com. Changes to this policy will be posted here with an updated date.