Birdy · Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 23 September 2026

Birdy is a game about recognizing birds from photos. This policy explains what data the app collects, why, and which third-party services are involved. Questions? Write to [email protected].

1. Account and sign-in

Birdy requires an account, created with Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple — there is no email/password option and Birdy never sees your password. Signing in creates a Firebase Authentication account identified by a unique ID and, depending on the provider and your sharing choice, your email address. Your real name is never shown to other players: after your first sign-in you choose a separate, public-facing username.

2. Data stored on our servers

Birdy uses Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore) to run multiplayer features. The following is stored there, tied to your account ID:

• Username — the display name you chose.
• Per-country leaderboard scores — your best score in each country you've played, so leaderboards can be shown to other players.
• Room and match data — while you're in a multiplayer room or random match: the room code, the country and questions being played, and each participant's answers and score, so results can be shared with everyone in that game. This data is retained after the game ends; we periodically clear out old rooms.
• Photo reports — if you flag a photo as wrong or low quality, your account ID, the reason you picked, and any note you typed are recorded for moderation.

Your in-game progress (games played, birds recognized, streaks, badges) is calculated and stored only on your own device, not on our servers.

3. Advertising

Birdy shows occasional interstitial ads (never during a question, never in multiplayer rooms or matches) through Google AdMob. AdMob may use your device's advertising identifier to select ads and, on iOS, will ask for your permission via Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt before doing so. If you decline, you still see ads, just less tailored to you. See Google's own policies for how AdMob handles data: policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

4. Other services Birdy relies on

• Firebase App Check confirms that requests to our servers come from a genuine copy of Birdy, using Apple App Attest or Google Play Integrity. This checks your device's integrity, not your identity.
• Photo hosting. Bird photos are served from Amazon S3 / CloudFront (AWS). Loading a photo sends your device's IP address to AWS, like loading an image from any website.
• Bird photos and names come from the IOC World Bird List and iNaturalist contributors (CC0 / CC-BY licensed); the required photographer credit is shown in the app under each photo.

5. What Birdy does not do

Birdy does not sell your data. It does not access your contacts, photo library, camera, or location. It has no chat or messaging between players beyond the game itself.

6. Data retention and deletion

You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account inside the app. This deletes your Firebase Authentication account, your username, and your leaderboard entries. On-device progress is removed when you uninstall the app. You can also reach us at [email protected] for a data access or deletion request handled manually.

7. Children

Birdy is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them.

8. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as the app evolves; the effective date above always reflects the latest revision.