Privacy Policy — Gallery Chameleon

Last updated: 12 October 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Gallery Chameleon ("the app", "we", "us") collects, uses, and shares information.

Information we collect

• Photos you choose. When you create a hide, you select an image from your device. That image, with your painted character composited onto it, is uploaded to our backend so other players can search it. We only access photos you explicitly pick — we do not scan or index your photo library.
• Game content. The character's position, the finished image, and gameplay results (how many players searched for your character and how many found it) are stored so the game can run.
• A username, if you use friends or groups. To add friends or join groups you choose a username. It is visible to other players so they can find and recognise you. Choose a name you are comfortable sharing — you do not have to use your real name.
• A profile picture you draw, if you make one. You can paint a profile picture inside the app. If you do, it is stored on our backend and shown to your friends and to members of groups you are in. You can also paint a separate public profile picture. We review it before anyone else sees it, and once we approve it, it is shown to everyone who opens your public profile. You are not required to have either.
• Friends and groups. If you use these features, we store your friend connections, the groups you create or join, group names, and the hides shared in those friend and group conversations, so those conversations work.
• An anonymous identifier. We create an anonymous account (via Firebase Anonymous Authentication) so the game can tell players apart and protect against abuse. On its own it is not linked to your real name, email address, or any login.
• A sign-in, only if you choose to add one. You can optionally attach Sign in with Apple or Google to the account you already have, so it can be recovered if you lose or change your device. This is never required, and no feature is withheld if you skip it. If you do use it, we receive the account identifier the provider gives us and, depending on the provider and your choices, the email address associated with it — Apple lets you hide your real address behind its private relay. We use this only to recognise you when you sign in again. We do not email you, and we do not share it.
• Diagnostic data. If the app crashes, we collect basic error information (the error message, where in the code it happened, your device's operating system version, and the app version) so we can fix it.
• Messages you send us, if you use Send feedback. The Send feedback button on the Live Games screen opens a private conversation with us. We store each message you write and when you sent it, and with each one your device type (iOS or Android), the app version and the app's language, together with your username if you have one. Our replies are stored in the same conversation so you can read them in the app.

We do not require your real name, and we do not collect your contacts or location. We do not require an email address either: you are only asked for one if you choose to add Apple or Google sign-in.

How we use information

• To provide the core game: create hides, share them via join codes, and let other players seek them.
• To provide friends and groups: let you add friends, form groups, share hides with them, and show usernames and profile pictures within those conversations.
• To restore your account on a new device, if you have added Apple or Google sign-in.
• To review hides submitted to the public gallery, and public profile pictures, before they are published.
• To read and reply to the messages you send with Send feedback, to fix the problems they tell us about and improve the game, and to stop abuse of the feature (it limits how many messages can be sent, and we can block an account from sending more).
• To operate, secure, and improve the app, and to keep it free of objectionable content.

How information is shared

• With other players. A hide you create, and its gameplay tally, are visible to anyone you give the game's join code to, and to any friend or group you share it with. Your username, and your profile picture if you draw one, are visible to your friends and to members of your groups. Only share content, and add people, you are comfortable being seen by them.
• Your hides in the public gallery, only if you ask us to. You can submit one of your hides to the public gallery. If you do, and we approve it, that image and the username shown with it become visible to everyone using the app — not just to people you have shared with. Submitting is always your choice, and you can ask us to take a public hide down at any time. When you submit a hide, the app also sends our reviewers a small close-up of your painted character and of the part of your original photo it covers, so they can check the character was really painted. Only reviewers can see it, and it is deleted once your submission has been reviewed, or earlier if you withdraw it or delete your account.
• On the leaderboard and your public profile. If you have a username and take part in the public gallery, by submitting a hide to it or by earning points there, your username and points appear on the public leaderboard, and you have a public profile that everyone using the app can open. It shows your username, your public profile picture once we have approved it, your leaderboard points and rank, and your approved public hides with how often seekers find them. Without a username you appear on neither.
• Your feedback messages are not shared. Only the developer reads the messages you send with Send feedback; they are never shown to other players. They are stored with our service provider below.
• With service providers. We use Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, and Authentication) to host game data and images. Google's handling of that data is governed by its privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
• With Apple, if you use Sign in with Apple. Apple tells us only what you agree to share when you sign in. Apple's handling of that is governed by its privacy policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
• We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Data retention

• Content you share is kept so the people you shared it with can keep seeing it. A hide you share with a friend or a group stays available in that conversation — including for someone who was away and comes back later — rather than disappearing on a timer. Group and friend conversation history is retained for the same reason.
• A copy of your own artwork stays on your device. The app saves each hide you create to your phone's own storage so you keep your finished paintings. That copy stays on your device (apart from the small review close-up described above, if you submit a hide to the public gallery) and is deleted when you delete the app.
• Your feedback conversation is kept so you can see all of it in the app, until you delete your account or we delete the conversation.
• Crash reports are retained only as long as needed to diagnose the problem.

Deleting your data

• Delete my account (About → Account → Delete my account) removes, from inside the app and without contacting us: your username, your profile picture, your public profile picture, your friends and groups, the hides you made, any public gallery entries, your feedback conversation (your messages and our replies), any sign-in you attached, and your account itself. It is immediate and cannot be undone. You do not need to be signed in with Apple or Google to use it.

  Two things are not removed. A hide you already sent into a friend or group conversation stays in that conversation, because the people you sent it to keep their copy. And the record that a hide was solved is kept, with your name removed from it, so that hide cannot be played again by the same person.

• Stop sharing (on the My Hides screen) revokes a hide's public join code so no new person can open it by code. Friends and groups you already shared it with keep their copy.

• Delete (on the same card) removes your own copy of a painting from your device.

• If you would rather we did it, or you want only part of your data removed — a single shared hide, either profile picture, your username, a public gallery entry, or your feedback conversation — email us at the address below. We will delete it, and confirm, within 30 days (usually much sooner). We may ask you to confirm the request came from you.

• Uninstalling the app deletes every painting saved on your device, and the anonymous identifier if you never attached a sign-in to it. If you did attach one, your account still exists so you can sign back in and recover it — use Delete my account before uninstalling if you want it gone.

Children's privacy

The app is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with information, contact us and we will delete it.

User-generated content and safety

Players can upload images, draw profile pictures, choose usernames, and name groups, so the app contains user-generated content. We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. Within the app you can:

• Report a shared image or a user, and
• Block a user so you no longer see their content, and remove or leave people and groups.

We review reports and remove violating content, and may suspend or ban the responsible user, within 24 hours. An image that receives multiple reports is hidden automatically while it awaits review. See our Terms of Use for the full policy.

Your choices

• Don't upload photos, draw pictures, or choose a username that contains sensitive or personal information you don't want other players to see.
• Don't put personal details such as your email address, phone number or real name in a feedback message. We never need them to answer you.
• Play without signing in. Apple and Google sign-in are optional and add nothing to the game itself — they exist only so you can get your account back on a new device.
• Keep your hides to the people you choose. Submitting one to the public gallery is a separate, deliberate step.
• Stop sharing a hide's code, or leave any group, at any time.
• Delete your account and data yourself from About → Account → Delete my account, or ask us using the contact address below.

Security

Access to our backend requires authentication, and our security rules restrict who may read and write each piece of data. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we use industry-standard measures to protect your data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions, deletion requests, or content reports: accessible.ethical@proton.me

You can also write to us from inside the app: Live Games → Send feedback.