The fine print
Privacy Policy
This policy describes what information Bing-O collects, how it is used, and the choices you have. It applies to the Bing-O iOS app.
What we collect
- Account information. A username you choose, and — depending on how you sign up — an email address and a password (stored only as a salted hash). If you sign in with Apple, Google, or Facebook, we receive an account identifier from that provider and, if you share them, your email address and name. We support Apple's private email relay.
- Gameplay data. Games you create or join, your bingo cards and marks, phrases called, wins, and progression stats (XP, level, streaks, badges, Bing-Bucks).
- Chat messages. Messages you send in a game's chat are stored so the game's participants can read them. Slurs and explicit sexual terms are masked before a message is stored or shown.
- Reports and blocks. If you report a message, a player, or a game, we keep the report: who sent it, who it's about, the reason, any note you add, and a copy of the reported message, so we can review it. If you block a player, we keep that so their chat stays hidden from you.
- Technical data. Standard server logs (IP address, request metadata) used for security, rate limiting, and keeping the service running.
- Notifications. If you turn notifications on, a push token for your device, so we can tell you when a game starts or a phrase is called. Signing out stops them.
- Ad rewards. When you choose to watch an ad for Bing-Bucks, a record of the reward: when it was offered, whether it paid, and the ad's value as Google reports it. See Ads.
What we don't do
- We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not share it with data brokers.
- We use no third-party analytics SDKs.
- Ads never appear on your bingo card or in the middle of a game. Today they play only when you choose to watch one.
How we use information
To run the game: keeping games in sync in real time, showing your card and stats, delivering chat and notifications, writing AI cards when you ask for one, crediting the Bing-Bucks you earn, reviewing reports, preventing abuse and cheating, and sending password-reset emails when you ask for them. That's it.
Ads
Bing-O shows an ad when you choose to watch one to earn Bing-Bucks, for example Watch & earn on Home, or doubling the Bing-Bucks from a win. Google AdMob provides the ads.
- What Google collects. To show and measure an ad, Google's software in the app collects information such as your device's advertising identifier (only if you allow tracking), your approximate location from your IP address, how you interact with the ad, and performance and crash data. Google describes its use of this information in its privacy policy and in how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
- Tracking is your choice. Before your first ad, the app explains how ads can be personalized, and iOS asks whether Bing-O may track you. Either answer is fine: you earn the same Bing-Bucks. You can change your answer in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
- Your privacy choices. Some US state laws treat personalized advertising as "selling" or "sharing" personal information, and give you the right to opt out. You can do that at any time in the app, from Profile → Privacy choices.
- What we keep. For each ad you watch for a reward, we keep a record of the offer and whether it paid, so we credit you exactly once. Google confirms each watch to our server with an anonymous identifier that only our server can link to your account.
- Report an ad. If you see an ad that's inappropriate, use Profile → Report an ad, or email us, and we'll block it.
AI-written cards
If you ask Bing-O to write a card, we send your game's name and description (or the words you type for that card) and the tone you pick to Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI model, which writes the squares. The app asks before the first time it sends anything. Only the words that describe the game go to Anthropic: never your email, your account, or your chat.
What other players can see
Bingo is social: your username, presence, marks, wins, and chat messages are visible to the other participants of games you join. Your email address is never shown to other players.
Service providers
We use infrastructure providers to host the service and deliver email (for example, cloud hosting and Amazon SES for password-reset messages). They process data only on our behalf. Google AdMob provides the ads you choose to watch, and Anthropic writes the AI cards you ask for, as described above.
Sessions and cookies
Bing-O keeps you signed in with authentication tokens stored in your device's Keychain. The bing-o.app website sets no tracking cookies.
Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time from Profile → Delete account in the app, or by emailing us. Deletion removes your personal information: your email, sign-in identifiers, password, stats, cards, game memberships, and every chat message you sent, and the list of players you blocked. Your username is replaced with an anonymous placeholder. Games you created remain available to their other players, with no identifying link back to you. Reports you made, or that were made about you, are kept so we can act on abuse, linked only to that placeholder. If you signed in with Apple, deleting your account also asks Apple to disconnect Bing-O from your Apple ID. Residual copies in encrypted backups age out on a fixed schedule.
Children
Bing-O is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/WSS), passwords are stored only as salted bcrypt hashes, and access to production systems is restricted. No method of storage or transmission is 100% secure, but we work to protect your data.
Changes
If we change this policy, we will update this page and its date. Material changes will be called out in the app.
Contact
Questions or requests: support@bing-o.app