🐶 Dirt Dog Privacy Policy
The Dirt Dog game collects no personal information from anyone, children included. It has no accounts, no ads, no in-game purchases, no chat, and no analytics. Everything a child does in the game stays on the device. The only places we handle any personal information are the checkout on our website (run by Stripe) and the optional features you use as a parent, described below.
1. The game itself (Windows, Mac, home tablet link, and the online version)
The game does not collect, store, transmit, sell, or share personal information: no names, contact details, location, precise or coarse, contacts, photos, voice, camera or microphone data, usage analytics, advertising identifiers, or crash reports. There is no sign-up, login, friend list, chat, or user-generated content that leaves the device.
Kept on the device only
- The state of the island (blocks, buildings, lots, bones, day, weather).
- Settings chosen in parent mode, including the play-time limit and break length, and a per-day play-time counter for the break timer.
- Optional pet names typed for the dogs (limited to 16 characters; please do not use real full names).
- A one-time "seen the grown-ups notice" flag.
This lives in the app's private storage (or the browser's local storage for the tablet and online versions) and never leaves the device unless you export a backup file yourself. Uninstalling the app, or clearing the browser's site data, deletes it. Parent mode can erase the island at any time.
Files you choose to save
The photo button saves a picture of the game scene, and the backup option in parent mode saves the island as a small file. Both happen only when you press the button, contain only game content, and go where you or your device put them. They are not sent to us.
Speech
Messages are read aloud using the voices built into your device, which normally run on the device itself. If you choose an "online" or "natural" voice that your operating system provides through a voice service, the operating system sends the game's short messages (and any pet name you typed) to that service to produce the audio. We do not receive any of it. Pick an on-device voice or turn sound off in parent mode to avoid this entirely.
Network use
The desktop app makes no internet requests while playing. Its "Tablet link" serves the game only to devices on your own home network and answers only private (home) addresses. The free demo and the online version are delivered from our website, which means your browser requests the game files from our hosting provider (see section 3); the game itself still sends nothing about play.
2. Buying Dirt Dog, downloads, and the family code
Checkout
Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. on Stripe's own pages. Stripe collects the information needed to take payment (name, email address, card or wallet details, billing country or postcode for tax) under Stripe's privacy policy. We never see or store card numbers. From Stripe we receive the email address you entered, the payment status, and an order reference. Purchasing is for adults; the game is used by children but bought by grown-ups.
Downloads and the thank-you page
Your thank-you page link contains your order reference. When you open it, or download an installer, we check the order with Stripe and keep a small record next to the order: a download counter, the last download time, and the email address on the order. This is what lets us cap downloads per purchase and help you if you lose the link.
"Email me my download link"
If you press Send on the thank-you page, the email address you typed is used once to send you that link and your family code. When our email provider is connected we send it through Resend, Inc. (Resend's privacy policy) and record how many times the link has been emailed for that order (limited to five). When no provider is connected, the button simply opens your own mail app with the message pre-filled and nothing is sent to us.
The family code and the online version (dirtdogkids.com/play)
Every purchase has a family code. When you type it on a device, that device generates a random identifier (a string of letters and numbers with no meaning outside Dirt Dog), stores it in the browser's local storage, and sends it with the code to our server. We check the code against the order at Stripe and, if it is valid, record the identifier and the time next to the order (up to six devices per code) and set a signed "pass" cookie on the device so it can load the game for up to two years. To stop code guessing, the server also keeps a count of failed attempts per network address for about an hour; the address is stored only as a one-way hash and those records are deleted automatically within a day.
The identifier and the cookie are used solely to recognise a device that has been unlocked and to enforce the device limit. They are not used for advertising, profiling, tracking across sites or apps, or any purpose other than operating and securing the unlock feature, and they are never shared with anyone for such purposes. Clearing the browser's site data removes both from the device (you can unlock again with the code).
Offline play
The online version installs a small "service worker" that keeps a copy of the game files in the browser so it works without internet. It caches game files only and reports nothing back.
3. Our website and hosting
dirtdogkids.com, the free demo, the online version and our small server functions are hosted by Cloudflare, Inc. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes the technical data your browser sends when it requests a page (IP address, browser type, requested address, time) to deliver the site and protect it from attacks, and keeps short-lived server logs for that purpose under Cloudflare's privacy policy. We do not run analytics scripts, advertising pixels, social-media trackers, or fingerprinting on our pages, and our pages set no cookies other than the pass cookie described above. Links to our Instagram and Pinterest pages take you to those services, which have their own policies.
4. Children and COPPA
Dirt Dog is made for children aged 3 to 7 and is treated as a child-directed service. We do not collect personal information from children. The game has no place for a child to enter personal information (pet names are short, on-device, and never transmitted), no advertising, no in-game purchases, no external links during play, no shared content, and no communication features. The only persistent identifier used anywhere in Dirt Dog is the device identifier described in section 2, which exists solely to support the internal operations of the unlock feature (authentication and security) and is never used for behavioural advertising, profiling, or contacting anyone. The website checkout and the family-code screen are designed for and directed to parents. If you believe a child has sent us personal information in any way, contact us and we will delete it promptly.
5. Cookies and similar storage
| Name | Where | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| dd_pass | Cookie on dirtdogkids.com | Proves this device was unlocked with a family code (essential; no tracking) | Up to 2 years |
| dd_device, dd_code | Browser local storage | Lets an unlocked device re-unlock itself without asking again | Until site data is cleared |
| Game save and settings | App storage or browser local storage | Your child's island and parent-mode settings | Until deleted by you |
| Service worker cache | Browser | Offline copy of the game files | Replaced on each update |
None of these are used for advertising or analytics, so there is no cookie consent banner to click through and nothing to opt out of.
6. How long we keep things
- Order records (email, payment status, download count, family code, unlocked-device identifiers): for as long as we sell and support Dirt Dog, so we can honour your purchase and help you later. Ask us to delete them at any time; deleting them ends the download and unlock service for that purchase.
- Failed-attempt counters: deleted automatically within a day.
- Email sending logs at our provider: per the provider's retention, typically a few days.
- Hosting logs at Cloudflare: short-lived, per Cloudflare's policy.
7. Who we share with
Only the service providers named above (Stripe for payment, Cloudflare for hosting, Resend for email when connected), each only for the purpose described, and only the minimum they need. We do not sell personal information, we do not share it for advertising, and we do not use it for any purpose other than delivering what you bought and answering your questions. We may disclose information if the law requires it. The game is built with the open-source three.js library (MIT license), which runs entirely inside the game. No advertising, analytics, crash-reporting, social, or notification kits are included. When Dirt Dog is offered through an app store, that store handles the purchase and download under its own policy.
8. Security
Our site is served over HTTPS with strict transport security and a content security policy. Secret keys live only on our hosting provider, never in the game or the website code. Download links and family codes are unguessable and tied to a verified purchase, and every download and unlock is re-checked with Stripe. No system is perfectly secure; if we ever learn of a breach affecting your information we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
9. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example California and other US states, the European Economic Area, and the United Kingdom) you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, to restrict or object to its use, and to opt out of "sale" or "sharing". We sell and share nothing, so the opt-out is met by default. For everything else, email us; we will verify that you are the buyer (usually by writing from the email on the order) and respond within the time the law allows. You will not be treated differently for exercising your rights. Because we do not track visitors, "Do Not Track" and Global Privacy Control signals do not change anything: there is nothing to turn off.
10. International visitors
We are based in the United States and our providers process data in the United States and, for Cloudflare, at points of presence worldwide. If you visit from elsewhere, your information is handled in the United States under this policy.
11. Changes
If Dirt Dog ever changes in a way that affects privacy, this policy will be updated with a new effective date and the change described here and, for app-store versions, in the store listing before it takes effect. We will never add data collection to a version marketed to children without clear notice and, where required, verifiable parental consent.
12. Contact
Mind Right Media, LLC · [email protected]. A real parent answers. Postal address available on request.