Hunt the Chicko! — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 13 September 2026

Hunt the Chicko! ("the Game") is published by Ariamax, Rijswijk, the Netherlands ("we", "us"). This policy covers this website (chicko.ariamax.nl), the browser version of the Game at chicko.ariamax.nl/play/ (also when you install it as a web app on your phone or computer) and the Hunt the Chicko! Android app. It explains what is stored and collected when you play, why, for how long, and what you can do about it.

The short version: the Game keeps your progress on your own device and uploads nothing unless you choose to join the online leaderboard. The Android app shows optional rewarded ads served by Google, and Google does collect some data to do that — this page tells you exactly what, and how to control it. The browser version shows no ads at the moment.

1. Who is responsible

Ariamax, Rijswijk, the Netherlands, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) under number 42005482, is the controller for the personal data described here. Email: contact@ariamax.nl. Ariamax's company website has its own privacy policy, which applies to ariamax.nl.

2. This website

The pages of chicko.ariamax.nl (everything except the Game itself at /play/) set no cookies, run no scripts and load nothing from other companies — the fonts and images come from our own server. Like every web server, ours keeps access logs with your IP address, browser type, the page you requested and the time; we use them only to keep the site secure and running and delete them after a short period. The site and the leaderboard service are hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH in Germany (European Union).

3. What the Game keeps on your device

Your progress and settings — the level you have reached, your best scores, your player name, control and sound settings, today's play allowance and the number of ad rewards you have used — are stored only on your own device: in your browser's site storage for the browser version (the installable web app also caches the Game's files there so it starts fast and works offline) and in the app's private storage on Android. Your advertising consent choice (section 8) is stored the same way. None of this is uploaded to us. Clearing the site data for chicko.ariamax.nl in your browser, or uninstalling the app, removes it.

4. The online leaderboard (optional)

You can play the whole Game without ever touching the leaderboard. If you choose to send a score, the Game asks for an email address and sends it together with the player name you chose, your score and the level you reached. On our server we keep one entry per mailbox: your email address (as typed, and a lower-cased copy used to recognise the same mailbox), your player name (up to 20 characters), your best score and level, when you reached them, your latest score and how many runs you have submitted. Your email address is used only to find your entry again, to keep one entry per player and to answer your deletion request; it is never shown to anyone. Other players see your player name, score, level and rank.

While you play a run after joining the leaderboard, the Game asks our server every few seconds where your current score would rank, sending your score and the player name and email address that identify your entry; the answer is shown on screen and nothing is stored from these checks. Every leaderboard request is signed by the Game so that only the Game can write to the board; our server also counts requests per IP address to block abuse. The leaderboard database runs on our own server in Germany (EU). Your entry is kept until you ask us to delete it — see Delete my data.

5. Advertising in the Android app (Google AdMob)

The Game is free. The Android app is financed by optional rewarded ads: when you are out of hearts or have used your free levels for the day, you may choose to watch a short ad in exchange for an in-game benefit. Ads are never forced on you, there are no banners and no ads between levels, and you can always keep playing without watching one.

These ads are served by Google AdMob through the Google Mobile Ads SDK, operated by Google Ireland Limited for users in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland and by Google LLC elsewhere. To deliver, measure and secure the ads, the SDK may collect and process:

• your device's advertising identifier (Android Advertising ID);
• your IP address and the approximate location derived from it;
• device and app information such as the device model, operating system version, language and the Game's version;
• information about the ads you see and interact with, including whether an ad was watched to the end so that the Game can grant your reward;
• with your consent where the law requires it (section 8), information about your use of other apps and websites, used to personalise the ads you see.

How Google uses this data is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services, in Google's Privacy Policy and in the AdMob publisher information at support.google.com/admob/answer/6128543. You can manage personalised advertising and reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings (Settings → Google → Ads).

6. The browser version: no ads at the moment

The browser version of the Game at chicko.ariamax.nl/play/ currently shows no advertising and loads no advertising code, so nothing described in section 5 happens there; the ad rewards are simply not available in the browser, and the daily free levels apply as they are. We intend to bring the same optional rewarded ads to the browser version through Google AdSense. Before that happens we will update this policy and our cookie policy, and users in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland will be asked for consent before any advertising code runs.

7. Legal bases and retention

• Personalised advertising, where the law requires consent (EEA, UK, Switzerland): your consent, which you can withdraw at any time (section 8).
• Non-personalised advertising, frequency limits, fraud prevention and keeping the Game and its servers secure: our legitimate interest in funding and protecting a free game.
• The leaderboard: your request to be listed — the entry exists only because you submitted it.
• Device storage of your progress and settings: necessary to provide the Game you asked for.

Leaderboard entries are kept until you ask us to delete them (we delete within 30 days of a request). Server access logs are kept for a short period for security purposes. Data on your device stays until you clear it. Advertising data is retained by Google under its own retention policies.

8. Your choices (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

The Android app includes Google's consent tool (the User Messaging Platform). Where a consent message applies to your region, it is shown the first time you start the app, before ads are requested, and lets you accept or decline personalised advertising and manage the purposes for which your data may be used. Declining still lets you play the whole Game; you may see non-personalised ads instead. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time via Privacy options in the app's settings menu, which appears whenever the consent tool requires it. The browser version has no advertising and therefore no consent message at the moment (section 6). Outside these regions, you can control personalised advertising in Google's Ads Settings and in your device settings.

9. Who receives your data

We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing. The parties that process data when you play are Google (advertising in the Android app, section 5) and Hetzner Online GmbH (hosting of this website and the leaderboard, Germany). Google may transfer data outside the European Economic Area; such transfers are covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. The Android app is distributed through Google Play, whose own privacy policy applies to your store account.

10. Children

Hunt the Chicko! is a cartoon game for a general audience. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children: the Game has no account, no chat and no purchases, and the only place where you can enter personal data is the optional leaderboard. If you are under 16, please ask a parent or guardian before submitting a score with your email address. If you believe a child has sent us an email address, contact us and we will remove it.

11. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to its processing, and to receive it in a portable format. For your leaderboard entry, email us or use the Delete my data page — we answer within one month. For data processed by Google, use the controls in your Google account, your browser and your device settings. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

12. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the Game, our providers or the law change. The date at the top shows the latest version; material changes are announced in the Game or on this website.

13. Contact

Ariamax, Rijswijk, the Netherlands
KvK 42005482
Email: contact@ariamax.nl