Parents' Guide & Children's Privacy

This page is for parents and guardians. It explains what buggs.io is, what information we collect when a child plays, what is different for children, and how you can approve purchases, see your child's information or delete it.

It is also our notice to parents under the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It works together with our Privacy Policy, which covers all players. On this page, "we" means POWERUP GAMING LLC, the company that runs buggs.io, and "child" means a player under 13.

Is buggs.io safe for kids?

buggs.io is made for players of all ages. There is no chat, no private messaging, no voice and no photos, and the only text a player can type is a nickname (and a club name), which our filter checks: a nickname it finds offensive is shown as "Bug". The game never asks a child for an email address, a real name, a phone number or a location. A child can't buy anything with real money until a parent gives verifiable consent, and a child only sees ads rated for everyone, never personalized. The rest of this guide explains each of these in detail.

Who runs the game

buggs.io is run by one person, who is responsible for the information collected through the game and this website:

Operator

POWERUP GAMING LLC, a limited liability company in TN, United States, doing business as buggs.io

Postal address

311 Chimney Rdg, Nolensville TN, 37135

Phone

6154269855

Email (support, privacy and parents)

support@buggs.io

Accounts, coins and purchases run on our own account and purchase service, called DPS. It handles your child's information only to run buggs.io. No other company collects information through the game for analytics or social media. Google receives the information an ad request carries when the game shows an ad, tagged as directed to a child, as described under Ads. Our website pages outside the game use Google Analytics to count visits, with its advertising features off, as described under Our website and Google Analytics. The service providers that help us run the game and the website are listed under Who else receives information.

What the game is

buggs.io is a free-to-play multiplayer arena game. Each player steers a cartoon bug, eats to grow longer and tries to cut the other bugs off. It is a general-audience game, made to be suitable for all ages. You can play it in a web browser at the game page. There is also an Android app on Google Play, and apps for iPhone, iPad and desktop computers are on the way.

• Online arenas. Players join arenas with other players from around the world and computer-controlled bugs. Everyone in an arena sees each other's nicknames and bugs.
• Party rooms. A private arena that players join with a short code, for example to play with friends from school.
• Offline arena. A mode against computer-controlled bugs only.
• Clubs. Players can create or join a club. A club has a name, a badge and a description picked from a fixed list. Clubs compete in weekly tournaments for in-game rewards.
• Coins and items. Players earn coins by playing and can spend them on bugs, skins, trails and power-up unlocks. Many bugs, power-ups, skins and trails can also be unlocked with online XP, earned by playing online. Coins, items and an optional Premium subscription can also be bought with real money. Prizes are only ever in-game coins, items or stars, never money or physical prizes.

The game has no chat, no private messages, no voice, no photo or video uploads, no friend lists and no way to send another player a message. The only free text a player can enter is a nickname and, when creating a club, a club name.

What we collect from children, and why

There is no sign-up. The game works out of the box, so some information is collected as soon as it connects, before anyone is asked their age. We collect only what the game needs to run. We never require a child to give more information than that to play.

How we use the Player ID and network address

The Player ID, the login token and the network address are what COPPA calls persistent identifiers. We use them only to support the internal operations of the game: running matches and the account, remembering progress and purchases, keeping leaderboards fair, keeping the game secure, preventing cheating and fraud, counting how the game is played so we can improve it (see Our game statistics), showing contextual ads and limiting how often they appear (see Ads), and meeting legal requirements. We don't use them to contact a child, to build an advertising profile, to show ads based on a child's behavior or to follow a child across other websites or apps. We make sure of this in four ways. The game includes no software from analytics or social media companies; the only advertising software in it is Google's, which the game sets up so that every ad request for a child is tagged as directed to a child, so Google treats it under COPPA (no personalized ads, no remarketing). The game never asks Google for personalized ads, for anyone, and never reads an advertising ID. We give these identifiers only to the service providers listed under Who else receives information, and only so they can provide their service to us; Stripe, Apple and Google handle payments under their own terms. And only we can access our account service and its support tools.

When a new account comes from one of our ads or campaign links, our account service notes which campaign it was (labels such as "utm_campaign", Apple's campaign number on iOS, or on Android the campaign and ad numbers in Meta's install referrer when the Facebook or Instagram app is on the device), only to count how many new players each campaign brings. An ad link can also carry the ad network's click ID. We never keep a click ID for a child's or a teen's account: if one was kept before the age question, it is deleted as soon as the answer shows a child or a teen. For adults who came from an ad on the web, we tell that ad network when the click led to a new account or a first purchase; we never do this for a child's or a teen's account. On iOS, Apple's SKAdNetwork may tell an ad network whose ad led to an install that the app was opened, with nothing that identifies the child, the device or the account, and the game never reports a child's purchase this way. Nothing about where an account came from is used to choose ads. See Where you came from in our Privacy Policy.

Our website pages are different in one way: they use Google Analytics, which sets its own random ID in some places (see Our website and Google Analytics). It never runs inside the game and never receives the Player ID. It does receive the network address, which Google uses only to work out an approximate location (city and country) and then discards. We use it only to support the internal operations of our website: to count visits and see how our website is used, so we can keep it working and improve it. To make sure the information is used for nothing else, we have turned off Google signals, ad personalization and every advertising use, we have turned off Google's data-sharing settings, and Google may use the information only to provide Google Analytics to us, under its data processing terms. It is never used to contact anyone, to show ads, to build a profile or to follow anyone across other websites or apps.

Our game statistics

Our game server keeps its own statistics about online play: how many people play each day, how long games last, which bugs, power-ups and loadouts are used, and on which platforms and game versions. They are first-party: our own server works them out from what it already receives during online play. We don't give them to our service providers or any other company, sell them or use them for advertising. Before anything is stored, the Player ID is replaced with a code made with a secret key, and the statistics never contain the Player ID, the nickname or the network address. The daily lists of codes (with the bugs, game modes and platforms each code used that day) let us count players without counting anyone twice, and each one is deleted 35 days after its day. What stays are totals that aren't linked to any player. We use them only to understand and improve the game. Offline games are never counted. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.

What we don't collect

We don't ask a child for an email address, password, real name, phone number or home address. (When a parent-approved purchase is paid on the web, Stripe's checkout asks the payer for an email address, name and billing address; see Purchase records above.) The game doesn't collect photos, videos, voice recordings, precise location, contacts, advertising identifiers or hardware device IDs. The game includes no third-party analytics or crash-reporting tools and sets no tracking cookies; our own game statistics are worked out on our server (see above). When the game shows ads, Google's ad software may store information in the browser or app to limit how often an ad is shown and to prevent fraud, never to personalize ads (see Ads). The game and website store a few things in the browser or app on your device, such as the game save and the account file, and our website pages can also set Google Analytics cookies (see below); our Privacy Policy lists them all.

Our website and Google Analytics

The pages of our website outside the game, meaning the home page, our help and legal pages such as this one, and our "page not found" page, use Google Analytics, a service of Google LLC. We use it only to count visits and understand how the website is used, so we can improve it. It is never loaded inside the game at the game page or in our apps, so Google Analytics measures nothing while your child plays.

• No advertising. Google signals, ad personalization and every advertising use are turned off. Google Analytics is never used for advertising or to build a profile of anyone.
• What it measures: the pages viewed and for how long, the website a visitor came from, the approximate location (city and country, which Google works out from the IP address and then discards the address), the type of device, browser, operating system, screen size and language, and, on our home page, pressing Play or "Choose your bug". It never receives the Player ID, the nickname or anything typed.
• Cookies. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, it sets no cookies. Elsewhere, it sets two cookies on our website ("_ga" and "_ga_<ID>") that hold a random ID and expire 2 years after the last visit.
• The same for everyone. The website doesn't know a visitor's age, so it works the same way for every visitor.
• Turning it off. It isn't loaded at all if the browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track. You can also switch it off for your browser on our Privacy Policy page.
• How long. Detailed Google Analytics data is deleted after 2 months. Reports with totals, such as visits per day, may be kept longer.

What other players can see

• In arenas: the nickname, the bug and its skin, its size, the live top 10 (nicknames and sizes), "joined the arena" messages and the list of who knocked out whom.
• On leaderboards: daily, weekly and monthly boards show the nickname, the bug, its size, kills, when the score was set and whether a boost was used. Anyone can see them, in the game and on the web.
• In clubs: the club name, badge and description, and each member's nickname, role, weekly points and the date they joined. Tournament standings are public too.

The Player ID, the age group and payment details are never shown to other players.

Because nicknames and club names are public, please help your child pick ones that don't include a real name or other personal details (see Safety tips). If you find personal information in a club name, email us and we will rename the club. If it's in your child's nickname, there are two ways to remove it. Your child can change the nickname in the game: club pages show the new name after their next online game, and older leaderboard entries drop off when each board resets. Or we can delete the account, which removes the name from club pages right away and from leaderboards, usually within an hour.

The age question

We don't ask for age to play. The game asks the first time a player taps something in the lobby that involves buying, a store offer or an ad, such as Buy, Pay, Start Big, Boost Cubes, a free coin offer or Watch ad, or once in the lobby after a few games while the game shows ads. Once it has an answer, it doesn't ask again. The question has a "Why we ask" link that opens this page.

• It is neutral. The player picks a birth year: first the decade, then the year. No year is selected in advance, and the player can cancel. Cancelling means nothing is bought.
• We keep only an age group, never the year. Our account service works out the group from the year and throws the year away. The group is also saved on the device and passed to our game servers so the right rules apply in matches.
• The groups. If the year means the player is, or could be, under 13, the account is a child account. Otherwise, if the player is, or could be, under 18, it is a teen account. Because we only know the year, we always round towards the younger group.
• It can't be changed in the game. If your child entered the wrong year, for example one that makes them look older, email us with the Player ID. We can set the right group or clear it so the game asks again. If they bought something you didn't approve, tell us: for web and desktop purchases, contact us within 14 days of the purchase if you can (if it's later, contact us anyway, because you keep any rights the law gives you); for App Store purchases, ask Apple for a refund; for Google Play purchases, ask Google first, then email us if Google can't help. See Purchases, Subscriptions & Refunds.

What is different for children

• Spending limit. The purchase screen shows the monthly limit and how much is left. Subscription renewals count towards it. A renewal is still charged by Stripe, Apple or Google even if it takes the month's total over the limit; after that, new purchases are blocked until the next month starts (months are counted in UTC).
• Boosts. Boosts that a subscription includes for free, or that are already in the player's inventory, still work. Players whose age we don't know yet are treated like minors and can't pay for boosts either.
• Ads. See Ads below: only ads suitable for everyone, tagged as directed to a child, never personalized; reward ads for boosts follow the boost rules above.
• Nothing paid is random. There are no loot boxes and no paid random items, for anyone. Boost Cubes appear at random places in the arena, but you always see the cube's effect before you pay.

Ads

The game can show ads from Google (Google AdMob in the iOS and Android apps, Google's H5 Games Ads in the web game), so it can stay free. Our website pages never show ads. For a child:

• No ads before the age question. A player whose age group we don't know sees no ads at all.
• Optional reward ads offer a reward named before the ad plays, such as coins. Watching is always optional, and the reward is given only if the ad plays to its end. Reward ads for in-match boosts are off for children and teens.
• Short ads between games play only as the player leaves the end-of-game screen, never during a game, a limited number of times per session.
• Contextual only. Every ad is non-personalized: chosen from things like the game and the country, never from what the child does elsewhere. Every request for a child is tagged for Google as directed to a child (COPPA) and as under the age of consent, and asks only for ads rated suitable for everyone.
• What Google receives with each ad request is what any ad request carries: the network address, the type of device and its settings, the game, and whether the ad was shown or watched. For a reward ad in the apps, we also give Google a code made from the Player ID (never the Player ID itself) so Google can confirm to us that the ad was watched. Google never receives the nickname, the Player ID or the age group from us.
• No Ads and Premium remove the ads between games; reward ads stay optional.

Some things are the same for every player: online play with others, choosing a nickname, appearing on leaderboards, creating or joining clubs, party rooms, and spending coins earned in the game on bugs, skins, trails and power-up unlocks.

Depending on where you live, local law may give parents more rights over purchases made by minors. This page doesn't limit those rights. Purchase rules for everyone are on our Purchases, Subscriptions & Refunds page.

Parental consent for purchases

A child can play without the verifiable consent described below. To let a child play, we only use a random Player ID, the technical information needed to run the game, and the nickname, as described above. Nicknames and club names must not contain a real name or contact details. If we find one that does, or you tell us, we deal with it as described under What other players can see.

This is separate from our Terms of Service, which still ask a parent or guardian to agree to them for a child under 13. Before a child can spend real money, we need verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian.

How it works

1. Email us at support@buggs.io from your own email address. Use the subject "Parental consent", include your child's Player ID (see How to find the Player ID) and say that you are the parent or legal guardian.
2. We reply with a notice that explains what we collect from your child, what your consent allows, and how to verify that you are an adult with authority to give it.
3. You verify using a method the COPPA Rule permits. For example, you sign a consent form and send it back to us (a scan or photo by email, or by post), or you make a credit or debit card transaction through our payment processor, Stripe, so that the card holder is notified of the charge (for example, on the card statement). Before you start, we tell you exactly what the method involves, including any amount charged and whether it is refunded.
4. We record your consent on your child's account: the date and how it was verified. Purchases are then unlocked for that account. The monthly spending limit still applies.

Every purchase shows the price, billing period and benefits before anything is paid. Premium is a subscription: it renews automatically each billing period and charges the payment method used until it is cancelled. If two accounts are combined with a transfer code or a recovery code, the combined account takes the younger age group, and consent carries over only if both accounts had it.

What we collect from you

For consent we collect your email address, your name if you give it, the signed form or the transaction confirmation, and our messages with you. We use them only to verify and record your consent, to handle your requests and to contact you about your child's account. We don't use them for marketing and we don't sell them. If the consent process isn't completed within a reasonable time, we delete the contact details you sent us for it.

Withdrawing consent

You can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing us with your child's Player ID. Once we've checked the request comes from you, we turn purchases off for that account, or delete the account if you prefer. Turning purchases off also closes any web checkout that is still open for the account. A payment that was already made still goes through; to ask for a refund, see The age question. Items already bought stay on the account unless they are refunded.

Withdrawing consent doesn't cancel a Premium subscription that is already running. Cancel it where it was bought (see Deleting your child's account). If you can't open the game, email us and we will cancel a web subscription for you.

Who handles the payment

• On the web and desktop: Link, a Stripe service, sells the purchase as the merchant of record and processes the payment on Stripe's own checkout pages. Stripe collects the payer's card details, email address, name and billing address under its own privacy policy. We never see full card numbers. Stripe also receives the Player ID with each order so we can deliver it.
• In our Android and iOS apps (the iOS app isn't out yet): purchases go through the App Store or Google Play, under Apple's or Google's terms. They receive the Player ID, or a reference made from it, with each purchase so they can match it to the account.

Who else receives information

• Other players see the public information listed under What other players can see.
• Cloudflare carries and protects all traffic to the website, the game and our account service. It sees network addresses and the web addresses requested, which can include the Player ID. It processes traffic in many countries.
• Stripe, Apple and Google receive payment information only when a purchase is made, as described above.
• Google (Google LLC) receives information about visits to our website pages, never the game, through Google Analytics, as described under Our website and Google Analytics. It processes it for us as our service provider, with all advertising features off.
• Google also shows the ads in the game, and receives what each ad request carries, tagged as directed to a child, as described under Ads. It may use that information only to show contextual ads, limit how often they appear, measure them and prevent fraud.
• Our email provider receives and stores the emails you send to support@buggs.io, including consent forms and your child's Player ID. It may use them only to provide its service to us.
• A new owner, if buggs.io is ever sold, merged or transferred. The new owner must keep treating children's information as this notice describes, and must get new parental consent before using it in a materially different way.
• Authorities or others, only if the law requires it, or where needed to protect the safety of a child or others, or to stop fraud or abuse.

We don't sell children's personal information, use or disclose it for targeted advertising, or give it to anyone except as listed here. You can consent to purchases without agreeing to any other sharing, and there is no other sharing to agree to.

Our servers are in the United States. We protect the information with reasonable measures: connections between the game and our servers are encrypted (HTTPS), our account service stores login tokens, transfer codes and recovery codes only in scrambled (hashed) form, card details never reach us, and access to our support tools is limited to us. No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us if you notice a problem.

How long we keep it

This is our written policy for how long we keep children's information and why.

The full retention table for all players is in our Privacy Policy.

Your rights as a parent

As a parent or legal guardian of a child who plays buggs.io, you can at any time:

• Review the personal information we hold about your child. We send you a copy.
• Correct it, for example the age group. For a nickname that shows personal details, see What other players can see.
• Delete it, by deleting the account.
• Refuse further collection or use. The game can't be played online without a Player ID and a nickname, so we do this by deleting the account. Your child should then stop using buggs.io: if it is opened again, it starts a new account.
• Withdraw consent for purchases (see Parental consent for purchases).

How to ask. Email support@buggs.io with your child's Player ID and what you would like us to do. It's free.

Checking it's you. There are no passwords, and the Player ID is not a secret, so before we share or delete anything we check that the request comes from the child's parent or guardian. We may ask for details that only someone with access to your child's game would know, for example recent purchases, or a new transfer code you make in the game while we are in touch (we can see on our side that a code was made, so you don't send it to us). We only ask for what we need to check.

Timing. We aim to reply within 5 business days and to complete requests within 30 days.

If we learn that we collected personal information from a child under 13 in a way the law doesn't allow, we delete it. If you think this has happened, please tell us.

How to find the Player ID

1. Open buggs.io on the device and in the browser or app your child uses. On the web, that is the game page.
2. In the lobby, tap or click the gear button (Settings).
3. Find the Account section. The Player ID is shown in short form (for example "3f2a…9c1d").
4. Tap Copy next to it. This copies the whole ID, which you can paste into your email.

Each device or browser has its own Player ID unless accounts were moved with a transfer code or a recovery code. If your child plays on more than one, send us each ID. The Player ID isn't a password, but there's no need to share it with anyone except us.

If you don't see an Account section, or you can't open the game on that device any more (for example, the browser data was cleared), email us anyway with the nickname, the device type and roughly when your child last played. We will do our best to find the account.

Deleting your child's account

There are two ways:

1. In the game: Settings ▸ Account ▸ Delete account, then confirm. If the game says to contact support, use the second way.
2. By email: send the Player ID to support@buggs.io with the subject Delete my account. If the account has a web Premium subscription, say so in the same email and we will cancel it too. After checking that the request comes from you, we delete the account with the same effect as deleting it in the game.

Before you delete: deleting an account does not cancel a Premium subscription. Cancel it first where it was bought: on the web, in Settings ▸ Account ▸ Manage subscription (this opens Stripe's customer portal); in the apps, through the App Store or Google Play. See Purchases, Subscriptions & Refunds. If you can't open the game, or the account is already deleted and a web subscription is still being charged, email us with the Player ID or the Stripe receipt. We will cancel it in Stripe and refund any renewal charged after the account was deleted. App Store and Google Play subscriptions can be cancelled in the store without the game.

What happens:

• In our account service, the nickname is removed and the Player ID is replaced. Login tokens, transfer codes and the recovery code stop working, and the account leaves its club (a club where it was the only member is closed). Game results and records are stripped of the Player ID and nickname. This happens right away for an in-game deletion, and within 30 days of receiving an email request.
• Leaderboard entries are removed, usually within an hour and in any case when each board resets.
• A club your child created stays if it has other members, and another member becomes its owner. If its name shows personal details, tell us and we will rename it.
• Coins, items, online XP and Premium benefits on the account are gone for good.
• We keep purchase records, anonymized, as shown under How long we keep it, and a scrambled (hashed) form of the old Player ID as a record that the account was deleted. Server logs are cleared on their normal schedule, within 14 days. Our game statistics hold only a code made from the Player ID. Our deletion process doesn't match it to the deleted account, so it stays in each day's list until that list is deleted, 35 days after its day.
• Deletion doesn't reach the records Stripe, Apple or Google keep about payments. If a purchase was paid on the web, you can ask us to delete the customer record in our Stripe account too. Stripe may keep its own payment records where the law requires.
• Device XP, settings and the nickname saved on the device stay there. Device XP stays on the device and unlocks nothing online. Online XP belongs to the account, so it is deleted with it. To remove what is left on the device, use Erase save in Settings (this doesn't clear the nickname our home page remembers), clear this site's data in the browser, or uninstall the app.

More detail is on our Delete Your Account & Data Requests page.

Safety tips for families

• Pick a safe nickname. Nicknames are public. Avoid real names, surnames, school or town names, ages, and usernames from other apps. Our game servers automatically replace some offensive nicknames with "Bug", but no filter catches everything and it doesn't look for personal details, so please check the one your child picks.
• Keep transfer codes and recovery codes secret. A transfer code moves an account to another device and works for 15 minutes. A recovery code brings an account back on any device, at any time, and doesn't expire. Anyone who gets your child's code can take the account, and entering a code someone else gives you can move your child's purchases to their account. Never share a code with anyone, including another player, a "free coins" offer or us, and never enter a code from someone else. If you have emailed us, we may ask you to make a new transfer code in the game to show the account is yours. We can see on our side that a code was made, so you never send it to us. We will never ask you to send a code.
• Save a recovery code after a purchase. In Settings ▸ Account ▸ Recovery code, make a code, copy it and keep it somewhere safe outside the game, where other people can't see it. It brings the account and its purchases back if the device is lost or the browser data is cleared. The game shows it only once, and we can't show it again. If you think someone else has seen it, make a new one with Replace code, which stops the old one working, or email us and we'll stop it working.
• Share party codes only with people you know. Anyone with the code can join the room.
• Control purchases on the device. On Apple devices, use Ask to Buy with Family Sharing, or Screen Time to block in-app purchases. On Android, turn on purchase approvals in Google Family Link, or require authentication for all purchases in the Google Play settings. On the web, don't leave cards saved in the browser or in a payment wallet on a device your child uses.
• Report problems. When playing online, a player can report another player's nickname in the game with Report name (no typing: they pick a reason), and clubs have a Report button. For anything else, email us. See our Community Guidelines.
• Talk about it. Ask your child to tell you if anything in the game upsets them, or if anyone asks for personal details, codes or money.

Children in the EEA and UK

If you live in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we use your child's information to provide the game they chose to play and to keep it safe and fair. We rely on providing the game under our Terms of Service and on our legitimate interest in keeping it safe and fair and in understanding how it is played so we can improve it (our game statistics). For purchase records we rely on our legal obligations. The only consent we ask for is a parent's consent to purchases. We don't use children's information for profiling or marketing. Your child's information is processed in the United States; our Privacy Policy explains the legal bases and the safeguards for international transfers. The game is built to collect little: no chat, no location and no third-party analytics. Ads are never personalized, and every ad request for a child is tagged as directed to a child (see Ads). Our own game statistics count players only under a code (see Our game statistics). Our website pages, outside the game, count visits with Google Analytics, but in the EEA and UK it sets no cookies. You and your child have the rights described in our Privacy Policy, including the right to complain to your data protection authority.

For players: the short version

• Your nickname is public. Don't use your real name.
• The game doesn't ask for your name, email or where you live.
• If you're under 13, a parent has to say yes before you can buy anything.
• Never give your transfer code or recovery code to anyone.
• If something in the game upsets you, tell a parent. They can email us.

Changes to this notice

If we change how we collect, use or share children's information, we will update this page first and change the date at the top. If the change is material, we will ask parents for new consent where COPPA requires it, and we will email parents who gave consent for purchases.

Contact

For questions about your child's privacy, parental consent or any request on this page, email support@buggs.io, or write to POWERUP GAMING LLC (buggs.io), 311 Chimney Rdg, Nolensville TN, 37135, or call 6154269855. Please include your child's Player ID if you have it. For other help, see Help & Contact.