Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how personal data is collected, used, and protected when you visit and play Sikaku (Shikaku) rectangle-division puzzles on Sikakus.com (the 'Site'), operated by Beetux Software SRL, a company established in the European Union under the laws of Romania.

Because the operator is established in the EU, this processing is governed by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For each category of data, this document states the specific lawful basis under Article 6 of the GDPR on which we rely, so that our reasons for processing are transparent to visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA) and beyond.

1. Data We Collect

Sikakus.com is a free puzzle site that works without registration, and we keep data collection to the minimum needed to serve the puzzles and keep the Site running. The data below is either sent automatically by your browser or provided by you on the rare occasions you contact us.

Technical and Connection Data

When you load a page or request a new puzzle, our server logs automatically record standard connection information sent by your browser, including:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address: used to route the response, estimate your approximate region, and protect the Site.
• Browser user agent: the browser type, version, and operating system your device reports.
• Device and display characteristics: details such as screen size and language settings, used to draw the board at a suitable scale.
• Request timestamps: the date and time of each request made to our server.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Site uses a small number of cookies and equivalent browser storage, grouped here by purpose:

• Functional preferences: a first-party cookie remembers the board size and difficulty you last selected so they can be restored on your next visit. It stores no personal identifier and is shared only across our own language subdomains.
• Analytics: Google Analytics cookies help us understand, in aggregate, how many people play and which board sizes and difficulties are popular.
• Advertising: where advertising is shown to keep the Site free, advertising partners may set cookies to measure and, subject to your choices, personalize the ads you see.

Information You Provide Voluntarily

The game itself asks for nothing about you. The only personal data you might actively give us is:

• Contact details: if you email us with a question or a report, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to write.

2. Legal Bases for Processing

Under Article 6(1) of the GDPR, every processing activity must rest on a specific lawful basis. Rather than relying on a single blanket justification, we match each purpose to the most appropriate basis, as set out below.

Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1)(f))

Most of the technical data above is processed because it is necessary for legitimate interests we pursue in running the Site, balanced against your rights and reasonable expectations:

• Security and abuse prevention: we process IP addresses and user-agent strings to detect and block bots, scraping, and denial-of-service or fraudulent activity, so the Site stays available and safe for everyone.
• Correct rendering: we use display characteristics so the puzzle grid is drawn at a readable size on your particular device.
• Remembering your preferences: storing your chosen board size and difficulty in a first-party cookie spares you from re-selecting them each visit, a limited convenience you would reasonably expect.
• Operational analysis: we review aggregated server logs to understand load and guide improvements. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time (see your rights below).

Consent (Article 6(1)(a))

Cookies that are not strictly necessary to deliver the game are set only where consent is required and given. You may withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal:

• Analytics cookies: the audience-measurement cookies described above.
• Advertising cookies: any cookies used to measure or personalize advertising.

Performance of a Contract (Article 6(1)(b))

Playing the free puzzles creates no contract and requires no processing on this basis. It applies only where you choose to use an optional feature that we offer as a service, in which case we process the data necessary to provide the service you requested.

Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c))

In limited cases the law itself requires us to process or retain data:

• Record keeping: if we ever process a payment or similar transaction, tax and accounting rules oblige us to keep the related records for the statutory period.
• Lawful requests: we may retain or disclose data where compelled to do so by a valid order from a competent authority.

3. Third-Party Providers and International Transfers

We rely on a few well-established providers to operate and fund the Site. Some of them, notably Google, are based outside the EEA:

Analytics and Advertising Partners

• Google Analytics: provides the aggregated audience measurement described above and may process pseudonymized usage data on Google infrastructure.
• Google AdSense: where ads are shown, it serves and measures them and may use cookies for that purpose. These partners act under their own privacy policies, which govern the data they collect directly.

International Transfers and Safeguards

Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we rely on the safeguards these providers offer, such as the European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), so that your data keeps a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed within the EU.

4. Data Retention

We keep personal data only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected for. Technical server logs are retained for a short period for security and diagnostics and are then deleted or aggregated. The functional preference cookie expires according to its own lifetime or when you clear it. Any correspondence you send us is kept only for as long as needed to resolve your request. Records we are legally obliged to keep are retained for the period the law prescribes.

5. Your Rights

The GDPR gives you rights over your personal data. Depending on the basis we rely on, you may exercise the following:

• Access: obtain confirmation of, and a copy of, the data we hold about you.
• Rectification: have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected.
• Erasure: ask us to delete your data where no overriding reason, such as a legal retention duty, requires us to keep it.
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data while a query is being resolved.
• Portability: receive data you provided in a structured, machine-readable format where processing is based on consent or a contract.
• Objection and withdrawal: object to processing based on legitimate interests, and withdraw any consent you have given, at any time.

How to Opt Out of Advertising Tracking

To opt out of interest-based advertising from many providers at once, you can use these industry tools:

• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI): https://thenai.org/opt-out/
• Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA): https://optout.aboutads.info/
• Your Online Choices (EU): https://www.youronlinechoices.com/

You can also set your browser to reject or delete cookies, though disabling the functional cookie means the Site can no longer remember your preferred board size and difficulty.

6. Contact

For any question about this policy, or to exercise any of the rights above, please contact us:

    Email: v@d9.ro

We aim to respond to genuine requests within one month. If you are in the EEA and believe your data has not been handled properly, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local Data Protection Authority.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time, and the version published on this page is the one in force. Continuing to use the Site after a change means you are aware of the current policy. If you do not agree with it, you can stop using the Site.

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