Privacy policy
What SofAds collects when you visit this site or play a TV game that shows SofAds ads, why, and how to switch it off.
1. Who we are
SofAds is an advertising network for Smart TV apps and games. App and game developers ("publishers") add the SofAds SDK to their apps; we choose and deliver ads into those apps and give publishers usage analytics.
The controller for the processing described here is SofAds. TODO(legal): registered legal entity name, address, company number, and whether SofAds is controller, joint controller with the publisher, or processor for each purpose below.
Contact for anything privacy-related: privacy@sofads.com.
2. This website
sofads.com sets no cookies, runs no analytics and loads no third-party scripts or fonts. Our content delivery network keeps standard access logs (IP address, browser user agent, requested URL, time) to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. TODO(legal): confirm CDN log retention period with the CDN provider.
The dashboard at app.sofads.com uses a strictly necessary session cookie to keep you signed in. It is covered by this policy and by the agreement you accept when you open an account.
3. In TV games that use SofAds
When a game with the SofAds SDK runs on your TV, the SDK sends the following to SofAds servers on our serving domain (sofadsrv.com):
- App information: the SofAds app ID, the game's app ID on the TV platform, and the game version.
- Device information: TV platform (for example Tizen or webOS), manufacturer, model, operating system version, screen resolution and language.
- Identifiers: an advertising identifier and the SofAds install ID, when your consent choices allow it (see section 4).
- Ad events: which ad was requested and shown, how much of a video was watched, clicks and QR scans, errors.
- Session events: session start, a heartbeat every 30 to 60 seconds while you play, session end, and events the game developer chooses to record (for example "level completed").
- Consent signals: your IAB TCF consent string and any US privacy or GPP string the game passes to us.
- Partner signals: on Samsung TVs where the game's developer has enabled Google ads, a short-lived signal created by Google's Programmatic Access Library (see Google ads on Samsung TVs). We pass it on only to Google, in the request for that ad.
- Integration checks: whether the game is set up correctly on the TV (for example, whether a required Samsung library or permission is missing), so the developer can fix it.
Test devices. A game's developer can register their own TV as a test device by entering its SofAds install ID in their dashboard. That TV then only gets test ads, which are never billed. The install ID is stored in the developer's account until they remove it.
IP address. Our servers see your IP address with every request. We use it to work out your country, to detect fraudulent traffic, and we pass it to an advertising partner when we ask that partner for an ad on your behalf. We store the derived country with event records, not the IP address itself. TODO(legal): confirm retention of IP addresses in server logs and partner requests.
When you scan a SofAds QR code, your phone first opens a short link on sofadsrv.com, which records the scan and then redirects you to the advertiser's page. From that point the advertiser's own privacy policy applies.
4. Advertising identifiers
An advertising identifier lets ads be measured and, with your consent, personalized. TV platforms provide their own; where none is available, the SDK creates a SofAds install ID. Identifiers are sent as provided by the platform, without hashing.
| Identifier | Where it comes from | How to reset or limit it |
|---|---|---|
| TIFA Tizen Identifier for Advertising | Samsung TVs running Tizen. Provided by Samsung, together with the TV's Limit Ad Tracking setting. | In the TV's privacy settings. The menu path differs by model year. TODO(legal): verify current Samsung menu paths. |
| LGUDID LG Unique Device ID (a device identifier; LG does not offer a separate advertising ID) | LG TVs running webOS. Provided by LG's device ID service. | In the TV's privacy or advertising settings. TODO(legal): verify LG menu path and whether LGUDID is user-resettable. |
| WAID Whale advertising ID | TVs running Whale TV, and Titan OS TVs that expose the same advertising ID. We never read a Titan OS hardware device ID. | In the TV's privacy or advertising settings. TODO(legal): verify with Whale TV and Titan OS; WAID access is not finalized. |
| SofAds install ID | A random number (UUID) the SofAds SDK creates the first time a game runs, stored in that game's local storage on your TV. It is not derived from your hardware and is not shared between games. | Use Reset advertising ID in the game's privacy panel, or clear the game's data on the TV. Either gives you a new, unconnected ID. |
For developers: how each platform documents these identifiers is explained in TIFA, LGUDID and WAID: advertising IDs on Smart TVs.
The install ID is also used where no platform ID is available or allowed. Our usage analytics always count users by install ID, never by a platform advertising ID.
Limit Ad Tracking. If your TV has Limit Ad Tracking switched on, the SDK tells us so on every request. We pass that signal on and only contextual (non-personalized) ads are served.
5. Consent and the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework
Where the law requires consent (including the EEA, the UK and Switzerland), games using SofAds ask for it through a consent panel based on the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) v2 before any advertising identifier is used.
- No consent for advertising: the SDK does not send a device advertising identifier. You still see ads, but they are chosen from context (the game and your country), not from your profile.
- No consent for analytics: the SDK runs in a cookieless mode. It sends session events without the install ID or any other persistent identifier, so your sessions cannot be linked together.
- You can change your choices at any time from the game's privacy panel.
TODO(legal): SofAds TCF vendor registration status and Global Vendor List ID; which CMP the SDK ships with; legal basis per TCF purpose.
6. Reset your advertising ID
The privacy panel in every game that uses the SofAds SDK includes a Reset advertising ID option. It deletes the SofAds install ID stored on your TV and creates a new random one, so future activity can't be connected to the old ID. To reset the TV's own advertising ID (TIFA, LGUDID or WAID), use the TV's settings as described in section 4.
7. How we use data
| Purpose | Data | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing and showing an ad, contextual | App and device information, country | TODO(legal): legitimate interest? |
| Personalized advertising | Advertising identifier, ad events | Consent |
| Measuring ads and billing advertisers and partners | Ad events, identifiers where consented | TODO(legal): legitimate interest / contract? |
| Detecting fraud and invalid traffic | IP address, app and device information, event patterns | TODO(legal): legitimate interest |
| Usage analytics for the game's developer | Session events, install ID where consented | Consent for the install ID; TODO(legal): basis for cookieless mode |
TODO(legal): policy for games aimed at children (content rating handling, COPPA and GDPR-K): decide before third-party publishers join.
8. Who we share data with
- Google, when a Google ad is requested or shown on a Samsung TV: see Google ads on Samsung TVs below.
- Advertising partners that we ask for an ad on your behalf. They receive the ad request: app and device information, IP address, user agent, consent signals and, only where allowed, the advertising identifier. TODO(legal): publish the list of active demand partners.
- The game's developer sees aggregated reports (users, sessions, retention, revenue) for their own games. They do not receive your advertising identifier from us.
- Advertisers see aggregated campaign results (impressions, completion rate, scans), never identifiers.
- Service providers who host our servers, content delivery and backups, under data processing agreements. TODO(legal): name providers and locations; describe safeguards for any transfer outside the EEA.
Google ads on Samsung TVs (PAL)
On Samsung Tizen TVs, when the game's developer has enabled Google demand, the SofAds SDK loads Google's Programmatic Access Library (PAL) from Google's servers. Google requires this for its ads on TVs.
- PAL creates a per-session signal (a "nonce") that SofAds adds to the ad request it sends to Google.
- PAL sends Google information about the TV, the game and ad playback: when a Google ad starts and ends, QR scans or clicks, and remote interactions such as skipping.
- PAL may store an identifier on the TV. It reads your TCF consent choices; without consent for advertising, or with Limit Ad Tracking switched on, the SDK tells PAL to show limited ads only, and PAL itself applies limited ads when your TCF choices require it.
- PAL is never loaded on other platforms, and never for games whose developer has not enabled Google demand.
How Google uses this information is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. TODO(legal): confirm Google's role for PAL data (independent controller under the Google Ad Manager terms, or otherwise); whether PAL storage on the TV needs separate consent under ePrivacy rules and how our TCF setup covers it; Google's TCF vendor ID in our consent panel; and whether to name Google in the partner list.
We do not sell lists of identifiers and we do not combine your data with data bought from data brokers.
9. How long we keep data
Event records are kept for as long as needed for reporting, billing and fraud checks with partners. TODO(legal): set concrete retention periods for raw events, aggregated reports and server logs.
10. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask us for access to, correction of or deletion of your data, object to processing based on legitimate interest, withdraw consent, and complain to a data protection authority. Because SofAds does not know who you are, we can usually only find your data if you give us the advertising identifier or install ID shown in the game's privacy panel. Write to privacy@sofads.com.
TODO(legal): lead supervisory authority and contact details; whether a DPO or EU/UK representative is required.
11. Changes
We will post any change to this policy on this page and update the date at the top. Material changes will also be announced to publishers through the dashboard.