Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 9, 2026

FLASH QUEST (PTY) LTD, based in South Africa, operates FlashQuest ("FlashQuest," "we," "our," or "us"), a flashcard and study app with AI-powered deck creation, spaced repetition, timed quizzes, real-time multiplayer battles, social features, and a community deck library. This policy explains what information FlashQuest collects, how it is used, and how you can control it.

Want to delete your FlashQuest account and associated data? View account deletion instructions and the email request option. You can make a request without installing or opening the app.

Guest Mode vs. Signed-In Mode

FlashQuest can be used without creating a registered account. Core guest decks, study progress, and preferences are stored on your device. Connected features are different: if you choose an AI, community, referral, notification, support, or multiplayer feature, the data needed for that feature may be sent to our service providers even before you register. FlashQuest identifies this transmission in the app and asks for any required consent before sending AI content.

When you create an account and sign in, certain data is synced to our servers to enable cloud backup, cross-device sync, social features, multiplayer, community deck publishing, and leaderboards. A temporary guest workspace may be transferred to the registered account so that the starter deck, nickname, and onboarding progress are not lost.

Information We Collect

Depending on whether you use a guest or registered account and which features you choose, we may collect the following:

Account information

Email address (for account creation and authentication)
Display name and username (visible to other users on leaderboards, friend lists, and published decks)
Authentication data from Apple Sign In, Google Sign-In (where available), or email-based login

Before FlashQuest starts a registered account request, it asks for birth month and year to check whether the person is at least 13. If the result is under 13, the exact month and year stay on the device only for that check and are not sent to FlashQuest; the device retains only the month when eligibility can be checked again. For an eligible signed-in account, birth month and year are stored privately to enforce age-appropriate account and Community access. They are not displayed to other users.

Subscriptions and AI cards

If you view, purchase, or restore FlashQuest Pro through the App Store or Google Play, the store where you purchase (Apple or Google) and RevenueCat process the purchase information needed to provide the subscription. FlashQuest and RevenueCat associate purchase history, product and transaction identifiers, subscription status, renewal or expiry dates, and refund or cancellation information with an automatically created guest identifier or your optional FlashQuest account identifier. No FlashQuest email, password, name, birth date or registration is required to buy or restore Pro or use guest AI after its separate processing consent. A guest service identifier does not verify eligibility for an account or Community. We use this information to validate purchases, restore access, prevent fraud, provide support, and understand subscription performance. Apple or Google handles payment details for its store; FlashQuest does not receive your payment card number.

FlashQuest also records AI card reservations, usage and confirmed failure refunds to enforce your allowance and avoid duplicate charges. Subscription processing and AI card accounting are necessary to provide these features and are separate from optional product analytics. Purchase history is linked to your account. We use it to provide your subscription and AI cards. Optional subscription ad measurement is described below and requires your separate choice.

When you sign in on another supported platform, including Android, FlashQuest retrieves your account's subscription status and AI card balance so that existing account access can be recognised. Purchase availability may differ by platform.

Website billing: coming soon

Website checkout is not currently available. When it becomes available, Paddle will process checkout and payment information as merchant of record. FlashQuest and RevenueCat will process an account-linked billing identifier, subscription and product identifiers, transaction references, billing currency, paid-through dates, and cancellation, refund or dispute status. FlashQuest does not receive your full payment-card number.

This information is used to provide the membership you request, account for AI cards, reconcile payments, prevent fraud and resolve support or billing disputes. It is separate from optional analytics or advertising. Website memberships require an eligible FlashQuest account; the guest purchase statements above refer to App Store and Google Play purchases.

Limited billing records may be retained after account deletion where necessary to reconcile refunds or disputes, prevent fraud or comply with recordkeeping obligations. The duration depends on the purpose, applicable legal requirements and any unresolved claim; deletion of an account does not require the deletion of every transaction record. Retained records are not used for advertising. See Data Retention below, the Paddle Privacy Policy and the RevenueCat Privacy Policy. Contact privacy@flashquest.net about access or deletion requests.

Study content

Flashcard content, deck names, descriptions, and categories
Text, notes, images, or documents submitted for AI-powered flashcard generation
Decks published to the community library

Study progress and activity

Study session results, scores, streaks, and XP
Spaced repetition scheduling data
Leaderboard rankings and statistics

Social and multiplayer data

Friend connections and friend requests
Challenge invitations and results
Arena battle room participation, scores, and round-by-round activity

Device and notification data

Push notification tokens (used to deliver friend requests, challenge invitations, streak reminders, and deck moderation notices)
Device platform (iOS/Android)

Optional analytics

The website has its own choice, separate from the app: optional Mixpanel measurement stays off until you choose Allow analytics. Before that choice, the website does not create an analytics identifier or send Mixpanel events. Use Website privacy choices to keep analytics off or withdraw permission; withdrawal removes the website analytics identifier and stops future events. Legal and support pages are not measured even after opt-in. Your choice is saved in this browser. Operational hosting requests remain necessary to serve the website.

Separately, the website keeps anonymous, aggregate counts of a few steps (a page view, starting or finishing the demo round, tapping the App Store button, joining the Android waitlist) so we can see which pages and video links work. Each count records only the page or link it came from, the step, and a coarse device and browser type, such as iPhone or a social app's built-in browser. It stores nothing in your browser, uses no cookie or identifier, and we do not keep your IP address with it. These counts stop when you choose Keep analytics off, when your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track, and on legal and support pages.

App usage events and feature interactions (product analytics, described below)
Crash reports and diagnostics

App update delivery

FlashQuest automatically checks Expo's update service for compatible maintenance updates when the app starts. These operational requests may include your IP address, an installation identifier, device platform, app runtime and update identifiers, and limited update or startup failure diagnostics. They help deliver the correct update, avoid incompatible or failed updates, and restore a working version. Update checks also run in guest mode and are separate from optional product analytics and Sentry crash reports. They do not require a FlashQuest account. Internal test builds configured for embedded-only content, including iPhone 2.6.3 (build 172), do not check for or download remote updates.

How We Use Information

Create and manage your account
Validate and restore subscriptions, account for AI cards, and support billing enquiries
Provide study modes, spaced repetition, and progression features
Generate flashcards using AI-powered tools
Enable friends, challenges, and leaderboard features
Operate real-time multiplayer Arena battles
Operate the community deck library
Send push notifications you have opted into
Send account emails, such as a welcome email, email confirmation and password resets
Send study tips and new decks by email, only if you opt in
Monitor app stability and diagnose issues
Moderate community content and enforce our Terms of Service
Respond to support and privacy requests

AI-Powered Features

When you choose an AI feature, including deck creation, note/image/document import, answer-distractor generation, hints, or explanations, the content needed for that request may be processed by our AI processing providers. OpenAI processes content for every AI feature. For Quest answer choices, Anthropic also receives the card's question, answer and proposed answer choices to check that each round has one clearly correct answer. Before the first transmission, FlashQuest presents an in-app disclosure and asks for consent. Declining consent keeps the content from being sent to the AI service. Open Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy to withdraw permission separately for deck creation/imports/improvements, study hints/explanations, and Quest answer choices. Withdrawal stops future requests; content already sent cannot be recalled and an existing request may finish. The next use asks for consent again. Your saved decks and ordinary study remain available.

Reporting AI content

When you choose Report AI content, FlashQuest shows the selected card, hint or explanation text that will be submitted. If you submit, we store that text, your selected reason, optional comment, a report reference, your guest or account service identifier, and the app version and platform in a private safety review queue. The rest of your deck, original source files and attachments are not included. These reports help us investigate problems and improve content safety; submitting a report does not publish or delete the card. Private AI reports are removed when the associated service account is deleted.

Community Decks

When you publish a deck to the community library, your username, deck name, description, category, and card content become visible to all FlashQuest users. You can unpublish your decks at any time from the Explore screen.

Other users can report published decks for inappropriate content, spam, copied content, or inaccuracy. Decks that receive multiple reports may be automatically hidden and the author notified.

Multiplayer and Arena

Arena battles require server-side processing to manage room state, synchronize questions, track scores, and determine results in real time. Room data, player names, scores, and battle outcomes are processed during the session and stored for battle history.

Push Notifications

FlashQuest may send push notifications for friend requests, accepted requests, challenge invitations, challenge results, streak reminders, and deck moderation notices. You can manage notification permissions in your device settings or in the app's Settings screen.

Product Analytics

Builds 2.6.2 (169) and 2.6.3 (171) keep product analytics and Sentry reporting off until you opt in. For the planned iPhone version 2.6.3 (build 172), default-on collection requires a separately enabled rollout and the applicable notices. Until that rollout is enabled for the version, product analytics and Sentry remain off until you opt in. Once enabled, FlashQuest collects product analytics and sends Sentry crash, performance and app-session diagnostics by default for eligible users once their App Store account country is known and outside the EEA, UK, Switzerland and protected territories. In those territories, when your App Store country is unknown, and on the web, they stay off until you opt in. On Android, version 2.6.4 and later apply the same rule with your Google Play account country once a separately enabled Android rollout is on. Until that rollout is enabled, on earlier Android versions, and when your Google Play country is unknown, they stay off until you opt in. They are never on for known under-13s. A saved choice to turn analytics off is preserved when you update. Product analytics events created while settings or country are unresolved wait in a bounded queue on your device, then are sent with their original event times if analytics is enabled, or deleted if it stays off. You can turn analytics off at any time in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy. These reports can include your FlashQuest account ID and app-generated session, deck, room or player identifiers, so they are not necessarily anonymous. Sentry receives sampled performance traces and app-session diagnostics; Sentry session replay is disabled. This telemetry is limited to allowlisted operational fields and should not include raw search text, discussion content, AI responses, or raw AI parsing errors. When it is off, product analytics and Sentry reports are not sent. Operational app update requests, where enabled as described above, remain separate.

When crash reporting is on, Sentry receives the request's IP address and may infer an approximate city, region or country to help diagnose service and performance problems. This is approximate network-based location, not GPS or precise device location. Mixpanel IP-based geolocation is disabled in the app.

Separately, in version 2.6.4 and later and once a separately enabled rollout is on, the app keeps anonymous, aggregate counts of a few first-run steps (for example opening the first screen, finishing the first five cards, reaching the end of setup, seeing or closing the Pro screen, and finishing a first study round) so we can see where new people stop. Each count records only the day, the step, whether the phone is an iPhone or an Android phone, and the app version and build. It carries no account, session, device, installation or advertising identifier and nothing you typed or studied, and we do not keep your IP address with it, so a count cannot be linked to you. Each step is counted once per installation, and the list of steps already counted stays on your device. These counts are separate from product analytics. Outside the EEA, the UK and Switzerland they can begin before you have made an analytics choice. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, judged by your phone's time zone, nothing is counted or kept on your device unless you allow analytics. Everywhere, they stop when analytics is turned off in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy, and they are never taken for known under-13s.

Email

FlashQuest sends account emails to the address on your registered account, such as a welcome email, email confirmation and password resets. Study tips and new decks by email are off unless you opt in, either with the unchecked box when you create an account or with Study tips by email in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy. We record your answer and when you gave it. You can turn it off there at any time, and every such email includes an unsubscribe link. Guests have no email address and are never added. We do not sell your email address or share it with other companies for their marketing.

Ideas and Feedback You Send

When you use Suggest an idea in the app, we receive what you write, the kind of note you picked, and the app version, platform and screen it came from, which the app shows you before you send. It is linked to your account so we can find what you saw and, only if you turn on the reply switch, answer you at your account email. Please don't include health details or anything private about another person. We use these notes to improve FlashQuest and never share them for others' marketing. Each note is also emailed to our support inbox (support@flashquest.net) through our email provider so the team can read it. The email includes a reply address only if you allow replies and your account email is confirmed; guest notes never include a reply address. Deleting your account removes the note from our app database, but does not automatically erase copies already delivered to the support inbox. Contact privacy@flashquest.net to request deletion of those support copies.

Optional Install Ad Measurement

On supported iOS versions, adults aged 18 or older may choose to share an advertising identifier with Meta to measure whether ads for FlashQuest result in app installs. This is a separate choice from product analytics, signing up, AI permissions and buying Pro. It stays off unless FlashQuest verifies adult eligibility, you separately opt in to sharing with Meta, and Apple grants tracking permission. Consenting adult guests are eligible; a registered account is not required. Minors, unknown eligibility and anyone who declines are excluded.

When permitted, FlashQuest sends Meta an installation event with the advertising ID, a random installation identifier, the first-launch time, app version/build and operating-system information. Study content, answers, scores, contact details, account identifiers, purchase history and birth month/year are not included. FlashQuest uses Supabase to authenticate the guest or account and check current consent and age eligibility before forwarding the permitted event. For guest ad eligibility, birth month/year are checked on our server; this ad eligibility record retains an adult eligibility decision, not those birth entries. Existing private account age records continue to follow the account rules described above.

FlashQuest keeps consent and delivery status separately from the advertising identifier. The advertising ID is not saved in FlashQuest device storage, its consent/delivery tables, product analytics or diagnostic logs. The local installation record helps prevent duplicate reporting and excludes updates with existing device data. Meta may also use received event information to deliver and personalize ads and improve its products. You can turn sharing off in Data & privacy to stop future requests. Meta processes received information under its Privacy Policy and applicable Business Tools terms.

Use Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy > Ad measurement to turn sharing off. New advertising requests stop immediately on the device, while the app saves the withdrawal with our service; if saving fails, the control offers a retry. Apple tracking permission can also be managed in iOS Settings. Turning sharing off stops future requests; data already transmitted cannot be recalled. Your decks, ordinary study and subscription access remain available.

On eligible new iOS installations, AppsFlyer helps us understand which ads lead to installs and app opens. It receives app version, device model, operating-system version, language, install and app-open times, Apple Ads attribution information where available, and network information, including IP address and an approximate location derived from it, such as country or city. This is not GPS or precise device location. Any matched-install report may include your IP address and approximate location.

In the EEA, UK, Switzerland and protected territories, or when your App Store country is unknown, AppsFlyer runs only after you opt in. Elsewhere, where this option is enabled, it may run without your advertising ID unless you turn measurement off. We use your App Store account country, which may differ from your location. Advertising ID sharing requires your separate choice and Apple's tracking permission. AppsFlyer is not used for known under-18s or upgrades with an existing installation record.

Study content, answers, scores and contact details are not sent to AppsFlyer. You can turn measurement off in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy > Ad measurement. Turning it off stops measurement on this device; data already sent cannot be recalled. AppsFlyer processes information under its Services Privacy Policy.

Android install ad measurement

On supported new Android installations, adults aged 18 or older may separately opt in to install and app-open measurement with AppsFlyer and Meta. Measurement stays off until this choice is made; guests can choose without creating an account. Known minors, unknown age eligibility and upgrades with an existing installation record are excluded. Android does not use Apple's tracking permission.

After you opt in, AppsFlyer receives an advertising ID if available, an app installation identifier, install and app-open times, app and operating-system versions, device information, language, and network information including IP address and approximate location. Google Play and the Facebook or Instagram app may supply install-referrer information to help attribute an installation. AppsFlyer may share permitted install and app-open measurement with Meta. FlashQuest disables Android ID and App Set ID collection for this integration. It does not send contacts, study content, answers, scores or purchase events through Android ad measurement.

You can turn Android ad measurement off in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy. The app stops the measurement SDK immediately and saves your choice locally so it stays off after restarting. Turning it off does not recall information already sent. Your decks, study and subscription access remain available. AppsFlyer and Meta process information under the privacy policies linked above.

Optional subscription ad measurement (iOS)

If you choose ad measurement that includes trials and subscriptions, RevenueCat sends trial, subscription, renewal, cancellation and refund events, including revenue, your AppsFlyer ID and RevenueCat customer ID, to AppsFlyer. This helps us understand which ads lead to subscriptions. An earlier install-only choice does not enable this sharing. Where the in-app choice expressly includes Meta, consenting adults who authorize Apple tracking may also permit AppsFlyer to forward trial starts and first paid subscription events (including trial conversions), with subscription values and currency, to Meta for ad measurement and optimization. AppsFlyer-only purchase consent does not authorize this onward sharing. Renewals, cancellations and refunds are not forwarded to Meta through this configuration. Turning it off requests removal of the RevenueCat link. Removal needs a network connection; it cannot recall data already sent.

Apple Install Attribution

On supported new iOS installations, FlashQuest uses Apple's privacy-preserving install reports when enabled. During Apple's measurement window, the app may also report whether an installation started a trial or has paid Pro access, using a limited status value without an advertising ID, account identifier or purchase amount. Apple may send delayed reports to the ad network and copies of winning install reports to AppsFlyer. Apple applies privacy thresholds; not every install or subscription is reported. This is separate from advertising ID sharing and does not require Apple's tracking permission. See Apple's ad attribution information.

The Zone (Screen Time)

Zone uses Apple’s Screen Time permission to block apps you choose. Your app selections stay on your device; FlashQuest does not receive or send your app list.

Sharing of Information

We do not sell personal information. We share information only with service providers that help operate FlashQuest:

Supabase (cloud hosting, database, authentication)
Paddle (checkout, payment processing and billing support for planned website subscriptions; Paddle Privacy Policy)
Apple (App Store purchase processing and subscription management)
Google (Google Play purchase processing and subscription management, Google Sign-In where available, and Android push delivery through Firebase Cloud Messaging when notifications are enabled)
RevenueCat (purchase validation, subscription access, billing analytics and optional subscription ad measurement described above; RevenueCat Privacy Policy)
OpenAI (AI generation and imports, only after the applicable in-app permission; OpenAI Privacy Policy)
Anthropic (checking Quest answer choices, only after the Quest answer-choices permission; Anthropic Privacy Policy)
Meta (optional Android install/app-open measurement and iOS install and explicitly consented trial/subscription ad measurement for eligible adults, after the separate sharing choice and, on iOS, Apple tracking permission; Meta Privacy Policy)
AppsFlyer (optional Android install/app-open measurement, and iOS install, app-open and optional subscription ad measurement plus Apple install-report copies, as described above; AppsFlyer Services Privacy Policy)
Sentry (crash, performance and app-session diagnostics; the version-specific analytics choice described above applies)
Mixpanel (product analytics; the version-specific analytics choice described above applies)
Resend (sending account emails and, only if you opt in, study tips and new decks; Resend Privacy Policy)
Expo (push notification and app update delivery, including the operational update information described above)

Your username, display name, and published deck content are visible to other FlashQuest users through social features and the community library.

Publishing also makes the deck and publisher identity accessible through community web pages and sharing previews. Unlisted links may be forwarded by recipients. Unpublishing or deleting your account does not remotely erase independent copies previously saved on other users' devices; contact us about unlawful content or a privacy concern involving a shared copy.

If you submit a copyright complaint or appeal, we process the contact information, disputed-content identifiers, statements, and supporting evidence you send to assess and resolve it. We may share the relevant allegations and evidence with the affected publisher or claimant when needed to respond fairly, and disclose information where legally required. We do not routinely publish complaint contact details. These records are retained only as needed for moderation, dispute resolution, or legal obligations. Do not include unrelated sensitive information.

Data Retention

We retain account and study data for as long as your account is active. A deletion request may remain pending while FlashQuest removes stored files, revokes a linked Apple authorization credential when one is available, and completes bounded retries. After deletion is confirmed, we may retain limited records as necessary for abuse prevention, moderation enforcement, fraud prevention, legal compliance, and dispute resolution. Limited subscription identifiers and monthly AI card usage may remain after account deletion so a restored subscription keeps its remaining paid allowance and account deletion does not reset spent credits. These retained billing records are not used for advertising or marketing. Other retained records are not used for product features or marketing.

Delete your FlashQuest account and data

Request deletion without the app: email privacy@flashquest.net from the email address associated with your account, or include your FlashQuest username so we can locate it. State that you want your FlashQuest account and associated data deleted. We may ask for information needed to verify account ownership; never send your password.

Account deletion removes the account and its associated profile, cloud-synced study content and progress, stored files, and social account data. Limited billing, AI card usage, moderation, fraud-prevention or legally required records may be retained for the purposes explained in Data Retention above. Independent copies of published content previously saved by other users are not remotely erased.

There is no single fixed additional retention period for these exception records: it depends on the applicable recordkeeping obligation, unresolved refund or dispute, or continuing fraud-prevention or moderation need. They are retained only for those purposes, as described above. Contact privacy@flashquest.net about the retention that applies to your deletion request.

You can request account deletion directly in the app: Profile > Account > Delete Account. The app shows the request status while the service removes the account's stored files and related account data. FlashQuest does not present deletion as complete, clear the local workspace, or sign you out until the service confirms completion. If a deletion attempt cannot finish, the app reports that state so it can be retried or escalated rather than claiming that the data is gone.

For an automatically created connected guest account, open Settings > Danger zone > Delete guest account & data. You do not need to register or provide a name, email or birth date to delete this guest account. If you have used only local study and have no connected guest account, use Settings > Clear all data to remove device data. Deleting an account does not cancel an Apple or Google Play subscription; manage or cancel it with the store where you purchased. On Android, use Manage subscription in FlashQuest Pro or Google Play > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions.

If you cannot access the app, you can request account deletion by emailing privacy@flashquest.net with the email address or username associated with your account.

Your Choices

Use FlashQuest in guest mode without creating an account
Delete your registered account in Profile > Account > Delete Account, or your connected guest account in Settings > Danger zone > Delete guest account & data
Disable optional analytics in Settings > Privacy > Data & privacy
Manage push notifications in device settings or the app
Unpublish decks from the community library
Remove friends and decline friend requests
Contact us at privacy@flashquest.net

Children's Privacy

FlashQuest accounts and connected features are not directed to children under 13 and are limited to people age 13 or older. Local-only guest study can remain available without creating an account or using connected services. FlashQuest uses a neutral age screen before account authentication. Guest Pro purchase, restore and AI use do not ask for a birth date; they use a pseudonymous service identifier and separate AI-processing consent. If a guest has already been identified as under 13 by the local check, connected services remain blocked. An under-13 result blocks account and connected features without transmitting or retaining the submitted birth month and year; only a conservative local recheck date is kept. If an existing account is identified as under 13, processing is limited to eligibility verification, support, and protected deletion; cloud sync, AI, push, analytics, and social features are stopped while the app presents the account-deletion process. We do not knowingly retain personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, contact us so we can restrict and delete it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the Last Updated date above.

Contact

General support: support@flashquest.net

Privacy questions or deletion requests: privacy@flashquest.net