Last updated July 18, 2022
This Lexipon Co. Ltd. Privacy Policy (hereinafter "Privacy Policy") details how information about you may be collected, stored, used, shared with third-party services, and transferred across borders by Lexipon Co. Ltd. ("Lexipon", "us", or "we") when you use the services that BLOON provides ("BLOON" or "the Services"). BLOON is operated by Lexipon. This Privacy Policy also describes the rights you have with respect to your information.
As you review this Privacy Policy, please keep in mind that BLOON mainly exists to enable data transfer and data syncing. We don’t store your files on our servers, nor do you have the option of storing your files on our servers. In other words, BLOON is not in the cloud storage business.
You can access our Services in four ways. BLOON may collect your information when you engage with our Services in any of these ways.
Via the BLOON website. Our website at https://www.bloon.io (hereinafter "the Website") provides marketing and pricing information. It also houses the BLOON help center. What this Privacy Policy refers to as the Website does not include the web app, which opens when a visitor logs in on the Website, including right after having created an account.
Via BLOON desktop app. The BLOON desktop app is available for download on our website, either here or here.
Via BLOON mobile app. The BLOON mobile app is available for download on Google LLC's Google Play and in Apple, Inc.'s App Store under the name "BLOON App".
Via BLOON web app. Once you log in on the Website (including right after having created an account), you have entered the BLOON web app.
This section goes over what information we collect from you, as well as why we collect it and how we use it.
Your account information consists of your login information — your email address and password — and certain other information that directly identifies you such as your alias, your profile image, and your profile text ("About Me"). We collect your login information and alias when you entrust it to us by creating a BLOON account. We collect your other account information if and when you choose to provide it.
Please be assured that we never store your password in plaintext form. We store it in a secure, hashed form.
We collect account information from you when you use the BLOON desktop app, the BLOON mobile app, or the BLOON web app ("the Apps").
The core services provided by BLOON are customised to the user. This means that we need to identify users using accounts and logins. Login information enables us to identify individual accounts, and to verify that your account is yours. The purpose of the other account information is for other BLOON users to be able to identify you, if and when you choose to engage with other users.
We use your account information to handle logins and enable other users to identify you, if you have chosen to engage with other users. We may also send messages to the email address associated with your account. See the section on Managing Email Notifications if you want more information. If you would like to know how account information is stored, or what happens to it if the account is deleted, please see the section on Data Retention.
Information that you introduce directly into the Apps is sent to our servers and stored in substantially unmodified form. Such information may include the names of spaces, the names of bloons, the content of BLOON docs, messages, frequent search terms, item notes, comments, tag names, profile images, and profile text ("About Me").
We collect this information through the Apps.
This information is integral to carrying out the actions you initiate while using the Apps. The purpose of each piece of information is generally straightforward and apparent at the spot where it is introduced.
We retrieve this information for you to view, whenever you initiate access to it in the course of using the Services.
When you initiate an action in the Apps, the app automatically collects the information required for it to carry out or fulfill that action. For example, when you import files by dragging them into the BLOON desktop app, the app automatically collects the names and sizes of those files as part of that process. And in order to correctly sync data across devices — one of BLOON's core capacities — BLOON automatically records the folder structure within each bloon folder.
Just to clarify: While BLOON does not store your data in the cloud, when an image, video, or other multimedia file is imported as an item, BLOON generates a thumbnail image from the contents of the file to use as a representation of the item. We do store this thumbnail. BLOON also generates and stores a thumbnail image when a URL is added or imported.
The Apps collect information in the manner described in this section.
The Apps automatically collect this information in order to carry out or fulfill the actions you initiate. For example, when you import files by dragging them into the BLOON desktop app, the app automatically collects information regarding those files as part of that process. This information also enables you to find and access the files afterward.
We retrieve this information and apply or display it as necessary to carry out or fulfill the actions you initiate while using the Apps.
We collect information about the computer or mobile device you use to access the Services as follows:
|
via Desktop App |
via Mobile App |
via Web App |
via Website Visit |
| IP Address |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, with anonymisation |
| OS |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes, via user-agent |
Yes, via user-agent |
| Device Name |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Browser |
- |
- |
Yes, via user-agent |
Yes, via user-agent |
| Time of Most Recent Activity |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Pseudonymous Device ID |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
A Note on IP Addresses
We store your IP address in anonymised form when you visit the Website. This means that we set the last eight bits of IPv4 addresses and the last 80 bits of IPv6 addresses to zeros before storing them.
A Note on User-Agent Information
We do not actively collect information about your OS or your browser when you visit the Website or use the BLOON web app. However, your browser automatically sends us user-agent information, which we store. We are able to extract information regarding your OS and browser from the user-agent information your browser sends us.
A Note on Time of Most Recent Activity
When you are using any of the Apps, the app reports to our servers roughly once every five minutes that you are online. We store the times of these reports. When you visit the Website, we store the time of the visit.
A Note on Pseudonymous Device IDs
We need to be able to uniquely and persistently identify your device. The BLOON desktop app may use your machine ID or, in some cases, the MAC address on the network interface card of your computer. The BLOON mobile app may use the IMEI. The BLOON web app, on the other hand, randomly generates an identifier the first time you log in and stores it on your device as a browser cookie. We pseudonymise this identifying information. The resulting pseudonymous device ID is what we use to identify your device. We do not store plain, raw identifying information about your device.
We collect device information through the Apps and the Website.
Your pseudonymous device ID enables the Services to correctly identify your device, making data transfer and syncing possible while providing added security against unauthorised access to your data. Meanwhile, BLOON device management — which informs you regarding all the devices you have ever logged in on — relies on the information that we collect about your devices. Also, your IP address informs us of your approximate location; this helps make our marketing communications to you more relevant. And information about your OS and browser helps us troubleshoot software-related bug ands glitches and improve the quality of our Services.
We use your device information to identify your device, or devices. The first time you log in to the BLOON desktop or mobile app on a device, we generate and store a pseudonymous device ID for it. From then on, when you use the app on the same device, the app generates a pseudonymous device ID to send along with each request; we compare this freshly generated pseudonymous device ID against the one (or the ones) previously stored. The BLOON web app, on the other hand, randomly generates an identifier the first time you log in and stores it on your device as a browser cookie. For more information, please refer to our Cookie Policy; the cookie that identifies your device is named "dus".
We may statistically analyse the information we collect regarding our users’ devices. This helps us better understand our users and how they use the Services. We may inquire, for example, which operating system is most used by our users; which browser is most used by our users; the average number of hours spent online per device; and which regions have the greatest concentration of users.
We collect information about how you use and interact with the Services.
We collect usage information through the Apps and the Website.
Usage information makes the footprints function possible. The footprints function allows you to quickly browse or locate the most recent actions taken by you or by other members of shared spaces — whether adding or moving items, leaving comments, adding or editing notes, editing BLOON docs, modifying files, or creating sharelinks.
Usage information also helps us better understand how users interact with the Services, in turn enabling us to improve the Apps, the Website, and our overall user experience. For this purpose, we keep a record of when you use the apps and for how long, and which actions you take. We log actions such as toggling between spaces or bloons, clicking on tags, toggling between grid view and list view, opening tabs, clicking on your download history, and clicking on your footprints. When you visit the Website, we log when you open each page as well as whether you arrived from another page.
We retrieve this information from storage to display to you when you initiate access to your footprints. We also use this information to better understand how you use the Services.
When you use BLOON’s web hosting function, if you have enabled web caching, some of the data that you host this way will be stored on our servers temporarily, for at most six months. We do not store your data permanently for this purpose or any purpose.
BLOON generally does not store your files, but when — and only when — you enable web caching for BLOON web hosting, you request BLOON to temporarily store the files to be hosted. Please note that this is the only facet of the Services where your files may ever be stored on our servers.
This information helps BLOON load cached pages fast.
We use this information to rapidly serve cached pages from our servers. We do not use it for any other purpose.
We collect and use log data in order to ensure that the Services are working right; diagnose and fix problems that may arise; and improve the Services. Log data can include any of the information described above in the section entitled "What Information We Collect", except your email address and password. Log data also includes the times at which the data was collected.
We collect log data through the Apps and the Website.
To ensure that the Services are functioning properly, to diagnose and fix problems that may arise, and to improve the Services.
We retrieve and review log data as necessary to monitor, troubleshoot, or improve the Services.
At times, we may share your information with, or show it to, individuals and organisations other than yourself.
When you join a space, other members of that space will be able to view data such as your email address, your alias, your profile image, and your profile text ("About Me"); as well as data you may have introduced into the space, be it the name of the space, the names of bloons, the content of BLOON docs, messages, item notes, comments, or tag names.
Others may also see your data if you have linked to it using the Services, as follows:
|
Can others view the linked data? |
Can search engines index the linked data? |
| Item ID links |
Maybe, depending on their status (login required) |
No |
| Sharelinks |
Yes, if they have the link |
No |
| Sharelinks under content display mode |
Yes, if they have the link |
Yes |
| Direct links |
Yes, if they have the link |
Yes |
| Hosting links |
Yes, if they have the link |
Yes |
We exclude your linked data from being indexed by search engines by applying noindex and nofollow meta tags to the linked pages. Currently, the major search engines do not index a page if these tags are present, and a page cannot be found through a search engine unless it has been indexed.
We use third-party services to enhance, promote, and facilitate the operation of the Services. The providers of these third-party services might also collect and handle your data, to the extent that they come in contact with it. The third-party services we use are as follows:
| Provider |
Locales Where Applicable |
| Google LLC |
Taiwan & the United States |
| Amazon Web Services, Inc. |
Many countries |
We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service by Google LLC. Google Analytics collects data on your visits and stores it on Google’s servers in the United States. Of the data that Google Analytics collects, your IP address is the most personal. We ensure that Google Analytics handles and stores your IP address in anonymised form only. As explained in our Cookie Policy, you can disable Google Analytics.
We also use Amazon CloudFront, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) service provided by Amazon Web Services, Inc. CDNs essentially store website content at various locales to enable faster loading from various regions. The content of our Website is stored at various points worldwide; when you visit our website, where the content loads from depends on your location. However, we do not use the standard logging feature of Amazon CloudFront. This means that CloudFront does not collect user-agent information or your IP address or any other information about you.
Except as outlined in this chapter ("How We Share and Disclose Information"), we do not disclose your information to third parties unless we determine that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) comply with a law, regulation, or legal process; (b) assist a governmental law enforcement agency in investigating, preventing, or curbing illegal activity; (c) protect any person from death, serious bodily harm, or financial loss through fraud; (d) ensure the security and integrity of the Services (such as while working closely with other organisations and individuals to prevent an imminent breach of data security); or (e) protect our rights, property, safety or interests (such as when legal claims or allegations have been made against us).
We are a Taiwan-based company. Data that you entrust to us is stored on our servers in Taiwan. Any transfer of data between your device and our servers that takes place while your device is not located in Taiwan will cross borders.
We also use third-party services to enhance, promote, and facilitate the operation of the Services. The providers of these third-party services might also transfer your data across borders while handling it. For more information, see the section on Third-Party Services We Use.
We abide by Taiwanese data privacy laws at all times; however, if you are located in another jurisdiction, especially the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, the local laws may offer a higher standard of protection. We intend this Privacy Policy to be in line with the highest standard of legal protection for personal data privacy that there is among the various jurisdictions worldwide, and to protect the privacy of your personal information accordingly, by whatever means are necessary.
You can access and manage your personal information in a variety of ways, as follows.
Almost any item of information that you have entrusted to the Services can be directly viewed through the Apps. Your account information, for example, can be found under through the settings page. Chat records can be found on the message boards of the various bloons. You can find your information generally by using the search function in the Apps. And you can find information about your device on the device management page.
One of BLOON’s core functions is to help sync data across devices. In order to carry out this function, we note the complete internal structure of each bloon folder. This internal structure is best reviewed using the desktop app. As long as you are a member of the bloon in question, the app will ensure that the folder and its internal structure are synced to your device.
The BLOON desktop app also enables you to export all your metadata in a structured, machine-readable form. This functionality can be found in the advanced settings interface.
If you have entrusted any personal information to us that you are unable to retrieve using the methods mentioned above, you have the right to contact us to file a data access request.
Nearly all of the data you entrust to us can be changed or corrected using the Apps. Your account information, for example, can be changed via account settings in the Apps. If you have entrusted any personal information to us that you are unable to change or correct using the Apps, you have the right to contact us to file a data modification request.
You can permanently delete your account from the console at any time. If you elect to delete your account, we immediately destroy any information that directly identifies you. Once deleted, an account is deleted forever; there is no way to recover it or restore it. For more information, see the section on Data Retention.
If you have enabled web caching for web hosting, you can purge your cache from our servers at any time via the console. If you enable web caching and later delete your account, any remaining cached information of yours will be removed automatically within six months.
As long as you have a BLOON account, the information you entrust to us can be deleted or removed at your discretion using the Apps. If you have entrusted any personal information to us that you are unable to delete or remove using the Apps, you have the right to contact us to file a data deletion request.
We use cookies to optimise your visits to our Website. For more information on how to manage these cookies, see our Cookie Policy. You can disable all non-essential cookies here.
We may send messages to the email address on your account for marketing purposes, such as to introduce new features or to conduct user satisfaction surveys. You can unsubscribe using the links included in every email, or manage your preferences via the console. We also send essential announcements regarding privacy or security via email. These communications are essential to the Services and you may not opt out of them.
If you are not able to retrieve, change, correct, or delete your data in a satisfactory manner using the approaches outlined above, feel free to email us at support@bloon.io. You also have the right to request that we stop using your personal data, or to object to our using your personal data for a certain purpose.
There are some situations in which we may be unable to fulfill your request, such as if doing so would be at odds with our obligations to other users, or if we are in the midst of a related legal proceeding. We will process your request as circumstances permit, or inform you of why we are unable to fulfill your request.
Some browsers can be set to send Do Not Track (DNT) signals. There is currently no standard for how to deal with DNT requests, and we do not respond to them. You can curb tracking in other ways, such as by disabling cookies.
We use a wide range of information security technologies to protect your information from loss and unauthorised access. We also develop and use software that automatically scans for security threats as well as misuse of our Services. We pledge to make every effort to keep your information safe, and to continually update and upgrade our ability to do so.
That said, modern software systems are made up of numerous interrelated, interdependent components. We cannot guarantee that all of the components we use will be bug-free and invulnerable at all times. Nor can we guarantee that BLOON will never be unexpectedly compromised by malicious parties. In other words, we can’t absolutely guarantee the security of your information. There is some risk, however small, to entrusting your personal information to us; and we advise that you use BLOON responsibly, such as by running our Apps and using our Services in safe, trusted environments.
We also cannot vouch for the safety or integrity of third-party URLs that may appear on message boards, in comments sections, or as URL items. Please click with care. The Apps themselves never recommend or suggest third-party URLs.
From the time you sign up for BLOON, whatever personal data you entrust to us will be kept on our servers until you delete it, or until you delete your account. We assign a randomly generated account ID to every account. We link information that directly identifies you (“direct-identifying information”) to the rest of your information using this account ID. Plainly put, your direct-identifying information consists of your account information and device information (including your IP address). We may store your direct-identifying information together with your account ID, or the rest of your information together with your account ID; we never store your direct-identifying information together with the rest of your information.
Aside from direct-identifying information, your randomly generated account ID is the only thing that links your information to you. In other words, your information in general is not stored together with any information that identifies you. This also ensures that if the direct-identifying information associated with your account ID is deleted, there will be no way for anyone to associate the rest of your information with you.
You have the option of permanently deleting your account via the console. As soon as you confirm that you wish to permanently delete your account, we immediately destroy your direct-identifying information — your account information and device information. This cannot be reversed or undone; your direct-identifying information cannot be recovered once it has been destroyed. We retain information that does not directly identify you, such as messages you may have left on bloon message boards, or message board notifications of when you added items, or comments you may have left regarding specific items. When displayed, these pieces of information will be associated with Unknown User instead of your deleted account.
Your personal information is also synced to the Apps installed on your devices. Once you confirm that you wish to permanently delete your account, you will no longer be able to access the information that has been destroyed on any device associated with the deleted account, unless the device is not connected to the internet. If a device is not connected to the internet, this will happen when that device is reconnected to the internet.
The Services are not intended for use by people under 16 years of age. We never solicit or knowingly collect, use, or store personal information from individuals under 16. If we confirm that someone under 16 is using the Services and has entrusted personal information to us, we immediately delete their personal information in the way described in "Deleting Your Data".
We use cookies on our Website. For more information — such as what a cookie is, why we use them, what information is stored using cookies, how we use that information, and how you can manage the cookies used on our Website — please see our Cookie Policy.
We may amend or update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The amended or updated Privacy Policy is to supersede all preceding versions. Changes are effective immediately. You are welcome to check our Privacy Policy for changes at any time. If there are major changes, or changes that may affect your rights, we will let you know via email or in-app notification. If our Privacy Policy becomes unacceptable to you, please stop using the Services.
Email us at support@bloon.io if you have any questions about our Privacy Policy.
