Southam Apps
Last updated: August 2026
Southam Apps builds privacy-first apps — Compass World News, a news reader, SlashKit, a Minecraft command builder, and Findaroo, a word search game. None of them collect data about you. This policy covers all three.
Google Play, the store all three apps are distributed through, automatically collects some operational data on its own behalf: install and uninstall counts, star ratings and review text, crash and ANR (App Not Responding) diagnostics with device and OS details, and store listing traffic. None of this is added by us — it's the same platform-level data every app on Google Play generates, collected directly by Google Play services on your device and shown to us in aggregate through Google Play Console, under Google's own privacy policy. It contains nothing that identifies you personally, and it's separate from the purchase processing described under each app's in-app purchases section below.
Compass World NewsThe news reader
Compass World News fetches publicly available news headlines from third-party RSS and Atom feeds (such as RNZ, Stuff, The Spinoff, BBC, The Guardian and others) and displays them for reading. Tapping a headline opens the article inside the app's built-in reader, which rebuilds the story as clean text — removing the outlet's advertising, scripts and known tracking pixels before anything renders. Article images are loaded from the outlet's servers so stories display correctly. An optional daily digest can appear as a notification each morning; it is created on your device from feeds you have already loaded and sends nothing anywhere.
None. Compass World News does not require an account, does not ask for personal information, and does not track your activity within the app. There is no analytics, advertising, or tracking code built into it. Your chosen feeds, saved stories and preferences are stored only on your own device.
To load headlines and articles, the app makes network requests directly to the news outlets' public feeds and websites — the same requests your browser would make if you visited them yourself. These requests may be visible to your mobile network provider, as any normal internet use is, but Compass World News sends no personal or identifying information beyond what is standard for any network request (such as your device's IP address, handled by your network provider as usual).
When you tap "open in browser" for a page the reader can't display, that outlet's own privacy policy applies to whatever happens on their site. Compass World News has no visibility into or control over that.
Compass World News is free to download and offers an optional, one-time Pro upgrade. How that purchase is handled is described under In-app purchases below.
Compass World News is free to download. It offers an optional, one-time Pro upgrade, purchased through Google Play. To make that possible, the app includes Google's official Play Billing components. When you buy Pro, restore a previous purchase, or when the app simply checks whether you already own Pro, those Google components communicate with Google's servers to process and verify the purchase — the same billing system used by any paid Android app.
That processing is carried out by Google under Google's own privacy policy. Compass World News never sees or stores your payment details or Google account identity. Whether you own Pro is recorded only on your device, and this stays entirely separate from your reading, which still never leaves your device.
If you bought Compass World News while it was a paid app, your Pro upgrade is included automatically, at no further charge.
SlashKitThe command builder
SlashKit helps you build Minecraft commands. You choose a command, fill in the options, and copy the finished text to paste into the game. The Android app does this entirely on your device. There is also a free web version at apps.danielsoutham.co.nz/slashkit that works the same way, in your browser.
Nothing about you, and nothing that leaves your device. SlashKit has no account, asks for no personal information, and contains no analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind. Your saved commands, kits, snippets, saved player names, chosen theme and recent-command history are stored only on your own device — in the app's storage, or your browser's local storage on the web — so they are there next time you open it. The app writes to your clipboard only when you tap Copy or Share, and never reads it.
SlashKit is free. The Android app offers an optional, one-time Pro upgrade, purchased through Google Play. As with Compass World News, the app includes Google's official Play Billing components, which communicate with Google's servers to process and verify the purchase under Google's own privacy policy. SlashKit never sees or stores your payment details or Google account identity, and whether you own Pro is recorded only on your device.
The web version has every feature unlocked for free and involves no purchase.
The web version is an ordinary website, so loading it makes a normal web request to the site's host, exactly as visiting any page does. That host may keep standard server logs, such as your IP address, as any website's host does — SlashKit adds no analytics or tracking on top of that. Once the page has loaded, everything you do stays in your browser.
FindarooThe word search game
Findaroo is a word search puzzle game. You drag your finger across a letter grid to find hidden words from a chosen category — animals, food, mythical creatures, world languages and more — across increasingly difficult levels. Puzzle generation, gameplay and progress tracking all happen entirely on your device.
Nothing about you, and nothing that leaves your device. Findaroo has no account, asks for no personal information, and contains no analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind. Your progress — unlocked categories and levels, star ratings, and settings like font and timer preferences — is stored only on your own device.
Findaroo is free to download. It offers an optional, one-time Pro upgrade — extra categories, more levels, and timer controls — purchased through Google Play. To make that possible, the app includes Google's official Play Billing components. When you buy Pro, restore a previous purchase, or when the app simply checks whether you already own Pro, those Google components communicate with Google's servers to process and verify the purchase — the same billing system used by any paid Android app.
That processing is carried out by Google under Google's own privacy policy. Findaroo never sees or stores your payment details or Google account identity. Whether you own Pro is recorded only on your device, and purchases restore automatically through Google Play when you're signed in with the same Google account.
None of the apps knowingly collect data from anyone, including children, because they do not collect data from anyone at all.
If the app's data practices ever change, this page will be updated to reflect that.
Questions about this policy or the app can be sent to apps.southam@gmail.com.
Compass World News is an independent project, not affiliated with any news outlet, political party, or media monitoring organisation.