Privacy Policy

01. Who this policy is from

Pachisi is built and published by Jeevan Kumar, an independent developer based in India. This policy explains what the app does and does not do with information when you use it. In it, "I" and "my" refer to the developer, and "the app" refers to Pachisi.

02. Information I collect

I do not myself collect, store, or transmit any personal information about you. The app has no servers of mine that it talks to, and nothing you do inside it reaches me in a form that could identify you.

There is no account and no sign-in. You are never asked for a name, an email address, a phone number, or any other identifying detail.

The app does include three Google SDKs that send some information to Google: Google AdMob — showing ads; Google Firebase Crashlytics — reporting crashes; Google Analytics for Firebase — measuring how the game is played. Each is described in its own section below. Here is what they receive, in one place:

Nothing else leaves the device: no name, no email address, no contacts, no precise location, no files. None of these services receives anything from me that could identify you, and all of them encrypt what they send in transit.

The game itself runs entirely on your device and works with no connection at all.

03. Data stored on your device

The app saves the following to your device's own storage so it can work between sessions:

• Your saved game (board position, whose turn it is, and the move history needed to resume it)
• Your settings: sound, haptics, language, and the last mode, seat count and difficulty you picked
• Your lifetime record against the computer, and which lessons you have finished

This data never leaves your device and is not readable by me or by anyone else. It is removed when you clear the app's data or uninstall the app.

04. Advertising

Ads are served by Google AdMob, through the Google Mobile Ads SDK. To show them, the SDK sends Google your device's Advertising ID, technical details about your device and the app, and which ads were shown, viewed or tapped. Google also works out an approximate location, roughly to the city, from the IP address of your connection; the app itself never asks for location permission. Ad content is limited to Google's teen rating and no user is treated as a child. All of this happens inside Google's SDK: I never see or store it, and Google shares it with its advertising partners under its own terms.

How Google AdMob handles this information is governed by Google's own policy, which you can read here: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

05. Crash reporting

If the app crashes, a diagnostic report is sent to Google Firebase Crashlytics so I can find the fault and fix it. The report describes the failure: the error, the stack trace, your device model and operating system version, and which build of the app you were running, along with a random installation identifier Google generates for the app on your device. It carries no name, no email address, no contact detail, and nothing about how you play.

Crashlytics deletes individual crash reports after 90 days.

How Google Firebase Crashlytics handles this information is governed by Google's own policy, which you can read here: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

06. Analytics

The app uses Google Analytics for Firebase to answer a handful of questions about how the game is played: whether matches get finished, which mode and difficulty people choose, whether the lessons get completed, how often a game-end ad actually appeared, and whether the board drops frames on a given phone. Seven events in all, plus the screens visited, the language the app is speaking and which build you are on. The SDK also records installs, sessions, updates and uninstalls on its own, and, when an ad is shown, that it was shown and roughly what it earned. Every event is tied to an app-instance id, a random identifier the SDK creates for this installation; it identifies the installation, not you, and a fresh one is issued if you reinstall. Google also derives an approximate location from the IP address. The Advertising ID is deliberately not collected for analytics, so this data cannot be joined to the advertising profile above. Individual throws and moves are never logged.

Google Analytics keeps the app-instance id and the events tied to it for 14 months, then deletes them automatically. Aggregated figures, such as how many matches were finished in a month, outlive that, but describe no individual device.

How Google Analytics for Firebase handles this information is governed by Google's own policy, which you can read here: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

07. Your choices

Your Advertising ID is controlled by Android, not by the app. Open Settings → Privacy → Ads (on some phones, Settings → Google → Ads). There you can reset the ID, which breaks the link to anything collected under the old one, or delete it, after which apps receive a string of zeros in its place and ads can no longer be personalised to you. The app keeps working normally either way; you simply see less relevant ads.

Ad personalisation and consent. In regions where the law requires it, such as the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, the app shows Google's consent form the first time it runs, and ads are personalised only if you agreed. You can review or change that answer at any time from inside the app, at Settings → Ad privacy options. The same answer governs analytics: where a consent form applies, nothing is measured until you have answered it, and your choice is respected afterwards. Outside those regions there is no consent form to reopen, so that row does not appear in Settings; the Android controls above still apply.

08. Permissions the app requests

• Internet accessUsed to load ads, to send a crash report if the app stops working, and to send the analytics events described above. Every part of the game itself works with no connection.
• VibrationUsed for haptic feedback when you throw the cowries or move a piece.

The app does not ask for location, camera, microphone, contacts, or storage permissions.

09. Children's privacy

Pachisi is intended for people aged 13 and over. It is not directed at children under 13, is not part of Google Play's Families programme, and I do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. Because there is no account, the app holds nothing that could name a child. If you believe a child under 13 has used the app and that information about them has reached one of the services above, contact me and I will help you address it, including through Google's own controls.

10. Keeping and deleting your data

There is no account, so there is nothing to delete on my side: I hold no data about you to request, export, or erase, and the app has no delete-my-account function because there is no account to delete. Everything the app saves lives on your device and is entirely under your control: clear the app's storage from your device settings, or uninstall the app, and it is gone for good.

What Google receives through the services above is held by Google under its own retention rules, not by me:

• Google AdMob — governed by Google's advertising retention policies and by your Advertising ID. Resetting or deleting the ID, as described above, is how you break the link to anything collected under it.
• Google Firebase Crashlytics — Crashlytics deletes individual crash reports after 90 days.
• Google Analytics for Firebase — Google Analytics keeps the app-instance id and the events tied to it for 14 months, then deletes them automatically. Aggregated figures, such as how many matches were finished in a month, outlive that, but describe no individual device.

11. Changes to this policy

If the app changes in a way that affects this policy, I will update this page and move the effective date at the top. Material changes will also be noted in the app's release notes on the Play Store.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy, or about the app in general, reach me directly at g1mishra.dev@gmail.com. It is the same address the app's own feedback button writes to. I read everything.