Privacy Policy
Introduction
Tandy Mellow Games ("we," "us," or "our") develops and publishes games available on Android and the web. This Privacy Policy applies to all of our apps and games (each an "App," collectively "Apps") and explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use them.
Our Apps are designed for a broad audience. We are committed to complying with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and all applicable data protection laws. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children or any other users.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide
- Player Nickname: When you play, you choose a display name (2–20 characters). This is a freely chosen alias and does not need to be your real name. We do not require or request your real name, email address, phone number, or any other personally identifiable information.
Information Generated Automatically
- Anonymous User Identifier: Our Apps generate a random identifier (UUID) stored locally on your device. This identifier is not linked to your identity, device information, or any personal data. It is used solely to maintain your session and enable reconnection if your connection drops during a game.
- Game Session Data: During gameplay, our Apps process game actions (answers, scores, response times, chat messages, and emoji reactions) to operate the game in real time. This data is held in server memory only for the duration of the game session and is not stored persistently, except as noted below.
- Solo Mode Leaderboard: If you play Solo mode and achieve a top-10 score for a given difficulty level, your chosen player nickname, score, highest number reached, and the date are saved to our leaderboard. No device identifiers, IP addresses, or personal information are included in leaderboard records.
Information We Do NOT Collect
We want to be explicit about what we do not collect:
- Real names, email addresses, or physical addresses
- Phone numbers
- Photographs or videos
- Location data (GPS, network-based, or otherwise)
- Contacts or address book data
- Device identifiers (advertising ID, IMEI, serial number, etc.)
- Browsing history or search history
- Financial or payment information
- Health or biometric data
- Audio or voice recordings
- Files or documents from your device
- IP addresses for tracking or profiling purposes
How We Use Information
We use the limited information described above solely to:
- Operate the game — process gameplay actions, manage sessions, and enable real-time multiplayer functionality.
- Enable reconnection — allow you to rejoin a game if your connection is briefly interrupted.
- Display leaderboards — show top Solo mode scores with the player nicknames associated with those scores.
- Remember your preferences — your chosen nickname, language preference, and last-selected game settings are stored locally on your device so you do not have to re-enter them each time.
We do not use any information for advertising, marketing, profiling, analytics, or any purpose other than directly operating our Apps as described.
Data Sharing and Third Parties
We Do Not Sell or Share User Data
We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise share any user data with third parties for advertising, marketing, analytics, or any commercial purpose.
Third-Party Services
Our Apps may use the following third-party services:
| Service | Purpose | Data Involved |
|---|---|---|
| Google Fonts | Loading the Nunito typeface for the user interface | Standard web request (your device fetches font files from Google's CDN). Governed by Google's Privacy Policy. |
| Grafana Cloud | Server-side operational monitoring (uptime, error rates, performance) | Aggregate, anonymized server metrics only. No user data, nicknames, IP addresses, or device information is sent to Grafana Cloud. |
No third-party code in our Apps collects, transmits, or has access to personal or sensitive user data. We do not integrate any advertising SDKs, analytics SDKs, social media SDKs, or crash-reporting SDKs.
Permissions
Our Apps request only one Android permission:
- INTERNET — Required to connect to our game server for real-time multiplayer functionality. This is the minimum permission necessary for our Apps to function.
Our Apps may also use your device's vibration motor for haptic feedback during gameplay (e.g., when answering correctly or incorrectly). This does not require a runtime permission on Android and does not access any sensitive data.
Our Apps do not request access to your camera, microphone, location, contacts, calendar, storage, phone state, Bluetooth, or any other sensitive permissions.
Data Storage and Security
- Local storage: Your nickname, language preference, anonymous session identifier, and game settings are stored locally on your device using standard browser/app storage. You can clear this data at any time by clearing the app's data in your device settings.
- Server-side: Multiplayer game data exists in server memory only during active game sessions and is automatically discarded when the session ends. Solo mode leaderboard entries are the only data persisted on our server.
- Security: Communication between the App and our server is conducted over encrypted connections. We apply security best practices including rate limiting, input validation, and security headers to protect our server infrastructure.
Children's Privacy
We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar laws worldwide across all of our Apps. In particular, Kaboom! is designed to be safe for users of all ages, including children under 13:
- We do not collect personal information from children (or any users). Our Apps do not require account creation, login, email, or any personally identifiable information.
- We do not serve advertisements of any kind.
- We do not enable children to publicly disclose personal information. In Kaboom!, the in-game chat feature transmits messages only to other players within the same private game session and messages are not stored after the session ends.
- We do not use behavioral tracking or profiling of any user, regardless of age.
- There are no in-app purchases in our Apps.
Parents and guardians can contact us at any time with questions or concerns (see Contact Information below).
Pricing and In-App Purchases
Our Apps are free to use. There are no subscription fees, in-app purchases, premium tiers, or hidden costs. All game modes and features are available to all users at no charge.
Data Retention
- Game session data: Deleted from server memory immediately when a game session ends.
- Leaderboard data: Retained indefinitely to maintain the Solo mode leaderboards. Leaderboard entries contain only a player-chosen nickname, score, highest number, and date.
- Local device data: Retained on your device until you clear the app's data or uninstall it.
Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights regarding your data, including the right to access, correct, or delete it. Because we collect virtually no personal data, these rights are straightforward to exercise:
- Local data: You can delete all locally stored data by clearing the app's data in your Android device settings or uninstalling it.
- Leaderboard data: If you wish to have a leaderboard entry removed, contact us using the information below and identify the nickname and approximate date of the entry.
For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), our legal basis for processing the minimal data described above is legitimate interest — specifically, the necessity of processing game actions to provide the game service you have chosen to use.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document and, where appropriate, notify users through our Apps. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
Contact Information
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
Tandy Mellow Games
Web: tandymellow.games
Email: support@tandymellow.games