‹ RANSOM

Privacy Policy

This policy explains how the mobile game RANSOM ("the Game") handles information. By playing you agree to this policy.

Summary

The Game does not require an account and does not ask you for personal information. Your game progress is stored only on your device. The Game shows ads supplied by Google AdMob, and those ads collect limited device information as described below. There are no in-app purchases and no subscriptions: the Game is free and paid for entirely by advertising.

What we collect

We (the developer) do not collect or store personal information about you. There is no account system, and we add no analytics or crash-reporting SDK of our own. We keep no server-side data about you of any kind, and we operate no servers for this Game.

The Google Mobile Ads SDK, however, does report to Google — on its own account, not ours — the advertising and device data described under "Third parties", together with diagnostic, crash and performance data about how the ad SDK itself is behaving. That is why the App Store and Google Play data labels for RANSOM list diagnostics and analytics alongside advertising. We never receive any of it in a form that identifies you.

What is stored on your device

The Game saves your settings and progress locally, in the standard on-device storage the platform provides (SharedPreferences on Android, UserDefaults on iOS). This includes:

• Whether you have seen the how-to-play walkthrough
• How many free games you have played today, and when the day last rolled over
• Your win, loss and streak statistics per difficulty tier
• Your daily-note result and daily streak
• Which story chapters you have completed

None of this leaves your device. Clearing the app's data or uninstalling the Game removes all of it.

Permissions

On Android:

• INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE — used to load ads. The puzzles themselves are fully offline: all word lists and images ship inside the app, and no network request is needed to play.
• AD_ID (com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID) — lets Google's ad SDK read your device's advertising ID, as described under "Third parties".
• VIBRATE — short haptic feedback when you cut a letter or take a strike.

On iOS:

• App Tracking Transparency — the first time the ad SDK asks for the advertising identifier (IDFA), iOS shows the system permission prompt. Declining changes nothing about how the Game plays; the ads simply become non-personalised. Nothing else in the Game reads the IDFA.
• No location, camera, microphone, contacts, photo library or notification permission is requested on either platform.

Third parties

• Google AdMob — the only third party in the Game, on both platforms. AdMob collects your device's advertising ID and technical device information in order to serve and measure ads. You can reset or limit this ID in your device settings (Android: Settings → Google → Ads; iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking). See Google's privacy policy.

There are no in-app purchases and no subscriptions in RANSOM, so no billing system is involved on either platform and no payment information is ever requested, handled or stored.

Where ads appear

Ads in RANSOM are deliberately few, and most are opt-in:

• Rewarded video, only when you tap it: "Watch — one more chance" after a lost note, and "Watch — play another" when the day's free games are used up. Nothing happens unless you choose to watch, and declining costs you nothing beyond the reward.
• Interstitial, occasionally after a completed game — never before your third game of a session, at most one per two completed games, and never within 90 seconds of another ad. Never shown on a loss.
• There are no banner ads and no ads on the puzzle board itself.

Consent

If you are in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, the Game shows Google's consent form the first time it runs and asks whether ads may be personalised. If you decline, or if a consent decision cannot be obtained, the Game requests non-personalised ads instead. You may change your choice at any time from your device's Google ad settings.

Children

The Game contains no violence, sexual content or profanity, and has no chat, user-generated content or social features. It is nonetheless not directed at children: its target audience on Google Play is 13 and over and its App Store age rating is 13+, in both cases because it shows advertising. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided information through the ad services, contact us and we will assist.

Security & retention

Data handled by the ad service is transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections by Google, and retained under Google's policies, not ours. We hold no server-side data of any kind. Your on-device game data stays on your device and can be removed by clearing the app's data or uninstalling it.

Your choices

• Remove all local game data by clearing the app's data or uninstalling the Game.
• Reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ad personalisation, in your device settings (Android: Settings → Google → Ads).
• On iOS, decline the App Tracking Transparency prompt, or turn tracking off later under Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. Ads then become non-personalised.
• In the EEA, UK and Switzerland, change your ad consent choice at any time from your device's Google ad settings.

Changes

We may update this policy; the "Last updated" date will change accordingly.

Contact