Privacy Policy

Effective [date of publishing] · Applies to all Undercity Studio games and this website

This policy explains what information is collected when you play an Undercity Studio game or visit this website, why it is collected, who it is shared with, and the choices you have. If anything here is unclear, ask us.

The short version

• You don't need an account to play, and we don't ask for your name, email or phone number.
• Your game progress is saved on your own phone. We don't run game servers and we don't receive your save data.
• Our games show ads from Google AdMob. Google collects some device and usage information to show and measure ads. You can turn off personalised ads.
• Our games use Google Analytics for Firebase to count how they are played, such as how far people get and where they get stuck. It doesn't use your advertising identifier.
• Purchases are made through Apple (or Google Play on Android). We never see your card or payment details, and no other company is involved.
• We don't sell your personal information.

Who we are

Undercity Studio is a trading name of [Legal entity name] Pty Ltd (ABN [ABN]), a company based in [State], Australia. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean that company. We are responsible for the games listed on this website, including Mahjong Teahouse, Merge Keep, Shelf Life, Swipe Chef, Gnome Guard and Ink & Empire, and any game or app that links to this policy. This policy describes our games. If one of our apps uses information in a different way, we will add that here before the app comes out.

What is collected

We, the studio, collect almost nothing directly. Most of the information below is collected by the services our games are built on, under their own privacy policies.

We don't collect your name, contacts, photos, precise location, health information or anything you type in other apps. Our games don't use your camera or microphone.

Ads

Our games are free to play and are paid for by ads. Ads are provided by Google AdMob, a service of Google LLC. Google may use cookies, device identifiers and similar technology to show ads, including ads based on your interests where you allow it.

• On iPhone, Apple's "Allow to track" prompt appears before any ad loads. If you choose Ask App Not to Track, Google does not receive your advertising identifier and you see ads that are not personalised. The game still works the same either way.
• In the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, Google's consent form asks for your choice before personalised ads are shown. You can change it any time from Settings > Ad privacy choices in the game.
• Ads in our games are set to Google's G (general audiences) content rating.
• Reward ads only play when you tap to watch one. Short ads may appear between levels, never during play.

Learn more in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy. If you see an ad that seems wrong for the game, please report it.

Game analytics

Our games and apps use Google Analytics for Firebase. It records how each one is used, for example starting and finishing a level or stage, wins and scores, finishing the tutorial, ads watched and purchases. It also records how many people come back to play on later days. Each event is linked to a random app instance ID, not to your name, email or advertising identifier. We look at totals and trends, and we don't use this information for ads. Google handles it under the Google Privacy Policy. Deleting the game removes its app instance ID from your phone.

Purchases

In-app purchases are processed by Apple through the App Store, or by Google through Google Play. They handle your payment details, and we never receive your card number, billing address or Apple ID or Google account details.

The game checks your purchases with Apple or Google directly from your phone, for example when you tap Restore purchases. No other company handles your purchases, and we don't run a server that receives them.

Stored on your device

• Game progress and settings are saved on your phone only. They are removed if you delete the game. Our games have no cloud save, so we can't recover lost progress.
• Reminders. Some games offer an optional daily reminder. It is a local notification scheduled by your phone. No push server is involved and no information is sent to us. Turn it off in the game's Settings or in your phone's notification settings.
• Ratings. We may ask if you'd like to rate a game using Apple's or Google's own rating prompt. Your rating and review go to Apple or Google, not to us.

Sharing and selling

We don't sell your personal information or share it for money. The services named on this page receive information as described above so that ads, analytics and purchases work. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety, or to a buyer of our business, who would have to follow this policy.

Under some US state laws, letting an ad network use device identifiers for personalised ads can count as "sharing" or "targeted advertising". You can opt out at any time using the choices below.

Your choices

• Tracking on iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
• Personalised ads on iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising.
• Advertising ID on Android: Settings > Privacy > Ads, then delete or reset your advertising ID.
• Ad consent in the game: Settings > Ad privacy choices, where offered for your region.
• No ads at all: buy the "No Ads" item in a game's Shop. Reward ads you choose to watch stay available.
• Reminders: switch them off in the game's Settings.
• Delete your game data: delete the game from your phone.

Children

Our games are made for a general audience and are not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. Ads are limited to general-audience content. If you are a parent and think your child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Overseas transfers

Google may process information in the United States and other countries outside Australia. They use their own safeguards for these transfers, such as standard contractual clauses for data from the UK and Europe.

Keeping and securing data

We keep emails you send us for as long as we need them to help you, then delete them. Google, Apple and other providers keep information under their own retention policies. We use reputable providers, keep our accounts secured with strong passwords and two-factor sign-in, and limit who can access them.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, including under the Australian Privacy Principles, the GDPR and US state privacy laws, you may have the right to ask what personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, or to object to how it is used. Because we don't run accounts, we usually hold nothing that identifies you. We will still help you make a request to Google or Apple. For purchase records, tell us the game and the purchase date, or send the order ID from your Apple or Google receipt.

We reply within 30 days. If you are not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or the privacy regulator where you live.

Changes to this policy

If we change how information is handled, for example by adding a new ad partner, we will update this page and change the date at the top. Important changes will also be mentioned in the game's update notes.

Contact us

This website

This website doesn't use cookies, analytics or advertising. Our web host, Cloudflare, may keep standard server logs, such as IP addresses and the pages requested, for security for a short time. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address when the page loads.