Privacy — Mahj Mates

1. The short version

• There is no account and no sign-in. No online play and no chat. We do not know who you are.
• What the game stores stays on your device and is not uploaded to us.
• We run no analytics SDK of our own and no crash-reporting SDK. We receive no gameplay data.
• A short ad can appear between games, after a game ends and never during a hand, at most about once every few games. There are no banner ads. Buying No Ads turns the between-game ads off.
• You can choose to watch a rewarded ad for extra hints after your free hints are used up. That ad is optional.
• Both kinds of ads are served by Google AdMob, which may receive an advertising identifier (on iOS only if you allow tracking), plus technical data about the ad request.
• Buying anything involves Apple (on iPhone) or Google Play (on Android), and RevenueCat. We never see your payment details.
• On iOS you are asked before any tracking happens, and saying no is fully supported. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings at any time. The game plays the same either way.

2. What the game stores on your device

Mahj Mates keeps everything in your phone's own app storage. That includes your settings (how the game looks, sound, hints, bot speed, and similar options), any tile sets you design in the in-app designer, your games-played and games-won counts, and your Daily Deal streak.

None of this is uploaded to us. We cannot read it or move it to another phone. Deleting the app deletes it.

3. What we collect ourselves

Nothing automatically. San Tan Studios runs no server that the game talks to, no account system, and no analytics or crash-reporting SDK of its own. We do not build a profile of you and we do not receive your gameplay.

What follows in sections 4 and 5 is collected by the ad and purchase providers under their own policies, not by us. We see only aggregate, anonymous summaries in their dashboards — how many ads were shown, how many purchases were made — never anything that identifies you.

4. Advertising

Mahj Mates shows two kinds of ads, both served by Google AdMob. There are no banner ads.

Between games. A short ad can appear after a game ends, never during a hand, at most about once every few games. It is part of the free game. It stops if you buy No Ads (see section 5).

Rewarded ads. After your free hints are used up, you can choose to watch an ad for extra hints. You never have to watch one.

When an ad is requested, Google may receive:

• your device's advertising identifier (on iOS, the IDFA — only if you allow tracking; on Android, the Android advertising ID, unless you have deleted it; see section 9);
• your IP address, from which an approximate location such as your country or region can be derived;
• device information such as model, operating system version and language;
• ad interaction data — that an ad was requested, shown, watched to the end or closed early;
• diagnostic data about how the ad SDK performed.

Google uses this to select and deliver ads, cap how often you see the same one, measure whether ads worked, and detect fraud. Google's handling of it is governed by the Google Privacy Policy; you can review and change what Google uses for ads at Google Ad Settings.

We ask Google to serve only ads rated suitable for a general audience.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the UK, you will see a consent form from Google before ads load, and your choice there governs whether personalised ads are used. You can open that form again from the game's Settings, under Ad privacy options.

5. Purchases

The game sells an optional one-time No Ads purchase. It turns off the between-game ads and gives you unlimited hints. The Shop also sells optional seasonal tile sets, each with a matching mat, as one-time purchases. You can play without buying anything.

The store handles the payment itself: Apple on iPhone, Google Play on Android. Your card details, billing address and Apple Account or Google Account are known to that store and never to us, under Apple's privacy policy or the Google Privacy Policy.

We use RevenueCat to check that a purchase is genuine and to remember that you own it, so it can be restored if you reinstall or change phone. RevenueCat receives the purchase record the store issues (Apple's receipt, or Google Play's purchase token) — which product, when, and whether it is valid — along with an anonymous app user ID generated for your installation and basic device and country information.

That identifier is random and is not linked to your name, email, Apple Account or Google Account. RevenueCat's handling is governed by the RevenueCat privacy policy.

Restore Purchases is available in Settings.

6. When you email us

If you write to support@santanstudios.com, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include — often a device model and a screenshot.

We use it to answer you and to fix the thing you reported. We do not add you to a mailing list, sell it, or pass it to anyone else. Ask us to delete the correspondence and we will.

7. App updates

The app can download content updates from Expo (EAS Update) so fixes reach you without a full store release. When it checks for one, that request reaches Expo and, like any web request, carries standard technical information such as your IP address, device type and the app version you are running.

That check tells us nothing about how you play. It is not linked to the data stored on your device, because that data never leaves the phone.

8. Children

Mahj Mates is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone. It is not published in the App Store's Kids Category or in Google Play's Families program.

Because the game shows advertising and offers in-app purchases, we do not consider it suitable for young children without a parent's involvement. Parents can turn off in-app purchases entirely using Screen Time on iOS, under Content & Privacy Restrictions. On Android, Google Play can require a password or fingerprint for every purchase (Play Store → Settings → Authentication), and Google Family Link lets a parent approve purchases.

If you believe a child has sent us personal information by email, write to us and we will delete it.

9. Your choices and controls

App Tracking Transparency (iPhone). Before any tracking, iOS asks whether the app may track you across other companies' apps and websites. If you say no, the game plays the same. Ads still work. They are simply less targeted. We never reward, penalise or nag you for your answer. You can change it at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

Your advertising identifier. On iPhone you can reset it, or stop apps from seeing it at all, in Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings (usually Settings → Privacy → Ads, or Settings → Google → All services → Ads). Once it is deleted, apps get no advertising ID and ads are no longer personalised to it. The game plays exactly the same either way.

Google's consent form. In the European Economic Area and the UK, you can open Google's consent form again from the game's Settings, under Ad privacy options.

Your game data. It lives only on your device, so deleting the app erases everything the game has stored, including settings, tile sets you designed, your games-played and games-won counts, and your Daily Deal streak.

Your email. You can ask us for a copy of any correspondence we hold, or ask us to delete it, and we will.

Purchases. Refunds are handled by the store, not by us: by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com, or by Google Play from your Google Play order history. Restore Purchases is in the game's Settings.

10. Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, the date at the top of the page changes with it. If a change is significant — a new third-party service, or anything that means the app starts collecting something it did not before — we will say so plainly rather than quietly editing the text.

11. Contact

Questions about any of this go to support@santanstudios.com, the same address as everything else. For help with the game itself, see the support page.

Mahj Mates is published by San Tan Studios LLC, Arizona, United States.