Privacy policy
The short version
- There is no account. Your games, statistics, streaks and settings stay on your device.
- We do not run servers that receive anything from the apps, and we do not collect your personal information ourselves.
- The apps show ads from Google AdMob. Google's software in the app collects some device and usage data to show and count ads. Where the law requires it, you are asked first, and you can change your answer at any time.
- If you buy Remove ads, the App Store or Google Play handles the payment. The app only learns that you own it.
- The games are not made for children.
- Who we are
- On your device
- Ads
- Your choices
- Purchases
- Children
- Per app
- Web versions and this site
- Your rights
- Contact
Who we are and what this covers
Ramelu Inc. ("Ramelu", "we") makes puzzle games. This policy covers our apps for iPhone, iPad and Android — Ninefold (sudoku), Paydirt Solitaire, Thunk (block puzzle), Teahouse Tiles (mahjong solitaire) and Glug (water sort) — the web versions of our games, and this website, ramelu.com. The apps work the same way where privacy is concerned; the few differences are listed under Per app.
What stays on your device
Everything the game itself keeps — puzzles in progress, finished puzzles, statistics, streaks, settings, your consent answers and whether you bought Remove ads — is saved in the app's own storage on your device. It is not sent to us, and there is no account, sign-in, cloud save, chat or friends list.
Because nothing is stored with us, deleting the app deletes all of it. Progress does not move between devices.
We do not use analytics, crash-reporting or tracking tools of our own.
Ads from Google AdMob
The apps are free to download because they show ads. The ads come from Google AdMob, a service of Google. Google's advertising software inside the app talks directly to Google; we do not see the data it sends.
To choose, show and count ads, and to prevent fraud, Google's software collects:
- Device information: the device model, operating system and version, language, and the app's name and version.
- Approximate location, worked out from your internet (IP) address. Not your precise location: the apps never ask for location permission.
- Ad and app activity: which ads were shown and tapped, videos watched, and app launches and interactions around ads.
- Diagnostics: crash and performance data from the ad software.
- Identifiers: on Android, the advertising ID and the app set ID; on iPhone and iPad, the advertising identifier (IDFA) only if you allow tracking when asked.
Google may combine this with other information it holds to personalise ads, where you have allowed that. How Google uses information from apps that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
When ads appear: between puzzles, never in the middle of one, and never in your first session. Some apps also offer an optional short video in exchange for extra help (see Per app); a video only plays when you tap to watch one.
Consent and your choices
- Consent form. Where the law requires it — for example in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland — the app shows Google's consent form before any ad is requested. It explains the purposes and the companies involved and lets you accept, refuse or choose.
- Tracking on iPhone and iPad. The app then asks, with Apple's prompt, whether it may track you. If you choose "Ask App Not to Track", the advertising identifier is not shared.
- If you say no, you still see ads, but they are not personalised: they are chosen from the app and general information such as approximate location, not from a profile of you.
- Changing your mind. In the app, open Settings (the gear) and tap Privacy choices; this appears wherever the consent form applies. On iPhone and iPad: Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. On Android: Settings › Privacy › Ads (on some phones Settings › Google › Ads), where you can delete or reset your advertising ID.
Step-by-step help is on the support page.
The Remove ads purchase
Each app offers one optional, one-time purchase, Remove ads, which stops the ads between puzzles in that app. Payment is handled entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) under their own terms and privacy policies. We never receive your payment details, name or email address from a purchase. The app asks the store only whether Remove ads is owned on your store account, and keeps that answer on your device.
Children
Our games are for a general audience and are not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and the apps do not mark ad requests as coming from children. If you believe a child has used one of our apps in a way that concerns you, write to us at the address below and we will help.
Per app
All five apps collect and share data in exactly the same way, described above. They differ only in which extra help an optional video can unlock:
| App | Optional video for extra help |
|---|---|
| Ninefold | One more hint after the free hints for the day. |
| Paydirt Solitaire | None. Hints and undo are always free. |
| Thunk | Keep going once per game after running out of moves. |
| Teahouse Tiles | More hints, shuffles or steps back after a board's free ones. Undo and restart are always free. |
| Glug | More undos after a level's free ones, or an extra empty tube after the day's free one. Restart is always free. |
Web versions and this website
Web versions. Some of our games can also be played in a web browser. The web versions show no ads and offer no purchases. Your games are saved in your browser's local storage on your device and are not sent to us. The website that hosts a web version may keep ordinary server logs under its own privacy policy. To erase a web version's saves, clear that site's data in your browser.
ramelu.com uses no cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts, fonts or embeds. It is served by Cloudflare, which processes visitors' IP addresses and request details to deliver the pages and protect the site from abuse, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.
Your rights, retention and security
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, the UK GDPR or US state laws such as California's), you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal information, to object to or restrict its use, to withdraw consent, and to opt out of targeted advertising or the "sharing" of personal information for it. Because we hold no personal information about you, most requests are answered by the controls above: Privacy choices in the app, your device's tracking or ads settings, and deleting the app. For data held by Google, use Google's tools linked above. You can always write to us, and we will answer within the time the law allows. You may also complain to your local data-protection authority.
Where EU or UK law applies, Google's consent form sets out each purpose, the legal basis for it (your consent, or a legitimate interest you can object to) and the companies involved. Google may process data outside your country, under its own safeguards.
Data sent by the ad software travels encrypted (HTTPS). We keep nothing ourselves; Google keeps ad data for the periods set out in its policies.
Changes to this policy
If what the apps do with data changes, we update this page and its effective date before the change reaches you in an app update.
Contact
Ramelu Inc.
Email: rameluinc@gmail.com