Blot — Privacy Policy

This policy explains what data is processed when you play Blot (the "Game", package am.aiswitch.blot), who processes it, why, for how long, and what you can do about it.

1. Who we are

The Game is made by AI Switch LLC («ԱԻ ՍՎԻՏՉ» ՍՊԸ), a company registered in the Republic of Armenia, registration No. 999.110.1592631, tax ID 01098805, address: Apt. 4, 10 Kocharyan St., Yerevan 0056, Armenia. For the processing described here we are the controller (under the Armenian Law on Personal Data Protection, the "personal data processor").

Privacy contact: info@aiswitch.am (subject: "Blot, privacy").

2. In short

• To play with people you need an account on our server. A guest account is created automatically, with no name, email or phone number. You can sign in with Google so your coins and rating survive a phone change.
• We keep what the Game cannot work without: player ID, table name (if you wrote one), coins, rating, games and purchases. Your email — only if you sign in with Google. We don't take your name from Google.
• We don't ask for precise location, contacts, microphone or files; we don't ask for access to all your photos or the camera — only the one photo you choose for your avatar (section 3.2). No third-party analytics counters or tracking; we ourselves count only the days you opened the Game (section 3.3).
• The only ad is a video for coins that starts when you tap the button. It is served by Google AdMob. Personalised ads — only with your consent where the law requires it.
• Payments are handled by Google Play. We never see your card details.
• We do not sell your personal data.
• You can delete your account in the Game: Settings → Delete account and data. Your name, email, Google account ID and sign-in keys are erased at once; the account can no longer be signed into, found or seen in any list. A de-identified account record (without name or email) with game results, coins and purchase records stays (section 8).
• Separately, games with people stay in your game history for 12 months: only those who sat at the table can open them, to check a deal or analyse the game (section 3.3).
• We keep the moves of games — with people and in Training — without names and not linked to an account, to make the bots stronger and find their mistakes (section 3.12). The bots run on our server, so Training isn't possible without the internet.
• The Scorepad for live card games: "Just a scorepad" stays on the phone (a copy on the server only if you signed in with Google); a "Game for the standings" is on the server and all four players see it (section 3.13).
• Friends: your friend list, requests and "in the game / at a table / offline" are seen only by your friends. If you allow notifications, a friend's invitation to a table reaches your phone through Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) (section 3.14).

3. What data is processed and why

3.1 Account

• Guest. The first time you play online, the Game creates a guest account: a random player ID and a secret key kept on your phone. A guest's coins and rating are tied to that key. If you delete the Game or change phones without signing in with Google, you will most likely not get them back.
• Sign in with Google. If you tap "Sign in with Google", Google gives us your Google account ID, email address and the name in your Google profile. We keep only the ID and the email. We don't take or keep your name from Google, we never receive your Google password, and we don't take your Google profile photo.
• Why: to recognise you, keep your coins, rating and purchases, move them to a new phone, answer your emails and check that a deletion request really comes from you.

3.2 Your name and what other players see

• Until you write a name yourself, at the table you are "Player". The same after signing in with Google: we don't take your name from Google. You can write your own name in your profile (name rules — Terms of Use, section 9) and change it once a day; that is the name other players see.
• Every player has a permanent number (4 digits, for example 4821). You see it — in your profile, to tell a friend ("Add by number", section 3.14) — and so do we, to know which player you mean when you write to us. The Game version 0.3.0 and later does not show your number to other players, and the server does not send it to those versions; in older versions of the Game other players may still see you as "Player 4821" until they update.
• At the table other players see your name, your avatar (a ready-made one or your own photo), rating, moves, bids, declared combinations, ready-made phrases and emoji. After the game, "Check the deal" shows all four players the cards of every deal. Your partner and opponents keep your name and the score in their "Recent games".
• Your email and Google account ID are never shown to other players.
• Your own avatar photo (if you set one): a 256 × 256 square without location or camera data, stored on our server. Players at your table, players in the game results and your friends see it. Nobody checks it in advance; an inappropriate photo can be reported — an administrator may remove it and block setting your own photo for a while (currently 7 days).

3.3 Games, coins and rating

Our server keeps:

• your coin balance and everything that happened to it: starting and daily coins, coins for videos, purchases, table entries, table results, surcharges for leaving or dropping out of a game, refunded purchases and any debt for them;
• your rating and its changes;
• Quick Game results: date, table, partner and opponents, score;
• online game deal records: cards, bids, moves, combinations, the deck fingerprint and key, ready-made phrases and emoji;
• game history: the full record of each of your online games (cards of all seats and all moves). Only those who sat at that table can open it;
• game analysis: the strong bot's review of your moves and a note of which game you reviewed and on which day (the server counts how many games you reviewed that day). The analysis shows only what you could know at the table; other players' cards are not shown in it;
• reports — yours and about you (the reason, the game and seat, the player's name at that moment) and what we decided (warned, blocked or rejected; when and who of us decided);
• the days you opened the Game: the date (Yerevan time) and how many days have passed since the account was created — no time of day and nothing about what you did; 400 days;
• settings that work through the server (for example, "Play with bots if no people").

With a Friend games also go to your game history; With a Friend games played earlier don't. Training does not go to it.

Why: to run the game, count coins and rating, match you with players of a similar level, show "Check the deal", game history and game analysis, handle reports and disputes, and catch collusion and cheating. The days you opened the Game — to know how many people play each day and how many come back: our admin panel shows only totals, we don't look at them player by player.

3.4 Connection and protection against collusion

• When the Game connects to the server, the server receives your IP address and the Game version. The Game does not send the server your phone model, Android version or language.
• Why: to keep the connection, protect the server from attacks and abuse, and find and fix bugs. The IP address itself is not stored in our database. It stays in the request logs at our hosting provider (Railway): up to 90 days, stored in the USA; they can't be erased earlier.
• Two players from the same network are not seated at one table in Quick Game — this protects against collusion. For this, the game record keeps a one-way fingerprint of the IP address (HMAC-SHA256 with the server's secret key), not the address itself — for 12 months after the game.
• From the IP address the server works out an approximate country and region, using the DB-IP Lite database on our own server: the IP address is not sent anywhere for this, and the region is not stored. Where the law restricts buying game coins (currently Washington State, USA), buying coins is closed. If a payment from there still goes through (for example, the phone switched networks), the Game does not confirm it: no coins arrive, and Google refunds the money automatically after 3 days. Region from IP: IP Geolocation by DB-IP (CC BY 4.0 licence).

3.5 Purchases (Google Play)

• Coins are bought through Google Play. Google processes the payment; we never see your card or bank details.
• Google gives the Game and our server the purchase details: purchase token, order number, product, time and status. The server checks with Google that the purchase is genuine and only then adds the coins. Once an hour the server gets from Google the list of refunded and cancelled purchases.
• The server also checks a subscription, if you have one: it keeps the subscription token, order number, expiry and status and asks Google whether it was renewed. You can cancel a subscription in Google Play.
• In Google Play Console we see order details: number, product, price, currency, country, date and status (for example, "refunded").
• Why: to add the coins, prevent double or fake credits, remove coins for a refunded payment (and keep a debt if there aren't enough), answer your requests and keep the records the law requires.

3.6 Video for coins (Google AdMob) and your consent (Google UMP)

The Game has one kind of ad: a short video for 10 coins. It starts only when you tap the button. Google's ads module in the Game starts only after you tap that button for the first time: before that, the Game sends nothing to AdMob. Ads are served by Google AdMob. The Google Mobile Ads SDK in the Game receives directly from your device:

• your IP address, used to estimate approximate location (country or city);
• the device advertising ID and app set ID; you can reset or delete the advertising ID in Android settings;
• ad interactions: which video was shown, finished or tapped;
• device and app information and diagnostics of the ads SDK (model, Android version, language, Game version; launch time, hangs and energy use).

Why: to show the video and give the reward, limit repeats, count views, prevent fraud and, only with your consent, show interest-based ads. Google uses this data as an independent controller: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Ads for real-money gambling and betting are blocked in the Game. Only ads suitable for teenagers are shown.

Your choices:

• EEA, UK, Switzerland: before the first video the Game shows Google's consent form (Google User Messaging Platform, certified under the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework). It lists Google and its ad partners. If you don't agree, you get non-personalized ads only.
• US states with privacy laws (for example, California): you can opt out of interest-based ads ("Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information") in Settings → Personalized ads.
• Changed your mind: change your choice any time in Settings → Personalized ads. Reset or delete the advertising ID in Android settings: Privacy → Ads.
• Don't want ads at all — just don't tap the video button: then the ads module never starts.

3.7 Crash and error reports

If you allowed your phone to send diagnostics to Google, Google Play gives us crash and performance reports for the Game (device model, Android version, the place in the code where it crashed). They contain no name or contact details. Why: to find and fix crashes.

3.8 Age question

On first launch the Game asks for your date of birth (day, month, year). The answer stays on the phone and is sent neither to us nor to Google. If you are under 16, the Game asks Google to treat ad requests as for children: no interest-based ads, no advertising ID, no third-party trackers. The consent form for interest-based ads is then not shown.

3.9 Inviting a friend

"Invite" opens Android's share sheet. The link contains only the table code. You decide whom to send it to; the Game gets no access to your contacts.

3.10 What stays on your phone

Language, screen, vibration, Training, "Just a scorepad" games and "Our players" are stored on the phone. If Android backup is on, Android may include this data in the backup in your Google account (Android Auto Backup). The backup is encrypted and managed by Google; we cannot read it. The guest key is also stored on the phone, encrypted, and is not included in the backup: to keep your coins and rating when you change phones, sign in with Google.

3.11 If you email us

When you email us, we receive your address, the message and attachments (for example, an order number or a screenshot). Why: to answer and solve the issue.

3.12 Game records for the bots and "Bot made a mistake"

To make the bots stronger and find their mistakes, we keep the moves of played games — both with people and in Training. A record has: the cards dealt, bids, declarations, moves and the result; who sat in each seat — a person or a bot (and the bot's level); the player's level — rating rounded to the hundred; the mode (Training, Quick Game, With a Friend); the Game and bot versions; the week the game was played; "Bot made a mistake" marks and your text, if you wrote one. A record has no name, player ID or number, link to an account, IP address or device details, table number, phrases or emoji, or exact time.

• Games with people (Quick Game, With a Friend) are recorded by our server at the end of the game.
• Training games are played at a table on our server and recorded there, without your account; they are not kept on the phone. While a game is on, the server knows which account is at the table, only to run the table; that doesn't go into the record.
• "Bot made a mistake" is sent with your sign-in — the server checks that you were at that table — but your account is not stored with the mark. Don't write anything personal in the text: names, phone numbers, addresses.
• The exception is the account of our developer who reviews the bots' mistakes himself: his games are stored linked to his account, with his consent. The other players' seats in his games are without names, as above.

Why: to train the bots (including on the moves of strong players, by level), find and fix their mistakes, and review "Bot made a mistake" marks. This can't be turned off: without the records the bots won't get better; the records aren't linked to you and affect neither the cards, nor your rating, nor coins. Because a record isn't linked to you, we can't find and delete it on your request.

3.13 Scorepad — the score of a live card game

The Scorepad keeps the score when you play with real cards at a table.

• "Just a scorepad" works on one phone, offline and without signing in: the game is stored on the phone. If you signed in with Google, the Game sends a copy of the game to our server, so your history comes back on a new phone. The copy contains the names on the seats (if you entered them), the bid, points and combinations of every deal, corrections and times. Only your account can see it.
• "Game for the standings" is stored on our server; all four players confirm from their own accounts (a guest account works too, Sign in with Google is not required). The server keeps who sits where (the four accounts and the name on each seat — entered by the creator or the player's profile name), the deals (who bid, the bid, suit, contra, points, combinations), which of the four recorded or corrected each deal and when, and what it was before the correction, the answers to "Stop the game", and the start and end times. All four players of that game see all of this.
• "Our standings" — each player's games and wins, pairs, pair-vs-pair records, bids made and won — are counted by the server from counted "Games for the standings". Your standings and name are seen by those who played at least one counted game with you, and only for games where every player is from that group.
• "Our players" — the names you keep (and which name is whose account after a game together) — are stored on the phone and as a copy in your account on the server. Only you see them.
• If you are a guest (not signed in with Google) and change phones or delete the Game, the guest account can't be recovered, and with it your access to your games, standings and "Our players" on the server. Your "Games for the standings" stay with the other players: your seat and the score don't change. A guest account with no purchases that hasn't been opened for 24 months is deleted (section 8) — then your seat shows "Deleted player". To get your history back on a new phone, sign in with Google.
• The 6-digit game code (and its QR code) works while the game is being set up — at most 2 hours. The QR code is read by your phone's camera (or you type the code); the Game itself doesn't need camera access.

You enter other people's names yourself — write only what they don't mind, such as the name they go by at the table.

Why: to keep and store the score, show it live to all four, protect the standings from forgery (a game counts only when all four confirmed it), count the group's standings, and bring your history back on a new phone.

3.14 Friends and table invitations

• How friends appear. You invite a player to be friends — "Add friend" after an online game (someone who sat at your table) or by their number (section 3.2). You become friends only when they tap "Accept". The Game does not read your phone contacts and does not look for people outside the Game.
• What we keep on the server: who is friends with whom and since which day; friend requests — from whom, to whom, when and where from (after a game or by number), and a "No" to a request; how many requests you sent today (at most 10 a day); when you were last in the Game — the time rounded to the hour.
• What others see: the player you invite sees your name (without a name — "Player"). Your friends see your name, your avatar (a ready-made one or your own photo), rating, since when you are friends, and your status: "in the game", "at a table" (playing a game) or "offline — seen yesterday" (the day, not the exact time). Players who aren't your friends don't see your status. Friends don't see your player number either.
• Table invitations. When a friend taps "Invite", the server tells you: in a window if the Game is open; with a notification on your phone if it is closed and you allowed notifications. For this the Game gets a notification key from Google (a random identifier of this installation of the Game for Firebase Cloud Messaging) and sends it to our server; we keep it with your account. The notification goes through Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): it contains your friend's name, the target score of the game and technical numbers of the invitation and the friend — no player number and nothing else. While your phone is offline, Google keeps the notification for at most 30 minutes. The invitation itself is kept only in the server's memory while your friend's table is waiting.
• Notification permission is asked when you first send or accept a friend request, not at startup. You can refuse then or later in Android settings; invitations still reach you when you open the Game. When you sign out, the Game asks the server to erase this phone's key. We send no other notifications (no ads, no news).
• Remove from friends — you disappear from each other's lists.

Why: so you can play four-handed with people you know — invite friends to your table and see who can play right now.

4. What we don't do

• We don't ask for your phone number or address. We ask for your date of birth only to check your age (section 3.8), and it stays on the phone.
• We don't receive precise location, contacts, files or microphone; we don't ask for access to all your photos or the camera — only the one photo you choose for your avatar.
• We don't use third-party analytics counters (Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics and the like) and don't track you across other companies' apps and websites. We ourselves count only the days you open the Game (section 3.3). Game moves without names are used only for the bots (section 3.12).
• We never tune deals to a person: not to purchases, coins or rating. Your data has no effect on the cards.
• We don't sell personal data and don't make automated decisions with legal or similar effects on you. Only the rules of the game work automatically: table matching, scoring, rating, dropping out of a game and the surcharge for leaving or dropping out — as described in the Terms of Use.

5. Legal bases (EEA, UK, Switzerland)

Under the Armenian Law on Personal Data Protection, processing is based on your consent (in the Game and in the consent form), on the contract or on the law, and data is transferred abroad only where the purposes of processing require it (Article 27).

6. Who receives data

• Other players — what is visible at the table and after the game (section 3.2), in the Scorepad — the players of your "Game for the standings" and of your group (section 3.13), your friends — your status in the Game (section 3.14).
• Google (Google LLC, Google Ireland Ltd and their affiliates) — Google Play and payments, Sign in with Google, AdMob and the consent tool, Android vitals, Firebase Cloud Messaging (table-invitation notifications; Firebase terms: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy), as described above.
• Railway Corporation (USA) — hosting of our server and database; servers in the Netherlands, request logs in the USA. Railway stores the data on our behalf and does not use it for its own purposes.
• Public authorities and courts — when the law requires it.
• A buyer or successor of the Game or our company — bound to follow this policy or tell you about changes in advance.

7. International transfers

Our server and database are in the Netherlands (EU); Railway keeps the server's request logs (with IP addresses) in the USA, for up to 90 days. Google and Railway are US companies and may process data in the USA and other countries. Transfers from the EEA, UK and Switzerland — to Google and to Railway, including the logs — rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the recipient is certified, or on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (for Railway — in its data processing agreement). From Armenia, data is transferred because the purposes of processing require it (Article 27 of the Law on Personal Data Protection), with the same safeguards.

8. How long we keep data

9. Your rights and how to use them

Depending on your country, you have the right to: know what data we process about you and get a copy; correct it; delete or block it; restrict or object to processing; receive your data in a portable form; withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing before withdrawal); complain to a data protection authority.

How:

• Delete your account: in the Game, Settings → Delete account and data — personal data is erased at once (what stays de-identified — section 8). Without the Game — follow https://aiswitch.am/blot/delete-account
• Change your name: in your profile.
• Friends: on a friend's page — "Remove from friends". Notifications — turn them off in Android settings (Apps → Blot → Notifications).
• Scorepad: in the game menu — "Delete game" ("Just a scorepad" — completely, also from the server) or "Delete for me" ("Game for the standings"); a name in "Our players" — rename or delete it.
• Ads: Settings → Personalized ads in the Game; the advertising ID — in Android settings.
• Data on the phone: uninstall the Game or clear its storage: Android Settings → Apps → Blot → Storage.
• A copy of your data and anything else: email info@aiswitch.am. If you signed in with Google — from that address; if you are a guest — give your player name and number (in your profile) and the Google Play order number (if you bought anything) so we can find the account. We answer within 5 days, as Armenian law requires, and in any case within one month.

Complaints: the Personal Data Protection Agency of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, or the data protection authority of the country where you live or work.

10. Children

The Game is for players aged 13 and over and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. Players under 16 get only ads "as for children" (section 3.8). If you believe we hold data of a child under 13, email info@aiswitch.am and we will delete the account.

11. For US residents (including California)

• Categories of personal information in the last 12 months: identifiers (player ID, Google account ID, email, advertising ID, app set ID, IP address); commercial information (coin purchases); internet or network activity (moves and games in the Game, days you opened the Game, Scorepad scores and names, ad interactions); approximate location (from the IP address); inferences Google may draw for ads unless you opt out. We do not process sensitive personal information.
• Sources: you, your device and Google.
• Purposes: section 3.
• Sale and sharing: we don't sell personal information for money. Allowing Google to use the advertising ID for interest-based ads may count as "sharing" or "sale" under some state laws. Opt out in Settings → Personalized ads. We do not knowingly sell or share personal information of consumers under 16.
• Your rights: to know and access, delete, correct, opt out of sale or sharing, and not be discriminated against for using these rights. You may act through an authorised agent. Email info@aiswitch.am.
• Retention: section 8.

12. Security

• The Game and the server talk only over an encrypted connection (TLS). The server checks the guest key and the Google sign-in.
• Access to the database and to our Google Play Console, Google Cloud and AdMob accounts is limited to those who need it and protected by two-step verification.
• If a breach ever affects you, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires (including the Personal Data Protection Agency and the Police of the Republic of Armenia, and EU and UK authorities where needed).

13. Changes to this policy

If we change how data is handled (for example, add a new service), we will update this policy and the date at the top in advance and tell you about important changes in the Game.

14. Contact

AI Switch LLC, Apt. 4, 10 Kocharyan St., Yerevan 0056, Armenia — info@aiswitch.am.