Privacy Policy — Meld
Meld is a scorekeeping app for the card game pinochle. This policy explains what it stores, what leaves your device, and what does not.
The short version
Meld works entirely on your own device. Nothing leaves it unless you choose to share a table with other players. There are no accounts, no email addresses, no advertising, and no selling of data to anyone.
What is stored on your device
Games, scores, hands, house rules and the names you enter for players are saved locally on your device. This data stays there. Uninstalling the app deletes it.
What leaves your device, and when
Only when you share a table or join someone else's table does any data travel off your device. In that case the following is sent to Google Firebase, which hosts the shared game:
- The scores, bids, meld and hands of the game being shared
- The names entered for the players at that table
- A randomly generated anonymous identifier for your installation
- The four-digit code identifying the table
This is what allows other people at your table to follow the game on their own phones. If you never share or join a table, none of it is ever transmitted.
The anonymous identifier
To keep shared tables working, Meld signs in anonymously to Firebase. This creates a random identifier tied to your app installation. It is not linked to your name, email address, phone number, Google account or advertising ID, and it cannot be used to identify you personally. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data ends that identifier permanently.
Player names
Names are typed in by whoever sets up the game and are often nicknames or first names. Meld does not verify them, does not connect them to real identities, and does not read your contacts. If you would rather not share a real name, use any label you like — the app does not care.
What Meld does not do
- No advertising, and no advertising identifiers
- No selling or sharing of data with third parties
- No location data, contacts, photos, microphone or camera access
- No tracking across other apps or websites
- No email addresses or phone numbers collected
- No analytics on how you use the app
Purchases
Meld is free to score with. An optional one-time purchase unlocks full history, statistics and related features. Purchases are handled entirely by Google Play and RevenueCat, our billing provider. Meld never sees or stores your payment details. RevenueCat receives a purchase receipt and an anonymous identifier so your purchase can be restored on a new device.
Deleting your data
Local data: uninstall the app, or clear its storage in Android settings.
Shared table data: leaving a table removes your entry from it. The person who started the table can end it, which removes it entirely. Abandoned tables expire automatically after about 12 hours of inactivity.
Children
Meld is intended for a general audience aged 13 and over. It is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from children under 13.
Changes to this policy
If what Meld collects ever changes, this policy will be updated before that change is released, and the date at the top will change with it.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: support@heritagetimes.news