The short version
- Solo play needs no account. Your progress and settings stay on your device.
- Online play (matches, friends, leaderboards, progress backup) uses a small account with no email and no password: a display name, an avatar, your country, and your results.
- No ads tracking, no selling or sharing of your data, no free-text chat.
- Delete your online data any time in the game: Settings → Delete my online data.
1. Who we are
Plum Mahjong (“we”, “us”) is an independent mahjong solitaire game, available at plummahjong.com and as apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. We are the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us about anything in this policy at privacy@plummahjong.com.
2. What we collect
When you play on your own
Your levels, stars, coins, settings and boards in progress are stored only on your device (in the browser’s storage, or in the app’s storage). We do not receive them. Clearing your browser data or uninstalling the app removes them.
When you use online features
The first time you use online play, friends or leaderboards, the game creates an online account for you. It has no email address and no password. We then store:
| Data | Details |
|---|---|
| Display name | A generated name (such as an adjective, a noun and a number), or a name you type yourself. Typed names are checked by a filter. |
| Avatar | The icon and frame you pick. |
| Country | When you first go online, we set your profile’s country from the country of the network you connect from, as reported by our hosting provider (Cloudflare). We keep only the two-letter country code, never your IP address, and you can change or remove your country at any time in your profile. |
| Account id and token | A random account id, and a random secret token that stays with you and proves the account is yours: in the game’s storage on your device and, in the apps, in the system’s secure storage (on iPhone and iPad that is your Keychain, which iCloud Keychain can sync to your other Apple devices). We store only a hash of the token, never the token itself. Your account also gets a friend code. |
| Ratings and match results | For each online match: the mode, the board, the players, who won and why, and the rating change. Your rating and number of games and wins per mode. |
| Solo results (move logs) | When you clear a board that has a leaderboard (for example the Daily), the moves you made and your time, so our server can replay them and confirm the result is real. Some race runs are kept so other players can race a recording of them. |
| Board records and challenges | Your best time and stars on boards you clear while online, and the friend challenges you send or receive (the board, the time to beat, and whether it was accepted). |
| Progress backup | While you have an online account, a copy of your game progress (levels, stars, coins and settings) is backed up to it, so you can move it to a new device with a transfer code. |
| Friends and safety choices | Your friends list, players you have hidden, names you have reported, your answers to invites (and short quiet periods after a declined invite), and whether you want to appear on leaderboards. |
| Fair-play notes | Automatic notes when a result looks implausible (for example superhuman speed). Enough of them can stop your results being shown to others. |
| Usage stats (only if you allow them) | Anonymous events about how the game is used, for example a level being won with three stars, plus the platform and app version. They carry no account id, no device id, no name and no IP address. Turn them off any time in Settings → Share anonymous usage stats. |
Technical data
Like any website, our servers see your IP address when your device connects. We use it only for a short time, in memory, to limit how many requests one connection can make (rate limiting) and to block abuse. We do not store IP addresses in our game database. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, also processes connection data (such as IP address and browser type) to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.
When you contact us
If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write, and use them only to answer you.
3. What we never collect
We do not ask for or collect your real name, email address (unless you write to us), password, phone number, contacts, photos, precise location, advertising identifier or payment details. We do not use advertising trackers, we do not track you across other apps or websites, and we do not sell or share your personal data.
4. Why we use it, and our legal bases
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Running online play: your account, matchmaking, matches, ratings, friends, invites, challenges, leaderboards, progress backup and transfer codes | Account data, results, board records, progress backup, friends and preferences | Performing our contract with you (the terms), Art. 6(1)(b) |
| Keeping play fair and safe: checking results by replaying moves, detecting cheating and bots, rate limiting, filtering names and acting on name reports, hiding players | Move logs, results, fair-play notes, reports, account id, IP address (transiently) | Our legitimate interest in fair competition and in protecting the service and its players, Art. 6(1)(f) |
| Understanding and improving the game | Anonymous usage stats | These events do not identify you. Where the law still treats them as personal data or requires consent, we rely on your consent, Art. 6(1)(a), which you can withdraw at any time with the setting |
| Answering your messages | Your email and message | Our legitimate interest in helping you, Art. 6(1)(f) |
| Meeting legal obligations | Whatever the obligation requires | Legal obligation, Art. 6(1)(c) |
You can object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time (see section 9). Online play cannot work without the account data above, so if you do not want it processed, play solo or delete your online data.
5. What other players can see
Other players can see your display name, avatar, country, ratings and whether you are online, and your results on leaderboards (you can choose not to appear on leaderboards in the game). A recorded race run may be shown with your name, avatar and country. Nobody can send you free-text messages: there is no chat.
6. How long we keep it
- Your online account (name, avatar, country, ratings, friends, preferences) is kept until you delete it.
- Move logs from solo results and recorded races are kept for at most 12 months.
- Usage stats are kept for at most 13 months; after that only aggregated totals remain.
- Board records, friend challenges, fair-play notes and your progress backup are part of your account and are deleted with it.
- IP addresses are not stored by us. Cloudflare’s operational logs expire automatically after a few days.
- Support emails are kept for up to 12 months after the conversation ends.
When you delete your online data, it is removed from our live database straight away and from backups within 30 days. Match records that other players took part in keep only an anonymous placeholder instead of your account.
7. Who processes it for us
We use one service provider (processor) to run the game:
- Cloudflare, Inc. hosts the website and the game server, stores the online data and usage stats (Cloudflare Workers, Durable Objects and Analytics Engine), protects the service from attacks, and routes email sent to our addresses. Cloudflare processes data only on our instructions under its data processing agreement.
If you install an app, Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) handle the download under their own privacy policies. We may disclose data if the law requires it, for example to answer a valid court order.
8. International transfers
Cloudflare operates a global network, so your data may be processed outside your country, including in the United States. Where data leaves the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, it is protected by the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK and Swiss addenda) in Cloudflare’s data processing agreement, together with its additional security measures. You can ask us for a copy of these safeguards.
9. Your rights and how to use them
Depending on where you live, you have the right to:
- access your data and get a copy of it, including in a portable format;
- correct it (you can change your name, avatar and country in the game at any time);
- delete it;
- restrict or object to how we use it;
- withdraw your consent to usage stats at any time, without affecting what happened before;
- complain to a data protection authority, such as the one in the country where you live or work. We would appreciate the chance to help first.
Residents of California and other US states have similar rights to know, delete and correct their data. We do not sell or share personal data for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we will never treat you differently for using your rights.
How to use them
- In the game: open Settings → Delete my online data. This deletes your online account and everything linked to it from our server at once. Your solo progress on the device is not affected.
- By email: write to privacy@plummahjong.com. Because accounts have no email address, please include your display name and your friend code (shown in the game), so we can find the right account and check it is yours. We answer within one month.
More help with deleting is on the delete account page.
10. Children
Plum Mahjong is a game for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 (or the older age required in some countries for online services). The game is designed to be safe: there is no free-text chat, display names are either generated or checked by a filter, and any player can report a name they find offensive. If you believe a child has used online play and given us personal data, email privacy@plummahjong.com and we will delete it.
11. Security
All connections to our servers are encrypted (HTTPS and secure WebSockets). Your account token is never stored on our server, only a one-way hash of it. Access to the data is limited to what is needed to run the game, and the server limits request rates to stop abuse. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach ever puts your data at risk, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. If the change is significant, for example a new kind of data or a new purpose, we will also tell you in the game before it takes effect.
13. Contact
Questions, requests or concerns about privacy: privacy@plummahjong.com. For help with the game itself, see support.