Privacy Policy

Mahjong Alley · Effective date: August 27, 2026

1. A quick summary

We built Mahjong Alley to be a place to play mahjong, not a data business. In plain terms:

• You can start playing immediately without creating an account or giving us your name or email.
• We do not sell or share your personal information, and we do not currently show you advertising.
• We do not use your gameplay to train artificial intelligence.
• We use a small number of service providers to run the App, understand how it is used, and diagnose crashes.
• You can delete your account and associated data from within the App at any time.

The sections below give the detail. This summary is for convenience and does not replace the full Policy.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you provide

• Your name (handle). A name you choose that other players can see during multiplayer games and that friends can use to find and invite you. You choose what this is; please do not use your full legal name if you would rather other players not see it. You can change it in the App, though changes are limited to once every 30 days.
• Apple Sign-In information. If you choose to create a persistent account, you sign in with Apple. Apple provides us with a unique account identifier. Depending on your Apple settings, Apple may share a name; we do not receive your Apple ID password or your Apple email unless you choose to share it, and we do not use a shared email for marketing unless you separately opt in.
• Bug reports and support messages. If you submit a bug report in the App or email us, we receive what you send, which may include a description of the problem, your device and app version, and a record of the screens you visited before reporting, to help us reproduce the issue.
• Marketing preference. Marketing emails are off by default. If you turn on the updates option in the App’s settings, we record that you agreed to receive occasional product updates by email, and when you agreed.

2.2 Information created when you play

• Account and profile data. When you first open the App, we automatically create an anonymous account so you can play and so your settings and progress are saved on our servers. This anonymous account is identified only by a randomly generated identifier, not by your name or contact information. If you later sign in with Apple, your anonymous account becomes a persistent account.
• Gameplay records. Records of games you play — including solo games and multiplayer games — such as results, statistics, achievements, and progress. Multiplayer games are shared records: a completed multiplayer game is part of the game history of every player who was at the table.
• Multiplayer and social data. If you play multiplayer, we process the information needed to run a table: who is seated, whose turn it is, the state of the game, and reactions you send. If you add friends, we store your friend connections and any block or report actions you take. Your accepted friends can also see your name, avatar, and gameplay information — such as games played, points, your solo record, the difficulty you play most, when you were last active, and where you rank among your friends on a friends leaderboard. Players you have shared a table with can see your name, that you have played together, and recent activity status. This information is not public and is not shown to players you have never played with or friended.
• Reports you submit about other players. If you report another player for an inappropriate name or for their conduct, we store the report so our team can review it. A report includes your identifier as the reporter, the reported player’s identifier and name, the reason category you select, and any short note you write describing the problem. Reports are readable only by us, not by other users, and are used to review and act on conduct in the App. If you are reported, the report is not shown to you.

2.3 Information collected automatically

• Analytics data. We use a third-party analytics provider to understand how the App is used — for example, which screens are viewed, which features are used, and how players move through the App. Analytics events describe actions and outcomes; they do not include the contents of your messages, your friends list, or invitation codes. For guests, analytics data is tied only to a random device identifier. If you sign in, analytics data is linked to your account identifier.
• Approximate location. Our analytics provider derives an approximate, city-level location from the IP address your device uses to connect. We do not collect precise or GPS location, and the IP address itself is not stored on analytics events.
• Device and diagnostic data. For analytics and crash reporting we collect standard technical information such as device model, operating system version, app version, language, and time zone. If the App encounters an error, our crash-reporting provider records diagnostic information to help us fix it. These diagnostic reports may include your account identifier so we can correlate an error to an affected account; we remove other identifying details, such as identifiers embedded in web addresses, before they are stored.
• Notifications. If you join a multiplayer table, we ask whether you want to allow push notifications (for example, to tell you it is your turn). If you allow them, we store a notification token so we can send them. You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.

2.4 What we do not collect

We do not collect your precise location, your contacts or address book, health or financial information, your browsing history in other apps, or advertising identifiers (such as the IDFA). We do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.

3. How we use information

We use the information above to:

• operate the App and provide its features, including solo and multiplayer play;
• create and maintain your account and save your settings, progress, and game history;
• run multiplayer tables and social features such as friends, invitations, blocking, and reporting;
• understand how the App is used so we can improve it;
• diagnose crashes and fix problems;
• send push notifications you have enabled;
• respond to your bug reports and support requests;
• send you product-update emails if — and only if — you have opted in;
• maintain the safety and integrity of the App, including reviewing reports of inappropriate names or conduct; and
• comply with law and enforce our Terms of Service.

We do not use your gameplay or other personal information to train artificial intelligence. The computer opponents in the App play using fixed logic, not models trained on your play.

4. How information is shared

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share information only as follows:

• Service providers. We use vendors to operate the App on our behalf — including our hosting and database provider, our multiplayer game server host, our analytics provider, our crash-reporting provider, the service that generates link previews for invites, and Apple’s notification service. These providers process information only to provide services to us, under contract terms that restrict their use of the information. Push notification content — which can include another player’s name and, for reports you submit to us, a preview of what you wrote — is delivered through a notification relay service to reach the recipient’s device.
• Other players. Information you make visible in multiplayer — your name, reactions you send, and the fact that you participated in a shared game — is visible to other players you play with or invite. After a shared game ends, your name remains part of the other players’ game records and score histories.
• Invite links. When you share an invite link to your table, anyone with the link — including messaging apps and services that generate link previews — can see the table name and the host’s name before joining. Share invite links only with people you want at your table.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, to respond to legal process, to protect the rights, safety, or property of Elevate Games or others, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (in which case we will require the recipient to honor this Policy).

5. Advertising

The App is currently free and ad-free. We may introduce advertising in the future to help keep the App free. If we do, we will update this Policy and provide notice before any advertising-related data collection begins, and any such change will apply only going forward — it will not be applied to information collected before the change without an appropriate legal basis. We will describe at that time what advertising involves and what choices you have.

6. Retention

We keep your account and gameplay information for as long as your account exists, so your progress and history remain available to you. Because multiplayer games are shared records, a completed multiplayer game remains part of the other players’ history even after you delete your account. When you delete your account, your identity is removed from those shared records — your account and profile are deleted, and you are shown in the shared game only in de-identified form — but the record of the game itself is not deleted from the other players’ history.

We keep bug reports for as long as needed to diagnose and fix problems. Bug reports, and reports submitted about players, may be retained after you delete your account, because they are used to identify and repair errors and to maintain the safety and integrity of the App.

Analytics and diagnostic data are retained for limited periods set with our providers and then deleted or aggregated.

7. Your choices and rights

You have control over your information, primarily through the App itself:

• Delete your account. You can permanently delete your account and associated personal data at any time from within the App (Settings → Your profile → Delete Account). Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone. See Section 6 for what happens to shared multiplayer records and bug reports.
• Edit your information. You can change your name (handle) in the App, subject to a limit on how often.
• Notifications. You can turn push notifications on or off in your device settings.
• Marketing email. Marketing emails are off unless you turn them on in the App’s settings. You can turn them off again at any time; if we ever send marketing emails, every message will include a way to unsubscribe.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under state privacy laws, including the right to know what personal information we hold about you, the right to delete it, the right to correct it, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Because we do not sell or share personal information or use it for targeted advertising, there is no “Do Not Sell or Share” process to opt out of; if that ever changes, we will provide one.

To exercise a right that is not covered by the in-App controls above, email us at hey@mahjongalley.com. We will verify your request (typically by confirming control of your account) and respond within the time required by law. You may use an authorized agent where the law allows.

8. Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect your information, including access controls that limit production data access to the company’s founders. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children

The App is intended only for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us at hey@mahjongalley.com.

10. United States only

The App is offered only in the United States and is intended only for users located in the United States. We do not direct the App to, or knowingly provide it to, users outside the United States.

11. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice through the App before the changes take effect, and we will update the effective date above. Changes apply going forward and will not be applied retroactively to information already collected without an appropriate legal basis or your consent where required.

12. Contact

mahjongalley.com · Support · Terms of Service