Privacy Policy
Effective 14 October 2026
You do not need to give us a name, an email address, a phone number or any other personal detail to play Backgammon Pearl. This policy describes, in plain language, what we actually collect.
We do not collect: your phone number, address, precise location, contacts, photos, microphone or camera. We never request access to any of them. We do not keep your real name or email address: if you sign in with Google, they reach our server inside Google's sign-in token and are discarded at once (see Your account).
On your device
Your settings, your games against the computer and any game in progress are stored on your own device. Playing the computer needs no account and no connection.
Your account
The first time you use something that needs our server (an online game, or a game with a friend by code), a guest account is created automatically. There is no signup screen. That account holds:
- a randomly generated account id (it contains nothing that identifies you);
- a hashed copy of the secret key stored on your device, so the account can be recognised again. We never hold the key itself;
- the nickname you choose;
- your rating in each rated room, and how many games you have played, won and lost there;
- when the account was created and last used, when each device signed in to it was last seen, and, for a device that signed in with Google or Apple, whether it runs Android or iOS;
- any chat mute or ban on the account, and reports you file or that are filed about you.
You may attach a Google account (and on iPhone and iPad an Apple account) so that your progress follows you to another device. When you sign in with Google, Google gives the app a signed token that includes your email address, your name and a link to your profile photo. Our server checks the token, keeps only Google's identifier for your account, and discards the rest at once. Sign in with Apple asks Apple for neither your name nor your email address, and we keep only Apple's identifier for your account. We never post anything to those accounts.
Game data
For each finished online game we record the moves, the dice seeds (the server seed and each player's seed), the result and the rating change. This exists so your rating can be proven correct and so any game's dice can be checked afterwards, by you or by anyone you show the seeds to.
When you play online, the nickname you chose and your rating are shown to your opponent at the table. If you would rather not be recognised, pick a nickname that says nothing about you: nothing else at the table can identify you.
Technical data
Like any internet server, ours sees your IP address when your device connects. We use it to prevent abuse. We do not use it for advertising or profiling. Our server's logs can contain your nickname, and an IP address when a rate limit is hit; they are deleted after at most 7 days.
Diagnostics
Our server keeps a note each time an online game or match starts and ends: the time, the room, how it ended, and the random account id and rating of one player at the table. The app itself sends no usage data and no crash reports. These notes contain nothing you typed. We keep them for a year and use them to see how the game is played. They are never sold or shared, and they are unlinked from your account when you delete it.
Ads
| Who | What for | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdMob | Advertising after a game or match ends, which keeps the game free | Your device's advertising ID (on iPhone and iPad only if you allow tracking when asked), your IP address and the approximate location Google derives from it, other device and app identifiers, how you interact with ads, and diagnostic data, as Google's SDK collects them. Where the law requires it we ask for your consent through Google's consent form before any ad is shown; you may refuse personalised ads, and the game works exactly the same. Where the form applies, you can change your choice later in Settings, Ad privacy. |
Ads appear only after a game or a match has ended, never during play.
Purchases
Backgammon Pearl sells nothing inside the app. There are no in-app purchases, no chips and no coins. If that ever changes, this policy will say so first.
Table chat
Messages you send during an online game, including messages the filter refused to send, are kept on the server for 30 days and then deleted. The only reason they are kept is report review: if a message is reported, it and the conversation around it are held until the report is resolved. Chat data is used for nothing else, builds no profile, and is shared with nobody. You can report, block or mute any opponent from the table. Your block list is stored with your account and deleted with it.
We do not sell your data
We do not sell, rent, or share your data for marketing. It lives only with the providers that run the game and this website (server hosting, web hosting and off-site backups), and with the Google services listed above.
Keeping and deleting data
We keep your data for as long as the account exists. To delete the account in the app, tap your name at the top right of Home. Your games opens: tap Account at the bottom of its left column, then Delete account (Delete this player if you never signed in), and tap again to confirm. Without the app, Delete Your Account explains how to ask us by email. This cannot be undone. Our server's own backups roll over within two days, and daily off-site copies (Cloudflare R2) expire after 90 days, so data deleted from the live database can stay in an off-site backup for up to 90 days.
This website
Cloudflare hosts backgammonpearl.com and, like any web host, sees your IP address when your browser loads a page. The site sets no cookies, shows no ads, runs no analytics scripts and loads nothing from other companies: its fonts come from the site itself. If you pick a language, your browser keeps that choice in its own storage, and it is never sent to us. The dice checker works in your browser and sends the game's values nowhere.
Age
Backgammon Pearl is not directed at anyone under 18.
Changes
If we update this policy we will change the date on this page, and we will say so in the game if the change is significant.