Privacy Policy
This policy explains what information the KhelMandala mobile app (“KhelMandala”, “the app”) collects, how it is used and shared, and the choices you have. KhelMandala is published by Manicod (“we”, “us”). If you have any question about this policy, email support@manicod.com.
- You can play without giving us your name, email address or phone number.
- We store your game progress (scores, levels, XP, coins, achievements) against a random account ID so it can be saved and ranked.
- If you sign in with Google, we receive your Google account ID, email address, name and profile photo. We use them to keep your progress on your account, to show you which Google account you signed in with, and so our team can find your account when you ask for help and contact you about a contest prize. Other players never see them.
- Other players see only the nickname you choose in the app, if you choose one.
- In online matches you can turn on a microphone and talk to the other players. Your voice goes straight to their phones — it never reaches our servers, and we never record it. Their phones and ours see each other’s IP addresses while a call is up, because that is how a direct connection works.
- The app shows ads through Google AdMob and uses Google Firebase for analytics, crash reports and notifications. These services collect device information, including your advertising ID.
- We advertise KhelMandala on Facebook and Instagram. To learn which of those ads led to an install, the app tells Meta when it is installed and opened, along with your advertising ID. It does this only where no consent law requires your permission first, and never tells Meta about your account or your gameplay.
- We don’t sell your personal information.
- You can delete your account and its data at any time, in the app (You → Delete account) or by email. See Delete your account.
1. Information we collect
Account information
- A random account ID. The first time you open the app, our server creates an anonymous account and gives the app a sign-in token. The token is stored on your device.
- Google account details, if you sign in with Google. Signing in with Google (required only for online multiplayer and to win the weekly contest) links your account to your Google account ID. We also store the email address, name and profile photo link on that Google account, and update them when they change, so the app can show you which account you used. Our team can see them in our admin tools, to find your account when you ask for help, to review contest winners, and to contact you about a prize. We never receive your Google password, and we never show your Google name, email or photo to other players.
- A nickname, if you choose one. You can set a nickname under You. It is the only name other players see.
Gameplay information
- Scores, how long each round lasted, levels cleared and stars earned, XP and player level, coins and items unlocked with coins, and achievements.
- Your leaderboard positions.
- Star ratings you give to games, games you mark as favourites, and your recent searches inside the app.
- For online matches: the rooms you create or join, your seat, and the moves you make. The server uses these to run the match and prevent cheating.
- Rewarded-ad coin grants: when you watch a rewarded ad for coins, we record the time, the placement and the coins given, to enforce daily limits.
Voice chat
Voice chat is only ever available in online multiplayer rooms, and only if you turn your microphone on yourself. The app asks for microphone permission the first time you press the mic button inside a room, never at launch. Your microphone is open only while you are holding a button down.
- Your voice is not collected. Audio travels directly between the players’ phones, encrypted. It does not pass through our servers, and we do not record, store, listen to or transcribe it — we could not, even if asked. Nothing of what is said is kept anywhere, by us or by anyone else, once it has been heard.
- Your IP address becomes visible to the other players’ devices while a call is up, and to a public Google STUN server the app uses to find a route between phones. This is how any direct phone-to-phone connection works, and it is the reason voice is limited to rooms you have joined.
- We do record that voice was used: that a seat turned its microphone on during a match, and a summary written when you turn it off — how many players you connected to, how many connections failed, how long the microphone was on, how many times you pressed to talk, and whether you were on Wi-Fi or mobile data. We use these to find out whether voice works on real networks. They are never used to decide anything you receive in the game.
- If you report another player, we record who reported whom, in which room, the reason you picked from the list, and whether the audio was a private message rather than spoken to the table. If you block a player, we record that too, so the two of you are not put in a room together again. A blocked player is not told.
- Because we never hold the audio, we cannot check for ourselves what was said. Reports are read and acted on by a person, from what the report says.
App usage information
- While the app is open, it periodically tells our server that it is running and which game, if any, is on screen. It also reports the app version and platform (for example, Android). We use this to count active players and measure time spent in each game.
- Through Google Firebase Analytics: events such as screens viewed, games opened and matches finished, plus device model, operating system version, app instance ID, language, and approximate location (country or region) inferred from your IP address. Analytics events are linked to your account ID.
Device and diagnostic information
- Crash reports through Google Firebase Crashlytics. These include device model, operating system version, app version, and technical details of the crash.
- A push notification token through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, if you allow notifications. It lets us send notifications to your device.
- Advertising information through Google AdMob: your device’s advertising ID, IP address, device and app information, and how you interact with ads.
- Install and app-open events through the Meta (Facebook) SDK, so we can tell which of our ads on Facebook and Instagram led to an install. Meta receives the fact that the app was installed or opened, your device’s advertising ID, IP address, and device and app information (such as device model, operating system version and app version). It does not receive your account ID, your Google account details, or anything about your gameplay. The app sends these events only where Google’s consent check finds that no consent law applies to you; in the EEA, the UK and US states that require consent, nothing is sent to Meta.
Information stored only on your device
The app keeps some settings on your device, such as sound preferences, your sign-in token and cached content. This stays on your device unless it is also listed above.
What we don’t collect
Apart from the Google account email, name and profile photo described above, which we receive only if you sign in with Google, we don’t ask for or collect your name, email address, phone number, postal address, precise location, contacts, photos, camera access, or payment information. KhelMandala has no in-app purchases.
We ask for microphone access for one thing only — voice chat in online multiplayer rooms, as described above — and only when you first press the mic button inside a room. We never record what the microphone hears, and the app never opens it outside a room or while you are not holding a talk button. There is no text chat in KhelMandala.
2. How we use information
- To run the games: saving your progress, awarding XP and coins, running online matches and matchmaking, and showing your library, favourites and recent searches.
- To keep things fair: checking that scores are plausible, limiting how often scores and rewards can be claimed, and enforcing the rules of online matches.
- To show leaderboards and achievements across all players.
- To send notifications you’ve allowed, for example when someone passes your leaderboard score, when free coins are ready, or when there’s news about the app.
- To show ads, including rewarded ads that give in-game coins. Ads are how KhelMandala stays free.
- To measure our own advertising: finding out which of our ads on Facebook and Instagram led people to install the app, so we spend on the ones that work.
- To understand and improve the app: counting active players, seeing which games are played, and fixing crashes.
- To keep voice chat safe: acting on reports, honouring blocks so two players are not seated together again, and — where several different players report the same person in one match — switching that person’s microphone off for the rest of that match.
- To answer you when you contact us, and to meet legal obligations.
Usage and analytics information is never used to decide the XP, coins, leaderboard positions or achievements you receive.
3. What other players can see
- Leaderboards are public inside the app. They show your rank and score together with the nickname you chose, if you chose one. They never show your Google name or email.
- In online matches, the other players at your table can see that same nickname, your seat and your moves.
- In voice chat, the players you are connected to hear your microphone while you hold a talk button — either everyone at the table, or one player if you chose one. The board always shows you who can hear you before you speak. Their devices and yours also see each other’s IP addresses for as long as the call is up, because the connection is direct. Nobody is told that you have blocked them.
4. Rewarded ads and coins
You can choose to watch a rewarded ad to earn in-game coins. Coins are a virtual in-game currency. They have no cash value, can’t be bought, sold, transferred or exchanged for money or real-world goods, and can only be used inside KhelMandala. Watching an ad never earns XP. We record each coin grant as described in section 1.
5. Third-party services
KhelMandala uses the following services. Each processes information under its own privacy terms:
| Service | What it’s for | Its privacy information |
|---|---|---|
| Google Sign-In | Signing in, so your progress stays with your account | Google Privacy Policy |
| Google AdMob | Showing ads, including rewarded ads | How Google uses information from apps that use its services |
| Firebase Analytics | App usage statistics | Privacy and Security in Firebase |
| Firebase Crashlytics | Crash reports | |
| Firebase Cloud Messaging | Push notifications | |
| Google public STUN servers | Helping two phones find a route to each other for voice chat. They see your IP address; no audio passes through them | Google Privacy Policy |
| Meta (Facebook) SDK | Measuring which of our ads on Facebook and Instagram led to an install | Meta Privacy Policy |
Apart from these service providers, we share information only if the law requires it, to protect the rights, safety or property of our players or Manicod, or as part of a merger or sale of the app. In a merger or sale, this policy would continue to apply to your information. We don’t sell your personal information.
6. Your choices
- Ad consent: if you are in a region where consent is required for personalised ads (such as the EEA, the UK or certain US states), the app asks for your choice through Google’s consent form before ads are requested. You can change your choice at any time in the app, under You → Privacy options.
- Ads personalisation: on Android, go to Settings → Google → Ads (or Settings → Privacy → Ads) to delete or reset your advertising ID or opt out of personalised ads. You may still see ads, but they won’t be based on your advertising ID. Deleting your advertising ID also stops it being sent to Meta.
- Meta: if you have a Facebook or Instagram account, you can see and disconnect the activity apps share with Meta in your Meta account settings, under “Your activity off Meta technologies”.
- Notifications: you can decline the permission request, or turn notifications off at any time in Android Settings → Apps → KhelMandala → Notifications.
- Voice chat: it is off until you turn it on, in a room, and you can turn it off again at any time. You can also mute one player on your own phone, block a player for good (Profile → Blocked players, to undo), or report them. Microphone permission can be withdrawn at any time in Android Settings → Apps → KhelMandala → Permissions.
- Signing in: signing in with Google is optional. Offline play works without it; it is needed only for online multiplayer and to win the weekly contest.
- Access, correction and deletion: delete your account in the app under You → Delete account, or email support@manicod.com to ask for a copy of your data, to correct it, or to have it deleted. See Delete your account.
- Uninstalling the app stops all further collection from your device.
Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under local law, such as India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, or the EU/UK GDPR. These can include the right to withdraw consent, to object to processing, to nominate someone to act for you, or to complain to a data protection authority. To use any of these rights, contact us at the address below.
7. How long we keep information
- Account, progress and gameplay data is kept while your account exists, and deleted when the account is deleted.
- App usage records are kept only as long as we need them to produce usage statistics, and are deleted with your account. Statistics we keep afterwards are totals that don’t identify you.
- Voice records — the fact that a microphone was on, connection summaries, reports and blocks — are kept while your account exists and deleted with it. There is never any audio to keep. Reports are also visible to the reported player’s side only as the effect they have, never as a copy of the report.
- Notification tokens are removed when Firebase reports them as no longer valid, or when your account is deleted.
- Data held by Google services (Analytics, Crashlytics, AdMob) is kept under Google’s retention policies. Firebase Analytics data linked to an account is kept for up to 14 months.
- Install and app-open events sent to Meta are kept under Meta’s own retention policies. They aren’t linked to your KhelMandala account, so deleting your account can’t remove them from Meta.
8. Deleting your account
You can delete your KhelMandala account and all the data linked to it in the app, under You → Delete account, or by emailing us. Both options are described on our Delete your account page. When an account is deleted, its progress, scores, leaderboard entries, achievements, coins, ratings, favourites, search history, notification tokens, usage records, voice reports and blocks, and voice connection summaries are permanently removed from our servers.
9. Security
The app talks to our server only over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Our database can’t be reached from the internet: only our own server can access it, and every request must carry a valid, signed token for your account. Server credentials are kept out of the app and out of any public location. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we work to protect your information and to fix problems quickly.
10. Children
KhelMandala is intended for people aged 13 and over, and is not directed at children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has used the app, contact us at support@manicod.com, and we will delete the account and its data.
11. International processing
Our servers and the services listed above may process your information in countries other than the one you live in, including India and the United States. Wherever it is processed, we protect it as described in this policy.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app changes. We’ll change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and for significant changes we’ll also tell you in the app. Continuing to use KhelMandala after an update means the updated policy applies.
13. Contact us
Manicod
Email: support@manicod.com