Afropoly — Privacy Policy

Afropoly keeps what it needs to run your games, your friends list and your account, plus anonymous statistics about how the game is used, which you can turn off — and nothing for advertising. There are no ads, nothing is sold, and your data is not shared with anyone to market to you.

Afropoly signs you in with an anonymous account (Firebase Authentication, from Google), identified by a random ID. Your display name and avatar are stored with it so other players can see who they are playing. Your achievements — which you have earned and when, and the running totals behind them, such as games finished, cities owned and bots beaten — are stored with it too, so they survive a reinstall; only you can see them. If you link Google or Apple, the email address and sign-in details that service shares are kept with your account so you can sign in again. An account plays on one device at a time, so the app makes a random ID for each installation; when you sign in with Google or Apple, that ID, the kind of device (iPhone, Android or Mac) and the time are stored with your account, and the game server checks them when you play online.

Your friend code, friends, friend requests, room invites and the players you have recently met (their names and avatars) are stored so the Friends screen works. Only you can read your own lists; changes go through Afropoly's server.

While you play online, your moves go to Afropoly's game server, which runs the match. While a match is in progress, the server also keeps a copy of where it stands (the players' IDs, names, avatars, money and properties) so the game survives a server restart; that copy is deleted when the match ends. When a match ends, its result is kept: the mode, the number of rounds, and each player's ID, name, final worth and place. Table talk (preset phrases, and typed messages in private rooms) goes through the server to the players at your table only; the server holds the latest few messages while the match lasts and never stores them. While you wait for a match, or in a private room before it starts, your ID, name and avatar, and anything said in the room's chat, are held by the server so players can find each other; they are deleted when the match starts, or at the latest 30 minutes after the room was last used. Solo games never leave your phone.

To run the free trial and subscriptions, the game server keeps your Club standing with your account: when your trial ends and, if you subscribe, your plan and when it renews. You pay through the App Store or Google Play; Afropoly never sees your card or payment details. RevenueCat (RevenueCat, Inc.) keeps the subscription records for Afropoly: it receives your account's random ID and your purchases from the store. So that the free trial is once per phone, the app also sends an identifier for your phone that survives reinstalling the app (on Android, the Android ID; on iPhone, a random code kept on the phone). The server stores only a scrambled (hashed) form of it, with the date it was first seen, and uses it for nothing else.

If you allow notifications, a push token for each of your devices is stored so the game can tell you about friend requests, room invites and when it is your turn. Turn notifications off in your phone's settings at any time.

If the app crashes or hits an error, a technical report (Firebase Crashlytics) is sent so the fault can be found and fixed. It says what went wrong, your device model and system version, and which screen and kind of game you were in — not who you are.

Anonymous usage statistics go to Google Analytics for Firebase and to PostHog (PostHog, Inc.). They record that things happened: the app was opened, a screen was viewed, a game started or ended (its mode, how long it lasted, whether you won), a room was opened, a friend request was sent, the Club screen was viewed or a subscription bought, an achievement was earned, the tutorial was started, finished or skipped, a setting was changed. Each is labelled with whether you are on the trial, a Club member or on the free tier, and whether your account is a guest, Google or Apple one. They are tied to a random number made for this installation — never to your account, name or email — and they never include your moves in a game, what you type in chat, your friends, or any code. Your device model, system version, app version and rough location (the country, worked out from your internet address, which is not kept) come with them. You can turn these statistics off in Settings, under Share usage data; crash reports are still sent.

Afropoly also fetches game settings (Firebase Remote Config) so things like the length of a Jollof game can be tuned without an update, and to learn when a version is too old to keep running.

If you send feedback, report a bug or leave a rating, what you wrote is sent along with your app version, device model and operating system version so it can be acted on. Your email address is optional and only ever used to reply. A rating is stored against your account, so rating again replaces the old one.

Your settings (sound, music, haptics, game speed, Share usage data), house rules, your choice of bots and their level, and the online match you are seated at are kept only on your phone. Solo games are played entirely on it.

Everything above is stored with Google Firebase, on Google's servers, which may be outside your country. It is kept for as long as your account exists, and match results for as long as the game runs. RevenueCat keeps subscription records, and PostHog the anonymous usage statistics, on their own servers in the United States.

Afropoly is a family-friendly game, but it is not aimed at children under 13, and it does not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has an account, get in touch and it will be removed.

You can change your name at any time, play only solo games, turn notifications off, and turn usage statistics off (Settings → Share usage data). Settings → Delete account erases your account and everything stored with it: your name, avatar, achievements, friend code, friends, requests, recent players, devices, the installation you last signed in on, your Club standing and rating. Past match results keep your place for the other players, but show you only as "Former player". The scrambled phone identifier is kept, so a new account on that phone doesn't get a second free trial. Deleting your account does not cancel a Club subscription, so cancel an active one in your App Store or Google Play settings first; the app reminds you, and offers the way there.

This policy will change as the game does. The date at the top of this page says when it last did.

Questions about your data? Share feedback, under Settings → More, comes straight to me.