PhonePlot — Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how LEBEDUSHKA, MCHJ XK (“Lebedushka”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) handles information when you install, access, or use Android or iOS builds of PhonePlot (the “Game”, package/bundle ID com.phoneplot.game). Lebedushka determines how and why the information described below is processed. The Game uses Yandex AppMetrica and Google Firebase Analytics for analytics. Version 1.1.0 and later also use AppLovin MAX for advertising and the platform app store for an optional purchase, as described below.

Version note: features can differ by app version, store and region. Advertising and purchase sections apply when those features are offered in your installed build; this Policy also covers iOS test builds.

At a glance

• No registration or manual sign-in is required. Anonymous technical identifiers support purchase entitlements; story progress is not synchronised between devices.
• The player name you type at the start and your progress are stored in the Game's local app data. We do not receive the name or run a cloud-save service.
• The Game sends gameplay and monetisation events without your typed answers or player name to Yandex AppMetrica. Its SDK also processes technical device information under its own policy.
• The Android build uses network, advertising ID and Google Play Billing permissions, plus technical permissions declared by its SDKs. It does not request access to your real messages, contacts, photos, camera or microphone.
• The Game may show ads at eligible breaks and offer optional videos for hints. PhonePlot+ is a weekly auto-renewable subscription that unlocks all cases, removes ads and provides unlimited hints. A separate case key can permanently open one chosen case. Previous lifetime purchases remain valid.
• The “stranger’s phone” you investigate is a fictional phone written for the Game. PhonePlot does not read anything on your own phone.

PhonePlot does not read your real phone

PhonePlot is a detective game in which you explore someone else’s phone. That phone is invented: its messages, emails, photographs, recordings, bank entries, characters and companies were all written for the story and ship inside the Game.

The Game does not read, request, access, copy or transmit the real messages, emails, photos, contacts, call log, call recordings, files or accounts on your device. It has no technical access to them: PhonePlot requests no contacts, storage, camera, microphone, telephony, SMS or location permission that would grant access to that content on Android or iOS.

Information stored on your device

PhonePlot saves the player name you enter at the beginning, your progress through the cases, which questions you have answered, which hints you have opened, your settings, whether PhonePlot+ has been unlocked, and the time of the last full-screen ad for frequency control. This is written to the app’s own local storage (Android SharedPreferencesor iOS NSUserDefaults). There is no manually registered Game account, app-operated cloud save, chat, leaderboard or progress upload, and we have no copy of your progress. Android may include app data in a device backup if you have enabled its backup service. Your operating system may also back up app data on iOS; any such backup is controlled by your device and backup provider.

Analytics: AppMetrica and Firebase Analytics

The Game uses Yandex AppMetrica and Google Firebase Analytics to understand how cases are played, where players get stuck, and whether ads and the optional purchase work. AppMetrica and Firebase Analytics may associate events with device or installation identifiers. The events we send do not contain the text you type:

• which step of the onboarding was reached;
• that a case was opened;
• which app of the in-game phone was opened;
• the case ID, question ID and ordinal, content version and selected content language;
• whether a question was answered correctly, and counts of attempts and hints;
• whether an existing case was continued or its result opened;
• that a hint was used;
• that a case was completed;
• that an ad was offered, loaded, displayed, unavailable or earned a reward;
• ad network and estimated ad revenue reported by the ad SDK; and
• that a PhonePlot+ offer, purchase attempt or restored entitlement occurred.

These events contain no text you type and no content from your real messages or files. The player name is a clear example: when you set it, the Game sends an event named player_name_set without the name itself, so we learn that a name was chosen and never learn what it is.

Separately from our events, the AppMetrica SDK collects its own technical and device information in order to produce installation, audience, retention and technical reports — the kind of breakdown that covers device manufacturers, screen resolutions and interface languages. Rather than restate that list here, where it could drift out of date, we point you to the current documentation, which is authoritative: AppMetrica documentation, AppMetrica data-security and Google Play Data safety information and the Yandex Privacy Policy. Yandex acts as an independent controller for its own processing described in those notices.

Android permissions

PhonePlot and its included SDKs declare permissions for the following functions:

• INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE and ACCESS_WIFI_STATE — connect to analytics, ads and Google Play and check connectivity;
• AD_ID — access the Android advertising identifier where available and permitted;
• BILLING and Google Play licensing or install-referrer support — offer and restore store purchases; and
• VIBRATE — provide optional haptic feedback during play.

The Game requests no camera, no location, no contacts and no file-access permission. The story content can be explored offline. Ads, rewarded hints, purchase and restore features require a connection.

iOS tracking permission and privacy choices

On iOS, access to the advertising identifier (IDFA) requires Apple’s system App Tracking Transparency permission. Declining tracking does not block the cases. Gameplay analytics may still operate without the advertising identifier. You can change the system tracking choice in iOS Settings. Eligible advertising privacy choices can also be revisited through PhonePlot’s game Settings.

Advertising and optional purchase

You can start playing for free. Further access and optional rewarded videos depend on the installed build. The Game uses AppLovin MAX for interstitial ads at eligible breaks between questions and optional rewarded videos in exchange for hints. If an ad is unavailable, a correct answer still advances the story. The SDK and participating ad partners may process device and advertising identifiers where available, IP address, app and device information, and ad views or interactions to select, deliver, measure and improve advertising. We do not send your player name, typed answers or fictional phone content to AppLovin. For more information about AppLovin’s collection and use of your information visit: https://legal.applovin.com/privacy/.

PhonePlot+ is an optional weekly auto-renewable store subscription that unlocks all cases, removes ads and provides unlimited hints while active. A separate case key can permanently unlock one chosen case; previous lifetime purchases remain valid. The store displays prices and renewal terms and handles payment, cancellation and refunds. We do not receive your payment-card number or store password. Our backend and Portal payment platform process anonymous installation/account identifiers and verified store records: transaction and product identifiers, Sandbox/Production environment, purchase, expiry and refund information, case-key balances and entitlements. These records support purchase restoration, official offer-code redemption, verification and prevention of duplicate credit. They do not contain the story answers or player name entered in the game.

Optional in-game feedback

If you submit feedback, our server receives the text and optional rating, difficulty or confusion information you provide, the case identifier and technical app/session context. We use it to investigate problems and improve the game. Do not include information you do not want to send. We retain these records as needed to address the feedback and support requests. You may contact us using the details below.

How we use information

• operate the Game and remember your progress on your device;
• understand in aggregate how far players get, which in-game apps they open and which questions need better hints;
• find and fix technical problems; and
• show and measure ads, honour PhonePlot+ and prevent repeated full-screen ads; and
• respond to messages you send us.

We do not build profiles from your typed answers or fictional phone content. Advertising partners may use identifiers and ad interactions as explained in their own notices. We do not make decisions about you by automated means that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Legal bases for processing

If the GDPR, UK GDPR, Swiss data-protection law or a similar law applies to you, we rely on:

• Performance of a contract — providing the Game and the features you ask for under our Terms of Use;
• Legitimate interests — usage and technical analytics that tell us whether the case is playable, and keeping the Game secure and working, where those interests are not overridden by your rights;
• Consent, where local law requires it for advertising or a particular analytics operation. The advertising consent flow must be completed where required before personalised ads or related identifier processing; and
• Legal obligation — responding to lawful requests and keeping required records.

Service providers

• Yandex AppMetrica — the mobile analytics platform that receives the gameplay events described above and produces our reports. See the Yandex Privacy Policy and AppMetrica data-security information.
• Google Firebase Analytics — receives the gameplay events described above and provides audience, retention and campaign measurement. Analytics storage and advertising-related consent are set after the regional consent flow and refreshed when privacy choices change. See the Firebase Privacy and Security information and Google Privacy Policy.
• AppLovin MAX and participating advertising partners — supply, select and measure ads. Android and iOS builds integrate the MAX SDK. Available mediated partners, including Google AdMob where used, depend on the installed build, region and ad availability. See the AppLovin Privacy Policy.
• Google Play and Apple’s App Store — handle optional purchases, subscriptions, payment, restoration, offer codes and related platform records under the respective store’s terms.
• The app store you install from — if you obtain PhonePlot through an app store, that store handles distribution, updates and platform functions under its own terms and privacy policy. We do not receive your store account details from it.

We may add or remove mediated advertising partners in a future app version and will update this notice when our data practices change.

When information is shared

We may disclose information only as reasonably necessary:

• to AppMetrica, to provide the analytics described above;
• to AppLovin and active ad partners, to provide and measure ads;
• to your app store, to process or restore a purchase you request;
• to comply with law, court orders or valid requests from public authorities;
• to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or to investigate a security issue; or
• in connection with a merger, financing, acquisition, restructuring or sale of assets, subject to appropriate safeguards.

We do not send your typed answers or player name to ad partners. Advertising partners may process pseudonymous device data for advertising, subject to applicable law and your available privacy choices.

Retention

• Your name, progress and settings remain in local app data until you clear the Game’s storage or uninstall it, subject to any device backup you enabled. The same applies to the local ad-frequency timestamp and locally cached PhonePlot+ entitlement. A store purchase record remains with the relevant store and can be restored where available after reinstalling.
• Advertising and purchase records are processed by AppLovin, participating partners and the relevant app store under their respective notices and retention practices. We receive aggregate ad performance and retain verified purchase identifiers and entitlement records to support purchases and prevent duplicate processing. We do not receive your payment card details.
• Analytics events are retained by AppMetrica according to its own configured retention and published practices; uninstalling the Game does not retroactively delete events already recorded.
• Support correspondence is kept as long as reasonably necessary to resolve your request and meet legal obligations.

International transfers

Lebedushka is established in Uzbekistan, and AppMetrica, AppLovin and Google operate internationally, so information may be processed in countries whose data-protection laws differ from those where you live. Where required, transfers rely on an adequacy decision, standard contractual clauses or another lawful mechanism. Yandex describes its own transfer arrangements in the notices linked above.

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the information involved, including storing your name and progress in local app data and transmitting analytics over encrypted connections. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your choices and controls

• Choose any player name you like, or a nickname — we never receive it.
• Clear the Game’s storage or uninstall PhonePlot to remove your name, progress and settings from the device.
• Play with the network off; the case works offline and no analytics event leaves the device while you are disconnected.
• Use Android advertising controls to reset or limit your advertising identifier where available.
• In regions where a consent form applies, reopen it through Privacy choices in the case archive.
• Unlock PhonePlot+ to stop ads in the Game and use hints without ad videos.
• Contact us to exercise applicable privacy rights or ask about our processing.

EEA, UK and Switzerland rights

Subject to applicable law and exceptions, you may request access to and a copy of your personal data; correction; deletion; restriction; objection to processing based on legitimate interests; and data portability. Where processing rests on consent you may withdraw it, and you may lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. Because PhonePlot requires no manual registration and may hold only an anonymous purchase identifier, we may be unable to link a request to any particular analytics record.

California and other US state rights

Depending on your state and subject to legal exceptions, you may have rights to know or access, correct, delete or obtain a portable copy of personal information, and to appeal a declined request. We do not collect precise geolocation or other sensitive personal information. Advertising partners may use identifiers and activity to serve or measure ads, which can qualify as a “sale” or “sharing” under some state laws. Where applicable, you may opt out through the Game's consent controls or contact us using the details below. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.

Requests and deletion

Local data is removed by uninstalling the Game. For anything held by analytics, write to [email protected] with “PhonePlot Privacy Request” in the subject, and tell us your request and your region. Because the Game does not require a name or email account, we may ask for limited information reasonably needed to locate a record — but never send passwords or identity documents.

Age and audience

PhonePlot tells a crime story about a missing journalist and is not designed or directed for children. Its current age rating is displayed in the app store. The Game has no account or user-content feature, and the player name never leaves your device. If you believe a child’s personal information has reached us contrary to this Policy, contact us so we can investigate.

Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy when PhonePlot, its SDK, legal requirements or our practices change — for example when further cases are released. We will post the revised version here, change the “Last updated” date, and provide additional notice or seek consent where required.

Contact

LEBEDUSHKA, MCHJ XK
100180, Tashkent, Yunusabad District, Barhayot MFY, 12 Mavzesi, 20A-uy, Republic of Uzbekistan
Email: [email protected]