Privacy Policy

The Shady Spade is a 6-player card game application developed for iOS. This Privacy Policy explains how the app handles information when you use it. By downloading or playing The Shady Spade, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

This app is designed with privacy as a core principle — we collect as little information as possible and keep what we do use on your device wherever possible.

The Shady Spade is designed to be played without providing any personal information. Here is everything the app may collect:

• Avatar Name: A game nickname you choose yourself. This is not your real name. It is stored locally on your device and used on the global leaderboard if you complete a game.
• Avatar Selection: Your chosen avatar (emoji character) is stored locally on your device.
• Game Session Code (Online & Multiplayer Mode): A temporary 6-character code generated to connect players. This code expires when the game ends or within 24 hours.
• Game History: Game score history for the last 10 games is stored locally on your device. This data never leaves your device and is deleted when you uninstall the app.
• Global Leaderboard: When a game completes, your chosen avatar name, wins, games played, bid history, scores, and gameplay results (bids made or set, points scored) are stored on Firebase Firestore servers to power the global leaderboard. This data is associated with your avatar name only — not your real name or any personal identifier.
• Anonymous Device Token: The app uses Firebase Anonymous Authentication to secure leaderboard writes. A silent anonymous token is created on your device on first launch — no email, phone number, or personal information is required or collected.
• App Preferences: Settings such as theme selection, display mode (Dark, Light, or System), player names, and avatars are stored locally using Apple's UserDefaults/AppStorage on your device only.
• Camera Access (QR Scanning): The app requests camera permission when you use the QR code scanner to join an online game. The camera feed is processed entirely on-device by Apple's AVFoundation framework to read the QR code. No camera images or video are stored, transmitted, or shared. Camera access is only requested when you tap "Scan QR Code" and can be revoked at any time in iOS Settings.
• URL Scheme & Universal Links: The app registers the shadyspade:// custom URL scheme and handles universal links at https://shadyspade-d6b84.web.app/shadyspade/join/{CODE}. QR codes shared between players encode the full universal link URL. No data beyond the 6-character room code is transmitted via either mechanism.
• Local Network Access (TV Dashboard — Bluetooth Mode Only): When hosting a Bluetooth game, the app can optionally start a local web server on your device accessible within your Wi-Fi network. This server shares the current game state (player avatar names, scores, cards played, bid information) with any browser on the same local network, so it can be displayed on a TV. No data is sent to the internet. The server runs only while you are hosting a Bluetooth game and stops automatically when the game ends. You are shown the local URL and a QR code before any device connects.

The Shady Spade uses Google Firebase for two purposes: real-time game sessions and the global leaderboard.

• Firebase is used to synchronise game state (cards played, scores, turn order) between players in the same Online Mode session.
• Only your chosen avatar name and game actions are transmitted — never personal information.
• All session data is deleted from Firebase servers when the game session ends.
• Firebase may collect anonymous technical data such as crash reports and performance metrics as described in Google's Privacy Policy.
• Solo, Bluetooth, and Pass & Play modes do not use Firebase for game sync — however Firebase records leaderboard stats at game end in all modes (Solo, Online, Bluetooth, Pass & Play).
• Monthly leaderboard archiving: At the start of each calendar month, a scheduled Cloud Function automatically archives the previous month's leaderboard data (avatar names, win counts, scores, and game log entries) into a historical snapshot collection on Firebase Firestore. This archive is used to preserve all-time statistics and is not shared with any third party. You may request deletion of both live and archived data by contacting us.

When a game completes in any mode, game result data is processed by Google Cloud Functions (us-central1 region) to validate scores server-side before writing to the leaderboard. This uses your avatar name, bid amount, and round results only. No personal data is transmitted. If your device is offline at the time, the record is queued locally and submitted automatically when connectivity is restored.

The limited information collected is used solely for the following purposes:

• Displaying your chosen avatar name and emoji during gameplay
• Connecting you to an online game session when you enter or share a session code
• Reading a QR code via the camera to extract a room code (camera feed is never stored or transmitted)
• Remembering your app preferences, including appearance/theme choices, between sessions
• Tracking scores within the current game session
• Displaying your game statistics on the global leaderboard
• Displaying game state on a local-network TV dashboard when you opt in during Bluetooth host mode

We do not use any information for advertising, analytics, profiling, or any purpose other than making the game work.

We do not sell, rent, trade, or share your information with any third parties for commercial purposes. The only third-party services used are:

• Google Firebase — for online multiplayer synchronisation and leaderboard data storage, as described in Section 3.
• Google Cloud Functions — processes game results server-side to validate and record leaderboard data. Operated by Google LLC under the same Firebase privacy terms.

We do not integrate advertising networks, social media trackers, analytics platforms, or any other data-collecting third-party services.

The Shady Spade does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. The app does not require account creation, does not collect email addresses, and does not request any personal identifying information from any user of any age.

Because no personal data is collected, The Shady Spade is designed to be safe for all ages.

• Avatar name and preferences are stored locally on your device using Apple's UserDefaults/AppStorage and persist until you delete the app. Appearance preferences such as selected theme and display mode do not leave your device.
• Game session data (scores, cards played) is held in memory only and is automatically erased when the app is closed.
• Online session codes expire automatically within 24 hours or immediately when a game ends.
• Leaderboard data (avatar name, wins, scores, bid history) is stored on Firebase Firestore servers indefinitely to maintain all-time rankings. Game log entries are limited to the 50 most recent games. At the start of each month, a Cloud Function archives the prior month's statistics into a historical snapshot — this archived data also persists indefinitely. To request deletion of both live and archived leaderboard data, contact us via the support details below.
• Pending leaderboard records are stored in an encrypted file protected by iOS Data Protection (completeFileProtectionUnlessOpen) when your device is offline. Records are flushed to Firebase automatically when connectivity is restored and deleted from the device once confirmed by the server.
• Anonymous auth token is stored on your device by Firebase and persists across app launches. It is removed when you uninstall the app.
• You can remove all locally stored data at any time by deleting the app from your device.

The Shady Spade offers multiple game modes, each with different data implications:

• Solo Mode: Play against 5 AI opponents on your device. No game sync data leaves your device. Leaderboard stats are recorded to Firebase at game end.
• Online Mode: Play with real players (and optionally AI-filled seats) over the internet using a session code. Firebase syncs game state using only avatar names and game actions. Leaderboard stats recorded at game end. You can start an Online session directly from the "New Game" screen by choosing 2 or more players.
• Bluetooth Mode: Play with nearby players over a local Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connection using Apple's Multipeer Connectivity framework. No internet connection is required and no game data is sent to external servers during play. Leaderboard stats are recorded to Firebase at game end. Optionally, the host device can share a live game-state dashboard on the local Wi-Fi network for display on a TV — see "Local Network Access" in Section 2.
• Pass & Play (Hot Seat): Multiple humans share one device, passing it between turns. No game sync data leaves your device. Leaderboard stats recorded at game end.

Because we collect minimal data and store most of it locally on your device, you have full control:

• You can change your avatar name and avatar at any time within the app
• You can delete all local app data by uninstalling The Shady Spade from your device
• You can request deletion of your leaderboard data by contacting us at the details below
• You can play in Solo Mode at any time — leaderboard stats will still be recorded at game end using your chosen avatar name

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.