Privacy Policy - Petri

At Melen Studio, the privacy of our players is a top priority. This Privacy Policy explains what Petri (the "App") does with information, who receives it, and the choices you have. This game is rated for all audiences. Petri requires no Melen Studio account, no login to play offline, and no social chat, and it never asks for your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, or precise location.

1. Information Stored on Your Device and Cloud Sync

Your game progress (high scores, unlocked cell bestiary, achievements, and active saved game sessions including cell positions and power-up charges), your settings (language, cell skin, background style, sound effects, music, haptics, and notification preferences), and your purchase entitlements (such as Remove Ads / VIP status) are stored locally on your device and protected with local integrity signatures. Uninstalling the App or clearing its storage removes these local records.

Optional Cloud Sync: Cloud synchronization is turned off by default. If you choose to enable Cloud Sync in Settings or sign in to view leaderboards or achievements, your high scores, unlocked achievements, and saved game snapshots are synchronized with your Google account through Google Play Games Services.

2. Age Gate and Children's Privacy

On first launch, Petri displays an Age Gate asking for your year of birth to ensure compliance with international child privacy regulations (including COPPA and GDPR-K). The year is evaluated once on your device to determine whether you meet the minimum age threshold (13 or older). The birth year itself is never stored or transmitted anywhere; only the resulting boolean preference is saved locally on your device.

• Players under 13 (or whose age is unknown): Crashlytics is disabled. Firebase Analytics is limited to anonymous, aggregate gameplay statistics (for example levels and scores reached and session length): analytics storage, advertising storage and ad personalization are all denied, we set no user properties or user ID, we build no profile, and the advertising ID is not collected. Google may still receive technical information such as your IP address and device model; we cannot link it to you. Nothing is collected until the age question has been answered. Advertisements are requested strictly with Google's child-directed treatment (rating G, no behavioral tracking, and no personalized advertising), and teen-rated titles are hidden from the studio "More Games" catalog.
• Players 13 and older: Gameplay telemetry and crash diagnostics may be collected, using technical identifiers such as an app-instance ID, and advertising is served subject to applicable regional consent rules (see sections 3 and 4).

3. Services We Use

The App integrates the following third-party and studio services to operate, balance gameplay, and maintain stability. Depending on your age status and consent, these services may process technical identifiers such as an advertising ID, an app-instance ID, your IP address, device model, operating system version, and locale:

• Google Firebase Analytics: Collects anonymous usage events (such as session duration, playtime milestones, levels and scores reached, visual theme preferences, ad interactions, achievement unlocks, and verified in-app purchase events). For players 13 and older it runs subject to consent; for players under 13 it runs only in the anonymous, aggregate mode described in section 2.
• Google Firebase Crashlytics: Collects anonymous crash logs and diagnostic error reports with device and app version metadata to help us identify and fix bugs. Never enabled for players under 13.
• Google Firebase Remote Config: Downloads remote configuration parameters (such as game balance settings, update notices, and the studio cross-promotion catalog). It does not send gameplay data.
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM): Delivers remote push notifications using a device registration token, active only if you grant notification permissions (see section 5).
• Google AdMob and Google User Messaging Platform (UMP): Serves advertisements to keep the game free and, in regions where legally required, requests and manages your consent preferences before loading personalized ads (see section 4). Regional ad-serving eligibility is checked locally using your device locale without external IP geolocation lookups.
• Google Play Games Services: Provides optional global leaderboards, achievements, and cloud save synchronization when you enable Cloud Sync or sign in with your Google Play Games profile.
• Google Play Billing: Processes optional in-app purchases (such as Remove Ads / VIP) and purchase restorations. All payment transactions are handled directly by Google Play; Melen Studio never receives or stores your payment details.
• Google Play In-App Review: Lets you rate and review the game inside the App or open its store listing when you choose to do so.
• Studio Cross-Promotion: The "More Games" portfolio and in-house fallback promotional videos for other Melen Studio titles are downloaded and cached from public servers we use (including GitHub). Those servers receive your IP address when media files are fetched. Tapping a promoted game or external link always asks for your confirmation before opening Google Play or your browser.

4. Advertising and In-App Purchases

Advertisements support the ongoing development of Petri. Optional rewarded ads are shown only when you choose to watch them to refill in-game power-ups (such as Shake, Kill Cell, Remove Small Cells, or Upgrade Cell), with fallback to interstitial or in-house studio cross-promotion ads when needed.

For players under 13, all ad requests are tagged as child-directed and restricted to family-appropriate content (rating G) with personalized ads disabled. In jurisdictions where consent is required by law (such as the EEA, the UK, and select US states), Google's UMP consent form is presented as required. You can review or modify your consent preferences at any time using the Privacy options item in the in-game Settings menu (when available in your region) or through your device settings.

You can purchase Remove Ads (VIP) at any time to permanently disable advertisements and unlock VIP benefits, and you can recover your entitlement on new devices using Restore Purchases in Settings.

5. Notifications

Retention and daily reward reminders are scheduled locally on your device and do not use personal data. The App presents an in-game prompt before requesting system notification permissions. Remote push notifications are delivered via Firebase Cloud Messaging. You can turn notifications on or off at any time using the Notifications toggle in Settings or in your device's system settings.

6. Your Choices and Controls

• Privacy Options (Settings, where required): Review or change your advertising and privacy consent preferences at any time in supported regions.
• Cloud Sync (Settings): Toggle Google Play Games cloud saves, leaderboards, and achievements on or off at any time.
• Notifications (Settings): Enable or disable local retention reminders and notifications at any time.
• Remove Ads & Restore Purchases (Settings): Permanently disable ads via an optional purchase, or restore an existing purchase to your device.
• Device & Google Account Settings: Reset or delete your advertising ID, opt out of ad personalization in your Android settings, or manage your connected Play Games profile and saved data in your Google Account settings.

7. Data Retention and Your Rights

We do not collect names, email addresses, or other directly identifying personal information. Anonymous analytics and crash reports are retained by Google Firebase in accordance with our configured Firebase retention periods and are never used to identify individual players.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights under applicable privacy laws (such as GDPR, LGPD, and CCPA/CPRA), including the right to request access, deletion, or objection regarding identifiers associated with your device. Data processed by Google (such as your advertising ID, Play Games profile, or Google Play purchases) is also governed by Google's Privacy Policy. Contact us and we will gladly assist you.

8. Security and Policy Updates

All network communications with external services use HTTPS encryption, and external redirects are validated and confirmed with the user before opening. We may update this Privacy Policy as the App evolves; the "Last updated" date at the top indicates the latest revision.

9. Contact Us

For any questions, feedback, or privacy inquiries, contact us at:

Email: contact@melen.studio

Website: https://melen.studio