This Privacy Policy explains how Popmate collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the Popmate iOS/iPadOS app. Popmate is a casual games app. Gameplay runs on your device. Account sync, matched profiles, friends, activity feed, and chat connect to our online service.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide
| Information | How We Collect It | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | You choose it in the app (up to 24 characters) | Creates your public profile; displayed in matches, friends, feed, and chat |
| Pet | You select one of five built-in pets | Displayed as your avatar; the server stores the pet identifier only |
| Chat | Text you send (up to ~2000 characters), built-in stickers, or game invites | Delivers messages to the other participant and displays the conversation on your device |
| Activity feed posts | Text you write (up to ~3000 characters), with optional game or score attachments | Visible to your game friends |
| Reports | Reason selected and an optional note (up to ~200 characters) | Used to investigate reported content |
Account and Identity
Guest. When you first use guest mode, the app generates a guest identifier and stores it in your device's keychain. When connected, this identifier obtains a guest session. Game records use a server-issued player ID; offline records use a separate on-device public identifier. Game records do not include the keychain-stored guest recovery identifier.
Sign in with Apple. Before signing in, the app requests a one-time challenge from our server. After you authorize through Apple, the app submits Apple's identity token and challenge identifier to our server to verify the sign-in and establish a session. We use this to recognize your Apple user identifier.
The app does not read, store, or upload the name or email returned by Apple. Your display name comes only from the nickname you choose in Popmate.
Sessions include access tokens, refresh tokens, and expiry times, stored in your device's keychain. Tokens are used only for account services.
Gameplay and Profile
Each match is recorded locally with a match ID, player ID, game ID, start and end time, effective play duration, completion or abandonment, scores, difficulty, and game mode. Your selected pet and public profile information shown during gameplay may also be associated with a game record. Records do not include passwords, tokens, or email addresses.
Records are saved locally and synced to our server when you have an active session. We deduplicate by account and match ID. Your profile shows duration, number of completed games, high scores per game, and recent matches.
When you use matching features, our service processes the selected game and public profile information, including player ID, nickname, pet, and online status.
Social Connections
Our online service processes:
- Game friends and games played together
- Conversation list, messages, and read status
- Posts you publish or receive
- Player IDs you have blocked
- Reports you submit
Blocking hides a player from your friend, conversation, and feed views. A real-time channel delivers new messages and block status changes while the app is open.
On-Device Information
The app uses system preferences to store your profile cache, pending sync flags, and IDs of matches already uploaded to avoid duplicate uploads. Interface state (such as whether you've read the instructions) may also remain on your device.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information described above to:
- Create and restore guest or Apple sessions
- Display your nickname, pet, and scores
- Run games on your device and show other players' public profiles in matches
- Sync your scores and prevent mixing records between accounts
- Provide friends, feed, chat, blocking, and reporting
- Protect the Service, investigate abuse and errors, and resolve disputes
- Comply with legal obligations
3. Legal Basis for Processing
Depending on your location, we process information based on:
- Performance of the service you request, including account, sync, matching, and social features
- Your consent before using Sign in with Apple or related features
- Our legitimate interests in protecting the Service, preventing abuse, and maintaining security records, where recognized by your local law
- Compliance with legal obligations
Declining optional features may make those features unavailable. Guest play and offline games do not require Sign in with Apple.
4. Who Can See Your Information
Other players can see your public profile: nickname, pet, and game statistics shown in the product. Game friends can see your feed posts. Chat participants can see messages you send. They cannot see your guest identifier, session tokens, Apple identity token, or report details.
We may access online data as needed to maintain accounts, sync, security, and investigate reports.
Apple handles information according to Apple's privacy policy when you use Sign in with Apple or the App Store. We do not receive your email through Apple.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share personal information with advertisers or analytics providers.
We may disclose information if required by valid legal process, to protect the rights, property, or safety of players, us, or the public, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or reorganization where the recipient agrees to be bound by this policy or equivalent obligations.
5. Data Retention
Local data remains until you sign out, delete the app, or clear local data. Signing out removes session tokens and profile cache from the keychain. Deleting the app removes sandboxed local copies, except for system backups.
Online data is retained for the life of your account to provide sync and social features:
- Posts you delete are removed from our active systems.
- Chat messages are retained while the conversation exists.
- Reports are retained as needed for investigation and related safety or dispute resolution, then deleted or de-identified.
- Server access logs are retained for a limited period.
- After account deletion, we delete or de-identify online personal data, except where retention is required by law or necessary to resolve an ongoing dispute.
6. Your Choices
You can:
- Use guest mode and play offline
- Change your nickname and pet
- Sign out
- Not use friends, feed, or chat
- Delete your own feed posts
- Block players
- Report posts
- Manage Sign in with Apple in your device settings and revoke authorization
- Delete the app to remove sandboxed data on your device
Access, correction, deletion, restriction, and data portability. You may submit requests by emailing support@popmate.com. We may ask you to verify your identity through your original account (for example, by requesting from a logged-in device or using your original Sign in with Apple). We will respond within the period required by applicable law.
Deleting your account. You can delete your account at any time from your profile page by selecting Delete Account. This removes your online account and associated personal data.
Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal. Users in certain regions may also have the right to file complaints with their local data protection authority.
California residents. If you are a California resident, you have the right to request access to, deletion of, and correction of your personal information, and to know what categories of information we collect and for what purposes. To exercise these rights, contact us at support@popmate.com. We do not sell or share your personal information as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act.
7. Children
Popmate is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from users under 18. If you believe we have collected information from a user under 18, contact us at support@popmate.com and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
8. Security
Session tokens are stored in the operating system keychain. Communication with our server uses HTTPS; real-time messages use WSS. Tokens are kept separate from game data, and scores are synced per account.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will notify you and regulators as required by applicable law.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated in the app or through our published contact information, and the version number will be updated.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle information, contact us at support@popmate.com.
Questions about your privacy? Contact support@popmate.com or visit our support page.