Privacy Policy

High Tide Play ("we", "us") makes the High Tide Arcade app, including its six games and the Weekly Challenge. This policy explains what the app collects, how we use it, and your choices. Questions: support@hightideplay.com.

1. Information we collect

• Anonymous player ID. The app creates an anonymous account ID through Google Firebase. We do not ask for your real name, phone number or a password to play.
• Leaderboard name and scores. The name you pick (or the random name the app gives you) and your scores appear on public leaderboards. Names are checked for offensive words.
• Country. The app reads the country of your App Store account (iPhone) or Google Play account (Android), for example USA, to decide whether you can win prizes. It does not use your location.
• Game moves. For Weekly Challenge games, the app sends your moves so our server can replay the game and confirm the score. These records are kept so winners can be verified.
• Sign in with Apple or Google (winners only). To claim a prize, you confirm with Sign in with Apple (iPhone) or Google sign-in (Android). Apple or Google gives us an account identifier so each person can win on only one account. We do not use it to contact you, and we do not show it to anyone.
• Friends. If you add friends we store your friend code and your friends list (their player IDs and names) so we can show your friends' scores. Remove friends any time in Settings › Friends; deleting your account removes them.
• Invite reward. If you add a friend before your first game, we record who invited you so they get their reward, and we store the date a player's ad-free days end. The app also saves a note on your phone that it has played, so the reward is given once per phone. Deleting your account removes these records from our servers.
• Prize claim details. Winners give a PayPal email address or a Venmo mobile number, and their age group (18+ or 13–17). For winners 13–17, this is the parent or guardian's email or number, along with their agreement to the Official Rules. If a winner's prizes reach $600 in a year, we ask for tax information (such as IRS Form W-9), as the law requires.
• Push notification token. If you allow notifications, we use a token to send alerts about your standing, Power Hours, the last hours of the week, and prize results.
• Feedback messages. If you send a message from Settings › Feedback & Help, we receive what you write, an email address if you add one, your player name, and your app version and device model.
• Advertising data. Ads are shown by Google AdMob, which may collect device information, an advertising identifier (on iPhone, only if you allow tracking), approximate location from your IP address, and ad interactions. See policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

We do not sell your personal information. The app has no in-app purchases and does not collect payment card information.

2. How we use information

• Run the game, leaderboards and Weekly Challenge.
• Check scores and prevent cheating, including one winning account per person.
• Contact winners (or a minor winner's parent or guardian) and deliver prizes.
• Send the notifications you agreed to.
• Answer feedback and fix problems.
• Show ads, which keep the app free.

3. Who we share it with

• Google Firebase stores game data, runs our servers and sends notifications.
• Google AdMob shows ads.
• Apple and Google handle Sign in with Apple and Google sign-in for prize claims.
• PayPal and Venmo (owned by PayPal) send cash prizes to the PayPal email or Venmo mobile number given in a prize claim.
• Legal reasons: we may share information if the law requires it or to protect the fairness of our contests.

Other players can see your leaderboard name and scores. We may show winners' player names in the app.

4. How long we keep it

Scores and leaderboard entries are kept while the app runs. Weekly Challenge game records are kept for up to 1 year. Prize claim and tax details are kept for up to 3 years (longer if tax law requires). Push tokens are replaced when they change.

5. Your choices

• Notifications: turn them off anytime in your phone's Settings.
• Ad tracking: on iPhone, choose "Ask App Not to Track" when asked, or change it in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. On Android, delete or reset your advertising ID in Settings › Privacy › Ads (or Settings › Google › Ads).
• Leaderboard name: change it anytime in the app's Settings or on the Leaderboard screen.
• Delete your account: in the app, go to Settings › Delete account, or email support@hightideplay.com with your player name. We delete your account, name, scores, game records, messages and unpaid prize claims. Records of prizes already paid (amount, date and payment details) are kept, without your player name, as tax law requires.

6. Children and teens

High Tide Arcade is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Players under 13 may play but cannot win prizes. Players 13 to 17 can win, but a parent or guardian must claim the prize and gives their own email address. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

7. Security

Data is stored with Google Firebase, which encrypts it in transit and at rest. No system is perfectly secure, but we limit access to what's needed to run the app.

8. Changes

If we change this policy, we will update it here and change the effective date.

9. Contact

High Tide Play · support@hightideplay.com