JambolayaPrivacy Policy for the Jambolaya app
Last updated: 2 October 2026
This policy covers the Jambolaya app for Android (Google Play) and iOS (App Store). The website jambolaya.games and the browser edition have their own policy. Jambolaya is made by the Jambolaya team, and this policy is written to be read, not to be survived. (This page itself is on our website, so reading it is covered by the website policy.)
The short version
- No account, no sign-up, no email address, no password.
- No ads, no analytics, no tracking, no data sold or shared for advertising.
- We run no server. Nothing you do in the app is sent to us.
- Your progress and settings stay on your device.
- When you play with people nearby, your devices talk directly to each other over Bluetooth, encrypted, without going through the internet.
- Purchases are handled entirely by Google Play or the App Store.
What the app keeps on your device
Your player name, language and settings, your progress and saved games, the groups you have created or joined (their name and code), and which purchases you have made. All of it is stored only on your device. We cannot see it. Uninstalling the app deletes it.
Playing with people nearby (Bluetooth)
Group and one-on-one play work between devices that are close to each other, using Bluetooth. The devices connect directly to each other: nothing goes through the internet or through any server of ours.
While you play together, the app sends the other players' devices only what the game needs:
- your player name. By default this is your device's name (for example "Anna's phone"), which may contain a real name. You can change it at any time in Settings, and we recommend a nickname for children;
- your app language, whether you are busy in a game, and your moves in the games you play together;
- a random number that tells the devices apart during a session. It is made fresh each time and is not saved, and it is not linked to you or your device.
Traffic within a group is encrypted with a key derived from the group's code, so devices that are not in the group cannot read it. The other players' devices may keep your player name in their copy of the group. We receive none of this.
Permissions the app asks for
- Nearby devices / Bluetooth (Android 12 and later: find, connect to and advertise to nearby devices; iOS: Bluetooth): to find and connect to the other players. The app declares on Android that it never uses Bluetooth scanning to work out your location.
- Location (Android 11 and earlier only): on those Android versions the system will not allow Bluetooth scanning without the location permission. The app never reads, stores or sends your location.
- Internet (Android): used only by Google Play to process purchases. The app itself sends nothing over the internet.
- Keep the screen on: so the screen does not go dark in the middle of a game.
The app does not use your camera, microphone, contacts or photos.
Reading games and speech
The reading games speak letters and words using the voices already installed on your device. Speech is produced on the device; the app does not use online voices and never listens through the microphone.
Purchases
Purchases are made through Google Play or the App Store, under their terms and privacy policies. We never see your payment details. The app receives only a confirmation of what was bought, which it keeps on your device so the purchase stays unlocked.
On Android, Google's Play Billing library, which the app includes to make purchases possible, may send technical diagnostic data to Google under Google's privacy policy. On iOS, purchases are handled by Apple under Apple's privacy policy. Parents can require approval for purchases with the store's own family controls.
“All games hosting” opens every game in Jambolaya's catalog for the groups you host, including games we add later. We may update games, and we may retire a game for legal, licensing, technical or safety reasons. If we retire a game, we will add a comparable new game in its place.
Children
Jambolaya is made for families, including children. We do not collect personal information from anyone, of any age: there is no account, no advertising, no analytics and no communication with us from inside the app. The only thing a child's device shares is what is described above, and only with the devices of the people playing together nearby. For a child, please choose a nickname rather than a real name as the player name.
Your rights
Because we hold no data about you, there is normally nothing for us to export or erase: everything the app keeps is on your own device, and uninstalling the app deletes it. If you email us, we keep that message so we can reply, and we delete it if you ask.
Changes
If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of this page.