Ant Smasher ("the game", "we") is a casual tap game made for children and families. This policy explains what information the game handles, why, and the choices you have. The short version: we do not ask for your name, e-mail or any account, we do not collect your exact location, and children never receive personalised advertising.
The game has no accounts of its own. The only sign-in is the optional Google Play Games profile used for online leaderboards (section 4d). We do not collect names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, contacts, photos, precise location, microphone or camera data, and we do not use any analytics or crash-reporting service of our own.
Where Google Play can provide it, the game first asks Google Play for the player's age range (the Google Play Age Signals service – used in regions where app stores must share verified ages, or when you or a parent chose to share the age range with apps). The game only learns a range such as "under 13", never a birth date, and uses it solely to decide which of the age treatments below applies. Otherwise, when the game is first opened it asks for the player's age. The number you type is used once, on the device, to decide whether the player should be treated as a child (12 or younger), a teenager (13–17) or an adult. Only that category is saved; the exact age is never stored and never sent anywhere. Children and teenagers are shown non-personalised, general-audience ("G"-rated) advertising only.
The game is free and supported by advertising served by Google AdMob (Google LLC) through the Google Mobile Ads SDK. Ads appear on the home screen, on the game-over screen, occasionally between rounds, when the game returns from the background, and – only when you choose to watch one – as a rewarded video that gives an extra continue.
To show and measure ads, the Google Mobile Ads SDK automatically collects and shares the following with Google:
| Data | Purpose |
|---|---|
| IP address (may be used to estimate an approximate, city-level location) | Ad delivery, fraud prevention |
| Interactions with ads and app launches | Ad measurement, analytics |
| Diagnostic information (app launch time, hang rate, energy usage) | Performance, fraud prevention |
| Device identifiers: the Android advertising ID (adults only – see below) and the app set ID | Ad delivery, frequency capping, fraud prevention |
Children and teenagers: the game tells the advertising SDK to apply child-directed / under-age treatment. In that mode ads are not personalised, the advertising ID is not used for advertising, and only G-rated ads are requested. Adults may receive personalised ads where permitted and after consent has been given.
All data handled by the SDK is encrypted in transit (TLS). Google's own use of this data is described in the Google Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
The optional "Remove ads" purchase is processed entirely by Google Play. We never see or store your payment details; the game only remembers that the purchase is owned so it can keep ads switched off. Google Play's handling of payment data is described in the Google Payments Privacy Notice.
To understand how the game is played and to fix crashes we may use Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics (Google LLC). They collect anonymous usage events (for example that a round was started or finished and the score), a random app-instance identifier, device model and operating-system version, and – when the game crashes – a crash report with technical details. Analytics is configured without the advertising ID and without ad-personalisation signals, no user identifiers are set, and the same configuration applies to all age groups. This data is encrypted in transit and is not used to show ads. Details: Privacy and Security in Firebase.
This device. Scores can be saved under a nickname picked from a fixed list (for example "Speedy" or "Buzzy"), so that people sharing a phone or tablet can compete. There is no typing, so nobody enters a real name. These scores never leave the device.
Online (Google Play Games). Friends and World leaderboards are provided by Google Play Games Services. When they are switched on, Google Play Games signs the player in with their Play Games profile, and Google receives the player's Play Games identity (nickname and avatar), their Classic and Time Attack scores, and - only if the player agrees in Google's own prompt - their Play Games friends list. Other players can see the nickname and scores, subject to the player's Play Games profile visibility settings. Google processes this data under the Google Privacy Policy. We only read the leaderboard results to show them in the game; we do not store them on any server of ours.
Children. For players in the child age group, online leaderboards are off and Google Play Games is not started at all. A parent or guardian can turn them on in Settings after a grown-up check and an online-safety reminder, and can turn them off again at any time. Teens and adults can switch them off in Settings.
World record alerts (13 and older, optional). For teens and adults who use online leaderboards these alerts are switched on by default; on Android 13 and newer they only start after the player allows notifications in Android's own dialog (the game asks when it starts). They can be switched off at any time in Settings → World record alerts. Only while they are on and Android allows notifications does the game register with Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google LLC) and subscribe the device to a single "world records" topic; Android also asks for permission to show notifications. Registration creates a messaging identifier on the device that Google uses only to deliver these alerts - we never receive or store it. When a Classic or Time Attack world record is beaten, our server (Cloud Functions for Firebase, run by Google for us) reads the public World leaderboard and sends one alert with the new score and the record holder's Play Games nickname - the same information anyone can already see on the World board. There is at most one alert per mode every 90 minutes and none between 21:00 and 08:00 (India time), and the alerts are never used for advertising. To identify new records, the server keeps only the current record of each mode (score, nickname and Play Games player ID of the record holder) and overwrites it when the record is beaten. Switching the alerts off, or switching online leaderboards off, unsubscribes the device and removes the registration; notifications can also be blocked in Android settings. Children never receive these alerts - the option is not offered to them.
Player profiles. Teens and adults can tap a name on the Friends or World board to open that player's Google Play Games profile, where Google's own follow controls are available. This is Google's screen; the game does not see or store who follows whom. Children cannot open other players' profiles.
Country flag (adults only, on by default). For adults who use online leaderboards, the game sends their country once they are signed in to Google Play Games: the country of the phone's SIM card, or of the phone's region setting if there is no SIM (for example "IN" - never a GPS or network position, and no location permission is used). It goes to our server (Cloud Functions for Firebase and Cloud Firestore, run by Google for us), which checks with Google Play Games which player is asking and stores only that Play Games player ID with the two-letter country code. The flag is then shown next to the player's nickname on online leaderboards, to all players. Switching off Settings → Show my country flag - or switching online leaderboards off - deletes it from our server. Teens and children never share a country.
For adults, one reminder in the evening on days they have not played yet is switched on by default (on Android 13 and newer only after they allow notifications) and can be switched off at any time in Settings → Daily challenge reminder. The reminder is created on the phone itself: no data is sent anywhere for it, it never contains advertising, and it stops on its own after two weeks without playing. Teens and children never receive it.
In Zen Mode each player on the device works through little missions (for example "Smash 3 red ants") and collects stickers in a sticker book. Stickers are earned only by playing: they are never sold and are never unlocked by watching ads. Mission progress and stickers are stored only on the device, separately for each player, and are deleted when the player is removed, the app's storage is cleared or the game is uninstalled. To understand which features are used, the analytics described in section 4c may record that a mission was completed (with the sticker number) or that the sticker book was opened - never a name or any other personal information.
When a new version is available on Google Play, the game uses Google Play's in-app update service to offer it. Google Play downloads and installs the update; the game sends nothing to us for this.
Best scores, the players on this device and their scores, Zen mode missions and stickers, the online-leaderboard setting, sound/vibration preferences, the chosen language, the age category, whether "Remove ads" is owned, and ad-frequency counters are stored only on your device (and may be included in your device's Android backup if you have backup enabled). Uninstalling the game deletes them.
We keep no data about you on any server (the only exceptions are the current world-record holder's public nickname, player ID and score, which our server overwrites as soon as the record is beaten, and - only for adults who switched it on - the Play Games player ID and country code behind a country flag, deleted when the flag is switched off; see section 4d), so there is nothing for us to delete. Local data is removed when you clear the app's storage or uninstall it. Data collected by Google for advertising is governed by Google's policies and can be managed through your Google account and the Android ads settings described above. Online leaderboard scores and your Play Games profile are held by Google; you can delete them at any time from your Play Games profile or your Google Account. For any question or request you can contact us at help@screenbiz.in.
The game contains links to this policy and to the Google Play Store (to rate the game). For child accounts these links are protected by a "grown-up check" (a small arithmetic question).
The game is designed to be suitable for children and complies with the Google Play Families policy. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and online leaderboards stay off for children unless a parent or guardian turns them on. Children never receive notifications, cannot share a country flag and cannot open other players' profiles. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
If we change this policy we will update the effective date above and, where the change is significant, show a notice in the game or on the store listing.
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Website: www.screenbiz.in/products/antsmasher
Ant Smasher is made by Screenbiz, New Delhi.