MathRace Privacy Policy

1Who we are

MathRace is made and published by Vedic Apps (“we”, “us”). This policy covers the MathRace app for Android and iOS and the online race service the app connects to.

If you have a question, or want us to delete information, email mseriesproduction2018@gmail.com.

2Children’s privacy

MathRace is designed for children aged 4 to 13 and takes part in Google Play’s Families programme. It is built to collect as little as possible:

• The game never asks children for personal information, and no account is needed. Solo play involves no sign-in at all.
• The only identifiers it uses are random numbers created by the app or by our sign-in provider. They are not linked to a name, an email address or anything else that identifies a child.
• Children cannot send messages to each other. In public online races, other players see only a generated name.
• The Store screen, including the setting that controls play statistics, sits behind a parental gate.
• We use these identifiers only to run and improve the game. We never use them for personalised advertising or to build profiles of children.

If you believe we hold personal information about your child that this policy doesn’t describe, contact us and we will delete it.

3What we collect

What MathRace collects depends on how it’s played. Solo races on one device collect the least. Online races collect a little more, because other phones have to see the same race.

3.1Information that stays on the device

Your child’s progress (level, maths band, rating and rival difficulty), game settings, any name typed on the multiplayer screen, the purchases made, and a random install ID. All of this is stored only on the device, and deleting the app deletes it.

3.2Anonymous play statistics

Unless a parent switches it off, the app sends short reports on how the game is played. They show us whether MathRace is pitched right, for example whether children move up to a harder maths band too early. A report contains:

• a random install ID that the app creates when it’s first opened. It is not derived from the device or from your child;
• the app version, whether the device runs Android or iOS, and how many times the game has been opened;
• time spent playing;
• race details: races started, finished or left early, level, maths band, rating changes, finishing position and time, and the car used;
• whether an online race could start, and if not, the reason (such as no connection);
• the product name when a purchase completes (never payment details), and whether the parental gate was passed;
• the device’s time-zone offset, such as UTC+05:30.

If your child has played online, the reports also include the anonymous online ID described in 3.3, so that solo and online play are counted as one player.

Reports go to our own server, and may also go to Google Analytics for Firebase. For MathRace, Google Analytics is set not to collect the advertising ID or Android ID and not to send advertising-personalisation signals. Google Signals and Google Ads linking are also switched off. Google Analytics records some basic technical information itself: device model, operating-system version, language, and an approximate region (country or city) worked out from the IP address. Google Analytics does not store the IP address itself.

To switch this off: open the Store, pass the parental gate, and turn off Share anonymous play data. While it’s off, the game sends no play statistics to us or to Google Analytics.

3.3Online races

Before joining an online race (Quick Race or Room Code), the app signs in to Firebase Authentication, a Google service, anonymously. This creates a random online ID with no email address, phone number or name attached. During an online race, our race server receives:

• the anonymous online ID;
• the chosen maths level and your child’s rating, used to match players of similar ability;
• the car’s position and speed and the answers given, about fifteen times a second, so every screen shows the same race and impossible speeds can be caught;
• the device’s IP address, which every internet connection uses.

Race data is not saved. The server keeps it in memory and discards it when the room closes. The server does log a few events with the online IDs involved, such as a player being removed for impossible speeds or reported by another player, so we can review them. Reports never trigger automatic action against a player.

3.4Same-WiFi races

Races over the same WiFi network or hotspot connect devices directly. They don’t use our servers and don’t need the internet. The app reads the device’s WiFi state to find nearby games, and the name typed on the multiplayer screen is shown to the other devices in the race.

3.5Ads

MathRace shows ads from Google AdMob between some races, and offers optional reward videos that give a head start in the next solo race. Every ad request is marked as directed at children and at users under the age of consent. That means Google serves only non-personalised ads, limited to G-rated content. AdMob is certified under Google Play’s Families Self-Certified Ads SDK Program.

To deliver an ad, Google receives limited technical information, such as the IP address, device type, operating-system version and app details. Google uses it to show the ad, limit how often the same ad appears, measure ads in aggregate and prevent fraud. Buying Remove Ads or any VIP membership turns off the ads between races.

3.6Purchases

Remove Ads and the VIP memberships are bought through Google Play or the Apple App Store, which handle payment under their own privacy policies. We receive a confirmation of which product was bought, which the app keeps on the device to unlock it. We never receive your name, email address or payment details. The shop sits behind a parental gate.

3.7Practice reminders

After two finished races the game asks, once, whether you’d like practice reminders. Only if you say yes (and, on Android 13 or later, allow notifications) does the device register with Firebase Cloud Messaging. It then joins a group named after its time-zone offset, such as UTC+05:30, so reminders arrive at a sensible local hour. We keep no list of devices. You can turn reminders off at any time in the device’s notification settings. Reminders are about practice, and never ask a child to buy anything.

4How we use it

• To run online races, match players of similar ability, and keep races fair.
• To understand how the game is played and tune its difficulty.
• To count installs and how many players come back.
• To show non-personalised ads and provide purchases.
• To send practice reminders you have agreed to.
• To review player reports, investigate cheating, and keep the service secure.
• To meet our legal obligations.

We do not sell or rent information, use it for personalised or behavioural advertising, or build profiles of children.

Where UK or EU data-protection law applies, our legal bases are: providing the service you asked for (online races and purchases); our legitimate interest in keeping the game working, fair and suitably difficult, which we balance against children’s interests by collecting little and letting parents switch it off; your consent (practice reminders); and legal obligations.

5Who we share it with

We share information only with the providers that help us run MathRace, listed below, and with other players in the ways described in 3.3.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or if it is needed to protect the safety of players.

6Where it’s stored, and for how long

Our race server and its database run on Google Cloud in Mumbai, India. Our providers may process information in other countries, under their own safeguards.

7Your choices and rights

• Turn off play statistics: Store (behind the parental gate) → Share anonymous play data.
• Turn off reminders: in the device’s notification settings.
• Skip online play: solo races and same-WiFi races work without an online ID.
• Delete everything on the device: uninstall the app. This also deletes the random install ID, so statistics already on our server can no longer be linked to the device. They are deleted automatically within 180 days.
• Ask us: email us to see, correct or delete information, or to withdraw consent. Because we don’t collect names or email addresses, we may need your help to find your child’s data, and we’ll explain how. We reply within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, you may have further rights, including the right to complain to a data-protection authority. These include rights under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the United States, the GDPR in the UK and EU, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 in India. Parents can review, delete, or stop further collection of their child’s information at any time by contacting us.

8Security

All connections between the app and our server are encrypted (HTTPS and secure WebSockets). Apps and browsers can’t read our database directly; only our server writes to it. Our analytics dashboard shows totals, never individual reports. No system is perfectly secure, but collecting little means there is little to expose.

9Changes to this policy

We’ll post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change affects how we handle children’s information, we’ll say so in the app or on the store listing before it takes effect. Where the law requires it, we’ll ask for a parent’s permission first.

10Contact us