Privacy Policy — Drop & Merge

Effective date: 2026-09-06 Last updated: 2026-10-31

Drop & Merge, formerly Drop & Evolve ("the app", "the game"), is developed by GC Apps ("we", "us").

Contact for any privacy question or request: gcapplicationdev@gmail.com

This policy explains what the app collects, why, and what you can do about it. It is written to be read, not to be survived.

The short version

The app has no accounts of its own and no real-money purchases. We never ask for your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos or precise location.
Your progress is backed up to your own Google account, never to us. If you use Google Play Games, your collection, coins and levels are saved there, so a new phone or a reinstall picks them up. Android's own backup may keep a copy of the save file in your Google account too. We never receive either.
Analytics is off until you switch it on. Nothing is sent to us unless you explicitly opt in, and you can opt back out at any time in Settings.
No ad ever interrupts play. Video ads are rewarded videos you tap to start; the only other ad is a small banner in a strip at the bottom of the screen.

What the app collects

1. Gameplay analytics — only if you opt in

Analytics collection is disabled by default. It is enabled only if you explicitly agree, and you can disable it again at any time from the in-app Settings screen. If you decline, or if you never answer, nothing in this section is collected. The app asks you once, after you first complete a level, with two equal choices; if you decline, it does not ask again.

If you opt in, the app uses Google Firebase Analytics to record these twelve events, and nothing else:

Event	What it records
`level_start`	Which level was started
`level_complete`	Which level was completed, the star rating, and how many of its drops were used
`level_fail`	Which level was failed, the star rating, how many of its drops were used, and whether it ended on the drop limit, a full jar or the clock
`creature_discovered`	Which creature tier and variant was discovered
`endless_game_over`	The run's score and your best score
`rewarded_shown`	That a rewarded ad was displayed, and which reward
`rewarded_completed`	That a rewarded ad was watched to the end, and for a free booster which one was picked
`rewarded_failed`	That a rewarded ad could not be shown
`rescue_used`	That a lost level or Endless run was rescued, and whether with in-game coins or a rewarded ad
`shop_purchase`	Which item was bought in the in-game shop, and its price in in-game coins (never real money)
`booster_used`	Which booster was used, and whether in a level or Endless
`day_active`	That the game was opened on a given day, at most once a day, how many days have passed since it was first opened on this device, and how many days in a row farm orders have been delivered

These payloads contain only numbers and short internal labels. They contain no personal information and nothing you have typed.

Alongside these, Firebase Analytics automatically collects a standard technical set: a randomly generated app instance identifier (a pseudonymous ID for the installation, not for you), your device model, operating system version, app version, device language, and an approximate region derived from your IP address — country level, not a location.

We use this to understand which levels are too hard, which are too easy, and whether players reach the end of the creature chain. It is never used to identify you and is never sold.

2. Advertising — Google AdMob

The app shows two kinds of ad. Rewarded videos, which you always start yourself by tapping an offer, and a banner in a fixed strip at the bottom of the screen. No ad ever interrupts a run: there are no pop-up or full-screen ads you did not choose.

To serve these, Google AdMob processes your device's advertising ID, your IP address, and your interactions with the ad. Whether you see personalised or non-personalised ads depends on the choice you make in the consent form the app shows you.

Non-personalised ads still require the advertising ID for frequency capping and fraud prevention, but are not selected based on a profile of your interests.

You can reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in your device's Settings → Privacy → Ads.

3. Your game progress — on your phone and in your Google account

The following is written to a save file inside the app's private storage on your phone:

Which creatures you have discovered, and their variants
Your level progress, star ratings and best scores
Coins, purchased cosmetics and boosters
Your settings: language, haptics, sound, music, and your analytics choice

It is never sent to us. Two Google services can keep a copy in your own Google account, so your progress survives a new phone or a reinstall:

Google Play Games. If you are signed in to Play Games — most Android phones sign you in automatically, and you can also sign in from the game's Settings — the game saves your discoveries, levels, best score, coins, cosmetics and boosters there (never your settings). To sign you in, Play Games shares your Play Games profile with the game: your player ID, gamer name and avatar. Google also collects its own diagnostics to keep the service working. If you do not sign in, nothing is saved to Play Games and the game works exactly the same.
Android backup. If backup is turned on for your phone, Android copies the save file (and only the save file) to your Google account and restores it when you reinstall. This follows your phone's backup setting, not ours.

4. What we never collect

No name, email address, phone number, postal address, contacts, calendar, photos, camera, microphone, files, precise or GPS location, health data, payment information, or anything you type. The app has no chat, no user-generated content, no social features and no in-app purchases.

Permissions the app requests

Permission	Why
`INTERNET`, `ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE`	To load ads and, if you opted in, send analytics
`VIBRATE`	Haptic feedback on merges and button presses
`AD_ID`	Required by Google AdMob to serve ads
`ACCESS_ADSERVICES_TOPICS`, `ACCESS_ADSERVICES_AD_ID`, `ACCESS_ADSERVICES_ATTRIBUTION`	Added by the Google Mobile Ads SDK for Android's Privacy Sandbox
`READ_BASIC_PHONE_STATE`, `WAKE_LOCK`, `FOREGROUND_SERVICE`, `BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE`	Added automatically by Google Play services and the ads SDK. The last is Play's install-referrer service, used for install attribution.

The last two rows are declared by Google's own libraries rather than by us. We list them because they appear in the app's manifest and you are entitled to know why they are there.

GC Apps is established in Belgium, so the EU General Data Protection Regulation applies to this app everywhere it is distributed.

Legal basis. Analytics and personalised advertising are processed on the basis of your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), which you give through the in-app consent form and the Settings screen, and which you may withdraw at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. Saving your progress to Google Play Games is processed to provide the cloud save you use by signing in (Art. 6(1)(b)); you can stop it by signing out of Play Games.

Your rights. You have the right to request access to, correction of, erasure of, or restriction of processing of your personal data; to object to processing; and to data portability. Because the app holds no account of its own and we receive no identifier that points to you as a person, we will usually need the advertising ID or app instance ID from your device to act on such a request. Write to gcapplicationdev@gmail.com and we will respond within one month.

Withdrawing consent. Open Settings in the app. The analytics switch turns collection off immediately. The privacy options row reopens the ads consent form.

Complaints. You may lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority — Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit / Autorité de protection des données, Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels — or with the supervisory authority of the EU country where you live.

Deleting your data

Drop & Merge has no account of its own, so there is nothing to close. To have your data deleted:

Delete what is on your phone. Uninstall the app, or open Android Settings → Apps → Drop & Merge → Storage → Clear storage. This erases your progress, collection, coins and settings on the phone; we never had a copy.
Delete the copies in your Google account. Your Play Games save is deleted from Google Play Games → Settings → Delete Play Games account & data, where each game's data can be deleted on its own. Android backups are managed, and can be deleted, in your Google account's backup settings. Delete both before reinstalling, or the game will restore your progress.
Stop anything new being collected. In the app, open Settings, turn the analytics switch off, and use the privacy options row to withdraw ads consent.
Delete your advertising ID. On Android, open Settings → Google → Ads (on some phones Settings → Privacy → Ads) and choose Delete advertising ID. Advertising data Google already holds is then no longer linked to your phone.
Ask us to erase analytics data. Email gcapplicationdev@gmail.com with the subject "Delete my data — Drop & Merge". If you never switched analytics on, there is none. We reply within one month.

What is deleted, and what is kept. Your save file is deleted in step 1, and its copies in your Google account in step 2. Analytics data is deleted on request where we can link it to your device, and in every case automatically at the end of Firebase's retention window. Advertising data is held by Google, not by us, and is kept under Google's own retention policy (https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention). We keep nothing else.

Who else processes this data

Processor	Purpose	Their policy
Google Firebase Analytics	Gameplay analytics, only if you opted in	https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy
Google AdMob	Serving rewarded video and banner ads	https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
Google Play	App distribution	https://policies.google.com/privacy
Google Play Games services	Sign-in and saving your progress, only if you use Play Games	https://policies.google.com/privacy
Android backup (Google)	Backing up the save file, only if backup is on for your phone	https://policies.google.com/privacy

Data processed by these services may be transferred outside the European Economic Area. Google relies on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and, for the United States, the EU–US Data Privacy Framework for such transfers.

How long it is kept

Analytics data is retained by Firebase according to the project's configured retention window and is then deleted automatically. Advertising data is retained by Google under its own advertising policies. Data stored on your device is kept until you delete it in-app or uninstall the app. Copies of your progress in your Google account are kept until you delete them (see Deleting your data).

Children

Drop & Merge is intended for players aged 13 and over. It is not directed to children, it is not enrolled in Google Play's Families programme, and we do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with data, contact gcapplicationdev@gmail.com and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where the change affects what is collected, ask for your consent again inside the app. The current version always lives at this URL.

Contact

gcapplicationdev@gmail.com