Privacy Policy

What this policy covers

This policy explains what information delta-sharp.com and the Carrom games hosted on it (/carrom-game/ and /carrom-game-v1.0.1/) collect from visitors, and how that information is used. It also covers the CarromSharp Android app (package carromsharp.game), which links to this page as its Play Store privacy policy — see the dedicated section below; the Windows desktop build of CarromSharp offered on this site uses the same online, Friends, and leaderboard features, so that section applies to it too. It does not cover carromsharp.fun, a separate website with its own policies.

It also covers PoolSharp, our Eight-Ball pool game for Android (package poolsharp.game) and Windows, which links to this page as its privacy policy. PoolSharp works differently from CarromSharp (it has its own accounts and its own online server), so it has its own section below; the CarromSharp sections don't apply to it, and the PoolSharp section doesn't apply to CarromSharp.

Secure connection (HTTPS)

delta-sharp.com is now served exclusively over HTTPS. Any request made over plain HTTP is automatically redirected to the secure HTTPS version of the same page, so everything exchanged between your browser and this website — the pages themselves, the anonymous analytics described below, feedback you submit, download logging, and the browser Carrom games' online play — is encrypted in transit and protected against eavesdropping and tampering on the network. (The one exception is the separate multiplayer relay server used by the CarromSharp apps, which is described in its own section below.)

Information we collect

Anonymous site & game analytics

When you visit this site or play one of the Carrom games hosted on it, your browser generates a random identifier (not tied to your name, email, or any account) and stores it in your browser's local storage. This identifier, together with the page you visited or the game version and how long you played, is sent to our own server and stored so we can see how many people use the site and games. We do not use cookies for this — clearing your browser storage, using a private/incognito window, or switching devices or browsers all create a new, unconnected identifier.

Feedback you submit

The feedback form on this site does not ask for your name or email address, and we don't collect either automatically when you use it — only the message you type and the page you sent it from are stored. Feedback is shown publicly and anonymously in the Player Feedback section of our homepage (only the message and the date — never the page it was sent from), so please don't include personal details in it. Site administrators can hide or delete any message.

Downloads

If you download the Windows desktop build of Carrom, we log that a download happened (tagged with the same anonymous identifier described above, or as "anonymous" if that identifier isn't available) so we can count downloads. Only the overall download totals (all versions, and per MSI/ZIP package) are shown publicly on the site. We do not collect any other information as part of a download.

Server logs

Like virtually all websites, our web server keeps standard technical logs (such as IP address, browser type, and request time) for security and troubleshooting purposes. These logs are not linked to the anonymous identifiers described above.

Advertising

This site may show ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites. You can learn more about how Google uses this information at policies.google.com/technologies/ads, and manage your ad personalization settings at adssettings.google.com.

Fonts

This site loads the Orbitron and Rajdhani typefaces from Google Fonts. Loading a font from Google's servers means your browser makes a direct request to Google, which can see that request (including your IP address) the way any web request does.

CarromSharp Android app

CarromSharp is a Carrom board game app for Android (package carromsharp.game). This section describes what it actually does, verified directly against its source code.

Account & personal information

The app has no email/password sign-in, and no real name, email address, or phone number is ever required to play — playing offline (vs. the computer, or pass-and-play on one device) sends nothing off your device at all. The first time you use online play or friends, the app generates a random device identifier and asks you to pick a display username (it doesn't have to be your real name); both are stored on your device. Your username is linked to your device identifier so your username and associated account data can be restored if you reinstall the app on the same device. It does not collect your real name, email address, phone number, or location.

Online-friend multiplayer (match data)

The "Play Online" mode works by sharing a short room code with another player. While a match is active, your device sends board state, turn results, presence ("still here") pings, team names, in-match chat messages, and sound-emote taps to a relay server (relay.delta-sharp.com) so the other player's device can see them, and polls that same server for their moves. This connection is encrypted (HTTPS, with a real certificate) in current versions of the app; if you're on an older copy that hasn't been updated in a while, it may still connect over plain HTTP instead, so updating from the Play Store gets you the encrypted connection. Either way, don't share personal information in chat or team names since anyone who knows or guesses your room code can join that room. (When you play online from the browser version of the game on this site, your browser talks to delta-sharp.com over HTTPS, and our server forwards the match data on to the relay.) This match/room data (board state, turns, presence, in-match chat) is held only in the relay server's memory — it is not written to any database, and is lost immediately if the relay restarts. It isn't erased the instant a room ends, since a recently-left player can rejoin the same in-progress match for a short time, but a room that is no longer in use is cleared automatically within a few minutes.

Friends (persistent data)

Separately from a single match, the app has an optional "Friends" system: you can search for players by username, send/accept friend requests (with anti-spam limits on repeated requests), remove or block a player, see a friend's online status, invite a friend into your match, and exchange direct chat messages with a friend outside of any match. Unlike the transient match data above, this data is stored in a database on the relay server: your chosen username, your device-generated identifier (used as your durable identity so your friends survive reinstalling or restarting the app), your online/in-game status and when you were last seen, your friend list, pending friend requests, the list of players you've blocked, and your recent direct messages. This traffic is encrypted the same way as the match data above (HTTPS in current versions of the app).

Who can see what: any player using Find Friends can search for your username and see whether you're currently online, in a game, or offline (offline players now appear in search results too, listed after online ones). Your friend list, which room you're in, and your direct messages are visible only to the friends you've mutually accepted. If you block a player, they are removed from your friends and can no longer send you friend requests. Match invitations to a friend expire automatically after about a minute.

Chat messages are automatically deleted after 24 hours. Friend chat is meant for light conversation while playing, not a permanent record, so every direct message is permanently erased from our server 24 hours after it was sent — automatically, for everyone, without you having to ask. Until then, only the most recent 50 messages in each direction between two friends are kept (older ones are deleted as new ones arrive), and each message is limited to 300 characters. Messages containing offensive or abusive language are rejected outright and are never stored at all.

Online leaderboard

When an online match against another player finishes, the host's app reports the result to the relay server: the match type (1v1 or 2v2), the time it was played, which usernames took part, who won, and whether it completed a full series. These results are stored in the relay server's database and used to build a global leaderboard that every player can view in the app, showing the usernames of the top-ranked players along with their number of wins, number of different opponents played, and series wins. Your own rank is shown to you as well. Offline games (vs. the computer or pass-and-play) are never reported.

Advertising (Google AdMob)

The app integrates the Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) SDK and shows banner and occasional interstitial ads through a real, revenue-generating AdMob account (the same Google account as this website's ads). Google and its ad partners may access identifiers such as your device's advertising ID and IP address, and use ad interaction data, to select and measure ads, as described at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. Before any personalized ad is requested in the EEA, UK, and other regulated regions, the app uses Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) to determine whether consent is required there and, if so, shows a consent form first; ads only initialize after that consent step (or once UMP determines it isn't required for your region).

Permissions

The app requests Internet access only (needed for online-friend multiplayer, friends, the leaderboard, ads, and Play Store update checks). It does not request camera, microphone, contacts, storage, or location permissions. Pasting a room code uses the Android clipboard locally on your device; clipboard content is never read or sent anywhere except the room code you explicitly paste into the "Join" field.

Data retention & deletion

Match/room data (including in-match chat) is transient and held in memory only (see above). Friend chat messages are deleted automatically 24 hours after they're sent. Match invitations expire after about a minute. The rest of your Friends and leaderboard data (username, device identifier, status, friend list, friend requests, blocks, and online match results) persists until you ask us to remove it — there's no in-app self-service deletion yet, so email privacy@delta-sharp.com and we'll delete your account and its associated data manually. We do not currently run an automated cleanup of inactive accounts; if that changes, this page will say so.

App updates

The app uses Google Play's in-app update check to tell you when a newer version is available, which involves your device asking Google Play whether an update exists. No additional data beyond what Google Play's update API itself requires is sent by CarromSharp for this.

PoolSharp app

PoolSharp is an Eight-Ball pool game for Android (package poolsharp.game) and Windows. This section describes what it actually does, verified directly against its source code.

Playing offline

Matches against the computer and Practice mode don't need an account and send no gameplay data anywhere. Your progress — Gold and Gems, items you've bought or equipped, match statistics, daily tasks, the local leaderboard, and your settings — is stored only on your device, and is deleted when you uninstall the game. (On Android, ads may still be loaded while you play offline games if your device is online; see "Advertising" below.)

Your account (log in / sign up)

An account is optional; you only need one for Friends, chat, and game invitations. To sign up you choose a username (3–16 letters, numbers or underscores; it must be unique, and other players can see it, so it doesn't have to be your real name) and a password. PoolSharp never asks for your real name, email address, phone number, or location.

Your password is never stored as you typed it: our server keeps only a salted PBKDF2-SHA256 hash of it. When you log in, the server gives your device a session token so you stay logged in; the game keeps that token on your device, and the server stores only a hash of it. A session ends when you log out, or after 90 days. All account, Friends, and chat traffic between the game and our server is encrypted (HTTPS), and the game only talks to our own server's certificate.

What our server stores for each account: a random player ID, your username, the password hash, when you signed up and when you were last active in the game, your friends, the friend requests you've sent and received, and the players you've blocked. To protect against abuse, the server also counts sign-up and log-in attempts per IP address; those counts are kept only in memory for about a minute and are never saved.

Friends, chat & invitations

Logged-in players can search for other players by username and see a list of who is online right now, so your username and whether you're online, in a match, or offline are visible to other PoolSharp players. You can send and accept friend requests, remove friends, and block players; a player you've blocked can't send you requests, messages, or invitations.

Chat messages and game invitations can only be sent between friends who have both accepted each other. Our server passes them on to your friend's game and never writes them to disk: a message waits in the server's memory only until your friend's game picks it up (normally within seconds), is discarded after two minutes if it can't be delivered, and is lost if the server restarts. Each message is limited to 2 KB.

Online matches

Online matches (Quick Match, a private code, or playing a friend) run through our relay server, which forwards the moves, ball positions, player names, chosen cue and items, and emotes between the two players' games. This match data is held only in the relay server's memory for as long as the match lasts and is never saved. Unlike the account traffic above, this match traffic is not encrypted; it never contains your password or any personal details beyond your username.

Server logs

For troubleshooting and security, the server's system log records when a match room opens and closes, together with the IP address and port of the devices in it, and the username of each new sign-up. These logs are kept for a limited time and are not used for anything else.

Advertising (Google AdMob)

The Android version shows ads through the Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) SDK: a small banner at the bottom of the screen, a full-screen ad after some finished matches against the computer (never during a match and never in online matches), and an optional rewarded ad — you choose to watch it, and you receive 500 Gold when it finishes. Google and its ad partners may access your device's advertising ID, IP address, and device information, and use ad interaction data, to select and measure ads, as described at policies.google.com/technologies/ads. In the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland, the game first uses Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) to ask for your consent where it's required; no ads are requested until that step is done. The Windows version shows no ads.

Notifications

On Android the game can remind you about daily tasks and rewards. These reminders are scheduled locally on your device; no data is sent anywhere to create them. You can turn them off in the game's Settings > Notifications or in Android's settings.

Permissions

The Android app requests Internet and network-state access (for online play, Friends, and ads), permission to show notifications (the reminders above), and the advertising-ID permission that the Google Mobile Ads SDK adds. It does not request camera, microphone, contacts, storage, or location permissions.

Data retention & deletion

Your account and its Friends data stay on our server until you ask us to delete them; logging out or uninstalling the game does not delete your account. To delete it, email privacy@delta-sharp.com with the subject "PoolSharp account deletion" and your username. We'll delete your account, remove you from every other player's friends, friend requests, and block lists, and end all your sessions, and we'll reply to confirm. Backup copies of the account database that we keep for disaster recovery may still contain a deleted account for a limited time, until they are replaced. We do not currently delete inactive accounts automatically; if that changes, this page will say so. Progress stored on your device is deleted when you uninstall the game.

What we don't do

We don't sell your information. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. We don't ask for or store real names, email addresses, or account credentials anywhere described above — the one exception is a PoolSharp account's password, which is stored only as a salted hash (see the PoolSharp section).

Your choices

On the website, the first time you visit, a banner lets you accept or reject ad personalization; your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage and applied before any ad loads. You can clear that storage at any time to reset your choice (the banner will reappear) or reset the anonymous identifier described above. Most browsers also let you block third-party cookies, which limits ad personalization from Google and other advertisers. In the CarromSharp Android app, uninstalling the app stops all further match/gameplay data collection on your device; it does not by itself delete a persisted Friends username, friend list, or leaderboard results already stored on the relay server (chat messages are deleted within 24 hours regardless) (see "Data retention & deletion" above) — email us there to have that removed. Android's own Settings > Privacy > Ads menu lets you reset or limit your device's advertising ID for all apps.

In PoolSharp, you can play against the computer and in Practice without an account, you can log out at any time, you can turn reminders off in Settings > Notifications, and watching a rewarded ad is always your choice. Uninstalling PoolSharp deletes the progress stored on your device but not your online account; to have that deleted, see the PoolSharp "Data retention & deletion" section above.

Changes to this policy

If what this site collects or how it's used changes, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a data-deletion request for the CarromSharp Android app or a PoolSharp account, can be emailed to privacy@delta-sharp.com, or sent through the feedback form on the homepage.