Privacy Policy

Dhivehi Games · Last updated 5 November 2026

Dhivehi Games and all of its games are made by Mohamed Arham Ali (Vehi Collective, a registered sole proprietorship) in Malé, Maldives. This page explains what information the games use, why, and the choices you have.

What we collect

Account details (only if you register): your username and password. Passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication. We never see or store your password ourselves.
Continue with Google or Sign in with Apple (optional): if you use one of these, Google or Apple confirms who you are and shares with Firebase Authentication only what you allow: an account ID, your email address and, the first time, your name. With Apple you can choose Hide My Email; we then receive a private relay address (…@privaterelay.appleid.com) instead of your real email. We use this only to sign you in and to recover your account. It is never shown to other players, never used for marketing, and your name from Google or Apple is not used as your player name (you choose a username). We never receive your Google or Apple password. You can stop using it in your Apple ID or Google account settings, and deleting your Dhivehi Games account removes the link (for Apple we also ask Apple to revoke our access).
Game profile (guests and registered players): your display name, XP, shells and game stats such as games played and wins. Guests get an anonymous Firebase ID so progress can be saved. Your name and stats may appear on the public “Most Wins” leaderboard.
Online status: while a game is open on your screen, it checks in about once a minute with your anonymous account ID and the time, so the home page can show how many people are playing. It contains no name and is removed when you close the game.
A random player ID: created on your device so tables and reconnecting work. It is not linked to your phone number, contacts or location.
Days you played (signed-in accounts): which days your account opened the games, kept for 90 days and deleted with your account. We use it only for totals, such as how many players come back the next day or week.
Anonymous counts: we count ad views, ad taps and time played, with no name or account attached, so we can tell sponsors how often their ads were seen.
Country of a visit: our anonymous visitor count notes which country a visit came from, as a two-letter code such as MV, worked out by our host Cloudflare from the connection. We keep only the country, never your IP address, city or exact location.
Type of device: the same count notes the type of device (iPhone, Android or computer) and whether it’s the app or the website. Never the model, the browser or a version.
Reports and support messages: if you report a player or contact support, we store your message, the reason, the table code and up to ten recent chat lines from the reported player so we can review it.

Things other players can see

Your display name, avatar, score and title are visible to other players at your table. If you create a public table, your name and table code are listed in “Open tables” until the game starts. If you send a friend a gift, they see your name on the gift card.

What we don’t collect

Apart from the country of a visit (above), we don’t collect your location, contacts, photos, or advertising identifiers, and we don’t track you across other apps or websites. We don’t sell your information.

Chat and online games

Online games run on our own game server (on Cloudflare). The server deals the cards, runs the rules and plays the computer players, so it sees the moves and the cards of the games it runs. Each phone’s connection to it is encrypted. For each match it keeps the table code, the seats (your player ID, display name, avatar look and, if you are signed in, your account), the moves needed to carry on after a short disconnection, and the result (who won, and whether the computer played your seat), for up to 48 hours. We use this to keep the game going if you lose connection, and to check rankings, Boli rewards and fair play. Some games still connect players’ phones directly, with public relay servers as a backup; their moves stay encrypted between the phones. Quick Match fills empty seats with computer players. Chat is not saved on our servers. Chat is filtered for offensive words, links and phone numbers. You can mute, block or report any player by tapping their avatar during a game.

Voice chat (ages 13+) connects players’ phones directly to each other. It needs your permission to use the microphone, it only works while you have it switched on at a table, and we never record or store what is said.

Friends

Friends lets registered players add each other, see who is online, send quick messages (and typed messages, for ages 13+) and invite friends to a game. Guests can’t use it until they save their progress with a username.

What we keep: your username, display name and avatar look, a friend code, your friend list, friend requests (up to 30 days), the people you blocked, messages (kept for 30 days, at most 100 per friend), game invites (10 minutes) and when you were last online. Quick messages are ready-made phrases.
Typed messages: friends aged 13 or over can also send each other typed messages. They are filtered for offensive words, links and phone numbers before they are saved, and kept like quick messages (30 days, at most 100 per friend). Under 13s and phones with the Kids lock can’t type and never receive typed messages; they still get quick messages.
Where: on our own game server, which runs on Cloudflare. It doesn’t store IP addresses or email addresses.
Who sees it: only friends you have accepted see that you are online, which game you are playing, and your messages. Other players can find you by username or your friend code to send a request. You can turn requests off in Friends settings.
Block and report: blocking someone removes them from your friends and stops their requests, messages and invites. Reports go to us for review, as described above.
Deleting: removing a friend deletes your messages with them. Deleting your account deletes everything Friends keeps about you. Friends data for accounts not used for a year is deleted automatically.

Groups

Groups (in Friends) let registered players make a group of up to 20 friends, chat, and start a game table for the whole group. Guests can’t use Groups until they sign in with a username.

What we keep: the group’s name, colour and picture choice, who is in it and who the admin is, each member’s notification choice (all, games only, none, or muted), the group’s messages, the game tables started from the group (up to 5 days) and how many games each member won in the group’s games (for the group picture). Messages are kept for 30 days, at most 500 per group, then deleted automatically.
Messages: everyone can send ready-made quick messages and emotes. Typed messages are only for players aged 13 or over: under 13s and phones with the Kids lock can’t type in a group and never see typed messages. Typed messages are filtered for offensive words, links and phone numbers before they are saved. Photos and links can’t be sent.
Who sees it: only the members of the group see its name, members, messages and the tables started for it. Members also see a member’s public game table. A member’s private tables are only shown to their own friends, as before.
Block and report: you never see messages from someone you blocked (and they don’t see yours). Reporting a message sends us that message, who wrote it and the reason, for review.
Adding people: any member can add their own friends, up to 20 members. With the Kids lock on, a child only sees groups where everyone is their friend; other groups are hidden on that phone and send it nothing.
Leaving and deleting: anyone can leave a group; the group admin can rename the group and remove members. Deleting your account removes you from every group and deletes every group message you wrote. Messages other members wrote stay in the group (at most 30 days).

Buying Boli

In the Dhivehi Games app, players aged 13 or over who are signed in can buy Boli packs. The website doesn’t sell anything.

Paying: you pay Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play), with their own payment screen. We never see your card or bank details.
What we keep: a record of each purchase: the pack, its price, the time, the store’s transaction ID and which account bought it. We use it to add the Boli to the right account once, to handle refunds and to stop fraud. Apple and Google tell our server about refunds; a refunded pack’s Boli are taken back.
Children: players under 13 and phones with the Kids lock can’t buy Boli packs, and guests can’t either (a purchase must belong to an account that can sign in again).
Refunds: ask Apple or Google, who decide them (we can’t refund a store purchase ourselves).
How long: purchase records are kept for our business and tax records. If you delete your account, the record stays without your account ID or username.

Gifts

With Boli, a signed-in player aged 13 or over can buy a Store item (a card back, ring, throw or avatar item) as a gift for one of their friends: friends only, at most 5 gifts a day, and never Boli or money. The friend sees the sender’s name on the gift card and can say thanks; the sender sees that the gift was delivered and the thanks. Children can receive gifts but can’t send them. We keep who gave which item to whom; deleting your account deletes the gifts you received and removes your name from the gifts you sent.

Services we use

To run the game, your device connects to: Google Firebase (accounts and profiles), Google and Apple (only if you choose Continue with Google or Sign in with Apple), Google Fonts (text styles), our own game server on Cloudflare (online tables, Friends, rankings, Boli for signed-in players and error reports), and public relay servers from EMQX and HiveMQ (a backup for online tables). Like any website, these services receive your device’s IP address and basic technical information when you connect. We use them only to provide the game.

Where data is stored

Account and profile data are stored with Google Firebase (Google Cloud), and online tables, Friends, rankings and Boli on our game server on Cloudflare. Both may process data outside the Maldives (see Players in other countries). Settings (including the age group and Kids lock), your guest progress and your blocked list are stored on your device using browser storage; we don’t use advertising cookies.

Players in other countries

Dhivehi Games can be played from anywhere. Wherever you live, the same rules on this page apply to you, and you have the rights below.

Who is responsible for your data: Mohamed Arham Ali (Vehi Collective, a registered sole proprietorship), Malé, Maldives. Contact: [email protected].

Why we use your data (the “legal basis”, for players in the UK and the EU):

To run your account and the games you ask to play (our agreement with you): your account, profile, friends, online tables, rankings and Boli.
Our legitimate interests: keeping the games safe and fair (reports, blocking, fair-play checks, error reports) and the anonymous counts we show sponsors. These never include your name.
Your consent: the microphone for voice chat, and Continue with Google or Sign in with Apple. You can switch these off at any time.
The law: we keep purchase records for tax and accounting.

Your rights. You can ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold about you (in a common file format), correct anything that’s wrong, delete your account and data (you can also do this yourself, see Deleting your data), stop or limit a use of your data that relies on our legitimate interests, or withdraw a consent you gave. Email [email protected] from the email linked to your account, or use Help & support in the game. We answer within 30 days and don’t charge for it. If you’re not happy with our answer, you can complain to the data protection authority where you live (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office, ico.org.uk).

Data sent abroad: our services (Google Firebase / Google Cloud and Cloudflare) may store and process data in other countries, including the United States. They protect it with the safeguards the law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.

We don’t sell your data and don’t share it for advertising. We don’t use advertising IDs and don’t track you across other apps or websites.

Age: Dhivehi Games is made for players aged 13 and over. Younger players can still play, with the limits in Children and families (no voice or typed chat, no buying). If the law where you live sets a higher age for agreeing to online services (some EU countries use 14, 15 or 16), a parent or guardian must agree for players under that age.

India: for questions or complaints about your data (a “grievance”), write to [email protected]. We answer within 30 days.

Keeping the games safe

To protect our game servers and leaderboards from bots and abuse, the website and app use Google reCAPTCHA (through Firebase App Check). It checks that requests come from our real games. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Error reports

When a game crashes, freezes, gets stuck or fails to save, it sends a short technical report to our own server so that we can find and fix the problem. A report contains the game, the error message and where in our code it happened, the game version, whether you use the app or the website, a short device description (for example “iOS 18, Safari”), whether you were playing online or against the computer, and a random number made on your device that lets us count how many devices are affected. It does not contain your name, username, account, e-mail address, password or location, and we do not store IP addresses. Reports are deleted 30 days after the problem was last seen, and they are not shared with anyone.

How long we keep data

Profile data is kept while your account is active and deleted when you delete your account. Reports and support messages are kept for up to 12 months, then deleted.

Deleting your data

You can delete your Dhivehi Games account at any time in the game: tap your picture → Account → Account settings → Delete account. It can’t be undone.

Deleted straight away:

Your account and login, including the email address linked to it. Your username becomes free for others.
Your profile, your leaderboard entry and your place on the Rankings, with your wins and ranks.
Your Boli and the items you own or wear.
Your friends, friend requests, blocks and invites, and the quick messages you sent or received.
Every group message you wrote. You also leave every group.
Your phone notification settings.

What stays for a while:

Messages other members wrote in a group you were in. They stay with the group, for at most 30 days.
Fair-play records of your recent online matches, used to check wins. They don’t show your name and are deleted within 14 days.
Error reports. They never contain your name or account, and are deleted 30 days after the problem was last seen.
Reports you made, reports other players made about you, and support messages you sent. We keep them for up to 12 months to deal with safety problems.
Copies in our private nightly backups. They are deleted after about 30 days.
A line in our private admin log for any change we made to your account by hand (for example Boli we gave), and for each Boli pack bought and gift sent.
Purchase records (see Buying Boli), without your account ID or username.
An anonymous note that an account was deleted: when it happened and which parts were removed, with no name, username or account ID. It is deleted after 90 days.
Guest progress and settings saved on your phone. They stay on that phone until you clear the app’s data or uninstall it.

Guest players can remove the data on their phone by clearing the app’s data or uninstalling it, and can ask us through Help & support to delete their guest leaderboard entry.

No longer have the app? Email [email protected] from the email address linked to your account (or tell us your username) and we will delete your account and its data within 30 days.

Children and families

Dhivehi Games is a collection of traditional games for families, with no real-money betting. The games can be played against the computer, with friends, or with other players through Quick play.

Age question: the first time someone taps voice chat or the typed-chat box, the game asks their age. It is not asked anywhere else. Until it is answered, voice chat and typed chat stay off.
What is kept: on this device, an age group (under 13, or 13 and over) and an approximate birth year (this year minus the age). If you are signed in, only the age group (under 13, or 13 and over) is also saved with your account, so you are asked once and not again on every phone. Never your age or birth year. It is not shown to other players. Clearing the app’s data removes the copy on this device; deleting your account removes the copy with your account. The approximate year lets the under-13 setting end by itself in the year the player turns 13.
Buying and gifts: under 13s and phones with the Kids lock can’t buy Boli packs or send gifts. They can receive gifts from friends.
Under 13: no voice chat and no typed chat. Only the ready-made quick messages and reactions can be sent, and typed messages from other players aren’t shown. Every game can still be played, including Quick play and public tables.
Kids lock (for parents): in Settings (your picture on the home page → Kids lock) a parent can turn on stricter limits for this device: no voice chat, no typed chat and no playing with strangers (Quick play is off, public tables are hidden, tables you create are private, and links to public tables don’t open). Kids games, games against the computer and friends’ tables joined with a private code or invite still work. Turning it off asks a grown-up question (a times-table sum or a year of birth); this also clears an under-13 answer, so the age is asked again next time.

We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top of this page.

If Dhivehi Games moves to another company (for example a company we set up, or one that invests in or takes over the games), your information moves with it and stays protected by this policy. We’ll tell you in the games before it happens, and you can delete your account first if you prefer.

Contact

Use Profile → Help & support in the game to send us a message, or email [email protected].