Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 29, 2026

This policy applies in common to several of our apps. Statements about a particular feature apply only to the apps that have it. Acona (macOS) does not serve ads, collect advertising identifiers, or access your photos.

1. Information We Collect

Our applications (the “App”) may collect the following.

• Advertising identifier (IDFA) — only with your permission, for advertising.
• Device and usage data — device model, OS version, approximate region, usage.
• In-app data — scores, records and settings.
• Photos — if you use the photo-background feature, the app reads the photo you select on your device. We never receive or collect your photos. See “3. Photo Access”.

The App does not collect information that directly identifies you, such as your name, address, phone number or email address. For how this website handles information, see “11. This website”. However, if you enter your email address on the feedback screen in Acona, we use it only to reply to you.

We periodically collect the reviews published by the app stores, such as the App Store and use them to notice defects and display problems quickly. We collect the rating, the text, the version concerned, the country and the date. We neither collect nor store the reviewer's name.

2. How We Use It

• To provide, maintain and improve the App
• To deliver advertising and measure its performance
• To provide cross-device transfer
• To investigate issues and improve quality

3. Photo Access

The App can use a photo from your device as a background. Access is requested only when you use this feature. The selected photo is processed entirely on your device and is never uploaded to our servers.

4. Rankings

Rankings in this app are compiled on our own server.

What is sent to our server

• An identifier created by this app. It is the same across your devices that use the same Apple ID. We do not link this identifier to your email address.
• A public key for each device, a signature made with it, and whether the device has a secure place to keep keys (used to confirm that a result was sent from that device and was not altered on the way).
• The results of your play (mode, date, score, number of merges, number dropped, longest chain, time taken, number of times tools were used, board seed, app version, time, and a number that stops the same result being counted twice).
• The country or region set on your device. We use it to group the country rankings and to show a flag and the country or region name on the rankings. We do not use GPS location and we do not infer location from your IP address.
• If you set a "Name shown on the ranking", that name; and if you report another user's name, the reason for the report

What we record

In addition to what is sent, we record a verdict added by our server (whether the result can be recorded correctly) and the date and time we received the result. If a name is reported, we record when the report was made and the identifier of the user who made it.

About your name

A name is shown only if you set one. It is shown to every user of this app together with your rank and score. Please do not use your real name, contact details, or anything else that identifies you. You can remove your name at any time with "Remove name" on the "Name shown on the ranking" screen, and a removed name is also erased from our records. However, while your participation in the rankings is restricted or suspended, you cannot remove your name on that screen. If you want your name removed during that time, please contact us from the support page.

To keep inappropriate names off the rankings, we check names against a list of words. We review names that other users report and names that match the list, and we remove, without notice, any name we find to breach our Terms of Use or the name rules. A name that has received a certain number of reports may be hidden until we have reviewed it. If you breach our Terms of Use or the name rules, or make reports that are not true, we may restrict your participation in the rankings for a certain period or suspend it. In serious cases, we may freeze your account (the ranking record for your device); while it is frozen, you cannot use the app.

Who can see it

Rank, score, name (if set; if you have not set a name, "Jar Dweller" is shown instead), the date and time we received the result, and the flag and name of a country or region are shown to every user of this app. The app creates a Player number beginning with "B-" for each device. The number is shown on your own Settings screen and is also included in the ranking data as a value that tells the rows apart (it is not displayed on the ranking screens in the app). This number is different from the "Ranking code" shown in the app's Settings. The country or region comes from your device settings and does not indicate where you live or your nationality. Country rankings may also be viewed by users outside that country or region. Identifiers and public keys are not shown. Who made a report is not shown to any other user, including the user who was reported. We can read these records.

How long we keep it

• Play results are kept for two years from the day they are recorded.
• Identifiers and public keys are kept for two years from the day the last result arrived.

We delete records as they pass that point. Names are kept until they are removed. Report records are kept for the same period as identifiers.

Asking us to delete

Please contact us from the support page and include the "Ranking code" (not the Player number that begins with B-) shown in the app's Settings. We will delete the records that match that code, including your name and any report records. If you only want to remove your name, use "Remove name" on the "Name shown on the ranking" screen. However, if a device has been suspended from the rankings (including when its account is frozen), the suspension continues after its records are deleted (including when they are deleted at the end of the retention period). For that purpose only, we keep a value derived from the device that cannot be reversed, together with a record of the suspension, until the suspension is lifted and in any case no longer than we provide the rankings.

Syncing your settings (this is separate from the above)

Some settings are carried between your devices through your own iCloud account. We cannot see the contents of that.

5. Third-Party Services

Google AdMob (advertising)

Used to deliver and measure ads. Google Advertising Policies

iCloud (sync)

Used to carry settings and records across your devices. Data is stored in your own iCloud account; we cannot view its contents.

6. Advertising

• On iOS you may decline use of the advertising identifier in the App Tracking Transparency prompt.
• Users in the EEA and UK are shown a consent form via Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP). You can change your choice at any time from “Privacy options” in the App.
• You can revoke permission at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

7. Sharing

We do not sell or rent your information. Data is transmitted to the providers listed in Section 5 only as needed to provide their services, or where required by law.

We entrust part of the handling of personal data to external contractors for the operation of this website and our email, and for payment processing. We have contracts in place with them and exercise the supervision required by law. We do not engage in joint use of personal data.

8. Children’s Privacy

The App does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe your child has provided information, please contact support.

9. Retention and Deletion

Except for the records described in Section 4 (Rankings), data is stored on your device and in your own iCloud account. Deleting the App removes on-device data. However, the ranking identifier and key, and any record of a restriction or suspension of your participation in the rankings, are stored in iCloud Keychain and iCloud so that they carry over to devices using the same Apple ID, and they remain even if you delete the App. iCloud data can be managed from Settings → Apple ID → iCloud.

10. Changes

We may update this Policy as laws or our services change. Updates take effect when posted on this page.

11. This website

The following applies to information handled on this website (www.ncat.co.jp).

Contact form: we collect your name, email address, subject, message, the time of submission, your IP address and your browser's language preference. We use them only to answer your enquiry and to block automated abuse. We delete them once your enquiry has been answered, and we never provide them to third parties or use them for advertising.

Server logs: access times, IP addresses and referrers are recorded automatically for the operation and security of the server.

Cookies: this website sets no cookies. We use no third-party analytics service, no behavioural advertising and no social-media tracking tag, so your browsing is never passed to a third party.

Analytics: to improve the site we run our own analytics, which stays entirely on our server. No data reaches an outside operator. What we record, and how to switch measurement off in your browser, is set out in our Cookie Policy.

Purchases: Payment is handled by Sold through Link, LLC, an affiliate of Stripe, which receives your card and other payment details directly. From Link we receive your email address, the country or region of your billing address (including the state or province) and what you bought, and we also record the region of residence you chose on the purchase screen and the display language. When a license is activated and checked, we also record a value derived from the device that cannot be reversed, together with the date and time. We use this information to send you your license key, to check that your license is valid and on how many devices it is used, to identify purchases from regions where we do not sell, and to answer your enquiries. We keep this information for one year from the day we stop operating the server that checks licenses, and then delete it.

License key resend: We use the email address you enter only to check it against our purchase records and send your key again.

12. Security measures

All traffic to this website is encrypted with TLS. Form submissions are not stored in a database on the server; they are delivered directly to our own mailbox. Personal data may be handled only by the representative and by the persons we designate for that purpose.

13. Retained personal data and how to make a request

As required by the Act on the Protection of Personal Information of Japan, we disclose the following.

Business operator: NCAT LLC  /  Representative: Akinori Ito  /  Address: RJ3, 2-16-12 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0035, Japan  /  Personal data manager: the Representative Partner

You, or your authorised agent, may request notification of the purpose of use, disclosure, correction, addition or deletion, suspension of use or erasure, and suspension of provision to third parties. Please contact us through the form on the support page. We will verify your identity and respond as required by law, free of charge. Complaints about our handling of personal information are received at the same contact point.

14. If you live outside Japan

We are based in Japan, and personal data is processed in Japan.

If you use our services from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the GDPR and the UK GDPR give you the right to request access to your personal data and its rectification or erasure, to restrict or object to processing, and to data portability. Our legal bases are steps taken at your request before entering into a contract together with our legitimate interest in answering enquiries, and our legitimate interest in preventing automated abuse. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.

If you are a California resident, the CCPA and the CPRA give you the right to know, the right to delete and the right to opt out. We do not sell or share personal information.

Requests of any kind are received at the contact point named in the previous section.

15. Contact

For questions about this Policy, please reach us through our Support page.