Pinochle: privacy

For the Pinochle iPhone and iPad app and the Pinochle website. Effective October 29, 2026.

In short: there are no accounts, no ads, no tracking, and no analytics. We keep only what’s needed to run your card table, and we never sell anything.

What we handle

The name and avatar you choose. Other people at your table see them. You don’t need your real name.
Your games. Seats, bids, cards played and scores are kept on our server while a table is open. So that an update to the server doesn’t end your game, an open table is also written to the server’s private disk and deleted when the table closes (at most a week later). A game you stop to finish later is saved so everyone can continue it.
Table chat. Messages go to the people at your table. Offensive words are filtered automatically. The last few messages are kept with the table while it’s open or saved.
Your player ID. So that friends, blocking and reports stick to a person rather than a table, the app or website sends our server a random ID for your device. The website keeps it in your browser’s storage and in a cookie our server sets (only for this, for up to 400 days), so your profile survives cleared storage; the app keeps it in your iPhone’s keychain. If you sign in to Game Center in the app, your Game Center player ID is used too (checked with Apple). If you link devices with a link code, we keep which devices share your profile. Other players never see any of these.
Friends. Your friend code, the name you play under, the time you were last online, your friends and friend requests, the people you’ve recently played with, and, if you allow it, which of your Game Center friends also play. Friends can see when you’re online (the website or the app open, at a table or not) and at which table, and how long ago you were last online when you’re not (it reads “Online 5 minutes ago” and goes back to “Offline” after 60 days). They also get a short notice in the app or website when you come online (they can turn it off). A friend who turned on Friends Coming Online in Settings also gets an alert on their phone when you open Pinochle (at most one every ten minutes, never for someone you or they have blocked). When you invite a friend to your table, our server remembers for up to an hour, in its memory only (never saved to disk), that you did, so that asking the same friend again soon is recognized and not sent twice; it is gone after an hour, when the server restarts, or when you use Delete my data. Delete my data (Profile, or Settings on the website) removes all of this.
Blocks. If you block someone, we keep that you blocked them, the name they used and when, until you unblock them.
Reports. If you report a message or a player, we keep the report, the recent chat at that table, both people’s names and player IDs, the table code, the time, and the reporting device’s IP address, so we can review it and, when needed, keep someone away from public tables.
Feedback. If you send feedback, we keep your note, your name at the table, the email you give (only if you give one), the app version, your device type, and the table code and part of the game you were in, so we can look into it. If you send it from a table, we also keep a copy of that game as it stood (the cards, bids and tricks of the hand, the players’ names at the table and its recent table talk) with your note. A note you have started but not sent is kept on your device only, in this browser or the app, until you send it or delete it; it is never sent to us until you press Send. For a game that runs on your own device (against the computers, pass-and-play, or a nearby table you host), the app sends that copy with your note; you can switch off Include This Game before sending.
Crash reports. If the app crashes, freezes, or has an error in its game engine, it sends our server a report the next time it opens: where in the app it happened (from Apple’s crash diagnostics), the app version, your device model and iOS version, a random report ID for your device (not your player ID), and the last few screens and moves before it, such as "opened chat" or "played a card". A report never includes your name, chat messages, or cards. We keep the most recent reports to fix problems. Turn this off in the app’s Settings (Send Crash Reports).
Notifications and Live Activities. If you allow notifications, your device gives the app a notification token, which the app sends to our server so it can tell you when it’s your turn. The app also sends Live Activity tokens, so the server can start and update the game on your Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island, and in your Apple Watch’s Smart Stack (the same score, whose turn it is, and the bid, which every player at the table can see). These are kept in the server’s memory with your seat, and are gone when the table closes (at most a week later) or the server restarts. So that a friend’s invite can reach you when the app is closed, your newest few devices’ tokens are also kept with your friends profile: a profile with no friends or requests is removed after two months unused, and Delete my data removes it at once. In Settings, Notifications, you choose what to be told about: your turn and nudges, players joining your table, friends’ invitations, the Lock Screen game, and friends coming online. Those on and off choices are kept with your friends profile too, so our server knows what to send and the choices stay when you reinstall the app. Friends coming online is off until you turn it on; then we send you an alert when a friend opens Pinochle while you don’t have it open (at most one a friend every ten minutes, and never for someone you or they have blocked).
Game Center. In the app, if you’re signed in to Game Center, your wins, bids made and best hand go to Game Center’s leaderboards and achievements, run by Apple.
Connection details. Our server uses your IP address briefly to limit abuse (for example, too many connections at once, or too many wrong table codes). It isn’t stored, except with a report you send. Our host, Railway, may keep standard server logs.

Public tables and Play with Anyone

A host can make a table public, and Play with Anyone (Quick Play) seats you at a public table with people you may not know; if nobody else comes, computers take the empty seats after about 30 seconds. At a public table, the other players see the name and avatar you chose, your play and your chat, and nothing else about you. Before your first public table you agree to its rules (be kind, no personal details, no cheating). Anyone can mute, block or report a player. When three different people report someone within a day, that player’s chat at public tables is paused for a day; we review reports within 24 hours and may keep someone away from public tables for a while or for good. If a player stops taking their turn at a public table, a computer plays for them until they tap to come back. Tables you open with a code for family and friends are not listed anywhere.

What stays on your device

Your settings (except the notification choices described under Notifications and Live Activities), the tables on your home screen, the computer players from your last game against the computers (so “Same Opponents” can seat them again), and the people you’ve muted are stored only on your device. Live Activities and "your turn" alerts during a game are created on your device.

Three more things happen only on your device. The app reads your iPhone’s motion sensor while the Home screen is open, so a shake can shuffle the cards on it; the readings are not recorded and never leave the device. The Home Screen shortcuts and the “Deal me in” Siri phrase start a game on your device. And Share a Hand makes a picture of one hand (your cards, your meld, and how it came out, with no names or table codes) on your device; it goes nowhere unless you choose where to send it, and we never receive it.

If you use iCloud, the app keeps a copy of your settings, your name and avatar, your stats, and your game against the computers in your own iCloud account, so your other iPhone or iPad can pick them up. That copy stays between your devices and Apple’s iCloud: we never receive it. Turn it off in the app’s Settings (Sync with iCloud) or in iOS Settings for iCloud.

What we don’t do

No advertising, and no tracking across other apps or websites.
No selling or sharing of your information, apart from the services that run the game: Railway (hosting) and Apple (app delivery and notifications).
No public player directory and no profiles to browse. A table is private, reached only by its code or link, unless its host makes it public.

Age and children

Pinochle has free-text chat, so it isn’t directed at children under 13. Public tables and Quick Play are for adults. Before your first public table, the app asks Apple to share your age range (Apple’s Declared Age Range: a range such as "18 or over", never your birthday; you or a parent decide whether to share it, except where the law requires it). The result is used only to apply these age limits:

Under 18 (or when a parent has turned on Screen Time Communication Limits): no public tables or Quick Play. Games against the computers, nearby games, and private tables with friends and family (by code) work as usual.
Under 13: also no typed chat at any table; the quick phrases (such as "Nice hand!" and the bidding signals) still work.

The age range stays on your device, never in crash reports, and is never shared. When you’re under 18, the app tells our server only "under 18" or "under 13" while you’re connected, so the server can apply the same limits; the server doesn’t store it. You can change what you share with apps in iOS Settings (your name > Personal Information > Age Range for Apps). In the app, Delete my data also forgets the age range and the computer players from your last game, both kept on your device. The website doesn’t ask your age.

Deleting your information

Delete my data (in the app: Profile; on the website: Settings) removes at once your friends profile, friends, friend requests and the people you played with, the blocks you made, your linked devices and the tokens kept with your profile, the feedback you sent (and any game saved with it), and, in the app, the crash reports from your device. Reports you filed about someone else are kept, because they may be the evidence for keeping that person away from public tables, but your name, player ID and IP address are removed from them (your own lines in the saved chat stay, without your name). Reports about you, and any pause or ban on you, are not removed by Delete my data. Feedback sent before October 2026 wasn’t tied to a player ID; to have it removed, or to ask about anything else, email us.

The copy in your own iCloud (settings, name and avatar, stats, and your game against the computers) is never on our server, so Delete my data doesn’t touch it. To remove it, turn off Sync with iCloud in the app and delete the app’s data in iOS Settings → your name → iCloud, or delete the app on all your devices.

Tables close on their own after a period with nobody connected. To ask us to delete a saved game that involves you, email us with the table code if you have it. Copies in our host’s server logs expire on their own.

Support and contact

Questions, problems, or a message to report: support@oclgames.com. We read reports promptly.

If this policy changes, we’ll update this page and its date.