User Data Permissions

Hi Mobsters,

Over the last few days, several players shared their concerns regarding the information present in the "User data and permissions" tab of our games.

We would like to take some time to clarify the situation and explain what the various points mentioned there stand for.

First of all, we want all of our Players to know that nothing has changed in terms of what we can access to or how we use any form of data. This means that we are not changing the way you played and the accesses you already gave to the app for many years already.
The only recent change comes from a Google Play request to unify and make more prominent every element that we may, even for very specific use, have access to.
By making it as standard and as general as possible (by using bundles of permissions, etc.), Google wants to inform the Players but also cover any potential case of data usage.

As we wanted to be fully compliant with Google’s policy, we kept our terminology as close as possible to theirs.

We fully understand that in their current form, some of the points mentioned in this informative tab can seem a questionable without further explanation. So we decided to clarify what these different bullet points mean and what we are using them for.

If we look at the information in the tab, it goes the following :

By using our service you are giving the App the following permissions:

Identity: this allows us to find accounts on the device
Contacts: this also allows us to find accounts on the device
Device & app history: allows us to retrieve running apps (including our games)
Microphoney: The App never directly uses you microphone. But it is required to be enabled in case the user has voice features (such as SIRI and similar systems) on their devices and want them to work. E.g: “SIRI- start Crime City for me”
Locationy: approximate location (network-based) and precise location (GPS and network-based) : to best route the requests sent by your account to the closest server (therefore limit latency)
Phone: read phone status and identity: allows us to find accounts on the device.
Photos/Media/Files: read the contents of your USB storage and modify or delete the contents of your USB storagey: The App does not change or alter any content of the device, but this permission is required for installation and uninstallation of the app.
Storage: read the contents of your USB storage and modify or delete the contents of your USB storagey: The App does not change or alter any content of the device, but this permission is required for installation and uninstallation of the app
this is quite self explanatory
Device ID & call information: read phone status and identityy : This permission is bundled together with the identity and contacts permission.
We don’t use it but is part of a bundle so it has to be mentioned here.
Camera: take pictures and videosy: This permission is bundled together with the identity and contacts permission. We don’t use it but it has to mentioned here as part of a bundle of permissions.
Others: here are listed few other basic and expected accesses.
receive data from Internet
view network connections
pair with Bluetooth devices
access Bluetooth settings
connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi
full network access
change your audio settings
control vibration
prevent device from sleeping
modify battery statistics
Google Play license check
install shortcuts

Would you have any questions or concerns about this information, please feel free to reach out to us and we will always answer your requests.

We would like to emphasize again that this does not include any change in terms of the permissions you give to the app and there is no unnecessary data accessed or collected from our side. On that topic, the situation remains unchanged and just as it's been for many years.

We will look into the possibilities for us to make the text in this info tab clearer while remaining compliant with Google terminology.

Thank you for reaching out to us regarding this topic and keep in mind that you can contact us at any time to discuss this question.

Codeus