Privacy Policy

01 Who we are and what this policy covers

This Privacy Policy explains how AppStation Studio Pte. Ltd. (“AppStation”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you use the Worder mobile application (the “App”), a word-guessing puzzle game published on the Apple App Store and Google Play:

The App may appear under different titles in the app stores (for example, “WordGrid – Guess the Word” on the App Store or “Wordy – Word Puzzle Game” on Google Play, package com.appstation.wordly). This policy applies to all versions of the App published by AppStation under those listings, regardless of title.

This policy applies only to information collected through the App. It does not cover the wordly.org website, which has its own website privacy policy, nor any third-party websites or services that the App may link to.

By installing or using the App you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the App.

02 Information we collect

Worder is designed to collect as little data as possible. The App does not require registration and does not ask you to provide your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, or precise location.

Information collected automatically

When you use the App, we and our third-party advertising, analytics, and crash-reporting partners may automatically collect the following technical information from your device:

This information does not, by itself, identify you personally. However, some of it — in particular the advertising identifier and IP address — may be considered personal data under certain privacy laws, and we treat it accordingly.

Game data stored on your device

Your game progress, statistics (such as games played, win rate, and streaks), preferences, and settings are saved locally on your device using the App's own storage. This data is not transmitted to our servers. It is removed when you uninstall the App, unless your device's backup service (for example iCloud or Google backup) has backed it up under your own account.

Information you provide to us

If you contact us by email (for example with a question, bug report, or privacy request), we will receive your email address and any information you include in your message. We use this information only to respond to you and to handle your request.

What we do not collect

• We do not collect your name, email, phone number, or account credentials through the App.
• We do not access your contacts, photos, microphone, camera, or files.
• We do not collect precise GPS location.
• We do not collect payment or financial information. Any purchases, if offered, are processed by Apple or Google under their own privacy policies; we do not receive your card details.

03 How we use information

We and our service providers use the information described above to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the App and its gameplay features;
• Display advertisements that keep the App free to use, and measure their performance;
• Understand how the App is used in aggregate so we can improve puzzles, features, and user experience;
• Diagnose crashes, errors, and performance problems;
• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, security incidents, and technical issues;
• Respond to your messages and support requests;
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

Legal bases (EEA, UK, Switzerland). Where the GDPR or similar laws apply, we process data on the basis of: your consent (for personalized advertising and ad tracking, which you can withdraw at any time); our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the App and in funding it through non-personalized advertising; and compliance with legal obligations where applicable.

04 Advertising

Worder is free to download and play and is supported by advertising. Ads shown in the App are delivered by third-party advertising networks, primarily Google AdMob, which may mediate ads from other certified ad networks. We only work with ad partners that are approved by Google and comply with the Apple App Store and Google Play developer policies.

To serve ads, advertising partners may collect and process the device identifiers, usage data, and advertising data listed in Section 2. Depending on your settings and location, ads may be:

• Personalized — selected based on your interests as inferred from your activity across apps and websites. This requires your consent on iOS (via the App Tracking Transparency prompt) and, in the EEA/UK, via the consent prompt shown in the App.
• Non-personalized — selected based only on contextual information such as the content of the App, your approximate location inferred from IP address, and your language. These ads still use limited data for frequency capping, reporting, and fraud prevention.

Opting out of personalized ads does not remove advertising from the App; you will simply see less relevant ads. See Section 9 for how to manage your advertising preferences.

For more information on how Google uses data from apps that use its services, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

05 Analytics and crash reporting

We use third-party analytics and crash-reporting tools (such as Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics) to understand how the App performs and how it is used. These tools collect usage data, device information, app-instance identifiers, and crash logs, and report them to us in aggregated or pseudonymous form. We use this data to fix bugs, prioritize improvements, and measure the overall health of the App. We do not use analytics data to identify individual users.

06 Third-party service providers

The following third-party services are integrated into the App and may collect information under their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them:

We may add or replace service providers from time to time. Where this materially changes the data collected, we will update this policy.

07 How information is shared

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes. Information may be shared only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers and partners — with the advertising, analytics, and crash-reporting providers described above, who process data on our behalf or for the purposes described in this policy.
• Aggregated statistics — we may publish or share aggregated, anonymous statistics about how the App is used (for example, the number of puzzles solved). Such statistics cannot be used to identify you.
• Legal requirements — when required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of AppStation, our users, or the public.
• Business transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or part of our business, in which case the acquiring party will be bound by this policy with respect to previously collected information.

Note that sharing device identifiers with advertising partners for personalized advertising may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information under some U.S. state laws (such as the California CPRA). You can opt out as described in Sections 9 and 10.

08 Data retention and deletion

• Game data on your device is kept until you clear the App's data or uninstall the App.
• Analytics and crash data is retained by our analytics providers for a limited period (by default, Google Analytics for Firebase retains user-level data for up to 14 months and Crashlytics for 90 days), after which it is deleted or aggregated.
• Advertising data is retained by our advertising partners in accordance with their own retention policies.
• Emails and support requests are kept for as long as necessary to resolve your request and for a reasonable period afterwards for record-keeping.

Because the App does not use accounts, we generally cannot associate collected technical data with a specific person. If you would nevertheless like us to request deletion of data associated with your device from our providers, contact us at the address in Section 15 and include your advertising identifier, if possible. Resetting your advertising identifier in your device settings (see Section 9) also unlinks future activity from previously collected advertising data.

09 Your choices and controls

On iOS

• App tracking: When first prompted, you can choose “Ask App Not to Track”. You can change this at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
• Personalized ads from Apple: Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising → Personalized Ads.

On Android

• Delete or reset your advertising ID: Settings → Google → Ads (or Settings → Privacy → Ads), then choose “Delete advertising ID” or “Reset advertising ID”.
• Opt out of ads personalization: in the same menu, enable “Opt out of Ads Personalization” where available, or manage preferences at adssettings.google.com.

In the App

• Where the App displays a consent prompt (for example in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland), you can accept or decline personalized advertising, and change your choice later through the privacy or consent option in the App's settings, if available.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling the App stops all further data collection by the App and deletes the game data stored locally on your device.

10 Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal data:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy of it;
• The right to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• The right to delete your personal data;
• The right to restrict or object to certain processing, including processing for direct marketing;
• The right to data portability;
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal;
• The right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information and of targeted advertising (U.S. state laws);
• The right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights;
• The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 15. We will respond within the time required by applicable law (generally within 30 days). Because we do not hold directly identifying information about App users, we may ask you for details (such as your advertising identifier) that allow us to locate data associated with your device, and in some cases we may be unable to verify that specific data relates to you.

We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

11 Children's privacy

The App is a general-audience word game and is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or the minimum age required in your country, such as 16 in parts of the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Advertising shown to users we identify as likely to be minors, or where the law requires it, is served in non-personalized form.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, or that data has been collected from your child's device in a way that is inconsistent with this policy, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it promptly.

12 Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the information collected through the App. Data transmitted between the App and our service providers is encrypted in transit using industry-standard protocols (HTTPS/TLS). Our service providers maintain their own security programs, and we select providers that meet recognized industry standards.

No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal data, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

13 International data transfers

AppStation Studio Pte. Ltd. is based in Singapore. The service providers we use (such as Google) operate globally and may store and process data in the United States and other countries whose data-protection laws differ from those of your country of residence.

Where data is transferred out of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, it is protected by appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, and/or an adequacy decision (including the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework where the recipient is certified). You may contact us for more information about the safeguards in place.

14 Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the App, our practices, or legal requirements. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. If the changes are material, we may also provide notice within the App or through the app stores. Your continued use of the App after a revised policy becomes effective means that you accept the updated policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

15 Contact us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your data, please reach out to us: