Privacy Policy for Hidden Words

Last updated: October 10, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Hidden Words collects, uses, stores, and protects information when you use the mobile game and its related online services.

Contact: ph.breakthough@gmail.com.

Information We Collect

Hidden Words does not require an account and does not ask for your name, email address, phone number, postal address, or payment-card details.

When you play, the game may collect and process:

• An anonymous installation identifier, a new anonymous identifier for each app session, and an anonymous identifier for each puzzle attempt. These are used to measure retention, ordered funnels, and puzzle difficulty without requiring an account.
• Gameplay telemetry, such as screens and tutorial steps viewed, levels and puzzles started or completed, submitted words and their validation category, clue and store interactions, language changes, definition interactions, and timing or outcome values.
• Limited acquisition labels on the first app open: campaign source, medium, campaign name, and (for web links) referrer host. A recognized paid-click parameter may be reduced on your device to a coarse “paid click detected” category. We discard raw URLs, query strings, advertising click-identifier names and values, and the raw Google Play install-referrer string.
• For English and Spanish players only, when remotely enabled, a small closed set of game milestones may be sent to Meta App Events: game activation, Level 1 or Level 3 completion, and exact-calendar-day return on day 1 or day 7. These events include the selected content language, cohort app version, applicable level, platform, and current app version/build. Automatic Meta event logging and advertising-identifier collection are disabled.
• Game settings included with telemetry, such as the selected language and whether sound is enabled.
• Basic technical data sent with network requests, including IP address, user agent, request time, and server connection information.
• A country inferred from your IP address when the game requests initial language and update configuration. The game uses this to suggest a language; it does not request precise location.
• Information processed by Google Play to complete in-app purchases, such as the selected product, purchase state, and purchase token. The purchase token is sent only to our purchase-verification service and Google Play; it is not sent in gameplay telemetry. Google Play order and client purchase-attempt identifiers are retained only as one-way, keyed hashes for restricted support and reconciliation.
• Information processed by Apple to complete iOS in-app purchases, such as the selected product, App Store transaction identifier, signed transaction, purchase state, and an anonymous app-account token. These values are sent only to our purchase-verification service and Apple; they are not sent in gameplay telemetry.
• An anonymous purchase-device identifier and a device-generated public signing key. These bind a verified purchase grant to one installation without creating an account. The private signing key remains in Android Keystore and is not sent to us.
• Echo help requests and completions, including the puzzle revision and anonymous word identifier, request state and timing, and the anonymous installation identifiers needed to deliver and credit help. Echoes do not contain player names, accounts, or chat messages.
• Local data stored on your device, including normal and Secret Room puzzle progress, found words, viewed definitions, diamond balance, clue usage, language and sound preferences, tutorial progress, purchase-reconciliation state, the anonymous installation identifier, cached Echo challenges with salted answer proofs, and short bounded queues of Echo results, help requests, and telemetry events waiting for network delivery. A successfully guessed Echo answer may remain in its bounded delivery queue until the server accepts or rejects it.

Voluntary Feedback

If you choose to write to us, your message is saved on your device and sent to our restricted owner dashboard with your anonymous installation identifier, language, app version/build, platform and submission time. We use it to understand problems and improve the game. Unsent drafts stay on your device. Queued messages remain there until delivery can be confirmed. Message and draft text are never gameplay telemetry. Information reasonably associated with your installation can be included in existing access or deletion requests.

Information We Do Not Intentionally Collect

Apart from information you voluntarily include in feedback or support messages, Hidden Words is designed not to collect:

• Names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, contacts, or account passwords.
• Payment-card or bank-account details. Google Play and Apple's App Store handle payment processing.
• Precise location or continuous location data.
• Photos, videos, microphone recordings, calendar data, or personal files from your device.
• Advertising identifiers for targeted advertising.
• Purchase tokens, account identifiers, email addresses, or payment identifiers in gameplay telemetry metadata.

How We Use Information

We use the information described above to:

• Run the game, preserve progress, provide clues and definitions, and restore state after reloads or interruptions.
• Verify, deduplicate, and reconcile Google Play and App Store in-app purchases, consume or finish them after delivery, and prevent the same purchase from creating multiple grants.
• Understand whether onboarding, tutorials, puzzles, definitions, language selection, and store flows are working.
• Compare aggregate first opens with account-level Google Ads install reports. Google Ads totals are kept separate from gameplay telemetry and are not joined to an installation or player.
• Measure and optimize Meta app-promotion campaigns using the limited milestone events described above.
• Identify confusing levels or invalid word results and improve game content and usability.
• Diagnose technical problems, maintain security, prevent abuse, and improve reliability.

Third-Party Services

The Android version is distributed through Google Play. Google may process information under its own privacy policies when you install, update, review, or make an in-app purchase through Google Play.

The iOS version is distributed through Apple's App Store. Apple may process information under its own privacy policies when you install, update, review, or make an in-app purchase through the App Store.

When remotely enabled for eligible English and Spanish players, Hidden Words uses Meta's App Events SDK for the limited advertising-measurement milestones described above. Meta may process those events and ordinary network or device information under its own privacy policy. Hidden Words does not display third-party ads. Gameplay telemetry remains separate and is sent directly to our own server.

Data Sharing

We do not sell personal information. The limited Meta campaign-measurement events described above are shared with Meta when the feature is remotely enabled. Other information may be processed by hosting, infrastructure, payment, or platform providers only as needed to operate the game, complete purchases, maintain security, comply with legal obligations, or protect the rights and safety of users and the service.

Data Retention

Gameplay telemetry and technical records are kept only for as long as reasonably needed to operate and improve the game, diagnose issues, maintain security, and understand aggregate usage. An encrypted purchase token is retained only while verification, pending-payment reconciliation, or Google Play consumption may still require it, and is deleted after successful consumption or after automated consumption retries stop. A one-way token hash, anonymous device identifier, grant record, product, amount, state, and revocation history may be retained to prevent duplicate grants, handle refunds, maintain security, and keep transaction audit records. Data stored locally on your device remains until the game replaces it, you clear the app data, or you uninstall the app. Google Play may retain transaction records under its own policies and legal obligations. Apple may likewise retain App Store transaction records under its own policies and legal obligations.

Hidden Words disables Android app backup and device transfer. On iOS, progress and diamond balances are also device-local and are not promised to survive uninstall, device replacement, or loss of the app's local storage.

Your Choices

• You can stop future gameplay telemetry by stopping use of the game.
• You can clear local app data or uninstall the app to remove data stored on your device.
• You can contact us to request access to or deletion of information reasonably associated with your anonymous installation or gameplay sessions, where technically possible.
• You can manage purchases and payment information through your Google Play or Apple account.

Paid diamonds are consumable and tied to the anonymous installation that made the purchase. Because Hidden Words has no account or cloud wallet, paid diamond balances do not transfer to another device and may not be recoverable after clearing app data or uninstalling.

Children's Privacy

Hidden Words is not intended to knowingly collect personal information from children under the age required by applicable law. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the game, contact us so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information processed by the game. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

International Processing

Information may be processed in countries other than the country where you live. Where applicable, we take reasonable steps to protect information according to this Privacy Policy.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the game, services, legal requirements, or operational practices change. The updated version will show a new “Last updated” date.

Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at ph.breakthough@gmail.com.