Woggle privacy policy

This policy covers Woggle: Daily Word Challenge for iPhone, iPad and Android, and the website woggle.io. Woggle is published by HOLLINGSWORKS LLC (“Hollingsworks”, “we”, “us”), a small software studio in Michigan.

Without an account

You can play practice and other modes without signing in. Your coins, gems, cubes, settings and game history are then stored on your device, along with a random install ID created when you install the app. Usage analytics, crash reports and ads (described below) work whether or not you’re signed in.

Your account

To play the Daily Challenge, appear on the leaderboard and use social features, you sign in with Google or Apple. Through Firebase Authentication we receive your email address (with Apple, this can be a private relay address), your name, and with Google your profile photo link. We store with your account: coins, gems, cubes, premium status, your leaderboard name, friends and friend code, online status and when you were last seen, game history, the install IDs of devices you’ve used, and the push notification tokens for your devices.

What other players can see

• The leaderboard shows your leaderboard name, score, number of words and the words you found for each Daily Challenge. Leaderboards are public: anyone can read them, even without signing in. Your leaderboard name starts as the name on your Google or Apple account (or a name made from your email address; with an Apple private relay address, a random name). You can change it at any time in Settings › Leaderboard Name.
• Other signed-in players can see your profile (leaderboard name, friend code, online status, last seen) and your game history, and play with you in lobbies, where your name, words and score are shared with the players in that lobby. Lobby names you type are visible to anyone who can see the lobby.
• Friends can send you friend requests, lobby invites and preset smack-talk messages, which arrive as notifications.

Fair play on the Daily Challenge

Everyone gets the same Daily Challenge board, so we check that results are fair. For signed-in players, Woggle records:

• How you play each Daily Challenge: when you start, each word you find with its timing and points, when you leave and return to the app, and summary statistics such as words per minute;
• Screenshots and screen recordings taken anywhere in the app, with the screen you were on and, during a game, your score and time left;
• Device details: platform, operating system version, language, app version and the install ID, which lets us see when more than one account plays on the same device;
• which screens you open on the leaderboard, including whose words you look at.

These records are linked to your account, including your email address and sign-in details. Our servers automatically flag unusual patterns (for example very fast or very regular word timing, playing again after quitting, or screenshots during a game), and we may review them. We use this only to keep the leaderboard fair. Depending on what we find, we may remove a result from the leaderboard or limit access to the Daily Challenge. We may turn on settings that block screenshots, or that end a Daily Challenge if you close the app during it. If you think we got it wrong, email us and a person will review it.

Usage analytics and crash reports

We use Google Analytics for Firebase to see how Woggle is used: starting and finishing games (mode, score, words found), sign-ins (Google or Apple), and buying or using cubes with coins or gems. These events don’t include your name or email. Firebase also collects its standard data: an app-instance ID, device model, operating system, app version, language and approximate location derived from your IP address.

Firebase Crashlytics sends crash reports (what went wrong, device model, OS version and an installation ID) and records sign-in errors. Firebase In-App Messaging may show in-app announcements.

Ads

Woggle shows Google AdMob banner and full-screen ads. Premium removes them. To show and measure ads, Google receives your device’s advertising identifier (on Android, unless you’ve deleted it), IP address and approximate location, device and app information, and how you interact with ads. Ads may be personalized based on your activity in other apps. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s Google settings. On iPhone and iPad, Woggle doesn’t ask to track you, so ads don’t use your advertising identifier. Google’s use of data is covered by Google’s privacy policy.

Purchases

Woggle Premium (monthly or yearly subscription) and gem packs are sold through the App Store and Google Play. Apple and Google handle payment; we never see your card details. We store whether you’re subscribed with your account, and keep a record of completed purchases on your device so they aren’t applied twice.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, we send friend requests, lobby invites, smack talk, a message when you finish in the top three, and daily reminders to play. Some reminders are scheduled on your phone. You can turn notifications off in your phone’s settings.

Other services

Woggle downloads fonts from Google Fonts, asks Google’s servers for the current time (to start the daily board fairly), and checks the App Store or Google Play for app updates.

The website

woggle.io is hosted on Google Firebase, which receives your IP address and browser details to deliver pages. The home and support pages have no analytics, ads or cookies; they load styles and fonts from Google Fonts, jsDelivr and cdnjs. Some older experimental pages still on woggle.io use Google AdSense, Google Analytics and cookies; we’re retiring them.

Sharing

We don’t sell your personal information for money. Showing ads with Google may count as “sharing” or “targeted advertising” under some U.S. state laws; on Android you can opt out by deleting your advertising ID, or email us. Otherwise we share data only with other players as described above, with our service providers (Google Firebase, Google AdMob, Google Sign-In, Sign in with Apple, Apple and Google Play), or when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Account data and game history are kept until you delete your account.
• Leaderboards are kept as a record of past Daily Challenges.
• Fair-play records are kept for as long as they’re useful for keeping the leaderboard fair, and no longer than two years.
• Google Analytics keeps event data for no longer than 14 months; Crashlytics keeps crash reports for 90 days.

Deleting your account

In the app, go to Settings › Delete Account. This deletes your profile, coins, gems, cubes, saved games and premium status, and your sign-in. If you’d like your past leaderboard entries, fair-play records and other remaining data deleted too, email us and we’ll remove them within 30 days. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel a subscription: cancel it in your App Store or Google Play subscriptions first.

Children

Woggle isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. If you think a child has created an account, email us and we’ll delete it.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example California, other U.S. states with privacy laws, the EEA or the UK), you may have the right to access, correct, export or delete your personal information, to object to processing (including the fair-play checks above) and to targeted advertising, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Email us and we’ll answer within 30 days. We won’t treat you differently for using these rights.

Changes

If this policy changes, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will also be noted in the app.

Contact

HOLLINGSWORKS LLC, a Michigan limited liability company
Email: hello@hollingsworks.com