Your game stays on your phone
The short version
- No account, no sign-in. We never ask who you are.
- We collect nothing. The names you type, your scores and your settings are saved on your phone and never sent to us.
- Ads are the one exception. Google AdMob shows the ads and processes data for them, under Google's own policy.
- You stay in control. Change your ad choices in Settings, clear the app's storage, or uninstall to erase everything.
Who we are
World of Words is made by fungrid, an independent app developer. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean fungrid, and "the app" means World of Words for Android. We are the data controller for the limited processing described here.
Questions about privacy: fungridapp@gmail.com.
What the app stores on your phone
All of this is kept in the app's private storage on your device. It never leaves your phone, and nobody — including us — can read it from anywhere else.
| What | Why | How to remove it |
|---|---|---|
| Player names the two names you type for Pass & Play |
So the game can fill them in next time and label the leaderboard. | Change them before a game, or clear the app's storage. |
| Journey progress where you are on the map, and for each board you've played: its stars, time, score and the words you found |
So you can pick up your journey and replay boards. | Clear the app's storage, or uninstall the app. |
| Leaderboard your best Quick Play runs and their points, and Pass & Play standings: player names, games won and points |
To show your best runs and who's ahead. | Clear the app's storage, or uninstall the app. |
| Settings sound, music and haptics on or off and their volumes |
So the app sounds the way you set it. | Clear the app's storage, or uninstall the app. |
| Ad consent choice stored by Google's consent library |
To remember your answer and not ask again. | Change it under Settings → Ad privacy options. |
A name is only a label for the game. You can type a nickname or anything you like; it is never checked, uploaded or shared.
If Android Backup is switched on for your phone, Android may include the app's saved settings and progress in your own Google account backup. That backup belongs to you and is governed by Google's privacy policy; we cannot read it.
What we collect
Nothing. The app has no servers, no accounts and no analytics. We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, location or device identifiers, and we do not build a profile of you. We receive no reports about how you play.
Two things sit outside that, and both are handled by Google rather than by us:
- Ads, described below.
- Google Play may give us anonymous, aggregated statistics about installs, uninstalls, ratings and crashes for the app as a whole, if your Android settings allow it. These are counts and technical reports, not information about you, and we cannot identify anyone from them.
Ads
The app is free and shows banner ads through Google AdMob, at the bottom of the main menu and the journey map. You can also choose to watch a rewarded video ad to earn an extra hint, or an extra minute and a hint to keep a board going. These only play when you tap to watch one; the game never shows them on its own, and nothing interrupts a board.
To serve those ads, Google may process data such as your advertising ID, IP address (which gives approximate, city-level location), device model and operating system version, the app you are using, and your interactions with the ad. Google acts as an independent controller for this. What Google does with it is set out in Google's Privacy Policy and in how Google uses data from sites and apps that use its services.
Your consent
Where the law requires it — in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland — the app shows Google's consent form the first time you open it, and asks whether ads may be personalised. Your answer is remembered, and you can change it at any time under Settings → Ad privacy options inside the app. If you decline, ads still appear, but they are not personalised.
Opting out on your device
- Android: Settings → Privacy → Ads, where you can delete or reset your advertising ID and turn off ad personalisation for every app.
- Google account holders: My Ad Center.
This website
These pages are static and hosted on GitHub Pages. There are no cookies, no analytics and no trackers.
- GitHub serves the pages and, like any web host, may log technical details such as your IP address and browser for security and abuse prevention. See the GitHub Privacy Statement.
- The pages load fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's servers and Google receives your IP address in doing so.
Permissions the app requests
| Permission | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Internet, network state | Loading ads. The game itself, including its word list, is on your phone and works fully offline; only ads need a connection. |
| Vibrate | The small taps you feel as you trace a word. Turn it off with Settings → Haptics. |
| Advertising ID and related ad services | Added by Google's ads library so ads can be shown and measured. |
The app asks for no runtime permissions at all: no camera, microphone, location, contacts, photos or files.
Children
World of Words is a word game suitable for all ages, but it is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children. Because the app shows ads, a parent or guardian should decide whether it is appropriate for their child. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, write to us and we will help; in practice any name typed into the app stays on that phone and never reaches us.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your data. The app has no in-app reset. To remove everything it stores, clear its storage (Android Settings → Apps → World of Words → Storage → Clear storage) or uninstall it.
- Change your ad choices at any time under Settings → Ad privacy options.
- Play without ads loading by switching off your connection; the game works offline.
- Access, correction, deletion, portability and objection. Under laws such as the GDPR and the CCPA/CPRA you have rights over personal data held about you. We hold none, so there is nothing for us to hand over or delete. For data processed by Google for ads, use the Google links above or contact Google directly.
- We do not sell or share your personal information, and never have.
Data is kept only on your device, for as long as you keep the app installed. We run no servers and hold no backups of your data.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the updated version appears on this page with a new date at the top. Significant changes will also be noted in the app's store listing.
Questions, requests or concerns: fungridapp@gmail.com. We aim to reply within a few days.