Privacy

Decryptic is a daily cryptic crossword you play in your browser. There are no accounts and no sign-in, and the puzzles are served as plain files, so the app itself doesn't ask for or collect any personal information about you.

What's stored on your device

Your progress on the current puzzle, your score, whether you've seen the how-to-play walkthrough, and (if you've bought anything) which items you've unlocked are saved in your browser's local storage. This stays on your device so a puzzle resumes after you close and reopen the app; it is never sent to us. See Deleting your data below for how to remove it.

Advertising

On the website, Decryptic shows ads through Google AdSense. In the Android app, a banner is shown through Google AdMob. In both cases Google and its partners use cookies and similar identifiers (in the app, your device's advertising ID) to serve and measure ads, and may show ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites and apps. You can control how Google personalises the ads you see, and opt out of personalised ads entirely, at myadcenter.google.com. In the app, you can revisit your ad-consent choices at any time via menu → Ad privacy where that option applies to you.

Decryptic never asks for your location, and the app holds no permission to read it. Google's ad services do see the IP address your device connects from, and can use it to estimate roughly where you are, typically no closer than your city, when choosing which ads to show. That estimate is why approximate location appears among the data shared with third parties on Decryptic's Google Play listing.

Google explains what it collects when a site uses its ad services here: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

If you'd rather not see ads at all, you can remove them with a one-time purchase in the Android app. See Purchases below.

Purchases

In the Android app, Decryptic offers two optional one-time purchases: removing ads, and unlocking the archive of past daily puzzles. Payments are handled entirely by Google Play. We never see or store your card or payment details. (Purchases can't be made on the web, but they can be carried over to it — see below.)

To complete a purchase, and to stop Google automatically refunding it, the app sends the Google Play purchase token and product id to our server at api.decryptic.app, which confirms the purchase with Google. When you open a puzzle from the unlocked archive, that same token is sent so the server can check you own the archive before serving the puzzle. These tokens identify the purchase, not you: there's no account to link them to, and we don't use them to build a profile of you.

If you choose Use purchases on the web in the app, our server verifies your purchases with Google and issues a short one-time code (it expires after 10 minutes). Entering the code on the website stores a signed pass in that browser's local storage; the pass contains only the purchase tokens above — no account and nothing that identifies you — and the website shows it to our server to check your unlocks are still valid. Clearing the browser's site data removes it, and entering a fresh code re-creates it.

Which items you've unlocked is remembered in your browser's local storage so it's there straight away next time. You can view or request refunds for purchases through Google Play.

Deleting your data

In the app and on the website, open the ⋮ menu and choose Clear my data. That removes everything Decryptic has saved on the device: your progress and score on every puzzle, and whether you've seen the walkthrough. The app then restarts. Your purchases are deliberately left alone, so ad-free play and the puzzle archive keep working.

Clearing your browser's site data for Decryptic does the same, and also removes the pass that carries purchases to the web. You can create a new one whenever you like with a fresh code from the Android app.

There is nothing to delete on our side. Decryptic has no accounts, so nothing our server holds is tied to you: a Google Play purchase token is used only to check what you own, and a web-link code is discarded ten minutes after it is issued. If you have a question about any of this, email privacy@decryptic.app.

Consent

If you're in the UK, the European Economic Area, or Switzerland, you'll be asked for your consent before any personalised ads or non-essential cookies are used, and you can withdraw or change that choice at any time.

US state privacy rights

If you live in California or another US state with a consumer privacy law, you have the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information for targeted advertising. Because Decryptic shows ads through Google, US visitors are shown a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" control to exercise that choice; you can also manage or opt out of personalised ads through the Google ad controls linked above.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email privacy@decryptic.app.