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. Clearing your browser's site data for Decryptic removes it.

Advertising

Decryptic shows ads through Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar identifiers to serve and measure ads, and may show ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. You can control how Google personalises the ads you see, and opt out of personalised ads entirely, at myadcenter.google.com.

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. (On the web there are no purchases.)

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.

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.

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 [email protected].