Draft for legal review. This document was prepared as a starting point and must be reviewed by a qualified lawyer before launch.
The short version
- You can play our games without giving us your name or email. Each game creates a random player ID instead.
- We ask for a birth year once, keep only the age band, and use it to protect younger players.
- Personalised ads are only shown to adults who say yes. Everyone else gets non-personalised ads.
- Players under 13 are never listed on public leaderboards and can't type their own name.
- We don't sell your personal information, and this website uses no cookies or tracking.
- You can delete your account in the game or from our delete account page.
Who we are
Chaosryn Studios is an independent mobile game studio. The company responsible for your information (the “controller” under data protection law) is [Legal entity name], [Street address, City, Postcode], [Country].
This policy covers the games published by Chaosryn Studios (listed in the next section) and this website. When we say “we”, “us” or “our”, we mean [Legal entity name]. Questions about privacy go to privacy@chaosrynstudios.com.
Games covered
This policy applies to each of these games on iOS and Android:
| Game | Platforms | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Word Crumbs | iOS, Android | Coming soon |
Our games handle information in the same way, as described in this policy. What differs between them, such as the kinds of ads or purchases, is listed under Game-specific details. When we release a new game, we add it here and note the change in the version history. If a future game works differently from what this policy describes, we'll describe it here before that game launches.
What we collect
We collect as little as we can and still run our games. Here is everything, and why.
| Information | Why we need it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Random player ID | To save your progress and tell players apart. No name or email is needed to play. | Created by the game the first time you open it. |
| Age band (for example “under 13”, “13 to 17”, “18 and over”) | To decide which ads, names and leaderboard features are right for you. | A neutral age screen asks for your birth year. We keep the age band, not your birth year. |
| Display name (optional) | Shown next to your scores. | You pick one from safe, generated names. Players 13 and over may type their own, which is checked by an automatic filter. |
| Game progress | So you don't lose your place, and to run boards and leaderboards. | Created as you play. Depending on the game: levels, scores, in-game currency and items, XP, streaks, badges and leaderboard entries. |
| Sign-in identifier (optional) | Only to link your save to your account so you can restore it on another phone. | Google Sign-In (Android) or Sign in with Apple (iOS), if you choose to sign in. We store only the account identifier the provider gives us. We don't use it for marketing. |
| Purchase records | To deliver what you bought, restore purchases and keep records the law requires. | Google Play Billing or Apple In-App Purchase send us a receipt. We never see your card or bank details. |
| Technical data | To run the service, keep it secure and fix bugs. | Your device, when a game talks to our servers: IP address, device model, operating system and app version. Kept in server logs for 30 days. |
| Support messages | To answer you. | You, when you email us or use a form on this website. |
Each game keeps its own player ID and progress. We don't combine your data across our games to build a profile of you.
What we don't collect
- Your real name. You never need to give it to play.
- Your contacts or address book.
- Your precise location.
- Your photos, camera or microphone.
And we don't sell personal information to anyone.
How we use it, and our legal reasons
Data protection laws such as the GDPR and UK GDPR ask us to explain the legal reason (the “lawful basis”) for each use.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Run our games, save and sync your progress, run boards and leaderboards, deliver purchases. | Contract: we need it to provide the game you asked for. |
| Keep our games secure, stop cheating, find and fix bugs. | Legitimate interests: fair, working games. We weigh this against your rights and keep it to what's needed. |
| Show personalised ads to adults. | Consent: only if you say yes. You can change your mind at any time. |
| Keep purchase and tax records. | Legal obligation: accounting and tax laws require it. |
| Reply to support requests. | Legitimate interests or contract, depending on the request. |
We don't use your information to make decisions about you that have legal or similar effects.
Ads
Our games are free, and ads help keep them that way. We use Google AdMob. The kinds of ads differ by game (for example, optional rewarded ads for a hint, or ads between levels) and are listed under Game-specific details. Rewarded ads are always optional, and where a game offers a Remove Ads purchase, it takes away the ads between levels.
Who sees which ads
- Adults (18 and over) who consent may see personalised ads, based on how they use apps and devices. We ask first, using a consent prompt.
- Everyone else, meaning adults who say no, teens aged 13 to 17, players under 13 and anyone whose age we don't know, sees only non-personalised (contextual) ads.
- For players under 13, we also flag ad requests as child-directed, so Google applies its protections for children.
To show and measure ads, AdMob may process device identifiers (such as your device's advertising ID) and your IP address. You can read how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
Changing your choice
- In the game's privacy settings:
- Word Crumbs: Profile → Settings → Privacy
- On your device: reset or turn off the advertising ID in your Android settings, or turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track” in your iPhone settings.
Game-specific details
Everything else in this policy applies to all our games. This is what differs from game to game, and where to find your privacy settings, your player ID and account deletion in each one.
Word Crumbs
| Ads | Google AdMob: optional rewarded ads for hints, and ads between some levels. Personalised only for consenting adults. |
|---|---|
| Purchases | Coins, hints, Premium subscription and Remove Ads, through Apple or Google. |
| Sign-in | Optional Google Sign-In (Android) or Sign in with Apple (iOS), only to link the save. |
| Online features | Daily and Weekly boards, leaderboards ranked by XP, display names. |
| Privacy settings | Profile → Settings → Privacy |
| Player ID | Profile → Account |
| Delete account | Profile → Account → Delete account |
Who we share it with
We use a small number of service providers across our games. They handle data for us under contracts that limit what they can do with it.
| Provider | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud | Hosts our servers and database, in a US region. | Player ID, age band, display name, game progress, sign-in identifier, purchase records, logs. |
| Google AdMob | Shows ads. | Device identifiers, IP address, ad settings and, for under-13s, a child-directed flag. |
| Google Play Billing and Apple In-App Purchase | Take payments. | They handle payment details. We receive a purchase receipt. |
| Google Sign-In and Sign in with Apple | Optional sign-in, to link your save. | The sign-in happens with them. We receive an account identifier. |
| Our email and form providers | Deliver support messages to us. | Whatever you write to us. |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect players or our games from fraud or harm, or as part of a sale or merger of our business. If that happens, this policy keeps applying to your data.
We don't sell personal information.
Children
Our games are made for a mixed audience aged 6 and up, not only for children. When a game starts for the first time, a neutral age screen asks for a birth year, without hinting at a “right” answer. If the age is under 13, the game switches on extra protections:
- No personalised ads. Ad requests are flagged as child-directed.
- Not listed on public leaderboards.
- Names can only be picked from our generated list. Typing a name is turned off.
- No purchase prompts beyond what the app stores' own rules and parental controls allow.
For players under 13 we collect only what we need to run the game, mainly the random player ID used for the game's internal operations, plus their age band and progress. This follows the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the US and similar laws elsewhere.
For parents
You can ask to see or delete your child's data at any time. Email privacy@chaosrynstudios.com with the name of the game and your child's player ID (in the game's account screen: Word Crumbs: Profile → Account), or use our delete account page. Our guide for parents explains all of this in plain language.
If we learn that we have collected more information from a child under 13 than this policy describes, we will delete it.
Teens
Players aged 13 to 17 never see personalised ads in our games. They can type their own display name, which goes through our automatic filter, and they can appear on public leaderboards.
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Account and game progress | As long as your account in that game exists. After a deletion request, removed within 30 days, and from backups within 35 days. |
| Server logs | 30 days. |
| Purchase records | Up to 7 years, where tax or accounting law requires it. |
| Support emails and form messages | 24 months after the conversation ends. |
Keeping it safe
Data travels between our games and our servers encrypted (TLS). Our servers run on Google Cloud, which has strong physical and technical security. Only the people who need access to do their job have it.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will tell you and the authorities where the law requires it.
International transfers
Our servers are in the United States (a Google Cloud US region), so your information is processed there. For players in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, we protect these transfers with the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum, and/or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the provider is certified.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have the right to:
- Access the information we hold about you.
- Correct it if it's wrong.
- Delete it.
- Take it with you (portability), in a common format.
- Object to uses based on legitimate interests, or restrict how we use it.
- Withdraw consent, for example to personalised ads, at any time.
- Complain to a data protection authority, such as your local authority in the EU or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK. We'd appreciate the chance to help first.
How to use them
- Delete your account inside the game:
- Word Crumbs: Profile → Account → Delete account
- Use the form on our delete account page.
- Email privacy@chaosrynstudios.com with the name of the game and your player ID, found in the game's account screen (Word Crumbs: Profile → Account).
Because we don't know your name or email, we may ask you to show that the player ID is yours, for example from the game on your device. We reply within one month (GDPR and UK GDPR) or 45 days (US state laws). We may extend this where the law allows, and we'll tell you if we do.
California and other US states
This section is for residents of California (CCPA, as amended by the CPRA) and other US states with similar laws.
| Category | Examples | Source | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Player ID, sign-in identifier, advertising ID, IP address | You, your device, Google or Apple | Running our games, security, ads |
| Commercial information | Purchase records | Apple or Google | Delivering purchases, legal records |
| Internet or network activity | Game progress, scores, server logs | Your use of our games | Running our games, leaderboards, fixing bugs |
| Inferences | None. We don't build profiles about you. | - | - |
- Selling: we don't sell personal information for money.
- Sharing: personalised ads shown to adults who consent may count as “sharing” for cross-context behavioural advertising. To opt out, decline or withdraw consent in the game's privacy settings (Word Crumbs: Profile → Settings → Privacy) or email privacy@chaosrynstudios.com.
- Under 16: we don't knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.
- Your rights: to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, to opt out of sharing, and not to be treated differently for using these rights.
- Authorised agents: someone you authorise can make a request for you. We may ask for proof of that permission and to confirm the player ID is yours.
This website
- This website uses no cookies, no analytics and no tracking.
- Our fonts are served from this site, so loading a page doesn't contact font services.
- Forms send only what you type, to us, by email or through our form provider. We use it to answer you and nothing else.
- Game trailers are loaded from YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode, and only after you press play. YouTube's own privacy policy then applies to the video.
- Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (such as IP address and pages requested) for security.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, including when we add a new game, we update the version number and “last updated” date at the top and add a line to the version history below. If a change is important, we'll tell players in our games before it takes effect.
Contact us
Email: privacy@chaosrynstudios.com
Post: [Legal entity name], [Street address, City, Postcode], [Country]
[If required, name and contact details of your EU and/or UK representative.]
For help with a game rather than privacy, visit Support.
Version history
| Version | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | First published version. |