How we handle your data

1What data we process

1. Player profile and progress. When you first use the app, you automatically receive an anonymous player ID, which is a random string containing no name or email address. We use it to save your game progress, including solved puzzles, levels, streaks, play statistics such as words found in each language, stamps earned, your chosen home language, mascot, and word list. This information is stored on your device and in our cloud database so your progress carries over to a new device.

2. Optional account. You can link your profile to an Olympheon account using "Continue with Apple" or "Continue with Google." If you do, we also process your email address, the name provided by Apple or Google, and your chosen username. Friend features process the connection between your account and your friends' accounts.

3. Finding your player again on a new device. Even without signing in with Apple or Google, you can get your player back on a new device or after reinstalling the app. On iOS, after you choose your username, the app stores a random key (43 characters, containing no personal data) in your iCloud Keychain, in a group that only Olympheon's apps (Words with Mia, Mio Path and SudoMio) can read. The keychain belongs to Apple and travels, encrypted, to your other Apple devices if iCloud Keychain is turned on. On Android, this only happens if you say yes on the save card after choosing your name. We then use Google Play Games to link a random persona and a random token (containing no personal data) to your Play Games account, even if you don't have a Play Games profile. Google stores that link under Google's own privacy policy, and you can also manage it in the Google Play Games settings. If the link isn't renewed, it expires after 400 days at most. If you turn it off in your profile or delete your account, we remove the link at Google. Alongside your player ID we only store a hash of the key, and on Android a hash of the token and the persona. When the app is installed again, it uses this to find your account and greets you with "Welcome back" to ask if you want to continue. Continuing takes one tap, and no account is ever switched without that tap. In your profile you can also create a six-character pairing code (or a QR code) to keep playing on another device. It is valid for ten minutes and works once. Here too we only store a hash, and we clear out expired codes every day.

4. Purchases. Payments are handled entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We never see or store payment card or bank account details. To link your purchases, including passes and puzzle books, to your profile, our systems process the purchased product, the status and expiry date of a subscription, the store used (Apple or Google), and a pseudonymous linking ID, which is your player ID. We use RevenueCat as a data processor for this purpose (see below).

5. Technical data. When you use the app, our systems process limited technical data needed to keep it working, including the app version, operating system and version, device language and time zone, and technical logs of server requests. These logs include your IP address, which is retained briefly for security and abuse prevention. If you have allowed notifications, we also store a push token from your device so that we can send you a message, for example when we reply to your report to support.

6. Usage statistics and error reporting. To improve the app, we measure how it is used, including which screens you view, which levels and daily challenges you start and complete, which language you choose, and whether you visit a shop page. We also collect technical details such as the app version, device type and operating system, as well as error reports for crashes. In your first session after installing, we also make a session recording: a series of screenshots showing what happens on your screen as you play, so we can see where new players get stuck. Anything you type yourself (your username, a message when sharing) is obscured in the recording. Other text on the screen stays readable, such as the usernames of other players on a leaderboard or in your friends list. This data is linked to your pseudonymous player ID, not your name or email address, and is stored within the EU. You can turn this measurement off at any time in the app (Settings > Privacy > Usage statistics). The game will continue to work as normal. In the EEA and the UK, measurement also stops if you decline consent in our consent screen.

7. Stored only on your device. Preferences such as board style, colour-blind assistance, and sound settings remain on your device and are not sent to us. Reminders to play are scheduled locally on your device. The app only uses the camera to scan a friend's QR code: this happens on your device and no image is sent to us. The app only asks for access to your photos if you want to add a screenshot to a report to support.

8. Reports to support. If you send us a report in the app (Contact us), we process what you fill in yourself: the type of report, your description, the messages you send afterwards in the conversation, and a screenshot if you add one. So that we can help you, we send technical context along with it: app version, device type and operating system, language and display settings, time zone, your progress in broad terms (such as your highest level and your streak), whether you have a pass, and, for a report about a level, which level it concerns. The report is linked to your player ID, so the reply reaches you in the app. If you email us, we process your email address and the contents of your message. To answer reports faster, we have them read and translated by the AI assistant Claude from Anthropic, which can also suggest a reply. A person on our team reviews every reply and sends it themselves.

9. This website. On wordswithmia.com we measure visits with PostHog, without cookies and without a profile per visitor: what we measure is gone as soon as you close the page. On the page where you can play in your browser, a session recording may run. If you click a download button, we count that click using a code we derive each day afresh from your IP address and browser. We do not store your IP address itself. If you start your profile on the website (name, mascot and language), we keep those choices for 15 minutes under a short code so the app can pick them up. After that they are deleted. Cloudflare Turnstile checks that you are not a bot.

10. Share cards. If you share an invitation or an achievement from the app, the app may upload the card it draws for it (an image, sometimes a short video) to our server. Anyone who opens your link sees that card as a preview. The card only shows what you choose to share. We keep a card for 365 days.

2Advertising

The free version of the app displays ads through Google AdMob. These include short ads between levels and optional ads you can choose to watch in exchange for a hint or a second chance.

Even without your consent, Google processes certain technical data for these purposes: your IP address (which is used to determine a country or region), device and app characteristics, and limited identifiers needed to display an ad, apply frequency caps, and prevent fraud. This is why we cannot say that no data is processed without consent: the ads are not personalized, but they are not completely data-free.

Only if you expressly consent to it (on iOS through Apple's tracking permission prompt, and in the EU through our consent screen) does Google use your device's advertising identifier to personalize and measure ads. You can withdraw your consent at any time: in the app through Settings > Privacy > Ad privacy choices, and on iOS also through Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.

With a Home Pass or World Pass, or in a booklet you have purchased, the app does not show interstitial ads. Ads you choose to watch (for a hint or a second chance) remain available, including for subscribers.

3Why we use your data and our legal basis

• Providing the game (saving progress, syncing between devices, unlocking purchases): necessary to perform our agreement with you.
• Finding your player again on a new device (the key in your iCloud Keychain, the pairing code): performance of the contract, so you get your progress back and don't end up with a second account. For the link with Google Play Games on Android, also your consent, which you give on the save card and can withdraw in your profile.
• Helping you with a question or a problem (reports to support and email): performing our agreement with you, at your request.
• Security and preventing abuse (technical logs, purchase validation): legitimate interest.
• Improving the app and the website (usage statistics, session recordings, error reporting): legitimate interests, and in the EEA and the UK only if you do not decline in our consent screen. You can turn this off at any time via Settings > Privacy > Usage statistics, without affecting the game.
• Optional features (account, friends, share cards, starting your profile on the website): performance of the contract, at your request.
• Showing ads in the free version: necessary to perform our agreement with you, since ads fund the free app.
• Personalized ads: only with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time without affecting the game.

We do not use your data for automated decision-making that has legal effects, and we do not sell it.

4Who else is involved

• Google Firebase (Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC): sign-in and push notifications, plus the database that older versions of the app still use. Google Privacy Policy
• Google Play Games services (Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC): only on Android and only if you say yes on the save card, the link that lets you find your player again on a new device. You can also manage this link in the Google Play Games settings. Google Privacy Policy
• RevenueCat, Inc. (US): subscription and purchase management, linked to your pseudonymous player ID. RevenueCat Privacy Policy
• PostHog, Inc. (US, with data stored on servers in the EU): usage analytics, session recordings, and error reporting. PostHog Privacy Policy
• Cloudflare, Inc. (US): the app's servers, storage of screenshots sent with a report and of share cards, hosting of this website, and bot protection (Turnstile). Cloudflare Privacy Policy
• PlanetScale, Inc. (US, with storage in Frankfurt): the database holding your profile, progress, account, friends and reports to support. PlanetScale Privacy Policy
• Anthropic PBC (US): the AI assistant Claude, which reads and translates reports to support and suggests a reply. A person sends the reply. Anthropic Privacy Policy
• Google Workspace (Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC): our email, and therefore also the messages you send us.
• Apple and Google Play: payments and app distribution, under their own terms and privacy policies. The key for finding your player again is stored in your own iCloud Keychain, so Apple is not our processor for it.
• Google AdMob (Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC): displaying and measuring ads, and preventing fraud. For personalized ads, Google acts as an independent data controller rather than as a processor. How Google uses adising data
• AppsFlyer Ltd. (Israel and other countries where AppsFlyer or its subprocessors operate): attribution and campaign measurement. With your consent, AppsFlyer may process the IDFA or GAID and link it to your pseudonymous player ID, along with installs, sessions, progress milestones, ad revenue and purchase events. AppsFlyer Privacy Policy
• Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. (Ireland, with processing in the US): measuring installs that come from ads on Facebook and Instagram. Only outside the EEA and the UK, and only if you have not turned off usage statistics, the app tells Meta that it has been opened, along with the IDFA (on iOS, with your consent) or the GAID. Through AppsFlyer, Meta also receives progress milestones (finishing the tutorial, reaching certain Word Path levels, and choosing your player name after level 5) and purchase events, to measure and optimize those campaigns. In US states with their own privacy law, Meta uses this data in a restricted way (Limited Data Use). Meta Privacy Policy

We enter into data processing agreements with our processors. Some processors, including AppsFlyer, Meta, RevenueCat, PostHog, Cloudflare, PlanetScale, Anthropic, and Google LLC, process data in or from the United States. These transfers are based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and/or the European Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).

5How long we keep your data

• Game progress and profile: for as long as you use the game. If you delete your account or request deletion, we will erase this data from our active systems within 30 days.
• Finding your player again: we keep the hashes of your key and your Play Games link until you delete your account. We then delete them immediately and also remove the link at Google. Pairing codes and one-time tickets are valid for ten minutes at most, and we clear them out every day.
• Purchase records: for as long as required by legal and tax retention obligations, after which they will be deleted.
• Reports to support: until you delete your account or ask us to delete them. A screenshot you send with a report is deleted along with it. We keep emails to us until you ask us to delete them.
• Technical logs: up to 12 months, with security logs kept for as short a time as reasonably possible.
• Usage statistics and error reports: up to 7 years at PostHog, linked to your pseudonymous player ID. Session recordings: 30 days. If you email us to request deletion, we erase this data too.
• Website: a profile you start on the website for 15 minutes, a share card for 365 days. The website statistics are not linked to a person.
• Advertising data: we do not store this ourselves. We only see aggregated reports with totals, not individuals. Google's retention policy applies to the underlying data.
• Attribution data at AppsFlyer: user-level data is retained for a limited period based on the integration type and the relevant advertising network's rules. AppsFlyer retains aggregated reports for up to 25 months. We also pass erasure requests on to AppsFlyer.

6Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, and transfer your data, and to object to processing based on legitimate interests. You can withdraw your consent at any time, including consent for personalized advertising. To do so, email privacy@wordswithmia.com. We will respond within one month. You can also file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority at autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl.

You can delete your account and data directly in the app under Settings > Account, or by emailing privacy@wordswithmia.com. You can turn off the link with Google Play Games separately in your profile. We then remove it at Google as well.

7Children

Words with Mia is intended for players aged 13 and older and is not a children's app. If you live in the Netherlands and are under 16, only use the optional account features with permission from your parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If we discover that this has happened, we will delete the data.

8Changes

We update this policy when the app or our service providers change. The date at the top shows when that last happened, and the latest version is always available on this page. If a change requires new consent, we will ask for it in the app.