Privacy Policy

Word Odyssey: Crossword Puzzle · Effective 2026-10-13

1. Who we are

Word Odyssey: Crossword Puzzle ("Word Odyssey", "the game") is published by Haowen Xia ("we", "us"). We are responsible for this policy. You can reach us at hawinxia@gmail.com.

This policy covers the Word Odyssey app for iPhone and iPad, the purchase server it reports to, and this website.

2. Data that stays on your device

The game stores your progress, coins and items, settings (music, sound, language), the purchases you have made and whether you have already seen the ad explanation screen. This data is saved only on your device. We do not receive it. If you delete the game, this data is deleted too. There is no cloud save.

We do not ask for your name, email address, contacts, photos, location permission, microphone or camera.

3. Purchase records on our server

When you buy something in the game, Apple processes the payment and the game delivers your item right away. Afterwards, the game sends the purchase confirmation signed by Apple to our server. The server checks Apple's signature and keeps a record of the purchase. Apple also notifies our server when a purchase is refunded or revoked. The game works and delivers purchases even when our server cannot be reached.

• What we keep: the transaction ID and original transaction ID, the product and quantity, the time of the purchase, whether it was a real or test purchase and whether it came through Family Sharing, the App Store country, the price and currency, and, if the purchase is refunded or revoked, when that happened and Apple's reason code. We also keep a short record of each notification Apple sends us (its type and time), and a fingerprint (hash) of the signed confirmation instead of the confirmation itself.
• What we do not keep: your name, email address, Apple Account, payment details, device identifiers (such as the advertising identifier) or any installation ID. We do not store your IP address: the server only uses it briefly in memory to limit abusive traffic, and our web server keeps no access logs and removes IP addresses from its error logs.
• Why: to confirm that purchases are genuine, to handle refunds and revoked purchases, and to prevent fraud. We do not use these records for advertising.
• Where: on a server we operate in Virginia, United States (Tencent Cloud Lighthouse). Requests to the server pass through Cloudflare, which processes your IP address to deliver and protect the traffic. These providers process data only to run the service for us.
• How long: purchase records are deleted automatically 24 months after they were last updated (for example by a refund), and records of Apple's notifications 24 months after we received them. The database is backed up daily and each backup is kept for 14 days, so a deleted record can remain in backups for up to 14 more days. The server's technical logs, which can include a transaction ID when something goes wrong, are deleted after 30 days.

4. Third-party services in the game

The game includes software from the companies below. When the game runs, this software may collect data directly from your device and send it to these companies, who process it under their own privacy policies. We do not sell data to anyone for money.

Each company's privacy policy explains what it does with the data: Google (and how Google uses data from apps that use its services), Firebase, Meta, Unity, AppLovin, Mintegral, Moloco, InMobi, Adjust, Apple.

5. Tracking and personalized ads

After you have played a few levels, the game shows a short screen about ads. If you continue, iOS shows Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt, where you choose whether the game may track you across other companies' apps and websites.

• If you allow tracking, the advertising identifier (IDFA) can be used by the services in section 4 to personalize ads and to measure advertising.
• If you do not allow tracking, the advertising identifier is not available to the game or its partners. You will still see ads, but they will not be personalized based on that identifier.
• You can change your choice at any time in iOS: Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. Apple explains this in If an app asks to track your activity.

6. Consent in the UK, Switzerland, the European Economic Area and some U.S. states

When you first open the game, Google's consent message is shown where the law requires it. Based on your choices:

• ads are personalized only if you agreed; otherwise only non-personalized ads are shown;
• Google Analytics for Firebase collects data only as your choices allow.

Adjust is used to measure our advertising in all regions. Unless you allow tracking, it works without the advertising identifier.

You can review or withdraw your consent at any time under Settings › Privacy Choices in the game. This option appears when it applies to your region.

Under some U.S. state laws, showing personalized ads can count as "selling" or "sharing" personal information. You can opt out under Settings › Privacy Choices in the game, and by not allowing tracking in iOS.

7. Legal bases (UK, Switzerland and the European Economic Area)

• Consent: personalized ads, and analytics where consent is required.
• Performance of a contract: delivering items you buy and keeping a record of the purchase.
• Legitimate interests: confirming purchases, handling refunds and preventing fraud; showing non-personalized ads so the game can be offered without an upfront price; measuring how our advertising performs; keeping the game and our server secure. You can object to this processing by contacting us.

8. Children

Word Odyssey is a general-audience game. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the game, contact us and we will help remove it.

9. How long data is kept

Data stored on your device is kept until you delete the game. Purchase records, backups and technical logs on our server are kept as described in section 3. Data collected by the services in section 4 is kept by those companies for the periods described in their own privacy policies.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.

Purchase records on our server do not contain your name or Apple Account. To ask for a copy or deletion of yours, write to hawinxia@gmail.com with the date, product and price shown in your Apple receipt, and we will look up and delete the matching records; copies in backups expire within 14 days. We may keep a record while a refund for it is still being handled.

Requests about data held by the services in section 4 are best sent to them directly using the links above; we are happy to help. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

11. International transfers

Our server is in the United States. If you play outside the United States, your purchase records are transferred to and stored there. The companies in section 4 may also process data in the United States and other countries, relying on legal safeguards such as standard contractual clauses, as described in their policies.

12. This website

This website does not use cookies, analytics or advertising. It is delivered through Cloudflare, which may keep standard technical logs (such as IP address, time and the page requested) for a short period to keep the site secure.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update it on this page and change the effective date above. If a change is significant, we will say so clearly at the top of this page.

14. Contact

Haowen Xia · hawinxia@gmail.com