Privacy Policy

1Who we are

LetterGrid ("the App") is developed and published by Punginsoft LLC ("Punginsoft", "we", "us" or "our"). Punginsoft is the data controller for personal information processed through the App. You can reach us at info@punginsoft.com.

This policy applies to the LetterGrid app on Google Play and the Apple App Store, and to lettergrid.app. By using LetterGrid you acknowledge the practices described here.

2Information we collect

Information you provide

• Account information. You can play as a guest or sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook. If you sign in, we receive basic information from that provider: a unique account identifier, your name and your email address. We store your email address in encrypted form. We never receive your password.
• Profile information. Your nickname, plus a profile photo if you choose to upload one from your camera or photo library. The App accesses your camera or photos only when you choose to set a profile picture.
• Gameplay and social content. The games you play, the words you play, your moves, ratings, levels, statistics and puzzle results. Also your friends list, the players you block, and in-game chat messages you send to opponents.
• Reports and support messages. If you report another player or contact us, we keep the information you provide, including your email address and the contents of your message.
• Invitations. If you join through another player's invitation link, we record who invited you.

Information collected automatically

• Device and app information. Device model, operating system and version, app version, platform, language, time zone, country or region, and device identifiers such as an app-specific device ID.
• IP address. We use it to estimate your country or region, to prevent fraud and abuse, and for security.
• Advertising identifiers. The Google Advertising ID on Android, or Apple's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) on iOS if you allow tracking. These are used for advertising and install attribution as described below.
• Usage and analytics data. How you interact with the App: screens viewed, features used, game events, session length and in-app purchase events.
• Crash and diagnostic data. Crash logs, stack traces and performance data that help us find and fix bugs.
• Push notification token. A token that lets us send you notifications, for example when it is your turn or you receive a chat message. You can turn notifications off in the App or in your device settings.

Purchase information

If you buy a subscription or an in-app purchase, the payment is processed by Google Play or the Apple App Store. We never receive your full payment card details. We do receive purchase records, such as the product, the transaction or purchase token, and the subscription status and expiration date, so that we can unlock what you bought.

What we do not collect

LetterGrid does not collect your precise (GPS) location, contacts, SMS or call logs, health data, or files on your device other than a photo you choose for your profile.

3How we use information

• To provide the game: creating and maintaining your account, matching you with opponents, syncing games across devices, delivering chats and turn notifications, and running leaderboards, ratings and daily puzzles.
• To process purchases: verifying subscriptions and purchases and restoring them on new devices.
• To show ads: serving, limiting the frequency of, and measuring ads, and personalizing them where you have allowed it.
• To measure and improve: understanding how players use LetterGrid, measuring which marketing campaigns lead to installs, fixing crashes, and developing new features.
• To keep LetterGrid safe: preventing cheating, fraud and abuse, reviewing reports of inappropriate behavior, and enforcing our Terms of Use.
• To communicate with you: sending in-app messages and announcements, and responding to your support requests.
• To comply with law: meeting legal obligations and responding to lawful requests.

Where the EU/UK GDPR applies, we rely on these legal bases: performance of a contract (providing the game you asked for), legitimate interests (security, analytics, crash reporting and improving the App), consent (personalized advertising and, where required, tracking and push notifications), and legal obligation.

4How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only with the following types of parties:

• Service providers (data processors). Companies that host our servers and database, store files, deliver notifications, provide analytics and crash reporting, and manage purchases. They process data on our behalf and only under our instructions.
• Advertising partners. Ad networks and mediation partners that show ads in the App. They may receive your advertising ID, IP address, device information and information about ad interactions. They may also collect information directly through their SDKs under their own privacy policies.
• Attribution and measurement partners. These partners help us understand which marketing campaigns lead to installs.
• Sign-in providers. Google, Apple and Facebook, if you choose to sign in with them.
• App stores. Google Play and the Apple App Store, for payments and app reviews.
• Other players. Your public profile and gameplay information, as described in section 7.
• Legal and safety. Authorities or other parties, where required by law or where necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Punginsoft, our players or others.
• Business transfers. A successor entity, if Punginsoft is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets. Any such transfer remains subject to the commitments in this policy.

5Third-party services

LetterGrid uses the following third-party services. Each one processes data under its own privacy policy.

6Advertising & your choices

LetterGrid is free to play and shows ads, including banner, interstitial and optional rewarded ads. Premium subscribers may see fewer or no ads.

• Consent in the EEA, UK and Switzerland. We use Google's User Messaging Platform to ask for your consent before ads are personalized. You can change your choice at any time from the privacy preferences option on the App's Settings screen.
• iOS tracking. On iOS we ask permission through Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt before accessing the IDFA. If you decline, ads and attribution work without it. You can change this in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
• Android. You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ads personalization, in Settings → Google → Ads (or Settings → Privacy → Ads, depending on your device).
• US state privacy laws. Some US state laws treat sharing an advertising ID for targeted advertising as a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. You can opt out of targeted advertising using the device settings above, or by emailing us.

7Information visible to other players

LetterGrid is a multiplayer game. Other players can see your nickname, profile photo, country flag, rating, level, statistics, leaderboard positions and game history with them. Your opponents can see the chat messages you send them. Your email address, name from your sign-in provider, IP address and device information are never shown to other players.

Please don't put personal information in your nickname, photo or chat messages. You can block or report players from their profile.

8Data retention

We keep your account and gameplay information for as long as your account is active. Crash and analytics data is kept by our providers for limited periods according to their retention settings, after which it is automatically deleted.

When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, with these exceptions:

• information we must keep to comply with law, resolve disputes or prevent fraud and abuse;
• purchase records that the app stores or tax rules require us to keep;
• anonymized game records, such as a completed game shown in an opponent's history, which no longer identify you.

9Deleting your account & data

You can delete your LetterGrid account and its associated data at any time:

• In the App: open your Profile, tap the ⋮ menu in the upper-right corner, and choose Delete Account.
• By email: write to info@punginsoft.com from the email address linked to your account, or include your nickname, and ask us to delete your account.

More details are on our account deletion page. Deleting the App from your device does not delete your account.

10Security

All data sent between the App and our servers is encrypted in transit using TLS. Data is stored on Google Cloud infrastructure, which encrypts data at rest. Access to our database is restricted by authentication and security rules. Email addresses are additionally encrypted, and Firebase App Check helps block unauthorized clients. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you and regulators of a breach where the law requires.

11International transfers

Punginsoft is based in the United States, and our service providers may process data in the United States and other countries. Where we transfer personal information from the EEA, UK or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or our providers' certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

12Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it;
• correct inaccurate information (you can edit your nickname and photo directly in the App);
• delete your information (see section 9);
• object to or restrict certain processing, or withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing;
• receive your data in a portable format;
• opt out of targeted advertising or of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, as defined by US state laws such as the CCPA/CPRA;
• not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

To exercise any right, email info@punginsoft.com. We will reply within 30 days, or within the deadline set by your local law, and may need to verify that the account belongs to you. If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

13Children

LetterGrid is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the higher minimum age in your country, such as 16 in some EEA countries). If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us at info@punginsoft.com. We will delete it.

14The lettergrid.app website

Our website is hosted on Firebase Hosting. It uses StatCounter for basic, aggregated visitor statistics, which may set cookies and collect your IP address, browser type and pages viewed. Embedded YouTube videos use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). The website stores your language choice in your browser's local storage. The website does not use cookies for advertising.

15Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as LetterGrid changes or as laws change. We will update the "last updated" date above. If the changes are significant, we will notify you in the App before they take effect.

16Contact us