Privacy Policy
wordwisenheimer.com · Effective July 11, 2026
The short version
- We collect the minimum a word game needs: a username, an email address, a password (stored only as a secure hash), and your game results.
- Your username is the only thing other players ever see. Your email stays private.
- We don’t sell your data. No ads, no trackers, no analytics — just one cookie that keeps you signed in.
- You must be 13 or older to create an account.
- You can delete your account yourself, any time, from the Account page.
Section 1
Who we are
Word Wisenheimer ("we," "us") is a vocabulary game for friends and family, operated by its developer in the United States. You can reach us about anything in this policy at privacy@wordwisenheimer.com. This policy covers wordwisenheimer.com and explains what we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have. The Terms of Service are the rules for playing.
Section 2
What we collect
- Account details. A username, an email address, and a password. Passwords are stored only as one-way cryptographic hashes — we cannot see or recover your actual password, ever. We also record which version of the Terms of Service your account accepted, and when.
- Gameplay. Your daily-challenge results (scores, answer choices, timing), streaks, duels you play and their outcomes, and stats derived from those, such as awards and leaderboard positions.
- Notification settings. Your notification preferences and, if you turn on push notifications, a delivery token your browser issues for that device.
- Technical basics. Like nearly every website, our hosting provider keeps short-lived server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security and debugging. We set one strictly necessary cookie to keep you signed in. We do not use advertising cookies, third-party trackers, or analytics services.
Section 3
How we use it
- To run the game — sign you in, save your results, compute streaks, awards, and leaderboards, and match up duels.
- To show you to other players. Your username and game results (scores, times, streaks, awards, duel outcomes) appear on leaderboards and duel screens. Your email is never shown to other players.
- To send email you asked for. Password resets whenever you request one, and — only if you opt in — game notifications: duel challenges and results, streak reminders, and a weekly recap. Every notification email has a one-click unsubscribe.
- To send push notifications you asked for. Only on devices where you enable them; you can turn them off in the same place.
- To protect the service — preventing abuse, fixing problems, and keeping the game fair.
For players in the EEA or UK: our legal bases are performance of a contract (running the game you signed up for), consent (optional notifications), and legitimate interests (security and keeping the service working).
Section 4
What we share — and what we never do
We do not sell your personal information, and we don’t share it with advertisers or data brokers. A small set of service providers process data on our instructions to keep the game running — companies that host the game, store its database, deliver the emails described above, and hold our access-restricted backups, all based in the United States. Specific providers may change as the game grows; whoever they are, they may use your data only to provide their service to us.
Beyond that, we would disclose information only if the law genuinely requires it, or to protect the safety and integrity of the game and its players. If Word Wisenheimer is ever acquired or reorganized, account data may transfer to the successor under this same policy — and we would tell you first.
Section 5
Age requirement
You must be at least 13 years old to create an account — or older where your local law sets a higher minimum for agreeing to a service like this one. Word Wisenheimer is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we will delete it. If you’re a parent or guardian and believe your child has created an account, contact us at privacy@wordwisenheimer.com and we’ll remove it promptly.
Section 6
Your choices and rights
- See and change your info. Your username, email, password, and notification settings live on your Account page.
- Stop emails. One click at the bottom of any notification email, or the toggle in the app. Password-reset emails only arrive when someone requests one.
- Delete your account. Account → Delete my account. This permanently removes your profile, email, password, daily history, streaks, and notification data. Results of duels you finished remain visible to your opponents — that’s their game history too — but are anonymized and no longer connected to any name or identity.
- Backups. Deleted data can persist in access-restricted backups for up to 90 days before rolling off automatically.
Depending on where you live — for example the EEA/UK (GDPR) or California (CCPA/CPRA) — you may have additional rights to access, correct, export, or delete your data, or to object to certain processing. Contact us and we’ll honor them. We don’t treat anyone differently for exercising a privacy right, and we do not "sell" or "share" personal information as those terms are defined in the CPRA.
Section 7
How long we keep things
Your data stays for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, it is removed from the live database immediately (with the duel anonymization described above) and leaves backups within 90 days. Server logs kept by our hosting providers expire on their standard short schedules.
Section 8
Security
Passwords are hashed with an industry-standard algorithm, all traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS), production credentials are stored in our host’s encrypted configuration, and database access is restricted. No online service can promise perfect security — if we ever learn of a breach affecting your data, we will notify you promptly.
Section 9
Where your data lives
Our providers store and process data in the United States. If you play from somewhere else, including the EEA or UK, your data is processed in the US under the safeguards described in this policy.
Section 10
If the game changes
Today, Word Wisenheimer is free, ad-free, and analytics-free. If any of that ever changes, we will update this policy before the change goes live and flag it in the app.
- Paid features or subscriptions. Payments would be handled by a dedicated payment processor; we would never see or store full card numbers.
- Advertising or analytics. If we ever add either, this policy will spell out exactly what’s collected, and you’ll get the choices the law gives you before anything is turned on.
Section 11
Changes to this policy
Updates are posted on this page with a new effective date. For anything material, we’ll also tell you in the app or by email.
Section 12
Contact
privacy@wordwisenheimer.com — Word Wisenheimer is a small operation, and a real human (the person who built the game) reads every message.