Privacy Policy — Crossword & Words Puzzles

Effective 1 November 2026 · replaces the versions of 10 October, 8 October and 25 September 2026

1. Who we are

AeroFluxStudio ("we", "us") makes Crossword & Words Puzzles, an Android game (package com.aerofluxstudio.crosswordandword). This policy explains what information the game uses, why, who receives it and the choices you have.

AeroFluxStudio, a business registered under GST in India, decides how this information is used: it is the "controller" under the GDPR and the "Data Fiduciary" under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act. We handle all correspondence by email, including privacy questions, requests and complaints: support@aerofluxstudio.xyz.

2. The short version

• We do not run our own servers. Your progress stays on your phone unless you sign in to Google Play Games.
• We do not ask for your name, email, contacts, location, camera, microphone or photos, and the game asks for no Android permission that needs your approval. The few that Android grants automatically are listed in section 19.
• Ads come through Google AdMob, which can fill an ad slot with an ad from Unity Ads (section 5). We use no other ad network. Where the law requires it, we ask for your consent before personalised ads.
• We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not collect sensitive personal information.
• You can delete everything; see Delete your data.

3. Information kept on your phone

The game saves your level progress, stars, scores, the album of solved boards, daily-puzzle streak and awards, a game in progress, and your settings in the app's private storage. We never receive this information. Android backup is switched off for the game, so this data is not copied to Google Drive.

4. Google Play Games (optional)

If you sign in with Google Play Games, Google shares your player name, profile picture and player ID with the game. The game then:

• saves a copy of your progress to your Google account (Saved Games), so it can come back on a new phone;
• posts your total crossword score and your daily-puzzle score to our leaderboards, where other players can see your player name, picture and score (subject to your Play Games profile visibility settings);
• records the achievements you unlock, including ones you earned before signing in.

Google also collects its own analytics and diagnostics about the Play Games service. Google's Privacy Policy applies to Play Games. You can play without signing in.

5. Advertising

The game shows ads from Google AdMob between levels and, only when you ask, before a hint or a letter swap. Ads never appear during a puzzle. Google AdMob is our ad platform. For each ad slot it can also ask other ad networks for an ad ("mediation"); the only one we have switched on is Unity Ads, run by Unity Technologies. If Unity's ad is chosen, Unity's software in the game shows it. We will list any other ad partner here before it starts.

To show, measure and limit ads and to prevent fraud, the Google Mobile Ads SDK collects your device's advertising ID and app set ID, your IP address (which can show your approximate location), information about the ads you see and tap, and technical data such as app performance. This information is encrypted in transit. With your consent, Google may use it, together with what it knows from other apps and websites, to choose ads that suit your interests (profiling). Google may therefore collect information about your activity over time and across different apps and websites. Nothing about this leads to decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on you. See How Google uses information from apps that use its services.

Unity Ads. When Unity takes part, Unity's own disclosure says its Ads SDK collects your device's advertising ID and other device identifiers, your IP address (and so your approximate location), the pages you view and buttons you tap inside a Unity ad (not while you play), purchase history and app diagnostics. Unity uses this to show, measure and limit ads, for analytics, and to prevent fraud and keep its service working, and it is encrypted in transit. Your choices in the consent message are passed to Unity. Each Unity ad has a privacy icon where you can see the data Unity holds about you in this game, ask Unity to delete it, or opt out of personalised Unity ads. See Unity's Game Player and App User Privacy Policy.

In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, and in US states that require it, the game shows Google's consent message before personalised ads. The message lists the advertising partners, including Unity, and you can accept or refuse each purpose. You can change your choice at any time in Me › Privacy preferences. You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in Android Settings › Privacy › Ads (the path varies by phone). Without consent, AdMob and Unity may still show non-personalised or limited ads.

On phones that offer them, the Ads SDK can also use Android's own ad privacy features: ad topics (broad interests your phone works out on the phone itself) and ad measurement. You can switch these off in Android's Ads privacy settings (usually Settings › Privacy › Ads).

Do Not Track. The game is not a web browser and does not receive "Do Not Track" signals. Use Privacy preferences and your Android ad settings instead; they work the same way everywhere.

6. Purchases

The game has no in-app purchases. It is free to play and supported by ads (section 5). If that changes, we will update this policy before anything goes on sale.

7. Crash reports and diagnostics

The game contains no crash-reporting or analytics tool of its own. If you have allowed your phone to share usage and diagnostics with Google, Google Play sends crash and performance reports that we see in the Play Console without your name or account. Details: Crash reporting & diagnostics.

8. Sharing a crossword

When you tap Share, the game creates a picture of your board and some text and hands them to the app you choose. They go only to the people you send them to. Today's daily puzzle is shared without its letters so friends can still play it.

9. When you email us

If you write to us, we receive your email address, any name in it and what you tell us (for example your phone model or app version). We use it only to answer you and to fix problems you report, and we never add you to a mailing list.

10. Where the information comes from

• From you: what you play on your phone, and the emails you send us.
• From Google: your Play Games profile when you sign in, and the ad consent choices you make in Google's message.
• From your phone, automatically: the data the Google and Unity SDKs collect for ads and diagnostics, described above.

11. Legal bases (EEA, UK and similar laws)

• Consent: personalised advertising. You can withdraw it at any time in Me › Privacy preferences; that does not affect what happened before.
• Contract: the Play Games features you choose to use.
• Legitimate interests: non-personalised ads that keep the game free, fraud prevention, fixing crashes and answering your emails. You can object to these; see section 15.
• Legal obligation: keeping the records the law requires and answering lawful requests from authorities.

12. Disclosures we may have to make

We share information only as described above, and also:

• when the law, a court or a government authority requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of players or others;
• if the game is sold or transferred to another developer, in which case this policy, or one at least as protective, keeps applying and we will tell you in the game first.

13. International transfers

Google and Unity may process the information described above in the United States and other countries. Google relies on approved safeguards, such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework; Unity describes the safeguards it uses in Unity's Game Player and App User Privacy Policy. Our support mailbox may also be hosted outside your country by our email provider under similar safeguards.

14. How long information is kept

• On your phone: until you clear the game's storage or uninstall it.
• Play Games data: until you delete it from your Play Games profile or Google account.
• Advertising and diagnostic data: kept by Google and, for Unity ads, by Unity, each under its own retention policies.
• Your emails to us: up to 24 months after your question is resolved, then deleted. Ask and we delete them sooner.

15. Your rights and how to use them

Depending on where you live (for example the GDPR in the EEA, the UK GDPR, Brazil's LGPD, US state laws, or India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023), you may have the right to:

• know what information is held about you and get a copy (access and portability);
• correct it, or have it deleted;
• restrict or object to how it is used, including for personalised advertising;
• withdraw consent at any time;
• not be subject to decisions made solely by automated means that significantly affect you (the game makes none);
• nominate someone to act for you if you cannot (India).

How. Most of your information never reaches us, so the quickest way is usually on your phone, in Google Play Games or in your Google account; Delete your data shows each step. For data Unity Ads holds, use the privacy icon on a Unity ad, or email Unity's data protection officer at DPO@unity3d.com. For anything else, email support@aerofluxstudio.xyz with the subject "Privacy request". It's free. We may ask you to confirm the request from the same address so we only act for you, and we never ask for your password.

When. We reply within one month (EEA, UK, India and most other places) or within 45 days (US states), and tell you if the law lets us take longer for a complex request.

Complaints. If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to your local data protection authority (in India, the Data Protection Board of India), as well as to us.

16. US state privacy notice

This notice is for residents of US states with consumer privacy laws, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas and Oregon.

• Categories collected in the last 12 months, through the Google and Unity SDKs: identifiers (advertising ID, app set ID, other device identifiers, Play Games player ID, IP address), internet activity (ad interactions), commercial information (purchase history, which Unity lists in its disclosure), and approximate location from IP. Sources, purposes and recipients are in sections 2 to 10.
• Selling and sharing. We do not sell personal information for money. Personalised advertising through Google AdMob and Unity Ads may count as "selling", "sharing" or "targeted advertising" under some state laws. To opt out, use Me › Privacy preferences where it is shown, delete your advertising ID in Android settings, or use the privacy icon on a Unity ad (Unity's own notice: Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information).
• Sensitive information. We do not collect sensitive personal information.
• Your rights. To know, access, correct, delete and port your information, and to opt out as above. An authorised agent may ask for you with your written permission.
• Appeals. If we decline a request, reply to our answer with the word "Appeal". We review it within 45 days and tell you the result and, if you remain unhappy, how to contact your state's Attorney General.
• No discrimination. Using these rights never changes the game you get.

17. Age

The game is made for adults (18 and over). It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13, or under the age of digital consent where you live (up to 16 in parts of Europe; 18 under India's DPDP Act). If you are under that age, please do not agree to personalised ads; choose "Do not consent" in Me › Privacy preferences. If you think a child has used the game and information was collected, email us and we will help delete it.

18. Security

Information sent by the Google and Unity SDKs is encrypted in transit. Game data on your phone sits in the app's private storage, which other apps cannot read. No method is perfectly secure, but we hold almost no information, which keeps the risk small.

19. Android permissions

The game asks for no permission that needs your approval: nothing gives it access to your contacts, location, photos, files, camera or microphone. Android grants the permissions below automatically when you install the game. Most of them come with the Google services and the Unity Ads SDK the game uses.

20. This website

aerofluxstudio.xyz uses no cookies, analytics or ads. Our host, Netlify, may keep standard server logs (IP address, browser and the pages requested) for security and to keep the site running. The pages load their font from Google Fonts, so your browser also sends your IP address to Google when a page opens.

21. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the game changes and show the new date at the top, with a short note of what changed. If a change is significant, for example a new kind of information or a new partner, we will tell you in the game before it applies.

22. Contact

AeroFluxStudio · support@aerofluxstudio.xyz (privacy and grievance contact; we reply within 3 working days and resolve requests within the times in section 15) · aerofluxstudio.xyz