1Who I am
TaiWord is made by me, Taiwo (Tai) Omisore, an independent developer in the United Kingdom. I'm the controller of the personal data described here, which means I decide how it's used and I'm responsible for it.
This policy covers the TaiWord app for iPhone and iPad, its widgets, and TaiWord World (the online part of the app). You can reach me at taiword@taiomi.com.
2What stays on your device
Most of TaiWord never leaves your iPhone or iPad. The following are stored only on your device, and deleting the app deletes them:
- Your games, results, streaks, records, Archive progress and statistics.
- My Words: every word you've found, and the words you've saved.
- Your settings, hints and app icon choice.
- The widgets' snapshot, which TaiWord shares only with its own widgets on your device.
- Word meanings, which are built into the app, so looking one up sends nothing. "Hear it" uses Apple's speech voices on your device.
Share cards are drawn on your device. They go somewhere only when you share them, to the app you choose. If you save one, TaiWord asks for permission to add images to your Photos. It can't see or read your photo library.
3TaiWord World
TaiWord World is the online part of the app: the live worldwide word counter, players by country, and where your daily results rank in the world and in your country. It runs on Google Firebase. When you first open TaiWord, it signs in anonymously, which gives you a random ID with no email, no password and no account. Settings also shows you a short player code (like TW-7K3P-QX9M) to quote if you ever write to me about your data.
What TaiWord World holds about you
| What | Details | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous ID and player code | Random identifiers made by the app and Firebase. | To keep your record apart from everyone else's, and to find it if you ask me about it. |
| Player name | Only if you choose one (optional, 3 to 16 characters). | For your share cards and for recognising you if you write in. TaiWord doesn't show it to other players. |
| Country | Your device's region setting, or the country you pick in Settings. Never from GPS or Location Services. | For the world's players and words by country, and your rank in your country. |
| Your totals | How many words you've found (the number only, never which words), games played, current and best streaks, and Archive days solved. | To add your words to the world's counter and to understand how TaiWord is played. |
| Daily results | For each daily game (and the Daily Fall), whether you solved it, your time or score, and your country. Only your first result each day counts. | To tell you your place in the world and in your country that day. |
| How you found TaiWord | Only if you answer that question when you first open the app. | To learn which ways of finding TaiWord work. |
| App and device | App version and build, iOS version, device model (like "iPhone 17 Pro", never the name you've given your device), language and time zone. | To spot problems with particular devices or versions, and to work out "today" for the daily boards. |
| Pro and settings | Whether you have Pro and which plan; whether Hard mode, notifications and Game Center are on. | To understand how TaiWord is used, and to help when you write in. |
What other players see
Only totals, never individuals: the worldwide word count, the number of players and words in each country, and how many people played each day. Countries with only a few players are grouped into "Everywhere else", so nobody can be picked out. Your own rank is shown to you, and appears on a share card only if you share it. To leave yourself out of the countries, turn off Show me in the world's countries in Settings › You › Country. Your words still count towards the world's total.
4Feedback and support
When you send feedback from inside TaiWord, it goes with what you write (a category, your message, and a star rating if you give one), and an email address only if you type one in for a reply. Your player code, name, country, Pro status and app and device details are added, so I can understand the problem without asking you for them.
It's stored in TaiWord World and emailed to me through Resend, an email delivery service. If you write from your Mail app instead, your email goes through your own email provider, with the device details shown in the draft (you can edit or delete them before sending).
I use your feedback only to reply to you and to make TaiWord better.
5Notifications
TaiWord asks before sending any notification, and only after explaining what they're for.
- Reminders (the daily puzzle and streak reminders) are scheduled on your device. Nothing is sent to a server for them.
- Messages from me arrive through Firebase Cloud Messaging, which gives your device a token so a message can reach it. I don't keep a list of devices. Messages go to groups you're in: everyone with notifications on gets news about the daily games, and only players who switch on News and new features get news about the app.
Turn any of them off in TaiWord's Settings, or in your device's Settings › Notifications › TaiWord.
6Analytics
TaiWord uses Google Analytics for Firebase to learn how the app is used, so I can make it better. It records things like:
- which screens you open, and which games you start and finish;
- how a game went: solved or not, time, score, how many words, hints used;
- purchases, and settings such as Hard mode, Classic mode and your app icon;
- whether you came from TaiWord 2, and how you found TaiWord, if you said.
Analytics uses its own app ID, and it isn't linked to your TaiWord World ID. It never receives your name, your feedback, the words you play or anything you type into search. TaiWord tells Google not to use analytics data to personalise ads. Like any internet service, Google processes your device's IP address to deliver the service.
7Ads
Free players see ads from Google AdMob: a banner on results screens, an occasional full-screen ad between games (never during a game), and a video ad only when you choose to watch one for a hint. Ads are limited to ones suitable for a general audience. Pro members see no ads.
Before any ads, TaiWord asks for the permissions the law and Apple require:
- In the UK, the EU and wherever it's required, Google's consent form asks how your data may be used for ads. You can change your answer at any time in Settings › Ad privacy choices.
- Apple's tracking prompt asks whether ads may use your device's advertising identifier. If you allow it, Google may use it to show you more relevant ads. If you don't, the ads aren't personalised by tracking. Change it any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking on your device.
Like every ad network, AdMob receives some device information (such as your IP address, device type and how you interact with ads) to show ads, measure them and stop fraud. Google explains this in how Google uses information from apps that use its services. Your name, words and scores are never shared with advertisers.
8Purchases and Pro
Pro, hint packs and tips are bought through the App Store. Apple handles the payment, and I never see your card or Apple Account details. The app learns from Apple only what you've bought.
TaiWord also sends a record of each purchase to RevenueCat, a subscription service: the product, price, currency, dates and App Store transaction details, under an anonymous RevenueCat ID. That gives me sales and subscription charts. It isn't linked to your name. Manage or cancel a subscription in your device's Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions.
9Game Center
If you're signed in to Apple's Game Center, TaiWord sends your scores, achievements and challenge results to Apple, and other players can see them under your Game Center nickname, as Apple's Game Center rules allow. Apple runs Game Center under Apple's Privacy Policy. Manage it in your device's Settings › Game Center.
10Who helps me run TaiWord
These companies process data for me. Each may use it only to provide its service, under its own privacy terms:
| Company | What for | Privacy |
|---|---|---|
| Google (Firebase) | Anonymous sign-in, the TaiWord World database and server functions, notifications, analytics | Firebase privacy |
| Google (AdMob) | Ads for free players | Google Privacy Policy |
| RevenueCat | Purchase and subscription records | RevenueCat privacy |
| Resend | Delivering in-app feedback to my inbox | Resend privacy |
| Apple | The App Store, payments, Game Center and delivering notifications | Apple privacy |
I don't share your data with anyone else, except where the law requires it.
11Why I'm allowed to use it
Under UK and EU data protection law (the GDPR), I rely on:
- Providing what you asked for (contract): the game itself, Pro, hint packs and restoring purchases.
- Legitimate interests: running TaiWord World, keeping TaiWord working and secure, understanding how it's used through analytics that aren't linked to you, answering your feedback, and showing ads that keep TaiWord free. I keep these to the minimum, and you can object at any time.
- Your consent: personalised ads and tracking, notifications, and the email address you choose to give with feedback. You can withdraw consent at any time, as described in your choices.
12How long it's kept
| Data | Kept |
|---|---|
| On your device | Until you delete TaiWord. |
| Your TaiWord World record and daily results | While you use TaiWord World, until you delete them with Settings › Delete my data or ask me to. |
| Feedback | As long as it helps me follow up and improve TaiWord. Delete my data removes it from TaiWord World, and I'll delete the emailed copy if you ask. |
| Proof of a deletion | A note that a deletion was carried out (IDs and dates only, none of your data). |
| The world's totals | The counter's totals are anonymous sums, so they stay. The short-lived records used to count your words without counting them twice are deleted automatically after ten days. |
| Analytics | Google keeps event data for at most 14 months. |
| Purchase records | As long as the law requires for financial records. |
13Your choices and rights
- Delete everything online
Settings › Delete my data removes your TaiWord World record, daily results and feedback from the server. You get a fresh anonymous ID, and TaiWord World stays off for you until you rejoin. Your games stay on your device.
- Stay off the map
Leave your name blank, and turn off Show me in the world's countries in Settings › You › Country.
- Ads
Change Google's consent in Settings › Ad privacy choices (where it applies) and Apple's tracking permission in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. Pro removes ads altogether.
- Notifications and Game Center
Turn them off in TaiWord's Settings or in your device's Settings.
You also have the right to ask me for a copy of your data, or to correct, delete, restrict or move it, and to object to how I use it. Email taiword@taiomi.com with your player code from Settings › You. Because there's no account, the code is how I find your record. I'll reply within one month. Analytics data isn't linked to your TaiWord World ID, and deleting TaiWord resets its ID.
If you're unhappy with how I've handled your data, you can complain to the UK's Information Commissioner's Office or the data protection authority where you live. I'd be grateful for the chance to put it right first.
In California and other US states: I don't sell personal information. If you allow tracking in Apple's prompt, Google's ad service may use your advertising identifier for personalised ads, which some state laws call "sharing". You can stop it at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking, and I won't treat you any differently for using your rights.
14Children
TaiWord is a family-friendly word game, but it isn't aimed at children under 13, and I don't knowingly collect personal data from them. TaiWord World needs no name, email or account, and ads are limited to ones suitable for a general audience. If you think a child has sent me personal data, email me and I'll delete it.
15Where it's stored
TaiWord World's database is in the European Union, and its server functions run in Belgium. Google, Apple, RevenueCat and Resend may process data in the United States and other countries. Where data leaves the UK or the EU, it's protected by the safeguards UK and EU law require, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or the UK–US Data Bridge and EU–US Data Privacy Framework for companies certified under them.
16Keeping it safe
Everything TaiWord sends is encrypted in transit. The database's security rules let each player write only their own record, and only the fields described here. The rankings and the counter can be written only by TaiWord's own server functions. TaiWord stores no passwords, because there aren't any. No system is perfectly secure, but I work to keep TaiWord's as safe as I can, and I'll tell you if something goes wrong that affects you.
17Changes and contact
If TaiWord starts collecting something new, or using data in a new way, I'll update this page and its date first, and mention meaningful changes in the app's What's New.
Questions about your data?
Write to me, Tai, the person who makes TaiWord. Include your player code from Settings › You if it's about your record.
taiword@taiomi.com