Secret Search
Secret Search privacy policy
The essentials
You can play without creating an account. Puzzles, progress and settings are stored on your device. The app also connects to our service to download puzzles, send optional diagnostics and word reports, and verify requests.
Google AdMob supplies ads. Its data collection is separate from our diagnostics, and turning off diagnostics does not turn off advertising data collection. We do not sell the information in our diagnostics or word reports.
Information on your device
The app stores puzzles, your progress, preferences, walkthrough state, ad frequency counters, and reports or diagnostics waiting to be sent. It also keeps an app-verification identifier in secure storage on iOS. We do not offer account-based backup or synchronization of your game history.
Removing the app normally removes its local game database. Operating-system backups, device transfers and secure storage can behave differently; some information may remain in a backup or in the iOS Keychain. Manage device backups through your Apple or Google settings. Removing the app does not delete information already received by us or our providers.
Optional automatic diagnostics
Diagnostics help us understand puzzle loading, ads, hints and technical failures. They are enabled by default. You can turn off Automatic diagnostics in Settings and continue playing.
Events can include puzzle details (such as the subject, grid, seed and content version), an event identifier, platform and app version, ad type and a random ad-attempt identifier, and a fixed error code. The server records when an event arrives. Our diagnostic payloads do not request your name, email address, precise location, advertising ID, raw touch history, free-text error messages or stack traces.
Turning diagnostics off stops new automatic events, clears pending automatic events and cancels diagnostic uploads in progress. It cannot recall data a server has already received. Diagnostic events expire from the local queue after seven days. We remove server diagnostic records older than 30 days through daily cleanup.
Word reports and support
When you report a found word, the app sends the word, its position in the puzzle, its puzzle and category, a report identifier, and your selected reason: category fit, unfamiliarity, or spelling or word form. The server records when a report arrives. There is no free-text field in this report. Reports are queued until they can be sent, even when automatic diagnostics are off, because you chose to submit them.
We retain word reports for ongoing review and maintenance of the word lists. We remove server word report records older than 30 days through daily cleanup. Stored reports do not include your name, email address or a player account. The separate security and advertising records described below do use identifiers.
If you email us, we receive your email address and anything you choose to include, such as a message, screenshot or device details. We use this information to respond and resolve the issue. We keep correspondence for as long as needed to handle the request and related follow-up, or meet legal obligations. Please avoid sending passwords or other sensitive information.
Ads and advertising choices
Secret Search uses Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) for optional rewarded hint ads and occasional full-screen ads between puzzles. No additional mediation networks are configured.
Google’s ads SDK can collect your IP address (which can indicate approximate location), app and ad interactions, performance and diagnostic information, and device or account identifiers. These can include an advertising ID, app-set ID and, where applicable, identifiers associated with signed-in device accounts. Google uses this information to deliver and measure ads, provide analytics, and prevent fraud. Collection depends on the platform, SDK configuration and your privacy choices.
Where required, Google’s consent flow asks for your choices before ads are requested. Ad privacy choices in Settings is available when Google requires that option. On iOS, tracking requires your permission through Apple’s tracking prompt. Declining tracking prevents personalized ad requests from this app; non-tracking ads may still be available where your consent permits them. On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in device settings. You can play without consenting to personalized advertising.
Non-personalized ads can still involve data processing for ad delivery, measurement and fraud prevention. The Automatic diagnostics switch does not control Google’s collection. Google describes its own retention and privacy controls in the resources below.
App verification and service security
Apple App Attest on iOS and Google Play Integrity on Android help us check that uploads come from a legitimate app. The app exchanges verification challenges, proofs and request identifiers with our service; Apple and Google also process verification information through their services.
For iOS, we store a verification key identifier, its public key, a counter and the last-use time. These security records are separate from stored diagnostics and word reports and are not used to build gameplay profiles. Inactive registrations are removed after 90 days through daily cleanup. Our Android implementation does not keep a per-device registration table.
A verification identifier may distinguish an installation even though it does not contain a person’s name. Verification accompanies uploads, so separate storage does not mean there is no connection at the time a request is processed. If verification is unavailable, uploads may wait while local play continues.
Hosting, sharing and security
Connections to our service necessarily expose an IP address and technical request information to the network and hosting services handling them. We use connection information to deliver responses and limit abuse. Our application’s operational logs use aggregate counts and fixed outcomes rather than raw IP addresses, request bodies or verification proofs. Hosting providers may maintain separate security, access and backup records.
Our planned database provider is Prisma Postgres. The API hosting provider has not yet been selected. Hosting, database and email providers process information to operate our services and respond to support requests. Google processes advertising information as described above, and Apple and Google provide app verification. We may also disclose information where required by law or necessary to address fraud, security incidents or legal claims.
Production app connections to our API use HTTPS, and Google documents encryption in transit for its ads SDK. We limit access to service records to those who need it to operate and maintain the service. No transmission or storage method can guarantee absolute security.
Service providers may process information outside the country where you live. Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, those safeguards must be in place for the services we use. Provider logs have their own retention cycles. If the selected database plan includes backups, those copies follow the provider’s backup cycle and may not disappear immediately when active records are deleted. We do not promise a backup or recovery service for game data.
Age and children’s privacy
Secret Search is intended for people aged 13 and older. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Contact us if you believe a child under 13 has provided information so we can investigate and take appropriate action.
Eligibility to use the app does not determine whether a person is old enough to consent to personalized advertising. Local consent ages and the advertising choices available in your region also apply.
Your choices and requests
You can turn off Automatic diagnostics, change available ad privacy choices, decline tracking, and stop using or remove the app. Word reports are voluntary. No account deletion process is needed because Secret Search does not create player accounts.
Your email address does not identify your diagnostic events, word reports or app-verification registration. We do not keep a mapping between those records and your email address. Emailing us therefore does not enable us to find and delete everything sent by your copy of the app. Records we cannot associate with you remain subject to the retention periods described above.
We can use your email address to locate support correspondence you sent us. Contact us with questions about that correspondence or other privacy concerns. We do not collect additional player identity information solely to connect otherwise unlinked gameplay records to an email request. If we cannot locate or reliably associate records with a request, we will explain the limitation. Some records may need to be retained for security or legal reasons.
Depending on where you live and the law that applies, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information, receive a copy, object to or restrict processing, withdraw consent, or complain to a data protection authority. These requests depend on our ability to identify the relevant information. Withdrawing consent does not undo processing that already took place lawfully.
Where applicable, service delivery and requested support rely on providing the service you request; essential security and service maintenance rely on legitimate interests; consent is used where required for advertising, tracking or optional data collection; and legal duties may require some processing. Our providers’ own notices explain their roles and grounds for processing.
Contact and changes
For privacy questions or support, contact Nooikko LLC using the email address below. Please read “Your choices and requests” for what we can and cannot locate from an email address.
We will publish changes at this address with an updated effective date. Where a change requires a new notice or consent, we will provide it before the new processing begins.