Privacy policy

This policy explains what information Free To Play Puzzles (“we”, “us”) collects when you use www.freetoplaypuzzles.com (the “site”), how we use it, who we share it with and the choices you have. It should be read alongside our cookie policy and terms of service.

1. Who we are

Free To Play Puzzles is a free online games site based in the United States. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the controller of the personal information described in this policy, except where we say a third party (such as Google) acts as an independent controller. You can reach us about anything in this policy at support@freetoplaypuzzles.com.

2. No accounts, no passwords

You can play everything on the site without registering. We don’t ask for your name, email address or password in order to play.

The first time you visit, your browser generates a random, anonymous player ID and a matching secret, which are saved in your browser’s local storage. They let the leaderboards recognize your scores without an account. They are not linked to your name or contact details. If you choose to, you can pick a nickname and an emoji avatar, which are shown next to your scores on public leaderboards. Please don’t use your real name or other personal details as a nickname.

3. Information stored only in your browser

The following is saved in your browser’s local storage on your device and is not sent to us:

• game statistics, personal bests and streaks;
• favorite and recently played games;
• in-progress game saves;
• settings such as theme and sound preferences.

Because this data lives on your device, we can’t see it, recover it or delete it for you. Clearing your browser’s site data removes it (see section 11). It also won’t follow you to another browser or device.

4. Information we collect

We receive the following information and store it with our database provider, Convex:

• Your anonymous player record. Your random player ID, a one-way hash of your player secret (we never store the secret itself), your nickname and avatar if you set them, and when the player ID was first and last used.
• Scores and daily puzzle results. When you finish a game with a leaderboard or a daily puzzle, we receive your score or time, the game and mode, the date, your anonymous player ID, and your nickname and avatar if you set them.
• Play counts. Anonymous counts of how often each game is played, used to show popular games. These are not linked to your player ID.
• Ratings. If you choose to rate a game from 1 to 5 stars, we receive the rating, linked to your anonymous player ID so each player counts once.
• Newsletter. If you sign up for our newsletter, we receive the email address you submit.
• Contact form. If you contact us, we receive your name, email address, subject and message.
• Feedback. If you send feedback from a page, we receive your message and the page it was sent from.

Technical information. Like almost every website, our hosting provider automatically records standard server logs when your browser requests a page, including your IP address, browser user agent, the page requested and the time. These logs are used for security, debugging and keeping the site running.

Cookies and similar technologies. Our analytics and advertising partners use cookies and similar identifiers, as described in sections 6 and 7 and in our cookie policy.

5. How we use information

• to run the games, daily puzzles and leaderboards;
• to detect and remove cheating, abuse and offensive nicknames;
• to reply to your messages and act on feedback;
• to send the newsletter you asked for;
• to understand which games and pages people use so we can improve them;
• to show ads that fund the site;
• to keep the site secure and comply with the law.

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, our legal bases are: performance of our service to you (games, leaderboards, newsletter you requested); our legitimate interests in operating, securing and improving the site and responding to messages; your consent where required for analytics and advertising cookies; and compliance with legal obligations.

6. Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the site, for example which pages are visited and how long people play. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar identifiers to do this. We use the reports in aggregate; we don’t use Analytics to identify individual visitors. You can learn more at How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and opt out with Google’s Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

7. Advertising

The site is free because it shows ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners use cookies and similar identifiers to serve ads, limit how often you see them, measure their performance and, where permitted, show ads personalized to your interests based on your visits to this and other websites. Some games may also show ads between rounds or offer an optional ad in exchange for an in-game reward; these are served by Google in the same way.

• Visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland are shown a consent message from a Google-certified consent management platform and can accept or refuse personalized advertising and related cookies. You can change your choice at any time through the privacy and cookie settings option provided by that consent message.
• Anyone can manage personalized ads from Google at adssettings.google.com, and learn how Google uses data at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• You can also opt out of personalized advertising from many participating companies at optout.aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (Europe).

Opting out of personalized ads doesn’t remove ads; you will still see ads, but they will be less tailored to you.

8. Who we share information with

We share information only with service providers that help us run the site, and as the law requires:

• Convex — a hosted database provider that stores leaderboard entries, ratings, play counts, newsletter sign-ups and messages, in data centers in the United States.
• Vercel — our hosting provider, which serves the site and keeps standard server logs.
• Google — for analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense and its partners), as described above.
• The public — your nickname, avatar, scores and dates appear on public leaderboards if you submit a score.
• Legal and safety — where required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our players, the public or us.
• Business transfers — if the site is sold or transferred, the information would pass to the new owner under this policy.

9. Do we sell your personal information?

We don’t sell personal information for money, and we don’t sell or rent our newsletter list or contact messages to anyone. However, allowing advertising cookies from Google and its partners on the site may be considered “selling” or “sharing” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising under some US state privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA.

To opt out of that kind of sharing, you can:

• turn off personalized ads at adssettings.google.com;
• block third-party cookies in your browser settings, or use a browser or extension that blocks ad tracking;
• use the industry opt-out tools at optout.aboutads.info;
• email us at support@freetoplaypuzzles.com with “Do not sell or share” in the subject line and we’ll help.

10. How long we keep information

• Leaderboard entries and daily results are kept while the service operates, or until you ask us to delete them.
• Contact and feedback messages are kept for as long as we need them to respond and follow up.
• Newsletter email addresses are kept until you unsubscribe.
• Ratings and play counts are kept in aggregate while the service operates.
• Server logs are kept for a limited period by our hosting provider in line with its own retention practices.
• Local browser data stays on your device until you clear it.

11. Your choices and rights

Everyone

• Delete your leaderboard data. Email support@freetoplaypuzzles.com with your nickname and the player ID shown on your profile page, and we’ll delete your scores and results.
• Clear your local data. In your browser settings, clear the site data (cookies and site storage) for freetoplaypuzzles.com. This erases your stats, streaks, saves, settings and anonymous player ID on that browser. The next time you visit, a new player ID is created.
• Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email, or by writing to us.
• Manage cookies as described in our cookie policy.

EEA, UK and Switzerland

Under the GDPR, UK GDPR and Swiss data protection law, you have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, to restrict or object to our processing (including processing based on legitimate interests), and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting processing before you withdrew it. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. Your information is processed in the United States; where required, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses used by our service providers.

California and other US states

Residents of California and other states with comprehensive privacy laws may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use and disclose it, to access and delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising (see section 9). We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights. You may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

How to make a request

Email support@freetoplaypuzzles.com. Because we don’t hold accounts, we’ll use your nickname and player ID, or the email address you used for the newsletter or contact form, to find your information. We may need to ask for details to confirm a request comes from you. We aim to respond within 30 days, and in any case within the time the law requires.

12. Children’s privacy

Free To Play Puzzles is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, consistent with the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Nicknames must not contain personal information such as a real name, age, school or location. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, for example through the contact form or newsletter, please email us and we will delete it.

13. Security

The site is served over HTTPS, and we rely on established providers with their own security programs. No system is perfectly secure, though, so we collect as little personal information as we can in the first place.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site changes or the law requires. We’ll change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and for significant changes we’ll give more prominent notice on the site.

15. Contact us

Questions or requests about privacy: support@freetoplaypuzzles.com, or use our contact form.