Privacy Policy for Word Grove
Word Grove is a word puzzle game made by Sycamore Hill Studios. This policy explains, in plain terms, what the app does and does not do with information. The short version: Word Grove collects no personal data at all.
No personal data is collected
Word Grove does not collect, store, transmit, sell or share any personal data. We do not ask for your name, your email address, your phone number, your location or your contacts. We do not build a profile of you and we have no way to identify you.
No analytics, tracking or advertising
The app contains no analytics software, no crash reporting service, no advertising SDKs and no third-party trackers of any kind. There are no ads in Word Grove. Nothing you do in the game is measured, logged or sent anywhere.
No account and no sign-in
Word Grove requires no account, no registration and no sign-in. You open the app and play. There is no user identifier, no cloud save and no social login.
The app works fully offline
The game itself makes no network requests. All 480 levels, the Daily Grove, the endless modes and every category are contained in the app itself, so you can play the whole game with no internet connection at any time.
The only component that ever uses the network is the Google Play Billing library, and only if you choose to leave a tip. It contacts Google Play to show tip prices and to process a purchase. No game data, progress or device identifier is transmitted by us at any point.
Where your game progress lives
Your game data - level progress, stars, settings, achievements, unlocked tile styles, streaks and event progress - is written only to the app's own private storage on your device. It is not accessible to other apps, it is never uploaded, and it is permanently deleted when you uninstall Word Grove. Uninstalling the app is therefore all it takes to remove every piece of data the game has ever saved.
Permissions
Word Grove requests only these Android permissions:
- VIBRATE - used only for the soft haptic feedback you feel when tapping tiles and harvesting a group. Haptics can be turned off in the app settings.
- INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE - required by the Google Play Billing library so that the optional tips can be shown and purchased. The game never uses them to send or receive data of its own.
- com.android.vending.BILLING - allows the optional tip purchases to be processed by Google Play.
The app requests no other permissions. It does not use the camera, the microphone, location services, storage outside its own private directory, or your contacts.
Optional in-app purchases
Word Grove is free to play, and everything in the game is unlocked by playing it. The app offers optional "tip" in-app purchases which unlock no content whatsoever and exist purely as a way to thank the developer. These purchases are processed entirely by Google Play. Sycamore Hill Studios never receives, sees or stores your payment card details, billing address or any other payment information. Google's handling of a purchase is covered by the Google Play Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.
Children
Word Grove is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect any data from children. Because the app collects no data from anyone, it collects none from children either. If you believe a child has somehow provided us with personal information, please contact us at the address below and we will act on it.
Your rights
Rights such as access, correction, portability and erasure apply to personal data held about you. Since Sycamore Hill Studios holds no personal data about Word Grove players, there is nothing for us to retrieve, correct, export or delete on request. The data stored on your own device stays under your control and is removed by uninstalling the app.
Changes to this policy
If the app changes in a way that affects this policy, we will publish an updated version at this address with a new effective date. Material changes will also be described in the release notes for the update that introduces them. Continuing to use Word Grove after a revised policy is published means you accept it. This page always holds the current version.
Contact
Questions about this policy or about privacy in Word Grove are welcome at sycamorehillstudios@outlook.com.