Privacy Policy

Effective 17 June 2026 · Last updated 12 August 2026

Wordugtong is a word game made by Henyo Games in the Philippines. We collect as little as possible: a randomly-generated username and your scores so the leaderboard works. No emails, no real names, no contacts, no location beyond what every web server sees. If you subscribe to Wordugtong Plus to switch the ads off, Apple or Google takes the payment and we never see your card details. This page explains the details.

1. Who we are

"Wordugtong" (the "Game") is operated by Henyo Games ("we," "us," "our"). You can reach us at privacy@henyo.games for privacy questions or developer@henyo.games for general support.

2. What we collect

Automatically generated username

When you first open the Game, a random username (e.g. IndigoEagleInKraigLakes62) is generated on your device and sent to our server so your scores can be attributed to a stable identity. You can change this username at any time. We never ask for your real name.

Gameplay data

The Game sends the following to our server so leaderboards and daily challenges work:

Round scores, totals, and the dictionary / dialect you played in.
Daily-board completions.
When you play 2-player, a short-lived multiplayer session ID and basic connection state so the realtime relay can pair you with your opponent.

Technical data (server logs)

Like every web server, ours records the request method, path, response code, timestamp, your IP address, and your User-Agent. These logs are kept briefly for abuse prevention and debugging, then rotated out.

Purchases and subscription status (Wordugtong Plus)

Wordugtong Plus is an optional monthly subscription that switches the ads off. It is the only thing you can buy, and the Game works without it. If you do buy it:

Apple or Google handles the payment. The purchase happens inside the App Store or Google Play, and we never receive your card, bank, or e-wallet details. That information never passes through the Game or our server.
We use RevenueCat to check whether the subscription is active. RevenueCat, Inc. (United States) keeps track of it for us so the Game knows whether to load an ad.
What RevenueCat receives: an anonymous app-user identifier generated on your device the first time the Game runs, plus the purchase token or receipt the store issues. What it sends back is one answer: whether the no_ads entitlement is on or off. RevenueCat also sees basic device and operating-system details as part of that check.
That identifier is not you. It is a random string. It is not a name, an email address, a phone number, or an account — Wordugtong has no accounts and no login. It is separate from your Wordugtong username and separate from the advertising identifier below, and it can't be used to look you up anywhere else.

We don't keep purchase records in our own database. The Game asks RevenueCat and remembers the answer on your device. Because there is no login, that anonymous identifier and your store account are the only things that connect you to a subscription, which is what Restore Purchases relies on when you reinstall the Game or move to a new phone.

Advertising (Google AdMob)

The Game shows ads through Google AdMob. To serve and measure ads, Google's ad SDK collects your device's advertising identifier (the Google Advertising ID on Android; on iOS the IDFA, only if you allow it at the App Tracking Transparency prompt) together with coarse device and ad-interaction data. You can reset or limit this identifier in your device settings, and on iOS you can decline tracking when asked. Google's use of this data is governed by its own Privacy Policy.

While a Wordugtong Plus subscription is active, the Game does not load ads at all, and the advertising identifier is not used for advertising. Subscribing doesn't change the ad settings on your device itself — those stay yours to control — and it doesn't undo ads that were served before you subscribed.

Analytics (Google Analytics for Firebase)

The Game uses Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how the Game is used so we can improve it. It collects app-usage events (such as screens viewed, sessions, and features used), an app-instance identifier, device and OS details, and an approximate, city-level location derived from your IP address. It does not collect your name, email, or precise (GPS) location.

Push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging)

If you allow notifications, the Game registers a device push token with Firebase Cloud Messaging so we can alert you about things like your turn in a 2-player match. You can turn notifications off any time in device settings.

What we do not collect

Email address, phone number, or real name.
Contact list, photos, microphone, or precise (GPS) location.
Card, bank, or e-wallet numbers, or any other payment details — Apple and Google take the money, not us.
Special-category data (health or biometric information).

3. How we use the data

Run the leaderboard. Show your scores next to others' scores.
Detect cheating. Flag impossible scores, stuffed usernames, and known bot patterns so the leaderboard stays fair.
Improve the Game. Look at aggregate completion times and difficulty to tune word lists and timers.
Keep the service up. Use server logs to investigate outages and slow requests.
Show ads. Google AdMob uses the advertising identifier to serve and measure ads, which keeps the Game free to play.
Switch the ads off for subscribers. Check with RevenueCat whether Wordugtong Plus is active on your device, so the Game knows whether to load an ad and so Restore Purchases works after a reinstall.
Understand usage. Google Analytics for Firebase shows us, in aggregate, which features are used and where players get stuck.

We do not sell or rent your data, and we don't build our own advertising profiles. Any ad personalization is handled by Google AdMob under its own policies and your device's ad settings.

4. Where the data lives

Wordugtong runs on a server we operate. Gameplay data is stored in a PostgreSQL database on that same server. The server is hosted in a commercial data center; backups stay encrypted within the same hosting account.

Purchases are the exception, because they never reach our server. Your payment stays with Apple or Google, and the record of whether Wordugtong Plus is active sits with RevenueCat, Inc. in the United States. So that one piece of information — an anonymous identifier and a store purchase token — is processed outside the Philippines.

5. Sharing

We don't sell your data. We rely on a small set of Google services — AdMob (ads), Google Analytics for Firebase (analytics), and Firebase Cloud Messaging (notifications) — which receive the data described in section 2 in order to provide those features; their use of it is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

If you buy Wordugtong Plus, three parties see that purchase, and only for that purpose. Apple or Google is the seller: it takes the payment, issues the receipt, and keeps the order record (Apple's Privacy Policy, Google's is linked above). RevenueCat, Inc., in the United States, receives the anonymous app-user identifier and the store purchase token and stores the resulting subscription status (RevenueCat's Privacy Policy). RevenueCat handles that data for us as a processor under contract and is not permitted to use it for its own purposes.

Apart from these providers, we don't share your data with third parties. If a Filipino court or law-enforcement authority lawfully requires us to disclose data we have (e.g. a server log relating to abuse), we'll comply with the minimum disclosure required by that order.

6. Cookies and local storage

The Wordugtong website uses local storage on your device to remember your username and game preferences. It does not set tracking cookies. The mobile app uses the device's normal app storage for the same purpose.

7. Children

The Game is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. Our own rule, set out in section 2 of the Terms of Service, is that you must be at least 13 to play — or older, if the age of digital consent where you live is higher.

The stores add their own limits on top of ours. Because the Game shows ads that rely on an advertising identifier, we declare a target audience of 18 and over on Google Play, so Play can keep the Game away from accounts it knows belong to minors. Whichever rule is stricter for you is the one that applies.

Paying is separate from playing. Wordugtong Plus is a purchase, so if you are under 18 you may subscribe only with the permission of the adult who owns the Apple Account or Google Account being charged. Section 12 of the Terms explains how that account owner can ask Apple or Google for a refund.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if you believe a child has provided us data, contact privacy@henyo.games and we'll remove it.

8. Your rights

You can ask us to:

Tell you what data we have associated with your username.
Delete your username and the scores attached to it.
Correct anything you believe is wrong.

Email privacy@henyo.games with your username and the request. We aim to respond within 30 days.

There is one thing we can't do for you. We can delete what we hold, and we can ask RevenueCat to delete the subscription record tied to your device's anonymous identifier. We cannot delete the purchase record that Apple or Google keeps — they were the seller, and they hold order records for tax and accounting reasons. Take that up with them directly:

Apple: manage the data on your Apple Account at privacy.apple.com. Apple explains your options at support.apple.com/en-us/102283.
Google: your Play orders are at play.google.com/store/account/orderhistory and your account-wide controls at myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy.

Also worth knowing: deleting data never cancels a subscription. Billing lives in your store account, so cancel it there — section 12 of the Terms has the steps.

9. Security

Traffic between the app and our server is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). The database is reachable only from our server's internal network. We don't store passwords because we don't ask for any.

10. Changes to this policy

If we update this policy, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top and, for material changes, post a notice in the Game or on this page before the change takes effect.

12 August 2026: added the Wordugtong Plus subscription — what Apple, Google and RevenueCat receive when you buy it, that ads and the advertising identifier stop being used while it is active, and what we can and can't delete afterwards. Also lined the minimum age up with the Terms: our rule is 13, and the 18-and-over setting on Google Play is a store restriction on top of it, not a second rule of ours.

11. Contact

Privacy: privacy@henyo.games
General support: developer@henyo.games