Privacy policy

Who we are

1001793541 Ontario Inc., trading as Custom Crossword runs customcrossword.app and is responsible for the personal information it holds. We're a Canadian company, and we handle personal information under Canada's private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Our privacy contact is the person accountable for how we handle your information. Questions, requests and complaints go to [email protected].

We collect only what each feature below needs, use it only for that, and ask for your consent where the law requires it. You can withdraw your consent by deleting a puzzle or your account, or by writing to us; some features then stop working, and we'll tell you which.

When you make a crossword

The words you type, your title and your clues stay in your browser while you work (in this tab's own storage, cleared when you close it). To build the grid, your words are sent to our server, which builds it and sends it back; the print preview on Finish is made there too. Neither one is written down or logged. Nothing else you type is kept by us until you share the puzzle, ask the AI clue writer for suggestions, or save it to your account.

When you share a crossword

Sharing stores the puzzle on our server so its link works: its title and the line under it, its words, its clues, the grid's layout and the date. The link contains a long random code; the puzzle is not listed anywhere on the site, and search engines are told not to index it. Anyone who has the link can open it. If you're signed in, the puzzle is also linked to your account so you can find it again. You can ask us to take any puzzle down.

When someone solves a puzzle

On their device: the solver's progress is saved in their browser's own storage (the letters typed, the clock, which squares were checked or revealed, and settings such as colors, full screen and whether black squares are shown), so they can stop and come back. It stays on that device; clearing the site's data in the browser deletes it.

On our server, with the puzzle's code and the time, but nothing about the person:

• that the puzzle's page was opened;
• that a solve was started, and when a quarter, half and three quarters of it were done;
• when it was finished: how long it took and how many answers were revealed.

We use these numbers to see whether puzzles are too hard and to keep the site working well. Nothing in them says who solved a puzzle, or whether two solves came from the same person.

Races: to join a race you type a nickname. We keep the nickname, how much of the grid each player has filled in and their finish time, with that puzzle, to show everyone the race. The player's device keeps a random code so it can rejoin as the same player. Nicknames are checked against a list of offensive words.

Ratings: when you finish a puzzle a Creator has published, you can rate it, and tap any of a few tags about it, such as "Clever clues" or "Too hard". So that each person rates it once, your browser keeps a random code, which it sends when you open a puzzle; we keep the code only with a rating you give, with the stars, any tags and the time. If you're signed in, we also note your account with your rating, so each account rates a puzzle once. If you delete your account, we take that note off your ratings and keep the ratings themselves. Your browser remembers the stars you gave, so you can change them. To stop anyone pushing a puzzle up or down unfairly, some ratings count for less in a puzzle's score, or not at all: a rating from someone who isn't signed in counts for half, and a burst of ratings from one connection isn't counted. Others see only a puzzle's average rating, how many ratings it has and, once at least 3 people have chosen one, its most chosen positive tags; the Creator also sees how many people chose each tag. Nobody sees who gave a rating or a tag.

Reports: anyone can report a public puzzle or profile without signing in. We keep the reason, any note you write and the time, with a code scrambled from your connection's address and the date. The code changes every day, can't be turned back into your address, and is used only to spot floods of reports.

Following a Creator: if you're signed in, you can follow a Creator. We keep the Creators you follow with your account, and use it only to show you their puzzles (the Following tabs on the Solve page and in your Library). A Creator sees how many people follow them, never who. We don't email you about it.

"For you" on the Solve page: to choose which puzzles to show you there, we use the puzzles you've played (your history, from your account and this browser) - only for that list, on this site, and we don't keep a copy for it.

If you open an account

Accounts are run with Firebase Authentication, a Google service. When you sign in, we receive your email address (and, if you use Google, the name on your Google account, which we don't use for anything else). We keep with your account the puzzles you save, what you've bought and your plan, and how many times you've used the AI clue writer this month (for the monthly allowance). Firebase keeps you signed in using your browser's storage.

If you're signed in, we keep a list of the puzzles you've opened and any playlists you make, so you can find them on any device. You can delete any entry or clear your history in your Library, and it's deleted with your account.

If you become a Creator

Being a Creator is optional, and nothing in this section applies unless you choose it. We keep with your account your handle, the bio you write, the square, colour and font, banner, links, series and pinned puzzles you choose for your profile, when you became a Creator, which version of the Creator terms you accepted and when, and that you confirmed you're 18 or older.

Your profile shows your handle, your bio, the month you became a Creator, your rank, the puzzles you've published, with their plays and ratings, and anything else you choose to add to it. It never shows your email address or your real name. A puzzle you publish - its title, clues and answers - can be seen by anyone and found in search on this site.

For your own public puzzles, your Creator page shows you totals of what we already count for every puzzle: opens, starts, how far solvers got, finishes, solve times, how many answers were revealed, ratings by stars, tags and opens by day. It never shows anything about who a solver is.

We keep a record of when you start and stop being a Creator, of what you publish, update and unpublish, of changes to your handle and to your profile (its links and series names as you saved them), and of reports about your puzzles or profile and what we did about them.

So that your own plays don't count towards your rank and you can't rate your own puzzles, when you open, finish or try to rate one of your own published puzzles while signed in, we keep your browser's random code (see "Ratings" above) with that puzzle.

If you stop being a Creator, your puzzles come off your profile, your profile is taken down and your bio and the rest of your profile (its square, colour and font, banner, links, series and pins) are deleted. We keep your last handle with your account, and hold it for 30 days so nobody else can take it straight away.

If you delete your account, the same happens, and we delete the browser codes kept with your own puzzles. In the record above, in reports about your puzzles or profile and with the ratings you've given, we replace your account with a random code that can't be traced back to you, and take out your handle and your profile's links and series names. The records themselves stay, so ratings and counts don't change. A suspended Creator's records are the exception (see below).

If we suspend a Creator for breaking our rules, we keep a scrambled form of their email address and sign-in, so they can't simply delete their account and start again. It can't be turned back into the address, and we use it only to check whether someone who asks to become a Creator was suspended. If we lift the suspension, we delete it. A suspended Creator's records aren't anonymized when they delete their account: we keep them as they are, in case of a dispute.

Emails

If you open an account, we email you only what the service needs: sign-in links, receipts, and notices about your plan (a renewal, a price change). We don't send news, offers or other marketing email unless you've said yes to it, and any such email would say who it's from and let you unsubscribe in one step.

If you buy something

Purchases are sold and processed through Link, Stripe's checkout (Stripe's company Sold through Link, LLC resells our PDFs and plans). Link and Stripe collect your card details, your name and your billing address directly - the address because tax depends on where you live; we never see or store your card number. Stripe tells us what you bought, when, and the email address on the payment, and we keep records of purchases for as long as tax law requires. Link's and Stripe's own privacy policies cover what they do with your details, and you can ask Link to delete the details it holds about your purchases.

The AI clue writer

The clue writer runs on our own computer, not on a third-party AI service. It receives only your puzzle's answers, its title and the tone you chose, and uses them only to write your suggestions. They are not shared with anyone, and they are not used to train any AI model.

When something goes wrong

If a puzzle page breaks, it sends us a short error report so we can fix it: the error, the site's version, the puzzle's code, your browser's name and version, the screen size and the page's settings. Reports never contain the letters you've typed, an answer, or a nickname.

If you write to us, we keep your message and your email address to answer you.

What we don't do

• No advertising, and no advertising or tracking cookies. The site sets no cookies of its own. Cloudflare, which carries the site's traffic, may set a short-lived security cookie to tell people from automated attacks; it isn't used for tracking or advertising.
• We don't store IP addresses. To stop abuse, the server holds each connection's address in memory for a short while to limit how fast it can send requests; it is never written down.
• We don't sell, rent or trade your data, and we don't share it with anyone except the services below, which handle it for us.

The services we use

• Cloudflare carries and protects the site's traffic, so it sees requests as they pass. Its Web Analytics counts visits to puzzle pages and how fast they load, without cookies and without following you to other sites.
• Google Firebase runs sign-in (accounts only).
• Stripe and its company Link (Sold through Link, LLC) take payments, collect the tax and send receipts (purchases only).

These services store and process data in the United States and other countries outside Canada, under their own safeguards. While it's there, it can be subject to the laws of those countries, which may let their courts and authorities ask to see it.

How long we keep things

• A shared puzzle: until you delete it or ask us to, or your account is deleted.
• Nicknames and race results: as long as the puzzle they belong to.
• A Creator's bio: until they stop being a Creator or delete their account. Their handle: until they delete their account; a handle given up is held for 30 days so nobody else can take it straight away.
• The record of what Creators publish, update and unpublish, of their handles, and of reports and what we did about them: as long as the site runs, also after a Creator stops, so we can deal with any dispute about what was published. When an account is deleted, its part of the record is anonymized, except a suspended Creator's.
• A suspended Creator's scrambled email address and sign-in: until we lift the suspension, also after they delete their account.
• Ratings and their tags: as long as the site runs, also after the puzzle is taken down. When the account that gave them is deleted, they're kept without any link to it.
• The Creators you follow: with your account, until you delete it.
• Counts of opens and solves, and error reports: as long as they're useful for running the site; they hold nothing about who you are.
• Your account: until you ask us to delete it. Purchase records are kept for as long as tax law requires.
• We keep private backups of the site's data, so nothing is lost if a computer fails. Only we can open them.

Your rights

You have the right to see the personal information we hold about you and to have it corrected if it's wrong. You can also ask us to delete it or to send you a copy, and withdraw your consent to how we use it. Write to our privacy contact at [email protected], from the address on your account if you have one. We'll answer within 30 days, and it costs nothing.

If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca). If you live elsewhere (for example, in the European Union, the United Kingdom or California), you may have further rights under your own law, including the right to complain to your own data protection authority.

If something goes wrong with your data

We keep what we hold protected with safeguards suited to how sensitive it is. If a breach of our safeguards ever puts you at real risk of significant harm, we'll tell you, and report it to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as the law requires.

Children

Accounts are for people aged 13 and over. Children can solve puzzles shared with them without an account, and solving shares nothing about who they are. If you think a child has opened an account, write to us and we'll delete it.

Changes

When what we keep changes, this page changes with it, and the date at the top changes too. If a change matters, we'll say so on the site before it applies.