Privacy policy

Who we are

ThePuzzleLabs is a free puzzle website at thepuzzlelabs.com, operated by Arpit Verma. This policy covers that website. It does not cover other sites we link to.

For anything in this policy, including a request to see or delete your data, use the contact form.

What we collect

Stored on your device

Your solving progress, streaks, badges, theme and sound settings are saved in your browser's local storage. This stays on the device you played on and is not sent to us. Clearing your browser data removes it. If you never sign in, this is where all of your puzzle history lives.

Information you give us

If you sign in, we receive your name, email address and Google account identifier from Google. We never receive your password. If you set a public handle or pick an avatar, those are stored with your account and shown on the leaderboard. If you send a message through the contact form, we receive what you write and the contact details you include.

Collected automatically

Like any website, our hosting provider records standard server logs, including IP addresses and the pages requested. Advertising and analytics providers set cookies and collect usage information as described below.

Cookies and advertising

The site is funded by advertising through Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads and to measure their performance.

Ads may be personalised, which means Google can use information it already holds about you to decide which ad to show. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, where consent is required before that happens, this site instructs Google to withhold advertising cookies, advertising identifiers and ad personalisation by default. Visitors in those regions are shown non-personalised ads, chosen from the page they are on rather than from a profile.

You can review and change what Google uses at Google My Ad Center, and read how Google handles data from partner sites in its partner sites notice.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics with IP anonymisation enabled, together with the cookieless performance measurement built into our hosting platform. These record which pages are opened, which puzzle types are played, and how quickly pages load. We read these as totals to decide what to build next and do not use them to identify individual people.

Browser extensions that block analytics will not break the site. The games are built to keep working when those requests fail.

How data is shared

We do not sell personal data, and no data broker has access to it. Data is shared only with the service providers that run the site, each acting on our instructions and under its own published privacy policy.

Google is the only partner we name, because it touches the most data: it serves the ads, provides the analytics and handles the optional sign-in described above. Its handling of data from partner sites is set out in the Google privacy policy. The remaining providers are infrastructure: the hosting platform that serves the pages and keeps standard server logs, the database that holds account details and puzzle records for signed-in players, and the service that receives messages sent through the contact form. They process this data only to provide those services to us.

How long we keep data

Data kept in your browser stays until you clear it. Account data, including your puzzle records, streak and badges, is kept while your account exists. Deleting your account from account settings removes it immediately.

Messages sent through the contact form are kept for as long as needed to answer them and to keep a record of reported bugs. Analytics and advertising providers keep data according to their own retention settings, which are described in their policies.

Where data is processed

The site is operated from India and served through a global hosting network, so our providers may process data on servers outside the country you are in, including in the United States and the European Union. Each provider offers its own safeguards for international transfers, set out in its privacy policy.

Your rights and choices

You can, at any time:

• play without creating an account;
• clear your browser storage to erase local progress;
• delete your account and everything attached to it from account settings;
• hide yourself from public leaderboards using the leaderboard setting on the same page;
• adjust what Google uses for ads in Google My Ad Center;
• block analytics with a browser extension.

You can also ask us for a copy of the data held about you, or ask us to delete it, through the contact form. Laws including the GDPR, the UK GDPR, the CCPA and India's DPDP Act give readers in some places a formal right to make these requests. We apply the same policy to everyone, wherever they are.

Children

The puzzles are suitable for all ages, but the site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

Changes to this policy

When we add or remove a provider, or change how data is used, we update this page and the date shown at the top. Significant changes will be summarised here so returning readers can see what moved.