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Privacy Policy

Exactly what we store, why, for how long, and how to have it removed.

Last updated: August 15, 2026

This policy explains what wordsearchmakergenerator.com (wordsearchmakergenerator.com) collects, why, how long it is kept and how to have it removed. It describes what the software actually does rather than listing every possibility, so you can rely on it.

The short version

  • You can use every tool on this site without an account and without giving us anything.
  • Puzzles are built in your browser. What you type is not sent to us unless you choose to save or share it.
  • If you create an account we store your email address, your display name and a one-way hash of your password – never the password itself.
  • We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with anyone except the service providers needed to run the site.
  • You can delete your account and everything in it at any time.

Who is responsible

wordsearchmakergenerator.com operates this site and is the data controller for the information described here. Contact us at contact@wordsearchmakergenerator.com or through the contact page.

What we collect, and why

1. If you just use the tools

Nothing you type is transmitted to us. The words you enter, the settings you choose and the puzzle that results are all produced inside your browser. When you print, download a PDF or save an image, that file is created on your device.

To let you recover your work after an accidental refresh, the tool keeps a copy of what you were last working on in your browser’s own local storage. It never leaves your device, it is not readable by us, it expires after 14 days, and you can clear it with the “Start fresh” button or by clearing site data in your browser.

2. If you create an account

We store:

  • Your email address – to identify the account, to confirm it is yours, and to send password resets. We do not send marketing email.
  • Your display name, if you give one. It is optional and only used to greet you.
  • A cryptographic hash of your password. The password itself is never stored and cannot be recovered by us or by anyone who obtained a copy of the database.
  • The date you registered and the date you confirmed your address.

Before an account exists, your address has to be confirmed. Until you open the link we email you, the details sit in a temporary record that is deleted automatically after 48 hours. If you never confirm, nothing is created and we do not contact you again.

3. What you save

Saved word lists and saved activities are stored against your account: the words themselves, any clues or definitions, the title, the settings and the puzzle code. They are private to you unless you explicitly create a share link.

4. Account activity

So that we can support you and identify misuse, we keep a short record of account events: signing up, signing in, saving an activity, creating or removing a share link, and deleting something. Each entry holds the account, what happened, the item involved and the time. It does not include your IP address, your browser or anything you typed. These records are kept for up to 12 months.

5. Shared activities and online play

When someone plays a shared activity, we record that a session happened: whether it was completed, how long it took, the score, how many hints were used, and an optional first name if the player chose to enter one. We do not record the player’s IP address, browser, location or any account link. This is deliberate: shared activities are frequently played by children, and there is nothing in these records that could identify one.

Play records are kept for 180 days and then deleted automatically.

6. Contact messages

If you write to us, we receive your name, your email address and your message so that we can reply. Messages are kept only as long as needed to deal with the matter and any follow-up.

7. Abuse prevention

To stop automated abuse of the sign-up, sharing and contact features, we count recent requests per visitor. That counter is keyed to a salted, one-way hash of your IP address – the address itself is never written to our database, and the hash cannot be reversed. Counters expire within an hour.

8. Server logs

Like effectively every website, our hosting provider keeps standard server logs that may include IP addresses, timestamps and requested URLs. These exist for security and diagnostics, are typically retained for a short period by the host, and are not used to build any profile of you.

Cookies and browser storage

This site sets cookies only where they are needed to make it work – chiefly to keep you signed in and to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. We do not set analytics or advertising cookies ourselves. Full detail, including what third parties may set, is in the cookie policy.

Advertising

This site may display advertising from third-party networks, which may include Google AdSense. Where it does:

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this or other websites.
  • Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this and/or other sites on the Internet.
  • You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
  • You can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.com.

We do not share the content of your word lists, your saved activities or your account details with advertising networks. Advertising is never placed inside a puzzle grid, over the worksheet preview or between the fields of a form.

Children

This site is designed for adults – teachers, parents and organisers – who create activities for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Accounts are intended for adults.

A child playing a shared activity does not need an account and is not asked for personal information. The optional player name field is exactly that: optional, and there is no reason to enter a full name. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Legal bases (UK/EU visitors)

  • Contract – account details and saved work, so that we can provide the service you asked for.
  • Legitimate interests – abuse prevention, security logging and basic service statistics, balanced against your rights and kept minimal.
  • Consent – non-essential cookies, including advertising cookies, where consent is required in your jurisdiction.

Sharing

We do not sell personal information. We share it only with:

  • our hosting provider, which stores the site and its database on our behalf;
  • our email provider, to deliver verification and password-reset messages;
  • advertising networks, where advertising is enabled, in the manner described above;
  • anyone we are legally required to disclose to.

How long we keep things

Data Kept for
Unconfirmed sign-ups 48 hours, then deleted automatically
Account details and saved work Until you delete your account
Account activity records Up to 12 months
Play session records 180 days
Abuse-prevention counters Up to 1 hour
Contact messages As long as needed to resolve the matter

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to have it deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, to receive a portable copy, and to withdraw consent. Residents of California and other US states with similar laws have comparable rights, including the right not to be discriminated against for exercising them.

To exercise any of these, email contact@wordsearchmakergenerator.com or use the contact form and choose “A privacy or data request”. We will respond within one month. You can also delete your own account at any time, which removes your saved activities, your word lists and your activity records.

If you are in the UK or EU and are unhappy with our response, you may complain to your national data protection authority.

Security

Passwords are stored only as salted hashes. Saved work is checked for ownership on the server on every request, so one account can never read or alter another’s. Imported CSV and TXT files are read entirely inside your browser and are never uploaded. We encourage using this site over HTTPS.

No system is perfectly secure. If you believe you have found a vulnerability, please tell us privately at contact@wordsearchmakergenerator.com before disclosing it publicly.

International transfers

Our hosting and email providers may process data in countries other than your own. Where that involves a transfer out of the UK or EEA, it is covered by an appropriate safeguard such as standard contractual clauses.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. Material changes affecting how we use your information will be announced on the site.

Contact

wordsearchmakergenerator.com – contact@wordsearchmakergenerator.com – contact form.