Win Words Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 16, 2026

Win Words ("we", "us", "our") operates the Win Words mobile application (the "App"), a social media and short-video platform distributed on the Google Play Store. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and your choices. By using Win Words you agree to this policy.

1. Data We Collect

Account (required): email address, display name, username, password (hashed by Firebase Authentication — never visible to us), account creation date, and a device push-notification token.

Profile (optional): profile photo, bio, date of birth (used only to confirm the 13+ age requirement; you can hide the exact date), country, city, pronouns, occupation, education, relationship status, languages, website, and social handles. We never request your phone number.

Content you create: text posts, image posts, polls, WinClips (short videos), Stories, Pic Battle entries, comments, reactions, messages, voice notes, and club memberships/posts.

Interaction data: likes, follows, reactions, votes, views, engagement timestamps, login streaks, XP, coins, badge progress, game scores, and referral/invite codes (your code and, if you joined via one, who referred you).

Purchase data (only if you buy coins): a record of each coin-pack purchase — the product purchased, coins granted, and the Google Play order ID. We use this to credit coins, verify the purchase, and prevent fraud. We never receive or store your card or bank details — all payment is handled by Google Play.

Device & technical data: app version, OS version, device model, language, time zone, and anonymous crash/performance data (via Firebase Crashlytics/Analytics).

We do NOT collect: your precise GPS location, your contacts, or your activity in other apps. The camera/microphone are used only when you actively record a story, voice note, or WinClip.

2. How We Use Your Data

• Authenticate you, secure your account, and recover access.
• Deliver your feed, messages, comments, reactions, games, and notifications.
• Send you service messages and announcements/offers from the official "Win Words" account (e.g. daily reminders, new features).
• Operate purchases (credit coins, verify transactions, prevent fraud).
• Safety & moderation: filter blocked/muted users, run on-device image checks, and review reports.
• Show ads (see Section 4).
• Aggregate, anonymous analytics to improve the App. We do NOT build advertising profiles or sell your data.
• Comply with lawful legal requests.

3. Third-Party Services

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Storage, Cloud Messaging, Crashlytics, Analytics) — stores your account, content, and messages.
• Google Sign-In (optional) — shares only your name, email, and profile picture, and only if you choose it.
• Cloudinary — hosts image posts, story photos, and WinClip videos.
• ImgBB — hosts profile pictures / avatars.
• Google Play Billing — processes coin purchases. We receive only a purchase token and order ID, never your payment details.
• GIPHY — when you search GIFs, your query is sent to GIPHY (no account info).
• Pixabay — royalty-free background music for WinClips (only a track ID is sent).
• AcoustID — an optional, server-side audio-fingerprint check on uploaded WinClip audio to help detect copyrighted music. Only an audio fingerprint is sent — never the raw audio or your identity.

4. Advertising (Google AdMob)

We use Google AdMob to show banner, interstitial, rewarded, and native ads. AdMob may collect and use a device identifier, including the Advertising ID, to serve and measure ads. You can reset or limit your Advertising ID in your device settings (Settings > Google > Ads). Users under 18 are served non-personalized ads. We do NOT sell your data to advertisers, data brokers, or marketing networks.

5. Data Retention

Direct messages and Stories auto-delete after 24 hours; polls after 6 hours; image posts after 30 days; WinClip videos after 45 days; Pic Battle entries per the duration chosen at creation. Text posts and engagement stats are kept until you delete them. Purchase records are retained as required for fraud prevention, accounting, and legal compliance. Account data is kept while your account is active and deleted within 30 days of a deletion request (see our Account & Data Deletion page).

6. Children's Privacy

Win Words is not directed to children under 13 (16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child has registered, contact iftikhar.digitalmarketer@gmail.com and we will delete the account within 7 days. We are committed to child safety — see our Child Safety Standards.

7. Your Rights & Choices

You can access, edit, export, or delete your data; make your account private; post anonymously; block/mute users; and report content. To delete your account, use Settings → Account Management → Delete Account in the App, or email us. We respond within 7 days.

8. Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS); data is encrypted at rest by Google/Cloudinary; passwords are hashed by Firebase; sensitive actions require re-authentication. No system is 100% secure, but we will notify affected users of any breach within 72 hours.

9. International Transfers

Your data may be processed on servers (Google Cloud, Cloudinary, ImgBB) located outside your country, including the United States and Europe. By using Win Words you consent to this transfer under standard contractual safeguards.

10. Changes

We may update this policy as features or laws change. Material changes are announced in-app at least 7 days before taking effect.

11. Contact

Email: iftikhar.digitalmarketer@gmail.com (response within 7 days).