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Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 22, 2026

1. Introduction

Daily Word ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It applies to:

  • The Daily Word mobile app ("The Observatory: Daily Word") for iOS and Android.
  • Our website, the-observatory-daily-word.com.
  • Daily Word Studio, the internal production tool we use to manage our own YouTube channel through the YouTube API Services (see section 6).

2. Information We Collect in the App

We collect the following information:

  • Account information: Email address and display name, provided when you sign in (Firebase Authentication, including Sign in with Google and Sign in with Apple)
  • Device token: For push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging)
  • App preferences: Notification time, preferred language, selected categories
  • Usage statistics: Words viewed, challenges completed, streaks, points earned
  • Content you create: Your notes on words and catalogs, your catalogs, the words you add to Review, your answers to the daily challenges, and the word corrections you send us (free text, up to 500 characters)
  • Items you unlock with points: Characters, worlds (categories), orbit crystals and wardrobe items. They are obtained only with in-app points, never with money
  • In-app usage events: Which features you use (for example, opening a word, answering a challenge or trying on a wardrobe item), stored with your account ID so we can improve the app. Raw events are deleted automatically after 180 days; we keep only daily totals that do not identify you
  • Crash and performance reports: If the app crashes or something fails, Firebase Crashlytics sends a report with the device model, operating system, app version, your account ID and technical details (for example, whether the device shows the characters in 3D and at what frame rate)
  • Device capability check: To decide whether your device can show the characters in 3D smoothly, the app checks its memory, operating system version and battery-saver mode on the device itself. Only the result (3D or pictures, and the measured frame rate) leaves the device, inside the reports above
  • App integrity: Firebase App Check uses Apple App Attest or Google Play Integrity to confirm that requests come from the genuine app. It is not used to identify you or for advertising
  • Anonymous device identifier: Via Firebase Analytics
  • Advertising data: Device advertising identifiers and usage data processed by Google AdMob to show ads (see section 4)
  • Install source: If you install the app from one of our links, the store tells us which campaign the install came from (for example, "a YouTube video description"). On Android this comes from the Google Play install referrer through Firebase Analytics. On iOS we only receive totals per campaign from App Store Connect, never data about individual users.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

  • Provide and improve the Daily Word service
  • Send your daily word notification at your chosen time
  • Track your learning progress and maintain streaks
  • Personalize your experience based on preferences
  • Show ads that keep the app free, and credit the points of the optional ads you choose to watch
  • Detect crashes and choose between 3D characters and pictures so the app runs smoothly on each device
  • Protect the service against abuse, such as fake requests or duplicated rewards
  • Understand, in aggregate, which of our videos and links bring people to the app

We do not sell your personal information.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

  • Firebase (Google): Authentication, Firestore database, Cloud Functions, push notifications, Remote Config, Analytics, Crashlytics (crash reports), App Check (app integrity) and hosting
  • Google AdMob: Advertising in the app. AdMob may use device identifiers and usage data to show relevant ads. On iOS you can allow or deny tracking through the App Tracking Transparency prompt; on Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings.
  • Sign in with Google / Sign in with Apple: To sign in, if you choose to
  • Apple Game Center / Google Play Games Services: Achievements and leaderboards, if you are signed in to them on your device. Apple and Google handle that data under their own policies
  • Google Analytics: Website traffic measurement (see section 5)
  • Apple App Store Connect: Aggregated install totals per campaign
  • EmailJS: Delivers the messages sent from the website's contact form (see section 5)

You can review Google's privacy practices at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

5. Our Website and Links to the App

  • Analytics: Our website uses Google Analytics, which sets cookies, to measure page views and clicks on the download buttons. This tells us how the website is used in aggregate. Google Analytics only loads if you accept it in the cookie notice; if you reject it, no analytics cookies are set. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.
  • Short links (the-observatory-daily-word.com/v/...): These links appear in our video descriptions and channel profile. When you open one, we add one to a daily counter for that link, broken down by platform (iOS, Android or desktop), and send you to the App Store, Google Play or our website. We do not store your IP address, cookies or any identifier that could identify you.
  • Download buttons: The App Store and Google Play buttons tell the store which page or campaign you came from (for example, an ad's utm_campaign), so the install can be counted for that campaign. No personal data travels in that link.
  • Contact form: The name, email address and message you send reach us by email through EmailJS, which only delivers them. If the form shows a Google reCAPTCHA check, Google receives information from your browser to tell people from bots, under its own Privacy Policy and Terms. We use your message only to answer you.

6. Daily Word Studio and Google User Data (YouTube API Services)

Daily Word Studio is an internal tool used only by the Daily Word team. It uses the YouTube API Services to manage our own YouTube channel. It is not offered to the public, and viewers never sign in to it. By watching or interacting with our content on YouTube, you are also subject to the YouTube Terms of Service, and Google's handling of your data is described in the Google Privacy Policy.

Google permissions we request

When the channel owner connects Daily Word Studio to the channel through Google sign-in, the tool asks for these permissions:

  • youtube.readonly: View the channel, its videos, their metadata and public statistics, the comments on our videos, and their caption tracks.
  • yt-analytics.readonly: View YouTube Analytics and Reporting data for our channel.
  • youtube.force-ssl: Upload and update caption tracks (subtitles) on our videos and set a video's audio language and chapter list. This permission is kept separate from the others and is used only for those actions.

What data we access

  • Our channel and videos: Titles, descriptions, durations, publication status, caption tracks and public statistics (views, likes, comment counts).
  • YouTube Analytics and Reporting data for our channel: Views, watch time, audience retention, impressions and click-through rate, traffic sources, the search terms that led to our videos, subscribers gained and lost, card and end screen clicks, and subtitle usage. Demographic and geographic data (age group, gender, country) is reported by YouTube only in aggregate, as percentages. It never identifies individual viewers.
  • Comments on our videos: The comment text, the commenter's public display name, the publication date and like count, as YouTube shows them publicly.
  • Public data from other channels: For market research, we read publicly available information about videos on a list of reference channels we choose (titles, publication dates, durations and public view, like and comment counts). We do not access any private data from those channels.

We do not access viewers' Google accounts, email addresses, subscriptions, watch history or any private viewer data. YouTube does not provide this data to channel owners.

How we use this data

We use this data only to run and improve our own channel and videos:

  • Seeing which parts of a video keep or lose viewers, so we can write better scripts.
  • Measuring which titles, topics and formats work, and which videos lead people to the app.
  • Reading and organizing viewer comments: corrections to our facts, word requests and questions. Comment text is classified automatically (for example, "word request" or "correction") so that we can act on it.
  • Publishing accurate subtitles and chapters for our videos.

We do not use Google user data for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not use it to build profiles of individual viewers. We do not use Google user data to develop, improve or train generalized artificial intelligence or machine learning models.

Sharing

We do not sell, rent or share Google user data with third parties, except:

  • Service providers that process data on our behalf, under contract and only to provide the features described above: Google Cloud / Firebase (storage and processing), and the AI providers OpenAI and TypeSafe AI, which classify comment text and summarize our channel's statistics for us.
  • When required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our users or the public.

Storage and security

  • Data is stored in Google Cloud (Firebase Firestore) and is accessible only to the Daily Word team. Our security rules deny access to it from any app or browser.
  • The Google authorization tokens are encrypted (AES-256-GCM) and the encryption key is kept in Google Secret Manager. Tokens are never sent to a browser.
  • The permission that can make changes to the channel is stored separately from the read-only permission and is used only by the subtitle module. Every change the tool makes to the channel is logged.
  • All data is transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.

Retention and deletion

  • Comment text and commenter display names are deleted automatically no later than 30 days after we retrieve them. We keep only derived, non-identifying information, such as the category of the comment.
  • Public data from other channels is refreshed or deleted automatically within 30 days.
  • Analytics data for our own channel is kept while the authorization remains active. We check every 30 days that it is still valid.
  • If the authorization is revoked, we delete all data obtained through the YouTube API Services, except data that is not identifiable or does not come from the YouTube API Services, within 30 days.
  • You can ask us to delete any data related to you (for example, a comment you made on our videos) by writing to the address in section 12. We will do so within 30 days.

Revoking access

The Google account that authorized Daily Word Studio can revoke its access at any time from the Google security settings page: https://myaccount.google.com/permissions. Daily Word Studio detects the revocation on its next sync and stops all access.

Limited Use

Daily Word Studio's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

7. Data Retention

We retain your app data as long as your account is active. In-app usage events are deleted automatically after 180 days and crash reports after 90 days. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time through the app settings or on our account deletion page. Data obtained through the YouTube API Services follows the specific periods in section 6.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access your personal data
  • Correct inaccurate data
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Export your data
  • Object to or restrict certain processing

To exercise these rights, contact us at the address in section 12.

9. Children's Privacy

Daily Word is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

10. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information. Your data is transmitted over encrypted connections.

11. Changes to This Policy

We will notify you of significant changes to this Privacy Policy through the app, on this page or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed.

12. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, including questions about Daily Word Studio and YouTube data, contact us at: soporte@the-observatory-daily-word.com

13. Friends, Social Features, and Moderation

What is visible to other users

When you use Daily Word's social features, we create a public profile for you. This profile contains:

  • A randomly generated 6-character friend code, which contains no personal information.
  • An optional display name (2–20 characters) that you choose. Display names are filtered for offensive language both on your device and on our servers.
  • Your active character (avatar) and the outfit it wears, current streak, longest streak, and total words seen.
  • The points you earned this week in the daily challenges (only those: not purchases, ads or the Review). Your friends see them in the weekly table.

Other authenticated Daily Word users can see this information if they know your friend code. In addition, the Best streaks ranking in the Station shows your display name, character and current streak to all Daily Word users. You can stop appearing there at any time in Settings → Privacy → Show me in Best streaks. We do not expose your email address, sign-in identifier, location, contacts, or any other personal data to other users.

Friend requests

Another user can send you a friend request only if they know your friend code. You can accept, decline, or block any request. You decide who is in your friend list at all times.

Blocking

You have a private list of blocked users, available in Settings → Security → Blocked users. When you block someone:

  • They can no longer send you friend requests.
  • This rule is enforced on the server (Firestore security rules), not only in the app.
  • The blocked user is never informed that they have been blocked.

Reports and our 24-hour review commitment

Any user can report another user for: offensive name, harassment, impersonation, spam, or another reason. A report includes:

  • The reporting user's ID.
  • The reported user's ID.
  • The report category.
  • Optional free-text details (up to 500 characters).

We review every report within 24 hours. Reports are routed to our moderation team automatically through a Cloud Function. The reported user is never told who reported them.

Push notifications related to friends

Friend requests and acceptances generate push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging:

  • "X wants to add you as a friend" when you receive a request.
  • "X accepted your request" when someone accepts a request you sent.

These notifications are delivered in the language configured by the recipient and respect your existing notifications toggle.

No chat, messaging, or real-time interaction

Daily Word does not include chat, direct messaging, media sharing, voice, video, or any other real-time interaction between users. The only social signals are friend requests, friend acceptances, and the public profile fields listed above.

What we delete when you delete your account

When you delete your Daily Word account, we permanently delete:

  • Your user document and everything stored under it: history, catalogs and their notes, Review, word notes, your star catalog, daily word selections and the items you unlocked.
  • Your words seen and your challenge answers.
  • Your in-app usage events and the word corrections you sent us.
  • Your public profile, including your display name and friend code.
  • All friendship relationships you sent or received.
  • All blocks you created.
  • All reports you submitted.
  • Your Firebase Authentication account.

What we keep after account deletion

We retain a single category of data after your account is deleted:

  • Reports filed against your account. We keep the content of those reports for moderation auditing and platform integrity. Your user ID remains in those reports only as an anonymous identifier and can no longer be linked back to an active account.

This limited retention relies on legitimate interest under GDPR Article 6(1)(f) and the free expression / public interest exception under CCPA §1798.105(d)(4).

Contact

Questions about social features, moderation, or this section of the policy can be sent to: soporte@the-observatory-daily-word.com