Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 13, 2026

Rettel is a 2-player word game where you build words by connecting letters in a grid. This policy explains what information Rettel collects, why, who it goes to, how long it is kept, and the choices you have. It is written to be read, not to be survived.

Who We Are

Rettel is developed and operated by Rettel LLC, a limited liability company based in Nebraska, United States. For privacy law purposes, we are the data controller for the information described below.

Contact: will@rettelgame.com

We do not currently have an establishment in the European Union or the United Kingdom. If you are in the EEA or UK and want to raise a concern, email the address above and we will respond within the time limits described under Your Rights.

Scope

This policy covers the Rettel mobile app for iOS and Android, the Rettel backend services that support it, and the rettelgame.com website. It does not cover Apple, Google, or any other company's handling of your information under their own policies, which are linked below.

The rettelgame.com website is a set of static pages. It sets no cookies, uses no analytics, and does not track visitors.

What We Collect

Rettel is an account-based multiplayer game. Playing it necessarily means creating an account and creating a shared record with the people you play against. Here is everything, grouped by where it comes from.

Account information

• Email address — collected when you create an account with email and password, or supplied by Google or Apple when you use those sign-in options. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, we only ever receive Apple's private relay address.

• Sign-in provider and provider account identifier — which of email, Google, or Apple you used, and the identifier that provider gives us.

• A Rettel account identifier — a random Firebase user ID that we use internally to link everything below to your account. It is not derived from your email or your device.

• Account timestamps — when the account was created and last updated.

We do not store your password. Passwords are handled entirely by Firebase Authentication.

Profile information

• Display name — defaults to "Anonymous" and is yours to change in Profile. Your display name is visible to your friends and to every opponent you are matched with, including strangers from random matchmaking. Please do not put your real name, email address, or anything else you would not want a stranger to see in it.

• Avatar — one of a fixed set of emoji, visible to the same people as your display name.

• Friend code — a short random code generated for your account so other players can add you. It contains no personal information.

• Preferences — for example whether you accept random match requests.

Friends

• Your friends list and pending friend requests — who you are connected to on Rettel, and a copy of each friend's display name and avatar so your list can render without exposing their full profile to your device.

Push notifications

If you allow notifications, we store a device notification token for each device you use, so we can tell you when it is your turn, when your turn is about to expire, when a random match is found for you, when a friend starts a new game with you, when a match ends or is forfeited, and when someone sends or accepts a friend request. The token identifies the device rather than you, and is issued by Apple or Google rather than by us. We also store your per-category notification preferences.

Notification text includes the display name of the player who triggered it, and is delivered through Apple's and Google's push services. You can turn individual categories off in Settings, or turn notifications off entirely in your device settings.

Gameplay

A Rettel match is a shared record between you and your opponent. A new match starts as a request — from a friend challenge or from random matchmaking — that the other player must accept or decline before it becomes playable for them; the player who created it may play their own first move while it's pending. Each match stores:

• The letters on the board and whose turn it is.
• Every word you play, in order, attributed to you, along with what each word scored.
• Each player's score, word count, display name, and avatar as they were at the time.
• The identifiers of both players, the winner, how the match started (friend challenge or matchmaking), and creation and update timestamps.

A match with no move from either player for 7 days is automatically forfeited to the other player, the same outcome as forfeiting manually. If it is your turn, we send a warning notification 24 hours before that happens, if you allow notifications.

Finished matches are kept indefinitely, because they belong to both players. See Deleting Your Account for what happens to these when you delete your account.

Player statistics

We keep a running record of your wins, losses, ties, total and average score, your highest single-game score, and your highest-scoring word. These statistics are visible to other players on your profile, including opponents you meet through random matchmaking. Your daily game results, described next, are shown on the same profile the same way.

Daily games

Alongside 2-player matches, Rettel includes solo daily puzzles — currently Rettel Search, Rettel Ops, and Zenttel. What we collect differs by game:

• Your full play history for each puzzle — the letters, words, guesses, or steps you tried — is kept only on your device. We never receive it.

• For Rettel Search and Rettel Ops, after you finish a day's puzzle we save a small result summary to your account: the date, whether you won, your attempts or steps, hints used, time taken, the puzzle number, and your score. It does not include the words or answers themselves. This summary is visible on your profile to other players, the same as your player statistics above.

• Zenttel results are never sent to us at all — they exist only on your device.

The puzzles themselves (the letters and questions for Rettel Search and Rettel Ops) are delivered from our own content service, separate from Firebase, rather than generated on your device. That request does not carry your email, display name, or any other information that identifies you.

Safety reports and blocks

• Players you block — the list is yours alone and is never shown to the person you blocked. We store their account identifier along with their display name and avatar as they were at the moment you blocked them.

• Reports you file — if you report a player, we store who you reported, the reason you chose, anything you type in the details box, the match it relates to if you reported from a game, and the display names of both of you at the time. Reports are visible only to us, and are used to investigate and act on the report.

Device and diagnostic information

• IP address — every request to our backend carries one. Google Cloud processes it to route the request. We do not store IP addresses, use them for rate limiting, or use them to build a profile of you. Rate limiting counts requests against your account identifier rather than your IP address, and those counters expire automatically.

• Crash and error diagnostics — technical logs generated when something goes wrong, produced by Firebase and Google Cloud. These are tied to your account identifier so that we can trace a specific problem, but not to your display name or email.

Analytics — with your consent

Rettel uses Firebase Analytics to understand general usage of the app: session counts, app version, device model, operating system version, and coarse country-level location derived from IP address.

Analytics collection does not begin until you have made a consent choice, which happens automatically the first time it is required. See Consent & Your Choices below for how that choice is collected. Nothing is collected before it is made.

Feedback you send us

• Wiredash feedback — if you tap "Send feedback" in Settings, whatever you write is sent to Wiredash, along with an optional email address and anoptional screenshot that you choose to attach. Wiredash also receives basic app and device context with the report. Nothing is sent unless you initiate feedback and submit it. The screenshot is captured from the app itself — Rettel never requests access to your photo library or camera.

• Email you send us — if you email will@rettelgame.com, we have your message and your email address.

Advertising

Rettel is free to play and supported by advertising. In a 2-player match, we show up to two interstitial ads from Google AdMob — one partway through the match and one when it ends. Rettel Search and Rettel Ops each show one interstitial ad when that day's puzzle starts; Zenttel shows no ads. There are no banner ads and no rewarded ads.

Showing ads means an advertising identifier (such as Android's Advertising ID or Apple's IDFA) is collected. Whether you are shown ads at all, and whether they are personalized, depends on the consent choice described in Consent & Your Choices below, and on where you are: in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, no ads are shown until you say yes; in the United States and everywhere else, ads apply by default unless you opt out. Rettel never falls back to non-personalized ads on its own — the outcome is either full, personalized ads or none at all.

What We Do Not Collect

• Precise or background location.
• Your contacts, photo library, camera, microphone, calendar, or health data.
• Your real name — we do not ask for it and the display name defaults to "Anonymous".
• Payment card numbers or billing addresses.
• Anything at all from other apps or websites you use.

How We Use Information, and Our Legal Basis

If you are in the EEA or UK, the GDPR requires us to name a legal basis for each purpose. Here they are.

We do not use your information to make any decision about you by automated means that has a legal or similarly significant effect.

Consent & Your Choices

Rettel uses Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) to collect your consent. Google determines which of two forms you see based on where you are, and it appears automatically the first time a decision is required — this is Google's own form, not a screen we built.

• If you are in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, you see the GDPR consent form. Analytics collection and ad-serving both stay off until you answer it.

• If you are in the United States, you see a separate US state privacy message instead. Unlike the GDPR form, this one is opt-out: analytics and ads apply by default from your first session, and the form lets you opt out of the sale or sharing of your information and limit the use of sensitive personal information, immediately or later in Settings.

• Everywhere else, no form is shown, and the same default as a US user applies: analytics and ads run without a prompt. You can still exercise the rights described in Your Rights — including asking us to turn off analytics or ad personalization for your account — at any time.

There is no separate "Analytics" toggle and no separate "Ads" toggle inside Rettel — whichever form applies to you, and however you answer it, determines both together, through what Google calls Consent Mode:

• Whether Firebase Analytics collects the usage information described above.
• Whether you are shown any ads at all, and if so, whether they are personalized.

You can change your answer at any time in Settings → Data & Privacy → Privacy Options, which reopens Google's form — this option only appears if a form applied to you in the first place.

Three things worth knowing about how this works:

• Your choice is stored on your device, not on your account. It survives signing out and deleting your account, because it is a property of the device rather than of the account. A copy of the decision is also attached to your account once you are signed in, so we can demonstrate compliance if asked — this does not change how the choice behaves. If you install Rettel on a second device, you will be asked again there.

• Withdrawing consent is not retroactive. It stops collection going forward. Data lawfully collected while consent was active remains lawfully collected, and ages out under the retention schedule below.

• On iOS, Apple's system tracking prompt appears once at startup, independent of your UMP answer. If you denied it and change your mind, Settings → Data & Privacy has a link that takes you to the iOS setting directly.

If what we collect or what a form authorizes materially changes, we will prompt everyone that form applies to again rather than assuming the old answer still applies.

Who We Share Information With

We do not sell personal information, and we have never sold it. Depending on your consent choice, information may be shared with Google for advertising purposes. If you have not consented, we do not share information for advertising at all — declining or withdrawing consent in Settings → Data & Privacy → Privacy Options is a complete way to stop this. If you have consented to personalized ads, your advertising identifier and related usage information is shared with Google so it can select and measure the ad you see, which may qualify as "sharing" for cross-context behavioral advertising under the California Consumer Privacy Act. See Your Rights for how to opt out.

We use the following service providers, who process information on our behalf and under contract:

• Google (Firebase, Google Cloud & AdMob) — authentication, database, serverless functions, notification delivery, crash and error logging, consent-gated analytics, and — with your consent — advertising. Firebase privacy·Google advertising privacy.

• Apple — Sign in with Apple, notification delivery on iOS, and App Store distribution. Apple privacy.

• Google Play — Android distribution. Google privacy.

• Wiredash — in-app feedback, only when you choose to send it. Wiredash privacy.

Other players see what you would expect them to see: your display name, avatar, friend code if you give it to them, the full record of matches you play together, and your player statistics. Nothing else about your account is visible to another player.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to, or where it is necessary to investigate abuse or protect the rights and safety of players. If Rettel is ever acquired or transferred, information may transfer with it, and this policy will be updated before that takes effect.

Where Information Is Stored, and International Transfers

Rettel's database and backend run on Google Cloud in the United States (Firestore multi-region nam5). If you use Rettel from outside the United States, including from the EEA or the UK, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States.

Where such transfers involve personal data protected by the GDPR or UK GDPR, they rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, as incorporated into our agreements with Google, together with the additional safeguards those providers apply.

How Long We Keep Things

Deleting Your Account

You can delete your account from Settings → Delete Account inside the app. You will be asked to sign in again first, because deletion cannot be undone. You can also request deletion by emailing will@rettelgame.com, and instructions are also published at rettelgame.com/delete-account.

Deleted immediately and completely:

• Your sign-in credentials and authentication record, including your email address.
• Your profile: display name, avatar, friend code, and preferences.
• Your player statistics and daily game results.
• Your friends list, and your entry in each of your friends' lists.
• Your device notification tokens.
• Your list of blocked players, and any record that you were blocked by someone else.
• Any reports filed about you.
• Any rate-limiting counters tied to your account.

Your on-device daily game play history was never sent to us, so account deletion does not touch it — it stays on your device until you uninstall the app, the same as your consent choice described above.

Reports you filed about someone else are kept, with your account identifier and display name removed from them. What such a report describes is another person's conduct rather than information about you, and deleting it would erase a safety record we may still need to act on.

Matches you already played are handled differently, and we want to be exact about why. A match belongs to two people. Deleting it outright would erase your opponent's record of a game they played. So instead of deleting finished matches, we anonymize them:

• Your display name and avatar are removed from the match and replaced with a generic "Deleted player".
• Your account identifier is replaced everywhere it appears in that match with a random token that is unique to that single match. Because a different token is used for every match, the records cannot be linked back to you or to each other, even by us.
• The board, the words played, the scores, and the result stay, so your opponent keeps their record of the game.

Matches that were still in progress are ended first, with your opponent recorded as the winner, and then anonymized the same way.

A game request you sent that the other player hasn't accepted or declined yet has no opponent turn to forfeit, so it's simply anonymized in place and stays wherever it was until they act on it. A request you declined or cancelled, or one someone else sent you that you declined, leaves no record to anonymize — it was already deleted at that time.

Deletion is normally immediate. Backups and system logs may retain residual copies for a short period before rotating out, and we may retain the minimum necessary to comply with legal obligations.

Deleting your account does not clear your privacy choices on the device, since those are device settings; uninstalling the app clears them.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you, and get a copy of it.
• Correct information that is wrong — display name and avatar are editable directly in the app.
• Delete your information, as described above.
• Withdraw consent at any time, in Settings → Data & Privacy.
• Opt out of sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, if you are a California resident — Settings → Data & Privacy → Privacy Options(shown under Google's US state privacy message) lets you opt out immediately. If that option isn't shown because you're outside the US, EEA, UK, or Switzerland, email us and we'll apply the same opt-out to your account.
• Object to or restrict processing based on legitimate interests.
• Data portability — receive your information in a machine-readable format.
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights. Rettel works identically whichever choices you make.

To exercise any of these, email will@rettelgame.com from the address on your account, or use Settings → Data & Privacy → Request my data, which opens a pre-filled email. We may need to verify that the request comes from you before acting on it.

We respond within one month for GDPR and UK GDPR requests (extendable by two further months for complex requests, with notice), and within 45 days for CCPA requests (extendable once by a further 45 days, with notice). There is no charge.

You may authorize an agent to make a request on your behalf. If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. If you are in California, you may also designate an authorized agent and are entitled to know the categories described in this policy, which we have set out above in full.

Children

Rettel is not directed to children. You must be at least 13 years old to use Rettel, or at least 16 if you are in a country in the EEA that sets the digital consent age at 16.

Rettel is not enrolled in Google Play's Families program or Apple's Kids Category, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under those ages. If you believe a child has created an account, email will@rettelgame.com and we will delete the account and its data promptly.

Security

Information is encrypted in transit and at rest by Google Cloud. Access to the backend is restricted to the developer. Database rules are written so that no client can write game, friend, block, or report data directly, and no player can read another player's account profile or contact information — all such changes go through server-side code that verifies who you are and what you are allowed to do. The player statistics described above are the one thing deliberately readable by other players.

No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities where the law requires it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy. The "Last Updated" date at the top always reflects the current version. Where a change is material, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

If a change affects what we collect with your consent, or what that consent authorizes, we will ask you again rather than relying on your previous answer.

Contact

Questions, requests, or complaints: will@rettelgame.com