Privacy

What the games store

The games keep your progress in this browser's local storage: the puzzle you are on, your best times and scores, your Daily streak and a short list of recent puzzle numbers so that Next does not repeat one. This stays on your device. We never receive it, and clearing your site data removes it. There are no accounts and no sign-in.

What we receive

We do not ask for your name, email address or any account details to play, and the games send nothing about your puzzles to us. Like any website, the service that hosts these pages receives your IP address and basic request details when your browser loads a page, and keeps ordinary server logs to run the site and keep it secure. We use this information only to run, secure and understand the use of the site, and we do not sell it.

Advertising and analytics

We plan to measure which pages and games are used, using Google Analytics 4, Umami and Microsoft Clarity. These services may set cookies or use similar identifiers and receive your IP address, device and browser information, the pages you open and simple events such as starting or finishing a puzzle. They do not receive your puzzle answers. The service identifiers are not switched on yet; until they are, nothing is sent.

We plan to show ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies to show and measure ads, including personalised ads where the law allows. When ads are switched on, this page will say so and a consent choice will be offered where the law requires one. You can manage Google's ad settings at adssettings.google.com.

Cookies and similar technologies

The site itself does not set cookies. It uses your browser's local storage only for the saved progress described above, and that is not sent anywhere. Cookies and similar identifiers can come only from the analytics and advertising services above, once they are switched on. Blocking them in your browser settings does not stop the games from working, and you can still play with every cookie blocked.

Data retention

Saved progress stays in your browser until you clear it or your browser does. Analytics data is held by each analytics service for the period set in that service's settings, and we aim to choose the shortest period that still shows how the site is used. If you write to us, we keep your message and our reply for as long as it takes to deal with your question, and for any longer period the law requires.

Your choices

You can clear this site's data in your browser at any time, which removes your saved progress. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and use your browser's privacy controls to limit tracking. Google offers an opt-out add-on for Google Analytics at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what we hold about you, to correct it or to have it deleted. Because the games keep nothing on our servers, there is usually nothing to delete beyond analytics data. To make a request, write to contact@thedles.net.

Children

The Dles is a general-audience puzzle site and is not aimed at children under 13. There are no accounts, forms or comments, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has sent us personal details, write to contact@thedles.net and we will delete them.

Changes to this policy

If we switch on analytics or advertising, or change what the site collects, we will update this page and its date before the change takes effect. Questions about this policy can be sent to contact@thedles.net.