Privacy (yours, safe)
We know you didn’t read this. We did write it, though.
What we collect
If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture — the standard set Google makes available. Your name appears on the leaderboard. Your email identifies your account and is never shown publicly.
If you play without signing in, everything stays in your browser’s localStorage: personal bests, preferences, session history. None of it touches our servers. None of it leaves your device.
Scores submitted to the leaderboard are stored in our database and visible to other players as part of normal leaderboard operation.
Cookies and similar storage
Always on. Your browser’s local storage keeps your personal bests, settings, your cookie choice and anything you type into a tool that remembers your work. It stays on your device and is not sent to us.
Optional, from Google. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are used, and Google AdSense to show advertising. These set cookies and receive information such as your IP address, device, browser and the pages you view. In the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland they are used only after you choose “Accept all”. Elsewhere they run unless you choose “Decline optional”.
Our own simple counts. We also count page views and a few game actions (a new personal best, using the Boss Alert, opening a leaderboard) on our own server. Each count records the page, its language, where the visit came from (for example Google), the type of device and the country. By default it uses no cookie, and we do not store your IP address, your browser details or anything else that identifies you. If you choose “Accept all”, we also keep a random code in your browser’s local storage, so repeat visits from the same browser can be counted as one visitor. The code is not linked to your name or account. Choose “Decline optional” and it is removed and not used. These counts are kept for up to 400 days, and visits from bots are left out of the numbers.
You can change your choice at any time with “Cookie settings” in the footer of every page, or delete the cookies in your browser settings.
What we don’t collect
Your search history. Your employer’s opinion of you. Anything outside this site.
What we don’t do with it
Sell it. We do not sell your data. The business model is free tools, games and advertising, not your personal information. This was not a close call.
The Android app
The JustResearching app has no accounts and no sign-in. The only things it remembers are the tools and games you opened recently and your best game scores. They are stored on your phone and we never receive them. Uninstalling the app deletes them.
The app does not ask for any permissions. It does not use your location, contacts, camera, microphone, photos or files. It does not connect to the internet, and it has no analytics and no advertising.
If your phone has Android Backup switched on, Android may copy that small amount of saved data to your own Google account so it can be restored on a new phone. That is controlled by your phone’s settings, not by us.
If a future version adds advertising or anything else that handles data, we will update this page before it ships, and the app will ask for your consent where the law requires it.
Advertising
This site may show advertisements from third parties, including Google AdSense. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a visitor’s previous visits to this and other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and other sites on the internet.
You can opt out of personalised advertising in Google’s Ads Settings, or visit aboutads.info to opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalised advertising. You can read how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Advertising never changes the result a tool gives you.
Your rights
You can delete your account yourself, without emailing anyone. Go to Settings, scroll to the Danger Zone, and hit “Delete my account.” This permanently removes your profile, all scores, and Workle history — including the locally stored personal bests on your current device. No waiting, no ticket, no reply-all chain.
If something goes wrong with the self-serve flow, email hello@justresearching.com and we’ll sort it manually.
Changes
If we update this policy in a material way, we’ll make it obvious. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance, which is also how every other privacy policy works.