Privacy policy
Last updated: November 10, 2026.
This policy explains what information Pips Hints (“we”, “us”), at pipshints.org, collects when you use the site, how we use it, which cookies and similar technologies are involved, and the choices you have. If you have questions, see the contact page.
1. No accounts
You cannot sign up or sign in on Pips Hints, and we do not ask for your name, email address or any other personal details to use the hints, the answers or Pips Unlimited.
2. Data stored on your device
Pips Unlimited saves your last difficulty and the number of puzzles you have solved in your browser's local storage, under keys that start with pips-unlimited:. This data stays on your device and is never sent to us. You can clear it at any time through your browser settings.
The hint pages do not store anything: which hints you have opened is forgotten when you leave or reload the page.
3. Emails you send us
If you write to us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in the message. We use it only to read and answer your message, and delete it within 12 months.
4. Cookies and similar technologies
Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. We and our partners use the following:
| Name / type | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
Local storage (pips-unlimited:*) | Pips Hints | Your last difficulty and solved count, on your device only | Until you clear it |
| Advertising cookies and identifiers | Google and other ad partners | Serving, measuring and (where allowed) personalising ads, frequency capping and fraud prevention; see section 5 | Set by the partner |
We do not set any cookies of our own, and our analytics do not use cookies (see section 6).
5. Advertising
We use or plan to use Google AdSense to show ads, which helps keep Pips Hints free. In connection with ads:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- Ad partners may use cookies, web beacons, IP addresses and similar identifiers to deliver ads, measure their performance and prevent fraud.
- You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising ataboutads.info/choices or, in the EU and UK,youronlinechoices.eu.
- Learn more in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
Visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland are shown a consent message from a Google-certified consent management platform before personalised ads or advertising cookies are used, and can change their choice at any time. If you don't consent, Google may still show non-personalised ads, which use cookies only for purposes such as frequency capping and fraud prevention.
US state privacy rights. Where personalised advertising counts as “sharing” or “targeted advertising” under laws such as the CCPA/CPRA, you can opt out through the consent message where shown, through Google's Ads Settings, or by enabling Global Privacy Control in your browser.
6. Analytics
We use privacy-friendly, cookie-free analytics (based on Plausible) to count page views. It doesn't use cookies or build profiles of individual visitors, and reports are aggregated.
7. Hosting and security logs
The site runs on Cloudflare. Like any web host, it processes your IP address to deliver pages and may keep standard access and security logs (IP address, browser, pages requested) for a limited time. We do not combine these logs with anything else.
8. What we don't do
- We don't sell your personal information.
- We don't ask for or collect your location, and we don't use sensitive information (health, religion, sexuality and similar) for ads.
- We don't pass email addresses or other personal information to ad partners.
9. How long we keep data
- Emails you send us: up to 12 months.
- Local storage: on your device until you clear it.
- We hold no account data or play history.
10. Children
Pips Hints is a general-audience puzzle site and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.
11. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/UK or state laws in the US), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export your personal data, to object to or restrict processing, and to withdraw consent. Because we hold no accounts, the only personal data we may have is an email you sent us. To make a request, contact us. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.
12. Changes
We may update this policy as the site changes (for example when new ad partners or features are added). We'll change the “last updated” date above, and for significant changes we'll make a note on the site.