Effective date: July 20, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Mad Science Software B.V. ("Mad Science Software," "we," "us," or "our"), the app studio and consultancy founded by James Youngquist, collects and uses information across: madsciencesoftware.dev(the "Site"); The Good Word, our crossword-creation platform for publications, including its customer dashboard (the "Platform"); and crosswords created with The Good Word and embedded on websites, including the daily crossword on our own Site ("Embedded Crosswords").
1. Who We Are
Mad Science Software B.V. is a private limited company established in the Netherlands. For visitors to the Site, players of Embedded Crosswords, and holders of Platform accounts, we are the data controller responsible for the personal data described in this policy. Our role with respect to content from publications connected to the Platform is described in Section 11.
2. Information We Collect
If you visit the Site or contact us. When you fill out the contact form on the Site, you provide information such as your name, email address, and the details of your message, including inquiries about our services and products such as The Good Word. We use this information solely to read and respond to your inquiry.
We use Google Ads conversion tracking to measure whether visitors who reach the Site through our advertising go on to submit the contact form. This is done using cookies or similar identifiers set by Google. It tells us that a form submission occurred and helps us understand which ads are effective. We do not use it to build a profile of you.
We do not run Google Analytics or any other analytics or tracking service on the Site beyond the Google Ads conversion measurement described above.
If you play an Embedded Crossword. You can play without creating an account, and playing does not require you to give us any personal information. Your puzzle progress is saved in your own browser's local storage so you can pick up where you left off; it stays on your device and is not transmitted to us.
When your browser loads a puzzle, it requests it from The Good Word's servers. Like any web server, ours receive technical data with that request, such as your IP address, browser type, and the time and puzzle requested. We use this data only to deliver the puzzle, operate the service, and protect it against abuse, and we retain it only for a limited period. We do not use it to build a profile of you or to track you across websites, and we do not use Embedded Crosswords to set advertising or analytics cookies.
Embedded Crosswords may appear on websites operated by our publisher customers. Those websites are governed by their operators' own privacy policies; this policy covers only the processing we perform to serve the puzzle.
If you use the Platform. When you create a Platform account, we collect information such as your name, email address, organization details, and account credentials. If you purchase a paid plan, payment is handled by our payment processor; we receive information such as your billing details and transaction history, but we do not store full card numbers. We also collect the publication addresses you connect and the settings you choose, and we keep records of support and service communications with you.
Content from connected publications. The Platform reads publicly published content from the publications our customers connect in order to analyze it and generate crosswords. That content may incidentally include personal data appearing in published material, such as names of people mentioned in articles or author bylines. We process this content solely to provide the service to the customer who connected the publication, as described in Section 11.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
Provide the Site, the Platform, and Embedded Crosswords;
Analyze connected publications and generate crosswords for the relevant customer;
Respond to your inquiry and communicate with you about a potential project, engagement, or product;
Administer Platform accounts, subscriptions, and billing;
Measure the effectiveness of our advertising; and
Maintain the security and proper functioning of our services.
4. Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:
Contact form data: our legitimate interest in responding to inquiries and, where relevant, taking steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
Google Ads conversion cookies: your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
Platform account, subscription, and billing data: the performance of our contract with you.
Technical data received when serving Embedded Crosswords: our legitimate interest in delivering, operating, and securing the service.
Crossword progress stored on your device: this information is not transmitted to us. The storage itself is used solely to provide functionality you have requested.
Content from connected publications: the performance of our contract with the customer who connected the publication, acting on that customer's instructions.
5. Cookies and Local Storage
The Site uses cookies and similar technologies for three purposes: those strictly necessary to operate the Site, browser local storage used to save your crossword progress on your device, and the Google Ads conversion cookies described in Section 2. The Platform dashboard uses strictly necessary cookies to keep you signed in and secure your session.
Local storage for crosswords is used solely to provide functionality you request — saving your progress — and is not used to track you.
Non-essential cookies, including the Google Ads conversion cookies, are only set where required consent has been obtained. You can manage or withdraw consent through the Site's cookie controls, and you can opt out of personalized Google advertising at any time through Google's Ads Settings (https://adssettings.google.com) and review Google's practices at https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads.
6. Sharing and Service Providers
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.
We do rely on a small number of service providers who process data on our behalf so our services can function:
Amazon Web Services, which hosts the Site and the servers that receive contact-form submissions, and Postmark, which relays those submissions to our email inbox;
our email provider, through which we receive and store your inquiries;
Google, which provides the advertising conversion measurement described above;
the cloud infrastructure providers that host The Good Word's servers and store Platform data;
AI service providers whose models we use to analyze publication content and assist in generating puzzles and clues; and
our payment processor, which handles Platform billing.
These providers may only process your information to provide services to us, and may not use it for their own purposes except as described in their own policies. We may also disclose information where required by law.
7. Data Retention
We retain contact-form inquiries for as long as needed to respond to you and, where a working relationship develops, for the duration of that relationship and a reasonable period afterward.
We retain Platform account data for as long as your account is active, and afterward only as needed to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. Content from a connected publication, and the puzzles generated from it, are retained while the customer's account remains active or until the publication is disconnected or deletion is requested.
Technical data received when serving Embedded Crosswords is retained only for a limited period for security and operational purposes.
We do not receive or retain your crossword progress; it remains on your device until you clear your browser's stored data. After the periods above, we delete or anonymize information unless we are legally required to keep it.
8. International Data Transfers
Some of our service providers, including Google, our cloud infrastructure providers, and our AI service providers, are based in or process data in the United States, so personal data may be processed outside the European Economic Area. Where this occurs, such transfers are covered by safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, or an applicable adequacy decision.
9. Your Rights
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data, the right to data portability, and the right to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. If your request concerns personal data contained in a customer's published content, we may forward your request to that customer, who controls that content.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. In the Netherlands, this is the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl).
If you are a California resident, you may have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, delete, and opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law.
10. Children's Privacy
The Site and Embedded Crosswords are intended for a general audience and are not directed at children under 16. The Platform is intended for businesses and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
11. Our Role for Publication Content
The Good Word generates crosswords from content that our customers have already published. For that content, the customer remains responsible for what they publish; we act as the customer's service provider, processing the content on the customer's instructions and only to provide the service. Our agreement with each customer governs that processing. For all other personal data described in this policy — Site visitors, crossword players, and Platform account holders — Mad Science Software is the controller.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Effective date" above. Material changes will be reflected on this page.
13. Contact
For any questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your rights, contact us at:
Mad Science Software B.V. Attn: James Youngquist james@madsciencesoftware.dev