Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how CluePilot ("we", "our", or "us") collects, uses, and shares information when you use our website at cluepilot.pages.dev (the "Service"). By using the Service you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

When you use the crossword clue solver, you submit clue text, an optional answer length, and an optional letter pattern. This information is transmitted to our backend servers and, on cache misses, to a third-party AI API (see Section 3). We do not ask for your name, email address, or any other personally identifying information to use the solver.

1.2 Automatically Collected Information

Our hosting infrastructure (Cloudflare Pages and Cloudflare Workers) automatically collects standard server-side logs, which may include your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, and the time and date of each request. This data is used for security, rate limiting, and aggregate traffic analysis. We do not run any third-party JavaScript analytics trackers on this site.

1.3 Cookies

We do not set first-party cookies ourselves. However, if you have consented to advertising cookies (see Section 5), Google AdSense may set cookies on your device to serve personalised or contextual advertisements. Please review Google's Privacy Policy for details on how Google uses this data.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide the Service — processing your clue and returning answers.
  • To cache results — storing clue-answer pairs in Cloudflare Workers KV to improve response times for all users who submit the same clue.
  • To enforce rate limits — temporarily storing per-IP request counts (TTL: 2 minutes) to prevent abuse.
  • To aggregate statistics — daily solve and cache-hit counters (no personally identifying data) to understand usage patterns.
  • For security — protecting against bots, scrapers, and denial-of-service attacks.

We do not use your data for profiling, sale, or targeted advertising purposes.

3. Third-Party AI Processing

When you submit a clue (not a pattern-only query), your clue text, optional length, and optional pattern are sent to a third-party AI API — currently DeepSeek (deepseek.com). DeepSeek processes this data to generate candidate answers. We do not send any information that identifies you personally; the request contains only the clue and constraints you typed.

DeepSeek's own privacy policy governs how they handle data sent to their API. We encourage you to review it before using the Service if you have concerns. The AI provider can be changed at any time and we will update this policy accordingly.

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. We may disclose data:

  • To the AI API providers described in Section 3, solely to operate the Service.
  • To Cloudflare, Inc. as our infrastructure provider, under their Privacy Policy.
  • When required by law, regulation, or a valid legal process.
  • In an anonymised, aggregated form that cannot reasonably identify any individual.

5. Advertising (Google AdSense)

CluePilot displays advertisements served by Google AdSense, a service of Google LLC. Google AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to serve advertisements based on your prior 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 our site.

You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ad Settings or by visiting aboutads.info. If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK, or Switzerland, Google will display a consent dialog on your first visit for advertising cookies under applicable data protection law (GDPR / UK GDPR).

6. Your Rights (EEA / UK)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights under GDPR or UK GDPR:

  • Access — request a copy of personal data we hold about you.
  • Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data.
  • Erasure — request deletion of your personal data.
  • Restriction — ask us to limit processing in certain circumstances.
  • Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@cluepilot.app. Note that because we collect minimal personally identifying information, we may be unable to locate data associated with you without an IP address or other identifying detail you provide.

7. Data Retention

Cached clue-answer pairs are stored indefinitely in KV to improve performance. Rate-limiting counters expire automatically after 2 minutes. Server-side request logs are retained by Cloudflare per their own retention policy (typically 30 days for free plans). We do not maintain our own long-term log storage.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has submitted data to us, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be indicated by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

For privacy-related questions or data requests: privacy@cluepilot.app