Privacy and Terms of Use

What applies to me?

All visitors to The Griddle should know that The Griddle takes user privacy seriously. As such, here is a disclosure of some of the services The Griddle uses to better tailor puzzle offerings to visitors:

Browser Cookies — some of which are used for features and their functionality here on The Griddle, and some of which come from third-parties like Google or Facebook, for remarketing around the web or for sharing your social media interactions with your social media accounts. (You can go to the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page to opt out of the use of those cookies.)

The above items apply to all users of The Griddle.

The following used to be used on The Griddle but are not anymore:

Google Analytics — for determining popular puzzles, how users found The Griddle, site feature usage, and more.
Google Adwords — including the remarketing feature, so you may end up seeing ads for puzzle goods from The Griddle elsewhere on the web.
Clicktale — to see what parts of pages on the site are most used and viewed, and to better tailor the site to users' needs.
Social Media Buttons — including Facebook, Twitter, and others.

Accounts and Personal Information

Having an account and profile on The Griddle allows you to save/share your favorite puzzles, mark puzzles you have solved, earn badges and prize puzzle tickets, and unlock content through entering codes. It may also be used to mark favorites and solved puzzles on other puzzle sites where The Griddle's API is used.

If you sign up for an account on The Griddle, the following give an outline of data stored and how it is used.

For Account Access

A username for you.
A password for you (that gets encrypted before being stored).
Your email address.

Puzzle-Solving Data

Offsite puzzles marked solved using your account, along with a server timestamp from when you marked the puzzle solved. This data is generally not shared publicly, but it may be used and/or displayed publicly by the webmaster and a small number of trusted API users to give solvers credit, give awards, or to conduct drawings at our discretion.
Puzzles from The Griddle you have marked as solved, in order to help you keep track and for customizing your view of the home page.
A few settings related to customizing the home page of The Griddle. (Your favorite category, and whether you see all recent puzzles, or only the ones you have not solved.)

E-mail Address Usage

Password resets when you cannot log in.
Security-related messages.
Connecting with APIs from other puzzle sites to display solving stats on your profile.
An encrypted version is used to display your Gravatar on your profile, the user menu, and next to your comments.

Your Public Profile

Badges and Tickets you've earned.
Favorites from The Griddle you've picked.
Offsite favorites you've picked with your account from The Griddle.
Profile sections you've written.
Your Gravatar if you have one.
Puzzle competition statistics from partners in the puzzle community. This currently includes Logic Masters India and the United Kingdom Puzzle Association. (Matching is based on your registered e-mail address. It is sent only as an API request and not shared publicly on your profile.)

I (Dave) just ask a few things from you:

You agree not to use The Griddle profiles/accounts to do anything hurtful, harmful, or illegal, and agree not to try to break profiles/accounts or anything else on or related to The Griddle.
If you're a member of other puzzle sites that share an API/data with The Griddle or use The Griddle's API, be cool and follow their terms of service as well.
Remember to only enter your account username and password here on The Griddle, even if using your account to mark favorites or solved puzzles on another site. When in doubt, only log in at thegriddle.net, and contact dave@davegoesthedistance.com with any account concerns you have.

Dave will…

… protect the information saved to the best of it's abilities — i.e. not give/sell/lease/whatever it to third parties and take reasonable measures to encrypt data and keep it out of the hands of bad guys.
… provide this service as-is and cannot be held responsible for any issues that arise beyond our control.
… sometimes give away free stuff to users who have entered codes and received tickets. More information on the relationship between The Griddle and the source of the free stuff can be found on the disclosure page.
… honor a request by e-mail to delete your account and its related data when sent to dave@davegoesthedistance.com. Deletions are performed manually, but your request will receive attention as soon as humanly possible.

Associations and Affiliations

Still need more info?

This privacy statement and terms of use may change in the future, and if you continue using your account from The Griddle, either on The Griddle or by interacting with its widgets and API on other sites, it is considered acceptance of the new terms. This was last updated August 15, 2019.

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