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Serai Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 November 2026

Serai is a vocabulary word-search game for iPhone, published by Cateira. This policy explains, in plain words, what happens to your data when you play.

1. Who we are

The data controller for Serai, as defined by the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is:

If you have any question about this policy or your data, write to us at the email address above.

2. What Serai does with data, feature by feature

Your progress and settings

Serai remembers your game so you can carry on where you left off. It stores, only on your iPhone, in a small database inside the app:

• your chosen languages, level, interface language, theme and other settings (sound, haptics, reduced motion, daily reminder on/off and time);
• your learning progress: which words you have practised and when they are due again, the rounds you have played (date and time, stars, score, hints used), your progress through topics and worlds, your coins, your streak, and the level badges you have earned.

This data never leaves your device through Serai. We cannot see it, and nobody else can through us.

Like all app data on iPhone, it may be included in your device backups (iCloud Backup, or a backup to your computer) if you have those turned on. Those backups are managed by you and Apple, not by us.

Backups you export yourself

In the Me tab you can export your progress as a file (wordhunt-progress-<date>.json). It contains the progress and settings described above, plus the app version and the time of export. The file is handed to the iOS share sheet, and you decide where it goes (for example Files, AirDrop or an email to yourself). We never receive it.

When you import a backup, you pick the file yourself with the iOS file picker. Serai reads only that one file, checks it, and replaces the progress on your phone with its contents.

Sharing a result image

After a round you can share a picture of your result together with a short text. This uses the iOS share sheet, and only what you see is shared, with whoever or whatever you choose. Serai does not send it anywhere by itself, and we do not receive a copy.

Daily reminders

If you turn on the daily reminder, Serai schedules local notifications on your iPhone at the time you choose. iOS asks for your permission first, and you can change this at any time in the Me tab or in the iPhone Settings app. To fire the reminder at the right local time, Serai reads your device's time-zone setting on the phone. No push server is involved and nothing is sent to us.

Pronunciation (text-to-speech)

When you tap the speaker button, the word is spoken by the voices built into iOS (Apple's on-device speech synthesis). Serai only asks iOS which voices are installed so it can show the button for languages that have one. Serai does not use the microphone and does not record anything.

Game Center achievements

If you are signed in to Game Center on your iPhone, Serai reports the level badges you earn as Game Center achievements, and you can open Game Center's achievements screen from the Me tab. Serai never asks you to sign in: if you are not signed in, nothing is reported and the game works the same. What is reported is only which achievements you have completed. Game Center is a service of Apple; see section 4.

Purchases

Serai offers an optional one-time in-app purchase, the expedition “The Taklamakan Crossing”. Purchases are made through the App Store. Apple handles the payment and your payment details; we never see them. The app only learns from Apple whether the purchase exists on your Apple Account, so it can unlock the content. See section 4.

Content in the app

The dictionary and all interface texts are built into the app. Serai does not download content and does not connect to any server of ours. Serai has no server.

3. What Serai does NOT collect

Serai does not:

• ask you to create an account, or ask for your name, email address, age or any other personal details;
• run any servers of its own or send your progress anywhere;
• include analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or tracking tools, or any third-party SDK that collects data;
• show ads, or track you across other apps and websites;
• use your location, contacts, photos, camera or microphone;
• create or use advertising identifiers or device identifiers;
• sell or share your data with anyone (there is nothing to sell).

4. Apple services

Some features rely on services that Apple provides. When you use them, Apple processes data under its own terms and its privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy.

• Game Center: sign-in, your Game Center profile and your achievements are handled by Apple. We do not receive your Game Center identity or friends list. You can sign out or change your Game Center settings in the iPhone Settings app.
• App Store and in-app purchases: buying the app or “The Taklamakan Crossing”, payment, refunds and receipts are handled by Apple. We do not receive your payment information. Apple may provide us with general, aggregated sales reports, which do not identify you.
• Family Sharing: if Family Sharing is available for a purchase and you use it, Apple decides who in your family group can use the purchase. We are not involved and receive no information about your family.
• Crash reports and app analytics from Apple: if you have chosen in your iPhone settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may provide us with crash reports and aggregated usage statistics. Apple controls this; it is off unless you turn it on, and you can change it at any time under Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements.

5. Keeping and deleting your data

• Your progress and settings stay on your iPhone for as long as the app is installed.
• Deleting Serai from your iPhone deletes all of its data, including your progress, settings and scheduled reminders. Because we do not have a copy, we cannot restore it for you, so export a backup first if you want to keep your progress.
• Backup files you exported are yours. They remain wherever you saved or sent them until you delete them.
• Achievements reported to Game Center are kept by Apple. You can manage them through Apple (see section 4).

6. Children

Serai does not have accounts and does not collect personal data from anyone, including children. The age rating of the app is shown on its App Store page, as set in App Store Connect. Game Center and purchases for children are subject to Apple's parental controls and Family Sharing settings, such as Screen Time and Ask to Buy.

7. Your rights under the FADP and the GDPR

Whether you are in Switzerland, the European Union or the European Economic Area, you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• have it corrected or deleted;
• restrict or object to its processing;
• receive it in a portable format;
• withdraw any consent you have given, at any time;
• lodge a complaint with a data protection authority: in Switzerland the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), in the EU or EEA the supervisory authority of the country where you live or work.

Because Serai does not collect personal data and we do not hold any data about you, in practice there is usually nothing for us to provide, correct or delete: your data is on your device and under your control. You can delete it at any time by deleting the app, and you can take it with you at any time with the export in the Me tab. For data processed by Apple (Game Center, App Store, Family Sharing), please contact Apple, as described in Apple's privacy policy. If you have any question, write to us at chris@getserai.app and we will be glad to help.

8. Changes to this policy

If Serai changes in a way that affects your privacy, for example a new feature that needs data, we will update this policy and change the effective date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also tell you in the app or in the App Store release notes before it takes effect.

9. Contact