Privacy

A nickname, the buddy picture you pick, and your progress: lessons, puzzles, games, XP, streaks, badges and settings. You don't need an email, a password or an account.

All of it stays in this browser, on this device. It is never sent to us, and we can't see it.

• No ads, and no ad or tracking tools.
• No analytics about what you do in the app.
• No chat and no way for strangers to contact you.
• We never sell or share anyone's information.

The other players in your weekly league are computer characters, marked "Rival". Nobody else sees your name or your score.

"Challenge a friend" makes a link that holds the puzzle. Only you decide who gets it. The learner's nickname is added to the link only if a grown-up turns on "Name on challenge links" under Profile → For grown-ups. It is off unless someone turns it on.

Ollie's voice is a recording that comes from this website. If a recording is missing, your browser's own voice reads the text instead. Some browsers use an online voice service for this, so check your browser's settings if that matters to you.

Like any website, the server that delivers Hootmate may keep standard technical logs, such as IP addresses and the pages requested, to keep the service running and secure. These logs never include progress. A challenge link is a web address, so if a grown-up allows names on links, the nickname in that address can appear in these logs when someone opens it.

Under Profile → For grown-ups you can set a daily time limit, turn off streak reminders, choose whether names appear on shared links, reset a learner, or delete everything on this device. Clearing this site's data in your browser also removes it all.

If we add accounts or anything else that changes how information is handled, we'll update this page first and ask a parent for permission before collecting anything about a child.