Privacy policy
Last updated: October 14, 2026
Hushword is made by The Open Apps, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("we", "us"). This policy covers the Hushword plugin in ChatGPT and the website hushword.ambientapp.ai, including the game pages people open on their phones. It explains what we collect, why, who receives it, how long we keep it and how it is deleted.
The short version
- Players don't create an account and don't type a name: they pick an animal.
- A game room holds only the game: who sits in which seat, the votes, the guesses and the scores.
- Rooms are deleted 6 hours after the last activity, or at once when the host closes the room.
- ChatGPT never receives the secret word while a round is being played.
- We don't show ads, sell data, send marketing email, or use analytics or advertising cookies.
What we collect
| What | Where it comes from | Why we need it |
|---|---|---|
| Room settings: mode, language, word category, number of bots | The host, through ChatGPT | To run the game |
| The animal each player picks, and a random seat key for their phone | Each player's phone | To give each phone its own seat and secret word. The phone keeps the key in its local storage; we keep only a scrambled (hashed) copy |
| Votes, the imposter's last guess, ChatGPT's guesses, round results and scores | Players' phones, the host's card in ChatGPT, and ChatGPT | To decide who wins each round and keep the score |
| A scrambled (hashed) form of the anonymous user ID that ChatGPT sends | ChatGPT | So the host's rooms are shown only to them. We never receive the host's name, email address or chat history |
| The language and approximate country ChatGPT shares | ChatGPT | To pick the word language. The country is kept only in technical logs |
| Technical logs: the time, the page or tool used, response codes, errors, the approximate country, the language and app type ChatGPT reports, and scrambled forms of the user, conversation and workspace IDs ChatGPT sends | Your browser or ChatGPT | To keep the service running and secure and to find problems. Logs never contain secret words, guesses, clues, seat keys, room codes or IP addresses |
| Support messages: your email address and message | You | To answer you |
We use your IP address only for a moment, to limit how many requests one device can make. It is scrambled with a key that changes whenever our server restarts, kept in memory for one minute and never written down.
We don't collect names, email addresses (except when you write to support), contacts, photos, precise location or ChatGPT conversations. Players' clues are spoken out loud in the room and never reach us.
About ChatGPT. The host runs the game from ChatGPT, where OpenAI handles the conversation under OpenAI's privacy policy. ChatGPT also hears the clues if you play with ChatGPT Voice.
How we use it
- To run rooms: seat players, deal secret words, collect votes and guesses, and show results.
- To keep the service secure and working, and to answer support requests.
We don't use any of it for advertising, profiling or training AI models.
Who receives it
| Recipient | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The players in the same room | The animals, the clue order, bot clues, vote counts, results and scores; each phone sees its own word | It is their game |
| OpenAI | The room code and link, the players' animals, the clue order, bot clues, how many have voted, ChatGPT's guesses, and after each round the result and the word; and, inside the card in ChatGPT, the host's own seat | So ChatGPT can host or play the game |
| Hetzner Online GmbH | Our servers and database | Hosting |
We may disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect people from harm.
How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Rooms, seats, votes, guesses, results and scores | 6 hours after the last activity in the room, or until the host closes the room, whichever comes first |
| A phone's seat key in its own local storage | Until the room ends; the page deletes it when it sees the game has ended, and you can clear it with your browser's site data |
| Technical logs | 30 days |
| Support emails | 12 months |
Deleting sooner. The host can close a room at any time ("close the room" in ChatGPT); it is deleted at once. A player can leave a room with Leave game on their phone. Anyone can ask us to delete their data at support@theopenapps.com.
Children
Hushword is for ages 13 and up. It is not directed at children under 13, and the word packs are written to be suitable for teens. If you think a child under 13 has given us personal data, email support@theopenapps.com and we will delete it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export your data, or to object to how we use it. Email support@theopenapps.com and we will answer within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Cookies and storage in your browser
Hushword sets no cookies. The game page keeps your seat key in your browser's local storage, on your device only, so a reload doesn't lose your seat.
Security
Connections are encrypted (HTTPS). Each phone's seat key is a long random code, and we store only its scrambled form. The card in ChatGPT uses a key that opens only its own room and expires after 12 hours.
Where data is processed
We are based in the United States. Our servers are run by Hetzner Online GmbH. OpenAI may process data in the United States and other countries, under its own privacy and security commitments. Cloudflare, Inc. runs DNS for our domain name; our traffic does not pass through Cloudflare.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use data we already hold, we will say so on this page before it takes effect.
Contact
The Open Apps, Inc. · by email only: support@theopenapps.com