Some of the games were extremely popular on Facebook for several years before the company says it tightened its controls on how much data app companies could download. Zynga has long been one of the world's largest providers of online games, also including popular titles like Farmville, Cityville, and Zynga Poker. Words With Friends was created in 2009 and became one of the first widely popular social media games for mobile devices. That information is retained for as long as the player's account is open, and in some cases even longer. If you access the service through Facebook, Zynga may also collect information about your Facebook friends, the email address you use with Facebook, your birthday, and more.
The company encourages users to share their phone contacts, and it may collect location data through users' smartphones. 'Zynga does not collect your passwords for Facebook, Android, or iOS, and we have no indication that this information was involved in the event,' the company wrote.Ī close reading of Zynga's privacy policy suggests that the company collects far more information than your favorite high-value, five-letter words.
Though the hacker reportedly gained access to millions of Facebook IDs, Zynga says that Facebook passwords were not stolen. If you used your Words With Friends password for any other online account, it's prudent to change the password there, as well.
