← Gloss · TinyKite
Delete your account and data
Gloss by TinyKite · Last updated: 10 October 2026
The short version
Reading in Gloss needs no account. Most people have nothing to delete except the app itself.
- Words and progress on this phone: in Gloss, go to Settings → Grown-ups → Delete your Gloss data → Delete data, or uninstall the app.
- A grown-up’s TinyKite account (only if you chose to sign in): in Gloss, go to Settings → Grown-ups → Delete your TinyKite Account. This also erases the words TinyKite holds for every reader you linked.
- Anonymous signals (a missing word, a problem report, word counts): email support@tinykite.co. They also delete themselves within 180 days.
1. Erase Gloss data from this phone
Words looked up, the “words you’ve met” list, flashcard progress, the reading log, reader profiles and downloaded words are kept on the phone, not in an account.
- Open Gloss and go to Settings → Grown-ups. You’ll be asked a quick grown-ups check first.
- Find Delete your Gloss data and tap Delete data.
- Confirm with Delete Gloss data.
This erases every reader’s words and progress on the phone straight away, whether or not anyone is signed in. If a reader is linked to a household, they are unlinked too and the words TinyKite holds for them are erased. If that part can’t finish (for example, you’re offline), Gloss tells you instead of saying it’s done. It does not delete your TinyKite account.
Uninstalling Gloss also removes everything it keeps on the phone. This cannot be undone. TinyKite never had a copy of an unlinked reader’s words, so we can’t restore them.
The dictionary itself, including the list of words used for suggestions, stays in place. It’s the same for everyone and says nothing about you.
2. Delete your TinyKite account
You only have an account if a grown-up chose to sign in. Gloss works fully without one. One TinyKite account signs you in to every TinyKite app, so deleting it removes it from all of them.
Option 1: In the Gloss app (recommended)
- Open Gloss, go to Settings → Grown-ups and pass the grown-ups check. Make sure you’re signed in.
- Tap Delete your TinyKite Account.
- Confirm with Delete account.
Before anything else, Gloss erases the words TinyKite holds for every reader you linked, plus their reader cards (name, colour and reading level). This includes readers linked from another phone and readers in a household you’ve since left. Only then is the account deleted. If that erasure can’t be done because you’re offline or your session has expired, your account is not deleted and Gloss tells you why, so you can try again.
Option 2: On the web
- Go to accounts.tinykite.co/delete-account and sign in.
- Follow the steps to delete your account.
If you linked any readers, unlink them in the app first (see section 3), or use Option 1. The web page deletes the account but doesn’t erase readers’ synced words. If your account is already gone, email us and we’ll erase them for you.
Option 3: By email
If you can’t sign in, email support@tinykite.co from the address on your account, with the subject “Delete my Gloss account”. We check that the request really comes from the account holder before acting, and we aim to reply within one month. We erase your linked readers’ words and then delete the account.
Timing
The account is switched off straight away and permanently deleted 30 days later. If you sign in again within those 30 days, the deletion is cancelled and you keep the account. Linked readers’ words are erased at the start, before the 30 days begin, and signing back in does not bring them back.
3. Unlink a reader and erase their words
To stop sharing one reader’s words without deleting your account:
- In Gloss, go to Settings → Grown-ups → Linked readers.
- Tap Unlink next to the reader.
- Confirm with Unlink and erase.
Sync stops immediately. TinyKite erases the words it held for that reader (each word, the day it was met, mastery, lookup counts and the meaning shown) and their reader card (name, colour and reading level). Everything on the phone stays as it is.
4. Anonymous signals
If “Help grow the word pack” is on, Gloss sends three anonymous signals: a word we couldn’t answer, a problem you reported, and daily counts of which dictionary words were looked up. None of them carries an account, name, device identifier or time, so we can’t find “your” rows on our own. To have one deleted, email support@tinykite.co and tell us the word, the report, or the counted word and week, and we’ll remove it. Turning the switch off in Settings stops new signals straight away.
What is deleted, what is kept, and for how long
| Data | Where it lives | How it’s deleted | Kept for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Words met, progress, reading log, reader profiles, downloaded words | This phone only | Delete your Gloss data, or uninstall | Until you delete them. Gone immediately. |
| Account (email address, sign-in methods) | TinyKite identity service | Delete your TinyKite Account, on the web, or by email | Switched off at once, permanently deleted after 30 days |
| A linked reader’s synced words and reader card (name, colour, reading level) | TinyKite (Gloss service) | Unlink and erase, account deletion in the app, or Delete your Gloss data | Erased at once |
| Sync device id (only for linked readers) | TinyKite (Gloss service) | Erased with the reader’s synced words | Erased at once |
| Anonymous signals (missing words, problem reports, lookup counts) | TinyKite (Gloss service) | On request to support@tinykite.co | Delete themselves within 180 days |
What may remain
- A record that a reader was linked and later unlinked. It shows which grown-up gave or withdrew consent, and when. It carries no name, words or reading level. We keep it so we can show that consent was respected.
- Limited security and audit logs for the TinyKite account may be kept for a short period, or longer where the law requires, for accountability and fraud prevention.
- Device backups you turned on for the whole phone (for example iCloud or Google backup) can include Gloss’s on-device data. Those backups are yours, and TinyKite never receives them.
Questions
support@tinykite.co · Privacy Policy · Support
Gloss is published by Tiny Kite LTD (company number 16825578, England & Wales).