Privacy

Short version: no accounts, no cookies, no ads, no selling of data. Our games run in your browser. We count visits and game events without cookies so we can make the games better. If you connect a Twitch channel, we note that channel's public name with the trip.

Who we are

Rowdycade is the independent studio behind this site. For anything about your data, write to hello@rowdycade.com.

What happens when you play

• Hosting. The site is served by Cloudflare. Like any web host, it processes your IP address and basic request data to deliver the pages and protect the site from abuse. See Cloudflare's privacy policy.
• Wikipedia. Hyperlink Highway loads articles straight from Wikipedia's public API in your browser. Wikipedia (the Wikimedia Foundation) receives these requests, including your IP address, just as when you visit Wikipedia. See the Wikimedia privacy policy.
• Twitch chat. If you enter a Twitch channel, your browser opens a read-only connection to that channel's public chat to count votes. No Twitch login is needed. Chat messages are handled only in your browser; they are not stored and not sent to us. Twitch receives the connection, including your IP address. See the Twitch privacy notice.
• Phone rooms. If a host opens a room, the host's browser and every phone that joins connect to our room server, which runs on Cloudflare and passes messages between them live. A phone sends its nickname, its votes and a random player ID; the host sends the game state, such as the current article and the signs. There are no accounts, and we keep no database of rooms or messages: the room server only passes them on while the room is open. Cloudflare processes connection data, including your IP address, to deliver the messages. See Cloudflare's privacy policy. Nicknames are shown to everyone in the room and on the host's screen, which may be on a live stream, so pick a nickname, not your real name.
• Storage on your device. We use your browser's storage, not cookies. It never leaves your device, and you can delete it by clearing site data in your browser. Local storage keeps game settings (for example sound and effects, and whether a phone plays sounds when you vote). When a host page is reloaded or closed during a trip, it also keeps that trip and its room (route, progress, room code and the Twitch channel you entered) so you can continue within 5 minutes; after that it is no longer used and the next trip replaces it. Session storage, which is cleared when you close the tab, keeps a random ID for the tab and, on a phone, your player ID and nickname for the room you joined, so a reload brings you back in.

Analytics

We use Umami, a privacy-friendly analytics service, with data stored in the EU (Frankfurt). Umami uses no cookies, does not track you across sites and does not store your IP address. It records pages viewed, the referring site, browser, device type and country, plus game events such as a trip started or finished, the route, the difficulty, whether a phone room was open, rough group sizes (ranges such as "2-5" for phones in a room or Twitch viewers who voted, never exact numbers), your rating of a route and clicks on our support link. Stats are kept for a limited time (currently up to 6 months).

Twitch channels. If you connect a Twitch channel, the "trip started" event includes that channel's name, which is already public. We use it only to see which streams play our games, for example to find great moments to share or to get in touch. Anyone can enter any channel, so a name in our stats does not prove the channel's owner played. We never record viewers' names, chat messages, nicknames or room codes.

Feedback and email

If you choose to send feedback, the form is run by Tally, and we receive what you type in it. If you email us, Cloudflare forwards the message to our Proton Mail inbox, and we use your address only to reply. We delete feedback and emails on request.

Support

If you choose to support us, Buy Me a Coffee processes the payment under its own privacy policy. Card details go to its payment processor, never to us. We receive what Buy Me a Coffee shares with creators about a supporter, which can include the name, email address and message you give it, and use it only to thank you and to keep the records the law requires.

Why we process data

Hosting, the game's connections to Wikipedia and Twitch, the phone rooms, and analytics are needed to run and improve the site (our legitimate interest). Recording the name of a connected Twitch channel is also based on our legitimate interest in knowing which streams use our games; you can object at any time by writing to us, and we will delete it. Feedback, email and support are up to you: you send them only if you want to.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, to object to its use, and to complain to a data protection authority. Since we hold almost nothing that identifies you, this mostly concerns feedback, emails and Twitch channel names in our stats. Write to hello@rowdycade.com.

Children

Our games are not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

When we add features that use data in new ways, we update this page and the date at the top.