Hosted Games LLC’s privacy policy governs how we collect, manage, and use your private data. We ask you for certain data so that we can improve our customer service, marketing, and technical operations. We’re careful to limit our use of your private data to ways that we think are consistent with what you would want us to do. This policy outlines the specifics of our approach.
What Data We Collect
As part of the ordinary operation of our websites, apps, and advertisements, we collect various non-individually specific pieces of data, such as but not limited to what sort of browser you’re using, what link you followed to get to our website or to get to the store page of an external website from which you purchased one of our apps, and information about the device on which you accessed our website or apps. We also may retain server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server.
We request that you provide us with an e-mail address to register on our forums, to manage your saved games, and to provide you with a unique identifier for our internal use. We also ask for your e-mail address under other circumstances; if and only if you specifically ask that your e-mail address be used to provide you with more information about our forthcoming games and products, we may add you to our mailing list (see below).
Our forums also request that you provide us with your name if you choose to register, but you may provide us with a pseudonym if you prefer. We do not require your full legal name to post on our forums.
Your e-mail address may be verified by an email containing a unique link. If that link is visited, we know that you control the e-mail address.
We ask your browser to accept cookies that are used to manage the state of your game. Those cookies could be used to provide us with non-individually specific data about how you use our games and website.
If you affirmatively send us e-mail or other direct communications, we retain data about those communications. We may use that data to respond directly to you in personal communications. We never use that data to add addresses to our mailing list without a specific request from you that we do so.
Collecting Credit Card Information
When purchasing games directly on our website using a credit card, we’ll ask you to provide your email address, the name on your credit card, your credit card number, expiration date, and security code.
We use a trusted PCI-compliant third-party (currently Stripe as of August 22, 2014) to handle and charge credit card data. We never have direct access to your credit card number; we cannot and do not retain it.
At your preference, you may allow Stripe to retain your credit card number, according to their privacy policy.
What We Do With That Data
We use general information about the use of our website and apps to improve their functioning; to make decisions about how to advertise and market our apps; and to increase user satisfaction.
We maintain a mailing list of e-mails; we take special precautions to make sure that your e-mail is only ever added to that mailing list if you specifically request that it be added, and that the mailing list is used responsibly to promote our products and not to spam you.
If you provide your e-mail to us and request that you be added to our mailing list, we send you (either directly or through a trusted third-party intermediary—MailChimp as of August 22, 2014) a confirmation e-mail asking if you want to be added to our mailing list. We never add e-mails to our mailing list without (A) a specific request that they be added and (B) a confirmation from that e-mail address that its owner wishes to be added. If you confirm that you want to be added to our mailing list, we periodically send you updates about new releases by Hosted Games LLC (again, either directly or through a trusted third-party intermediary such as MailChimp). We may on occasion inform you about other products or offers that we, in our uncompensated editorial discretion, believe that you would be interested in. We might, for example, tell you about games produced by other companies that are similar to ours, or about e-books written by authors who have also written Hosted Games LLC games. We never accept payment to include messages about other products in our e-mails. We never sell our mailing list or provide our mailing list to external companies, except for the trusted companies that we use to administer the list.
If you provide your e-mail to us solely to manage your saved games or for similar purposes, we use it only as an identifier for those purposes. We never send e-mail to it, accept as directly requested by you. We never sell it. We never add it to our mailing list.
If you affirmatively send us an e-mail or other direct communication, we may use your e-mail address to respond directly to you, but we never add it to our mailing list without your direct request, and we never sell it.
How Long We Retain Your Data
We will make a good faith effort to:
* Retain server logs containing the IP address of all requests to this server no more than 90 days.
* Retain the IP addresses associated with registered users and their posts no more than 5 years.
* Retain the IP addresses associated with purchases on our website no more than 20 years.
We never have direct access to your credit card number; we cannot and do not retain it.
Changing or Deleting Your Data
You may contact us regarding any questions or comments regarding this Privacy Policy or with any request to change or delete your personal data by emailing us at [email protected]. If we delete your personal data, your account may become deactivated. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we reserve the right to decline requests that are unreasonable or excessive, where changing or deleting information would be prohibited by law or could adversely affect the privacy or other rights of others, or where we are unable to authenticate you as the person to whom the information relates.
What We Will Never Do With Your Data
We will never sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our site, conducting our business, or serving you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
Our Sister Companies, Choice of Games LLC and Hearts Choice LLC
The staff of Hosted Games LLC also work as the staff of Choice of Games LLC and Hearts Choice LLC. Choice of Games LLC and Hearts Choice LLC are owned by the same people who own Hosted Games LLC. While the companies are legally distinct, we share information between Hosted Games LLC, Hearts Choice LLC, and Choice of Games LLC without restriction. Choice of Games LLC and Hearts Choice LLC also abides by the terms of Hosted Games LLC’s privacy policy.
Third Party links
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our site. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance
Our site, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older. If you are under the age of 13, per the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), do not use this site.
Online Privacy Policy Only
This online privacy policy applies only to information collected through our site and not to information collected offline.
Your Consent
By using our site, you consent to our web site privacy policy.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page.