Legal

Privacy and Cookie Policy

Last updated November 8, 2026

Welcome to Playhatch ("we", "our", "us"), operated by {COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME} (Company Number {COMPANY_NUMBER}), registered office {REGISTERED_OFFICE}. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR"), the Data Protection Act 2018, and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation ("EU GDPR"). This Privacy and Cookie Policy ("Policy") explains how we collect, use, store, transfer, and safeguard your personal data when you use playhatch-demo.duckdns.org ("Site"). By visiting or using the Site, including account creation, browsing, or purchasing digital products, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy.

1. Introduction

1.1 Welcome to Playhatch ("we", "our", "us"), operated by {COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME} (Company Number {COMPANY_NUMBER}), registered office {REGISTERED_OFFICE}.

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in accordance with:

The UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR");
The Data Protection Act 2018;
Where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation ("EU GDPR").

This Privacy and Cookie Policy ("Policy") explains how we collect, use, store, transfer, and safeguard your personal data when you use playhatch-demo.duckdns.org ("Site").

1.2 By visiting or using the Site, including account creation, browsing, or purchasing digital products, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide. When creating an account, placing an order, or contacting support, we may collect:

Display name and username
Email address
Password (we store only a salted one-way hash of it, never the password itself)
If you sign in with Google, GitHub or Discord: the name, email address and profile picture of that account, and the identifier the provider gives it
Profile details you choose to add: avatar, banner image, biography, website and social links
Ratings, reviews, comments and reports you post, and the creators you follow
For creators: the games you upload with their files, images and descriptions, the email addresses of people you invite to your team, and the private payout email address where payouts should be sent
Your creator plan, payments, earnings and payout history
Email notification preferences
Records of the terms you accepted when creating an account, signing in or choosing a paid plan (the date and the version of the terms)
Payment-related details (processed by secure third-party providers)
Communications with support

You can play every game on the Site without an account and without giving us any personal data.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically. We automatically collect certain technical and usage data, including:

IP address
Device type
Operating system
Browser type
Pages visited
Time spent on pages
Clickstream data
Sign-in records for each active session, including the date, time, IP address and browser
Game statistics: game page views, game starts, play time, completions and device type, stored against a pseudonymous identifier and never against your IP address

2.3 Information from Third Parties. We may receive limited data from:

Sign-in providers you choose to use (Google, GitHub or Discord)
Payment processors

This data is used strictly for signing you in, transaction processing, fraud prevention, and legal compliance.

Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contractual necessity – to process purchases and manage your account.
Legal obligation – to comply with tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
Legitimate interests – to maintain security, prevent fraud, and improve services.
Consent – for marketing communications and non-essential cookies.

4. Use of Information

We use your data to:

Process creator plan payments and apply your plan to your account
Manage your account and show your public profile, games, ratings, reviews and comments
Let creators publish games and see aggregated statistics about how their games are played
Calculate creator earnings and send payouts
Send the account emails and the notification emails you choose in Settings
Provide customer support
Review games and handle reports under our Content Guidelines
Prevent fraud and unauthorized access
Improve platform functionality

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device to improve functionality, security, and analytics.

You may manage cookie preferences via your browser settings or our cookie banner.

Disabling certain cookies may affect Site functionality.

5.1 Main Cookies Used on the Site. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the main cookies used on our Site:

5.1.1 Cookie Name: gp.session_token (named __Secure-gp.session_token on secure connections). Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Keeps you signed in; it cannot be read by scripts on the page and is sent only to our own server. Duration: 30 days, renewed while you use the Site, or until you sign out.

5.1.2 Cookie Name: gp.state. Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Protects sign-in with Google, GitHub or Discord against request forgery, and is set only when you use one of them. Duration: 5 minutes.

5.1.3 Cookie Name: gp_policy_consent. Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Carries your acceptance of our Terms and Conditions through sign-in with Google, GitHub or Discord so that we can record it. Duration: 10 minutes.

5.1.4 Cookie Name: gp_consent. Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Remembers your cookie choices and the version of this Policy you made them under. Duration: 1 year.

5.1.5 Cookie Name: gp_ws. Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Remembers which studio you are working for on the creator dashboard, and is set only for team members who switch studio. Duration: 1 year.

5.1.6 Cookie Name: gp_vid. Provider: Playhatch. Purpose: Anonymous analytics, set only if you allow analytics cookies: a random identifier that lets creators count unique players and stops a page refresh from counting as a new play. We store only a keyed hash of it and never share it. If you do not allow it, we count visits without cookies, using a one-way hash of your IP address and browser combined with a random value that changes every day and is then deleted. Duration: 13 months.

5.1.7 Cookie Name: game saves. Provider: the creator of each game. Purpose: Games run on a separate, isolated domain and may keep save data in your browser storage for that game only; they cannot read our cookies or your account data. Duration: Set by each game, until you clear site data.

We may update this table periodically to reflect changes in cookies or service providers.

6. Data Protection and Storage

6.1 Security Measures. We implement:

SSL encryption
Secure authentication mechanisms
Restricted internal access controls
Fraud detection systems

6.2 Data Retention. We retain personal data only as long as necessary for:

Contract performance
Legal and tax compliance
Dispute resolution
Fraud prevention

Sign-in records are deleted when you sign out, or automatically once a session has gone 30 days without use. Raw game statistics are deleted after 400 days; only daily and monthly totals, which identify no one, are kept. Read notifications are deleted after 90 days and unread ones after a year. Your account, profile, published content and consent records are kept until you ask us to delete your account. Records of payments, earnings and payouts are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires.

When no longer required, data is securely deleted or anonymized.

7. International Data Transfers

Where data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards such as:

Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
Transfers to countries with adequacy decisions
Contractual and technical protections

You have the following rights:

Right of access – to obtain a copy of your personal data.
Right to rectification – to correct inaccurate data.
Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten").
Right to restrict processing.
Right to data portability.
Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise these rights, contact us using the details below.

We may request verification of identity before fulfilling your request.

9. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe your data protection rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

In the United Kingdom, this is:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Website: https://ico.org.uk. Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, United Kingdom.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you may contact your local data protection authority.

We encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve your concern.

10. Data Protection Contact (DPO)

We have appointed a Data Protection Contact responsible for overseeing questions regarding this Policy.

Data Protection Contact, {COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME}, {REGISTERED_OFFICE}. Email: privacy@playhatch-demo.duckdns.org.

11. Children's Privacy

The Site is not intended for individuals under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If such data is identified, it will be promptly deleted.

We may share personal data:

With payment providers for transaction processing
With the companies that host the Site, store its files and send its emails on our behalf
With payout services, such as PayPal or Wise, when we send a creator payout
With other users, who can see your public profile, published games, ratings, reviews and comments; creators see only aggregated statistics about their games
With fraud prevention services
When legally required

We do not sell or rent personal data to third parties.

13. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy and Cookie Policy periodically.

The latest version will always be available on the Site. Continued use of the Site constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy.

14. Contact Information

For general inquiries:

{COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME}, {REGISTERED_OFFICE}.

Email: info@playhatch-demo.duckdns.org. Support: support@playhatch-demo.duckdns.org.