How we use your details

What we collect on this website

• Your email address, when you ask to hear about a game launch or ask for the hunt in your town.
• Which game you asked about, or the town you typed in.
• Whether you ticked the box to hear about other new games.
• The time you signed up and the page you were on, so we can show we have your consent.
• If you use the contact form: your name if you give it, your email and your message, used only to reply to you.
• Our forms use Google reCAPTCHA to check that a person, not a bot, is sending them. Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply to it.
• Our forms use a hidden check to stop bots, and nothing else.
• We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages and games people look at, so we know what to build next. It sees your browser, rough location (city level) and the pages you visit, never your email or your answers. It also counts game purchases: which game and the price, never who bought it. We do not use it for advertising.

If you make a player account

• Your email and a password. The password is stored scrambled (hashed), so nobody can read it, us included.
• Your scoreboard name. It is the only part of your account anyone else sees, so a nickname is fine.
• Your saved progress in each game: the stops you have solved and when, your attempts, hints used and time taken.
• While you are signed in, the server keeps your IP address and browser type with your session to protect the account. They go when you sign out or the session ends.
• A sign-in history: when you sign in, we note the time, how you signed in (email or Google) and the kind of device, for example "iPhone Safari". Never your IP address or where you are. It helps us spot someone else using your account, and we keep it for 12 months.
• A list of the emails we send you: the subject, when, and whether it went, kept for 12 months so we can help if one goes missing. We never keep what the email said, so no password reset link is stored.
• If you continue with Google, Google confirms your email address to us. We get nothing else from your Google account, and your Google name is never put on a scoreboard.
• If you buy a game, our payment provider Stripe takes the payment. We receive your email, the game, the amount, the date and a link to your receipt, and never your card number. Stripe's privacy policy applies to the payment itself.
• If you scan one of our printed QR codes, we count the scan: which code, when, and whether it was an iPhone, an Android phone or something else. Never who you are, your IP address or where you are.
• If you play Today's puzzle, we keep an anonymous result: which puzzle, the day, how long it took, any wrong tries, whether you gave up, the kind of device, and any stars or tags you give it. Never your name, account, IP address or location.
• If you collect the Found it in the wild badge, your account keeps which of our clue codes you found and when. It is in Download my data.
• If you buy a gift card, we keep the email you paid with (to send the code), the amount, and the names and message you put on the card. When the card is redeemed, we keep which account redeemed it and when, and the account's balance history.
• A play record: when you open each game, the stops you solve and when, your finish times, and any stop where you used the way round GPS or a sensor (for example skipping the compass), so we can find and fix a stop that does not work on some phones, and your purchases and refunds. It keeps your account running and lets us check a refund request fairly. Starting a game again does not erase it, and it is in Download my data. It holds no location and no IP address.
• You can delete your account and everything saved with it from the account page at any time. Records of purchases are kept, separated from your account, for as long as tax law requires, and the play record for any game you bought stays with that purchase, without your account, so a payment dispute can still be answered. That play record is deleted five years after the account is.
• If your account has not been used for three years and holds no purchases or balance, we email you and close it 30 days later unless you sign in. Accounts with games you bought or money on the balance are kept.
• Your sign-in history and the list of emails we sent you are in Download my data, with everything else we keep.

In our games

• Ratings and comments. When you rate a game at the end, we keep your stars, any tags and comment, how long you played, whether you played solo or in a team, and the kind of device. If you are signed in, the rating is linked to your account. If not, it is linked to a random number your phone makes up, which we store scrambled. Rating the same game again replaces your earlier rating. Comments are emailed to us so a person reads them.
• Stopping spam. We also keep your connection's IP address, scrambled with a secret key so it cannot be read back. It is used only to stop the same person flooding the ratings.
• If you delete your account, your rating stays in that game's average, with your name and account removed.
• Teams. A team lead's phone makes a team code that lasts 12 hours. Teammates who join with it get the team's finish on their own account and leaderboard spot.
• Guests in a team room. Someone without an account can join a team room as a guest. A guest shares only a display name, one of our fun names or a short nickname and never a real name, and nothing is kept: no account, no email, no scoreboard place and no Passport stamp. The name is deleted within a day of the room closing.
• Photos. Photos you take in a game stay on your phone unless you choose to share them.

Party games

Our party games are played in a party room. Murder in the Dark, Snooze Bandit, Spot the Blow-in and Which Would Ya? are free; the Party Pack 01 games need the host to own the pack. To open a room you need a player account. Everyone else joins with the room's QR code or code, signed in or as a guest.

• Guests. Pick a nickname or take one of our fun names. Please don't use your real name. We don't ask guests for an email or anything else, and nothing is saved to a guest: no account, no scores, no history.
• What a room holds while it's open: each player's nickname (or scoreboard name), any secret role or card dealt to them, votes, answers and scores, and in some games short lines that players type (like Two Truths and a Lie).
• Who sees it. Your role and cards show only on your phone. Lines you type show only on the phones in your room, after the host has had a chance to check them, and the host can hide any line. We don't read what's typed, and nothing from a party room is ever shown on our website, scoreboards or social media.
• Filtering. Typed lines go through an automatic filter that also blocks links, email addresses and phone numbers. Keep what you type about you: no addresses, phone numbers, schools or other people's full names.
• How long. Lines you type are deleted when you leave the room or the host removes you, and all of them the moment the party ends: when the host ends it, or when the room closes after 12 hours without play. Roles, cards and votes go when the room closes too (Murder in the Dark roles within a day). Nicknames and scores are deleted within a day of the room closing. Party games add nothing to your account.
• Reports. If a player reports a line, it comes off every phone in the room straight away. We keep a note that a line was reported, in which room and game and when, for two years, so we can look after the games. The line itself is deleted when the room closes. We never record who reported it or who wrote it.
• Security logs and backups. Like every website, our host keeps a security log of connections to the site (the internet address, the type of device and the pages asked for) for about 7 days. It doesn't record what anyone types, their nickname or their votes. Our firewall keeps the address of a device it has blocked for 30 days. Whole-site backups, kept for 30 days so we can recover from a fault, can include a party that was running when the backup was taken.
• If something upsets you, tell the host, who can hide it, and tell us through the contact form. You can also report serious online harm to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au.

Tester applications

If you apply to be a tester, we keep your first name, email, suburb or town, phone type, what you'd like to test, whether you play with kids, and when you applied, so Scott can choose testers. If you're not picked, your application is deleted after 90 days. If you become a tester, it's kept with your player account and deleted with it. Tester access lasts 60 days unless we extend it, and we email you when it ends.

Score emails, news and offers

Score emails from free games. If you give your email when you start a free game, we use it to send your score when you finish, with a link that saves it to a free player account and gives you $2 off your next game. If you don't finish within a day, we send one reminder. We don't make an account unless you tap the link. We keep your email with that game's result for up to 90 days, then delete it; if you tap the link, it moves to your player account instead. We only send news if you tick the separate news box. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

News and offers. If you ticked "Send me news and offers", we also email you news about new games, deals and gift ideas. If you ticked the older box about other new games, we only email you about new games. We keep a record of when, where and with what wording you ticked the box, so we can show you agreed. When you unsubscribe we keep a note that you did, so we don't add you back by mistake. The news box is for people 16 or older.

What we do with it

• A launch alert means one email when that game goes live.
• If you ticked the box, we also email you about other new games. Not often.
• A town request helps us decide where the hunt goes next, and we email you if it comes to your town.
• Every email has an unsubscribe link. Use it and you will not hear from us again.

What we never do

• We do not sell or rent your details, and we do not share them with advertisers.
• We do not track your location on this website. If you tap Near me, your phone works out where you are once, to sort the towns by distance; it is not sent to us or kept. The Test your phone page works the same way: its location, camera, microphone and motion readings stay on your phone, and we only count which tests passed. In a game, your phone uses your location only while you play, to check you in at each stop and show you on the map. We do not keep your route, and your location is not used after you finish.

Where it is kept

Sign-ups and player accounts are stored on our website server. Sign-ups also go to the email service we use to send launch alerts, once one is connected. Your game progress is saved on your phone first and copied to your account when you are signed in.

Questions, corrections or deletion

Send us a message through the contact form and we will show you what we hold, fix it or delete it.

This page covers the website and our games. If a game starts collecting anything new, we add it here first.