Privacy policy
The short version
- We collect as little as we can. For an account that's your email address, the username you pick, the games you follow, and your own quest progress and XP.
- Your home stays on your phone. For distance quests we only ever receive how far you are from home, rounded to 100 metres, never where you are or where you live.
- Your steps are only used for quests. We never sell them, never use them for ads, and never share them with sponsors or anyone else.
- Sponsors only see totals, like how many people completed a quest. Never your name, email or anything else that identifies you.
- We never sell your data, never show you ads based on it, and don't use advertising trackers.
- No news emails unless you ask. The box at sign-up starts unticked, and you can switch it off any time.
- Free accounts and under-18s stay private. Members aged 18 and over have a profile, comments and a place on the XP leaderboards that only other adult members can see. There are no private messages between players.
- Memberships are optional. News, reviews and quests are free. If you become a member, Apple or Patreon takes the payment; we never see your card.
- You're in charge. You can see, fix, download or delete your data at any time. Deleting your account removes it straight away.
1. Who we are
The Player Code is an independent gaming media platform based in England. We run this website and The Player Code iPhone app: honest game reviews with a clear verdict (and a Slop label for the low-effort ones), genuine gaming news, release dates and countdowns, quests with XP and levels, Tech Sanctuary setup tips, and our charity work.
For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, or PECR), the controller of your personal data is:
We're a small business, so we haven't appointed a formal Data Protection Officer. Any privacy question comes straight to the person responsible for this policy at privacy@theplayercode.com.
2. What we collect
You can read every review, news story and release list, and search them, without an account, and we don't ask who you are to do it. We only collect personal data in the situations below.
| When | What we collect |
|---|---|
| You create an account | Your email address, the username you choose and your password. Your password is stored by our account provider as a one-way scrambled "hash", so nobody at The Player Code can ever see it. |
| You sign in with Apple (if offered) | The email address Apple shares with us. That can be Apple's private relay address if you choose "Hide My Email". We don't receive your Apple password. |
| You sign in with Google (if you choose it) | Your name, email address and profile picture link from your Google account, so we can make or find your account. We don't receive your Google password, and we don't get access to anything else in your Google account. |
| You choose email updates | Whether you ticked the optional "Email me when the app launches and when there's big news" box at sign-up (it starts unticked), or switched it on or off later, plus when, where (website or app) and the exact words you saw. That's our record of your choice. |
| You use your account | A display name and picture if you choose to add them, the games and studios you follow or save, any short note you add (like "pre-ordered"), and your alert settings. Your account also records whether it's a normal player account or a team (admin) account. |
| You allow notifications in the app while signed in | A device token from Apple for that iPhone, linked to your account, and whether it's a test build. It lets us send news alerts about the games and studios you follow, by the alert level you choose for each. It isn't your phone number or anything that identifies the phone outside our app. It's removed when you log out on that iPhone, when Apple tells us it no longer works, or when you delete your account. |
| You do quests | The quests you're given and your progress on them, the XP you earn and when, your level and streak, your time zone (so your day resets at the right time), your trivia answers and scores, and the start and finish times of stretch breaks and reading quests, including which review or story a reading quest was for. See section 3. |
| You answer the quest questions | Before quests unlock, the app asks what kinds of quests you enjoy, how much time you usually have, and, if you choose to tell us, any access needs: that you use a wheelchair (and whether your Apple Watch is in wheelchair mode), have limited mobility or low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, or would rather not do fitness quests. We also keep which quests you've marked "Not for me". Access needs can reveal health information, so we treat them with extra care. See section 3. |
| You do a step, wheelchair or distance quest | Daily step totals from your iPhone's step counter; if you choose wheelchair quests, daily totals of wheelchair pushes and wheelchair distance from Apple Health; and the furthest distance you've been from your home point that day, rounded down to the nearest 100 metres. Never your location or your home. See section 3. |
| You take part in a sponsored quest or tap a sponsor link | That you viewed, started or completed the quest, or tapped the link, and when. If you're signed out in the app, views and taps are counted against a scrambled version of an identifier Apple gives our app on your phone, so we don't count the same phone twice. It isn't the advertising identifier and can't be linked to other apps. See section 4. |
| You enter or win a prize promotion | Your entry, any code given to you, and if you win and claim, your name, delivery address and anything needed to show you're eligible, such as proof of age. |
| You read a review, story or feature while signed in | Which reviews, stories and features you've read, when, and whether on the app or the website. We use this to give you 1 XP the first time you read each one and to count reading quests. To check a read is real, the app and website note how long the page was open and how far you scrolled, but we keep only whether it counted. Signed-out reading isn't recorded. |
| You react to a review or story | Which reaction you picked (like, laugh, hug, sad, angry or love), on which review or story, and when. Everyone sees the totals, but never who reacted. |
| You suggest a pin for the Leonida map | The spot on our map, the kind of place, the name and any note you add, and when. We keep which account sent it so we can check it, stop spam and give you the XP. Approved pins are shown to everyone who can see players' pins (members, once memberships start), but never who suggested them. Members can also save private pins: only you can see those, and they're never checked or shared. |
| You ask about a Tech Sanctuary consult | Your name, email address, a short description of your setup and your message. To stop spam, we also keep a scrambled fingerprint of your connection and email address that can't be turned back into either, for 24 hours. |
| You do a social or writing quest | For social quests, that you tapped Share and on which day. We never see what you shared or who you sent it to. For writing quests, the number of words you wrote. Your writing itself stays on your phone and never reaches us. |
| You search | The words you type are sent to our database to find results. We don't keep a record of searches against your name. The app remembers your recent searches on your phone only. |
| You email us | Your email address and whatever you choose to tell us. Our email runs on Google Workspace. |
| You support us on Patreon | Our Patreon page is patreon.com/theplayercode. Patreon runs your membership and takes any payment. Patreon shares with us your Patreon name, the email address on your Patreon account, your membership tier, how much you pledge and since when, and a postal address only if your tier includes something we post to you. We use these to thank you and give you any supporter perks. We never see your card details. If you choose to link Patreon to your Player Code account (see below), we also receive your tier and whether it's active, so your membership works on the site and in the app. |
| You become a member in the app | Which plan you're on (Player Code Pro, monthly or yearly), when it started and renews or ends, whether it's a free trial, and Apple's reference numbers for the purchase. Apple takes the payment; we never see your card or Apple Account details. |
| You link Patreon | Your Patreon user and membership reference numbers, your tier and whether it's active, so your membership stays up to date. Nothing else from Patreon, and never your payment details. You can unlink it any time on your account page. |
| You add your birthday | Your date of birth, asked once. We use it for the yearly birthday XP gift and to check you're 18 or over before you can see profiles, add friends, comment or appear on leaderboards. It's never shown to anyone. |
| Your country | If you're 18 or over and use leaderboards, the two-letter country from your phone's or browser's region setting (never your location), for the Local leaderboard. |
| Your profile picture | One of our drawn avatars, or (members only) a photo you upload. We shrink it to 512 pixels before it's sent. Only other adult members see it. Anyone can report a picture, and we keep the report until we've checked it. |
| Members' profiles, friends and leaderboards (18 and over) | Your username, picture, badges and level are shown to other adult members on your profile and the leaderboards (you can hide yourself from leaderboards). Friend requests, who accepted them and who you've blocked. There's no messaging. |
| You comment (members, 18 and over) | Your comment, which news story or review it's on, and when. It's shown to other adult members with your username, picture and badges. Reports you make or receive, and what the team decided, are kept too. |
| You visit the site or use the app | Basic technical information our providers log automatically to keep the service running and secure: your IP address, browser or device type, the pages requested and the time, and when you sign in. Your browser also remembers your cookie choices (see section 11). |
Kept on your phone, not by us: your home point for distance quests, your recent searches, games you follow while signed out, your reminder times and your light or dark setting. These live in the app's own storage on your iPhone. Your sign-in is kept securely in your iPhone's Keychain.
What we don't collect: your real name (unless you give it in an enquiry or a prize claim), your date of birth (unless you add your birthday), your precise location or address (unless you claim a prize that needs posting), your contacts, your photos (apart from a profile photo you choose to upload), data from Apple Health (apart from wheelchair pushes and distance, only if you choose wheelchair quests), payment card details, or your phone's advertising identifier. We don't use advertising or analytics trackers, and we don't track you across other companies' apps or websites.
3. Quests, steps and location
Quests are designed so that we learn as little as possible about you.
- Step counts. With your permission (your iPhone asks for "Motion & Fitness" access), the app reads your daily step totals from your iPhone's built-in step counter. It sends us only one number per day, for up to the last seven days, so we can confirm step quests and weekly and monthly totals. We store those daily totals with your quest progress. We don't read your steps from Apple Health on our servers, and we don't receive any other motion or fitness data.
- Wheelchair quests. If you tell us you use a wheelchair and your Apple Watch is in wheelchair mode, the app asks Apple Health for permission to read two things: your wheelchair pushes and your wheelchair distance. It sends us one total of each per day, for up to the last seven days, and nothing else from Health. Entries typed in by hand are left out. They're used only for wheelchair quests, in the same way as step data below. You can turn this off at any time in your iPhone's Settings > Health > Data Access & Devices.
- Quest questions and access needs. Your answers are saved on your account and used for one thing: choosing quests that suit you. Access needs are hard rules, so a quest that clashes with one (for example a stair quest if you use a wheelchair) is never given to you, and every day is still worth the same XP. Because access needs can reveal health information, which the law treats as a special category of data, we only save them when you choose them and tap Save, and that's your explicit consent. They're never shared, never used for advertising or marketing, and never shown to sponsors or anyone else, not even as totals. You can change or remove them at any time in Quest settings, which withdraws your consent, and they're deleted with your account.
- Social and writing quests. Social quests count when you tap Share; we record only that you tapped it. Writing quests are counted on your phone: the app counts your words and sends us only that number. Your draft is kept on your phone until the quest is done, then deleted.
- How step data is used. Step data is used only to show your progress and confirm quests, and to spot obvious cheating, for example a daily total far above what's possible. It is never sold, never used for advertising or marketing, never used to build a profile of you, and never shared with sponsors or anyone else. We don't use it to draw conclusions about your health, but we protect it as carefully as if it were health data.
- Your home point. For distance quests, you tap Set home while you're at home. The app saves that point on your phone only. It never reaches our servers. You can clear it at any time in the app, and it's also deleted if you delete the app.
- Distance from home. When you check a distance quest, the app asks your iPhone for your approximate position (accurate to about 100 metres), works out on the phone how far that is from your home point, and sends us only that distance, rounded down to the nearest 100 metres. We never receive your location, your route or your home address.
- Location permission. The app only uses location "While Using the App", and only when you set your home or check a distance quest. It doesn't track you in the background.
- Trivia, stretch breaks and reading quests. Trivia is marked on our server, so we store which questions you were asked, your answers and your score. Stretch breaks and reading quests are timed by our server's clock, and for reading we check how far you scrolled, so we store when each one started and finished, and for reading quests which review or story it was.
- You stay in control. You can turn off Motion & Fitness or Location for the app at any time in your iPhone's Settings. Those quests simply won't count, and everything else still works.
4. Sponsored quests, Double XP and prizes
- Sponsors only get totals. If a brand sponsors a quest or a Double XP event, we give it totals only, such as how many people viewed the quest, started it, completed it or tapped its link, perhaps broken down by day. We never give a sponsor your name, username, email, steps, distance or anything else that identifies you, and we don't report groups so small that someone could be picked out.
- Sponsor link taps. When you tap a sponsor's link in the app or on the site, we record that it was tapped and when. If you're signed in, this is linked to your account so we can count it towards a quest, give out XP or codes fairly, and stop people gaming the system. We don't put advertising cookies or tracking pixels on these links. The link may include a simple tag telling the sponsor the visit came from The Player Code, but nothing about you. Once you're on the sponsor's website, its own privacy policy applies.
- Sponsored content is always labelled, so you know when a brand is involved.
- Prize winners. If you win a prize, we use your claim details only to check you're eligible and get the prize to you. If the sponsor sends the prize itself, we'll pass it your name and delivery address only, and only if you agree when you claim. For major prizes, the CAP Code means we must be able to show the prize was awarded, so we'll make the winner's surname and county available on request unless you object (we may still have to share them with the Advertising Standards Authority if it asks). Our prize and sponsored quest terms have the full details.
- Charity tie-ins. If we run a quest or campaign with a charity, such as Everyone Can, we won't share your personal data with the charity. Any donation is made by us, based on totals such as the number of completed quests.
5. Why we use it, and our legal basis
The law says we must have a valid reason, called a lawful basis, for each thing we do with your data. Here are ours.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Create and run your account, sign you in, keep your followed and saved games, and let you reset your password | Contract. It's needed to give you the service you signed up for. |
| Record which articles you've read for reading XP and reading quests | Contract. It's part of how the quests and XP you sign up for work. You can turn it off any time in Account settings > Quests > "Earn XP for reading". |
| Save your reactions to reviews and stories and show the totals | Contract. It's how reactions work for signed-in players. |
| Check pin suggestions, show approved ones on the map and award their XP | Contract. It's how the map works for signed-in players. |
| Hand out quests, record your progress, mark trivia, time stretch breaks and reading quests, and work out your XP, level and streak | Contract. It's how the quests you choose to do work. |
| Read your daily step totals and receive your distance from home for quests | Consent, given through your iPhone's Motion & Fitness and Location permissions, which you can withdraw at any time in Settings. Also contract, to confirm the quests you've taken on. |
| Send the alerts and quest reminders you switch on, such as news about games and studios you follow, release days, new quests or a gentle reminder that one quest keeps your streak going | Consent through your iPhone's notification permission, and contract. You can switch each one off at any time. |
| Send essential account emails, like confirming your email address or a password reset | Contract. These aren't marketing and we only send them when needed. |
| Send launch and big news emails, and keep a record of your choice | Consent, given by ticking the optional box at sign-up or switching on "Launch and big news emails" on your account page. You can withdraw it any time with that switch or the unsubscribe link in every email. We keep the record of your choice because the law says we must be able to show you agreed (legal obligation). |
| Let YouTube videos play on the page and remember that you have our app (and, if we add it, count visits to popular pages) | Consent, through the cookie choices box. Each one is off until you say yes. |
| Thank Patreon supporters and give them any perks | Contract, as part of the membership you choose on Patreon. |
| Run sponsored quests, count sponsor link taps, and report totals to sponsors | Legitimate interests. Funding a free service in a way that never identifies you to a sponsor. |
| Run prize promotions, check eligibility and deliver prizes | Contract, under the prize terms you accept when you take part. |
| Make winner details available and keep records that a promotion was run fairly | Legitimate interests and our obligations under the CAP Code. |
| Use your quest answers, including any access needs, to choose quests that suit you | Explicit consent for access needs, because they can reveal health information (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(a)). You give it by choosing them and tapping Save, and you can withdraw it any time by removing them in Quest settings. Contract for the kinds of quests you enjoy and the time you have. |
| Read wheelchair pushes and distance from Apple Health for wheelchair quests | Explicit consent, given through your quest answers and Apple's Health permission, which you can withdraw at any time in Settings. Also contract, to confirm the quests you've taken on. |
| Run your membership, check it with Apple or Patreon, and unlock members' features | Contract. |
| Show your profile, picture, comments and leaderboard place to other adult members, and handle friend requests | Contract, as part of the membership features you choose. You can hide yourself from leaderboards, remove your picture and delete your comments at any time. |
| Use your birthday to give the birthday XP and check you're 18 or over | Contract for the gift; legitimate interests and our duties under the Children's Code for the age check: keeping under-18s out of adult social features. |
| Moderate comments and pictures and act on reports | Legitimate interests. Keeping the community safe. |
| Spot and stop cheating, such as faked steps or multiple accounts | Legitimate interests. Keeping quests and prizes fair for everyone. |
| Reply to a Tech Sanctuary enquiry and arrange a consult | Steps before a contract, at your request. |
| Answer questions and messages you send us | Legitimate interests. Replying to people who contact us. |
| Keep the site and app secure, stop abuse and fix faults, using technical logs | Legitimate interests. Protecting you, our other players and the service. |
| Keep business and tax records, for example for paid consults | Legal obligation. UK tax law requires it. |
We'll only send you news or marketing emails if you've opted in, and every one will have an unsubscribe link. We never pass your email address to a sponsor or anyone else for their marketing. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we've checked that our interest doesn't override your rights. You can ask us for details of that check.
Automatic checks. Some quest checks are automatic, for example a daily cap on counted steps, or a reading quest that only counts after a set time. These only decide whether a quest counts. We don't make decisions about you using fully automated processing that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you: a person always reviews the evidence before anyone is disqualified from a prize or has their account closed. We don't build profiles of you for advertising.
6. Who we share it with
We don't sell or rent your data to anyone. We only share it with trusted providers who help us run the service. They act as our processors: they can only use your data on our instructions, under a written contract, and must keep it secure.
- Supabase runs our accounts, database, file storage and server functions: sign-in, your profile, followed and saved games, quests, XP, step and distance totals, trivia, Tech Sanctuary enquiries, and account emails like password resets.
- IONOS hosts our website and keeps standard server logs.
- Google Workspace (Google) runs our email, including hello@ and privacy@theplayercode.com, so it holds the emails you send us and our replies.
- GitHub (Microsoft) stores our nightly database backups. Each backup is encrypted before it leaves our database provider, with a key only we hold, and leaves out passwords and sign-in secrets.
- Google Fonts supplies the fonts on our website. When a page loads, your browser asks Google's servers for the font files, which shares your IP address with Google.
- jsDelivr delivers the sign-in software our website uses. Your browser fetches it from jsDelivr's network, which shares your IP address with it.
- YouTube (Google) plays videos inside reviews and news. A video's preview picture is loaded from YouTube's image server. The player itself only loads when you tap play, and uses YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode, so YouTube doesn't set cookies until then. Once a video plays, YouTube's own privacy policy applies.
- Patreon runs our supporter memberships and takes payments. For your Patreon account and payments, Patreon is responsible for your data under its own privacy policy.
- Launch and big news emails to people who opted in go out from our Google Workspace email. If we ever use a separate mailing service for them, it will only receive your email address and username, and we'll name it here before it's used.
- Cloudflare runs Turnstile, the security check when you sign up, log in or reset your password, on the website and in the app. To tell people from bots, it looks at your browser or device and your connection, including your IP address, and tells us only whether the check passed. It isn't used for advertising and doesn't follow you around other websites.
- Apple delivers our iPhone app through the App Store, and if you choose it, Sign in with Apple. If you become a member in the app, Apple takes the payment and tells us your plan and its renewal dates. Your step counter and location are read by your iPhone itself. Quest reminders and release day alerts are scheduled on your phone. News alerts about the games and studios you follow are delivered by Apple's push notification service, using the device token we store with your account; Apple sees the alert's title and text as it delivers it.
- Google runs Google Fonts, YouTube and Google Workspace, above, and if you choose it, Sign in with Google. When our Android app goes on sale, Google Play will deliver it, and we'll add the details here first.
Sponsors only ever receive totals, never personal data, apart from a prize winner's delivery details where the winner agrees (see section 4).
We may also share data if the law requires it, for example a valid request from the police or a court, or to protect someone's safety, or with the Advertising Standards Authority about a promotion. If The Player Code is ever sold or merged, your data would pass to the new owner under this same policy, and we'd tell you first.
7. Where your data is stored
Your account data is stored by Supabase in data centres in London, UK (eu-west-2). Our website is hosted by IONOS in the UK. Our backups are stored by GitHub, mostly in the US, and are encrypted so GitHub can't read them. Google Workspace and Patreon may store data in the US.
Some of our providers are based outside the UK, or may give their support staff limited access from outside the UK. Supabase, Google, GitHub, Patreon and Apple, for example, are US companies. Where that happens, we make sure your data has the protection UK law requires: either the UK has approved that country's protections (for example the UK-US Data Bridge for certified US companies, or EU countries), or we rely on approved contract terms such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards we rely on.
8. How we keep it secure
Security and privacy come first at The Player Code. In practice that means:
- Encryption everywhere. Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS and TLS, and at rest in our database.
- Only you can see your private data. Our database is set up so each player can only read their own records. Other adult members only see what's on your member profile. XP is worked out on our server, so it can't be edited from a phone.
- Your home and location never leave your phone.
- Passwords are never stored in readable form, and we'll never ask you for yours.
- Collecting less. The less we hold, the less there is to lose.
- Limited access. Admin accounts can publish content and run quests, but can't see other players' private data through the app or site. Only The Player Code's owner can reach the database directly, and only when needed to run the service or help you.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach ever puts your data at risk, we'll tell the regulator within 72 hours where the law requires it, and we'll tell you without delay if it's likely to affect you.
9. How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Your account, followed and saved games, and settings | Until you delete your account. It's removed from our live database straight away. Older copies stay in our encrypted nightly backups, which only we can unlock and which we only use to recover from a fault. If we ever have to restore one, we'll delete your account from it again straight away. |
| Your email updates choice and its record | While your account is open. If you unsubscribe, we keep a note of that so we don't email you again by mistake. Deleting your account deletes both. |
| Patreon supporter details | While you're a supporter, then 12 months, unless we need them longer for tax records. |
| Quest progress, XP history, daily step, wheelchair and distance totals, trivia answers, quest timings, your quest answers and quests marked "Not for me" | While your account is open, so your levels and history stay accurate. All of it is deleted with your account. |
| Home point, recent searches and other settings on your phone | Until you clear them in the app or delete the app. |
| Sponsor link taps and sponsored quest activity linked to your account | While your account is open, or 12 months, whichever is shorter. Totals given to sponsors don't identify anyone, so we may keep them. |
| Prize entries, winner and claim details | 12 months after the promotion closes, so we can answer questions and show it was run fairly. Delivery details are deleted once the prize has arrived and that period ends. |
| Reading history (which reviews, stories and features you've read) | For as long as you have an account. Turning off "Earn XP for reading" stops new reads being recorded, and you can ask us to delete your history. Deleting your account deletes it straight away. We never use it for advertising, never sell it, and never share it with sponsors. Anyone else only ever sees totals. |
| Your reactions to reviews and stories | Until you remove them or delete your account. |
| Your pin suggestions and private pins | Until you withdraw or delete them, we remove them, or you delete your account. |
| Membership records | While your account is open, then 6 years for tax records (plan, dates and amounts only). |
| Your birthday, country, picture and leaderboard choice | Until you change them or delete your account. |
| Comments, friends and blocks | Until you delete them or your account. Reports and what we decided: 12 months after they're resolved. |
| Spam-protection fingerprints for enquiries | 24 hours, then deleted automatically. |
| Tech Sanctuary enquiries and emails you send us | 12 months after our last contact, unless they lead to paid work. |
| Records of paid consults, such as invoices | 6 years, as UK tax law requires. |
| Technical and security logs | A short period set by our providers, then deleted automatically. |
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access your data and get a copy of it.
- Correct anything that's wrong or incomplete. You can change your username, display name, followed games and alerts yourself in your account.
- Delete your data. On the website, go to your account page (My quests), then Delete account. In the app, go to Profile, then Account settings, then Delete account. Everything linked to your account is removed straight away. You can also email us and we'll do it for you.
- Restrict how we use your data, for example while we check a concern you've raised.
- Object to anything we do based on legitimate interests, such as counting sponsor link taps against your account, and to any marketing at any time.
- Data portability: get the data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format, or have it sent to another provider.
- Withdraw consent at any time, wherever we rely on it. For steps, location and notifications, just switch the permission off in your iPhone's Settings. For emails, use the switch on your account page or the unsubscribe link. For YouTube videos and remembering the app, use Cookie settings at the bottom of every page. This doesn't affect anything we did before.
To use any of these rights, email privacy@theplayercode.com. It's free. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, usually by replying from the email address on your account. We'll respond within one month. If your request is complex we may need up to two more months, and we'll tell you if so.
11. Cookies and similar storage
We don't use advertising cookies or tracking pixels, on the website, in the app or on sponsor links. We don't use analytics either at the moment. If we add it, it will follow the rules under "Visitor statistics" below.
Always on, because the site needs them (no consent needed under PECR):
- Sign-in. When you sign in on the website, a small sign-in token is saved in your browser's local storage so you stay logged in. Signing out removes it. In the app, it's kept in your iPhone's Keychain.
- Your cookie choices. We save what you chose ("pc-consent", in local storage) for six months, then ask again.
- Team preview cookie. Before launch, our team uses a cookie called pc_preview to see the full site. It's only set if you visit a private preview link, and it isn't used to track anyone.
- App settings on your phone. Your home point, recent searches, reminder times, appearance and games followed while signed out, as described in section 2.
Optional, and off until you say yes in the cookie choices box:
- YouTube videos. Videos show as a picture until you tap play. If you've allowed YouTube videos, YouTube's privacy-enhanced player then loads, and YouTube (Google) may set its own cookies and use what you watch for its own purposes. If you haven't, we ask first, and you can play just that one video, allow videos from then on, or watch on YouTube instead.
- Remember you have the app. If you're signed in and use our app, your browser remembers that so the adverts for the app stay hidden. Turn it off and we delete what was saved.
Visitor statistics (not in use yet). We may add a statistics tool to count visits and see which reviews, stories and pages are popular. If we do: it will stay off, and nothing from it will load, set cookies or send any data, until you say yes in the cookie choices box. You'll be asked again, even if you've already made your choices. We'll name the provider and what it stores here before it's switched on. We'll only look at totals, never who you are, and never use it for adverts. If you say no or change your mind, its cookies are deleted. The lawful basis will be your consent.
You can change your mind any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.
Other services your browser contacts. To show our pages, your browser fetches fonts from Google Fonts, sign-in software from jsDelivr and video preview pictures from YouTube's image server. These don't set cookies, but like any website they see your IP address (see section 6).
12. Children
You must be at least 13 to create an account. If you're under 18, please check with a parent or guardian first. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you think a child under 13 has made an account, email us and we'll delete it.
We follow the ICO's Children's Code. Under-18s never see member profiles, comments or leaderboards and never appear on them, even if they're members; we check age with the birthday on the account. There are no private messages between players. Other people only ever see totals, like how many reactions a story has, and pins on the Leonida map once we've approved them, never with your name. Reminders are off until you switch them on, and they're gentle: we don't use guilt, deadlines or pressure to keep you playing, and you can miss a day without losing your streak thanks to a free day off each week. Privacy settings are high by default: location, motion and Health access are off until you choose a quest that needs them, access needs are only saved if you choose to tell us, your home point never leaves your phone, and step data is never used for anything but quests. We don't use children's data for profiling. News emails only go to players who tick the box themselves, sponsored content is always labelled and suitable for under-18s, and prize promotions are normally for adults only (18 or over) unless a campaign clearly says otherwise.
13. Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy if what we do with your data changes, for example when we add a new kind of quest. The date at the top will always show the latest version. If a change is significant, we'll tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect.
14. Contact and complaints
If you have a question or a concern about how we handle your data, please email privacy@theplayercode.com or write to us at The Player Code Ltd, Union House, 111 New Union Street, Coventry, CV1 2NT. We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it properly and tell you the outcome.
You also have the right to complain to the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commission (formerly the Information Commissioner's Office, or ICO). You can do this at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. We'd appreciate the chance to sort things out with you first, but you can go to them at any time.