Hi there! Welcome to Patches Game. We believe that playing logic puzzles should be a relaxing, fun experience, and you shouldn't have to worry about what's happening with your personal data behind the scenes. We've written this privacy policy to be as clear and human-readable as possible so you know exactly what information we collect, why we need it, and how we keep it safe.
1. The Information We Actually Collect
We believe in collecting only what is absolutely necessary to make the game work. Here is what we gather depending on how you use the site:
- If you play as a Guest: You can play Patches entirely anonymously. If you do this, your game progress, current streak, and display settings (like dark mode) are saved locally right in your web browser using
localStorage. We don't see this data unless you explicitly submit a puzzle score to the global leaderboard. - If you create an Account: When you sign up to sync your progress across devices, we ask for an email address and a display name. Your password is cryptographically hashed the moment you create it, meaning we can never see your actual password.
- Your Gameplay Data: When you solve a puzzle, we record the time it took, the stars you earned, the hints you used, and the date. This powers your personal profile statistics, your streaks, and the global leaderboards.
2. How We Use Your Data (No Shenanigans)
We use the data we collect for one purpose only: to make Patches Game better for you. Specifically, we use it to:
- Power the global leaderboards so you can see how you stack up against the community.
- Track your personal progress, unlock your achievements, and calculate your daily streaks.
- Allow you to log in on your phone, tablet, and desktop and see the same game state everywhere.
- Analyze which puzzles are too hard or too easy so we can tune our puzzle generation engine.
3. Cookies, Local Storage & Analytics
Like almost every website on the internet, we use some basic analytics tools (like Google Analytics) to understand how people use the site. This tells us things like whether more people are playing on mobile or desktop, which countries our players are from, and which grid sizes are the most popular. This data is completely anonymized and aggregated—we can't use it to identify you.
We use cookies and local storage purely for functional reasons: to keep you logged in securely and to remember your theme preferences. We don't use tracking cookies to follow you around the web.
Cookies and Local Storage used on this site:
| Name | Type | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
patches-theme | localStorage | Remembers your dark/light theme preference | Persistent |
next-auth.session-token | Cookie | Keeps you logged into your account | Session / 30 days |
_ga / _ga_* | Cookie | Google Analytics — anonymous usage statistics | 2 years |
4. How We Protect Your Information
We treat your data with the utmost respect. All communication between your browser and our servers is encrypted using standard SSL/HTTPS protocols. User passwords are salted and hashed using bcrypt, the industry standard for password security. While no system on the internet is 100% impenetrable, we follow modern web security best practices to ensure your account is safe.
5. Data Retention
We retain your account data (email, display name, gameplay statistics) for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, all your personal data and associated solve records will be permanently removed from our servers within 48 hours of your request. Anonymous analytics data (aggregated, non-identifiable) may be retained indefinitely for trend analysis.
6. Your Rights Under GDPR (EU Users)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
- Right of Access: You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
- Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct any inaccurate personal data.
- Right to Erasure: You can request permanent deletion of your account and all associated data.
- Right to Restriction: You can ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
- Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
- Right to Object: You can object to certain types of processing, including analytics.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via our Contact page. We will respond within 30 days.
7. Your Rights Under CCPA (California Users)
If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
- Right to Know: You can request information about what personal data we collect, use, and share.
- Right to Delete: You can request deletion of your personal data.
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale: We do not sell your personal information. We have never sold personal information, and we have no plans to do so.
- Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.
8. Children's Privacy (COPPA)
Patches Game is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will promptly delete the information from our records.
9. International Data Transfers
Our servers may be located in different regions. If you access Patches Game from outside the country where our servers are located, your data may be transferred internationally. By using our service, you consent to such transfers. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in compliance with applicable data protection laws.
10. Data Controller
The data controller responsible for your personal information is:
Patches Game
Operated by Tabassum Khan
Contact: [email protected]
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Get in Touch
If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to chat about how we handle your data, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can contact us anytime through our Contact page or email us directly at [email protected].