Personal information you provide to us:

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when registering an account, making purchases, participating in the forums or chat, or otherwise contacting us.

1. Account Data - Username, email address, date of birth, and password. Date of birth is collected solely to verify you meet our minimum age requirement.
2. Payment Data - If you purchase membership, your payment is processed by our third-party payment processors (PayPal for standard payments and CoinGate for cryptocurrency). We receive a record of the transaction but do not collect or store your full card number, cryptocurrency wallet credentials, or payment security codes on our servers.
3. Profile Data - Any additional information you choose to add to your profile, such as avatars, forum signatures, or other customizations.
4. Communications - In-game chat messages, forum posts, and any messages you send to us or other users through the Site.

Information collected automatically:

Some information is collected automatically when you visit or use the Site.

1. Device & Browser Data - IP address, browser type, operating system, device information, and language preferences.
2. Usage Data - Pages visited, time spent on pages, click patterns, and referring URLs.
3. Game Data - In-game actions, progress, items, trades, and interactions with other players. This data is essential for operating the game and ensuring fair play.
4. Cookies - We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies as described in the "Cookies & Tracking Technologies" section below.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

1. Account Management - To create and manage your account, authenticate your identity, and process transactions.
2. Game Operation - To operate the game, save your progress, manage the in-game economy, and provide customer support.
3. Payments - To process membership purchases through our payment processors and to maintain records of transactions.
4. Moderation & Safety - To monitor for rule violations, detect cheating or botting, investigate reports, and enforce our Rules and Terms of Service.
5. Communication - To send you important account notifications, security alerts, and service-related messages via our email provider.
6. Improvement - To analyse usage patterns and improve the Site, game features, and user experience.
7. Legal Compliance - To comply with applicable laws, respond to legal requests, and protect our rights and the safety of our users.

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Site and enhance your experience. Cookies we use include:

1. Essential Cookies - Required for the Site to function properly. These handle authentication, session management, and security. They cannot be disabled.
2. Preference Cookies - Remember your settings and preferences (such as display options) to improve your experience.
3. Analytics Cookies - Help us understand how users interact with the Site so we can improve it. This data is aggregated and anonymized where possible.

Some of our third-party providers (such as our bot-protection and content-delivery services) may also set cookies to perform their functions. Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. However, disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the Site.

We rely on trusted third-party services to operate the Site. These providers only receive the information necessary to perform their function, and each processes data under its own terms and privacy policy:

1. PayPal - Processes standard membership payments. Payment details you enter are handled by PayPal, not stored by us.
2. CoinGate - Processes cryptocurrency membership payments. Wallet and transaction details are handled by CoinGate, not stored by us.
3. Mailgun - Delivers transactional and account-related emails (such as verification and security notices).
4. hCaptcha - Provides bot and abuse protection on our forms; it may collect device and interaction data to distinguish humans from automated traffic.
5. Cloudflare - Provides content delivery, performance, and security (including protection against malicious traffic); it may process your IP address and request metadata.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these providers to understand how they handle your information. We are not responsible for the independent privacy practices of third-party services.

We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.

We may share your information in the following situations:

1. Service Providers - We may share data with the third-party vendors described above who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, email delivery, bot protection, hosting, and security. These providers only have access to the information needed to perform their services.
2. Legal Requirements - We may disclose your information where required by law, court order, or governmental request, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
3. Safety & Protection - We may disclose information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential rule violations, fraud, threats to safety, or illegal activities.
4. Business Transfers - We may share or transfer your information in connection with a merger, sale of assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business.
5. Public Contributions - When you post content in public areas of the Site (chat, forums, hiscores), that content may be viewable by all users.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We keep your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Specifically:

1. Active Accounts - Account data is retained for as long as your account remains active.
2. Deleted Accounts - Upon account deletion, we will remove or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable timeframe, except where retention is required for legal, security, or fraud prevention purposes.
3. Transaction Records - Records of purchases may be retained as required for accounting, tax, and legal compliance.
4. Game Data - In-game data (chat logs, trade history, action logs) may be retained for moderation and anti-cheat purposes even after account deletion.
5. Backups - Information stored in backup archives will be securely isolated and deleted when the backup cycle completes.

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:

1. Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms and are never stored in plain text.
2. Sensitive data is transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.
3. Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel only.
4. Payment credentials are handled by our payment processors and are not stored on our servers.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

The Site is intended for users who are at least 13 years of age. In accordance with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible.

Users between 13 and the age of majority must have parental or guardian consent to use the Site. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information without your consent, please contact us so we can take appropriate action.

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

1. Access - You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
2. Correction - You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
3. Deletion - You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
4. Objection - You may object to our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
5. Portability - Where applicable, you may request a copy of your data in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the rights listed above and the right to file a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

California Residents: Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), California residents have additional rights including the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to request deletion, the right to correct, and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell your personal information.

Our servers and operations are located in the United States. If you access the Site from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. By using the Site, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we will take reasonable measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law, including the GDPR where applicable.

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting. No uniform technology standard for recognizing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals. If a standard for online tracking is adopted in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly.

This Privacy Policy and any dispute relating to it are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Additional dispute-resolution terms are set out in our Terms of Service.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Last Updated" date and will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes, we may notify you by prominently posting a notice on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please visit our Contact page.