Privacy Policy

Robot Empire is a card game run by RectorSoft Publishing ("we", "us") at robotempire.rectorsoft.tech. This policy explains what personal information the game collects, why, and what you can do about it. It covers the website, the game, online play and the store.

What we collect

If you just play

Without an account, your progress, decks, settings and any match in progress are saved in your browser's own storage on your device. We don't receive them. Clearing your browser data removes them.

Your account

• Email address. This is the whole account. There's no password: we email you a sign-in link.
• Sign-in links and sessions. We keep only scrambled (hashed) versions of these, so a copy of our database couldn't be used to sign in as you.
• One cookie, re_session, keeps you signed in. It lasts up to 30 days and is only used for signing in. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.
• Cloud save. Your game progress, decks and settings, so they follow you to other devices.

Purchases

When you buy something we record what you bought, the price, the currency, the date and Stripe's reference for the checkout. Stripe collects your payment details on its own page, and we never see or store your card number.

Online play

• Your display name, which you choose.
• Your flag. Each time you connect to online play, we look up which country (and, in the US, Canada and Australia, which state or province) your IP address comes from. We use a location database stored on our own server (GeoLite2 by MaxMind), so your address isn't sent to anyone else to do this. We save the country and state with your account but not the IP address. You can pick a different country or state, or show no flag, whenever you like.
• Match records: who played, the decks used, the moves, the result, how long it took and any turn timeouts. We keep these so a match can resume after a disconnect, so your record and the leaderboard work, and so reports can be looked into.
• Quick Match history: when you joined or left the queue, how long you waited, and whether you accepted a match.
• Reports and blocks: reports you file about other players and players you block. Reports other players file about you are also stored, along with any action a moderator takes, such as resetting a name or suspending online play.

Invitations you send a friend

If you use Invite a friend, we email the address you type and keep that address, any note you wrote and the date, so the same person isn't invited over and over and so we can answer a complaint about an invitation. We send one email and never email that address again, and we don't add it to any list, sell it or use it for anything else. The invitation is sent from our own address with your email address as the reply address, so a reply goes to you, not to us. You need an account to send one, and we allow a small number a day.

Messages you send us

What you write in the contact form, and a reply email address if you give one.

Technical information

Like almost every website, our servers see your IP address and your browser's details when you connect. They appear in short-lived server logs, which we use to keep the service running and to stop abuse, for example by limiting how many sign-in emails one address can request.

How we use it

• To run the game: sign-in, cloud saves, online matches, your record and the leaderboard.
• To deliver what you buy.
• To keep online play fair and safe: reviewing reports, blocking and suspending.
• To understand how online play is used, such as how long players wait for a match. We only use this to improve the game.
• To answer your messages and requests.
• To meet legal duties, such as keeping sales records for tax.

If you're in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom: we use your information because it's needed to provide the game and purchases you asked for (contract); for our legitimate interests in keeping online play fair, secure and working well, and in showing your country's flag, which you can switch off; and to meet legal obligations such as tax records.

What other players can see

Other players see your display name and your flag (your state too if you turned it on), the name of the deck you're playing, your Battery and turn in live matches, and your wins and losses if you make the leaderboard. They never see your email address. In a match your opponent sees the cards you play, but not your hand or deck order.

Who we share it with

We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We use a few service providers to run the game:

• Stripe processes payments. It receives your email address, an account reference and what you're buying, along with the payment details you give it. Its own privacy policy applies.
• Our email delivery provider sends sign-in links, so it receives your email address.
• Hostinger hosts our servers and database.
• Google Fonts: the game loads its typefaces from Google's servers, so Google receives your IP address and browser details when a page loads. See Google's privacy policy.

The location database is used on our own server, so MaxMind receives nothing. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect players or our service from harm or fraud, or as part of a sale or transfer of the game, in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information.

Our servers and providers may process your information outside the country where you live, including in the United States.

How long we keep it

• Sign-in links: 15 minutes. Sessions: up to 30 days.
• Account, cloud save, name, flag, match records and Quick Match history: until your account is deleted.
• Server logs: a short time, normally no more than 30 days.
• Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting law requires, even after an account is deleted. Once the account is deleted, they are no longer linked to your email address.
• Reports and moderation actions: kept as a record for the safety of other players.
• Messages you send us: until they're dealt with, then kept for up to two years as a record.
• Invitations you send a friend (the address, any note and the date): 30 days, or until your account is deleted, whichever comes first.

When we delete an account, we remove the email address, name, flag, cloud save, blocks and Quick Match history, and sign the account out everywhere. Past matches stay in your opponents' records, but your name in them is replaced with "Deleted player".

Your choices and rights

• See your data. Download a copy of everything stored about your account, below.
• Correct it. Change your name and flag on the Online tab in the game. For anything else, write to us.
• Delete it. Sign in and ask below. If you bought something recently, tell us whether you also want a refund.
• Hide your location. Choose "Don't show a flag", or pick your own country, on the Online tab.

We give these rights to everyone, wherever you live. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to know what we collect and why, to get your data in a portable format, to object to or limit some uses, and to withdraw consent. That includes residents of California and other US states with privacy laws, and people in the EEA and UK. We don't sell or "share" personal information as California law defines those terms, and we don't use it for targeted advertising or profiling. We won't treat you differently for using any of these rights. We answer requests within 30 days. If you're in the EEA or UK and aren't happy with our answer, you can complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

You must be at least 13 to create an account or play online. The game isn't aimed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you think a child under 13 has given us personal information, tell us using the form below and we'll delete it.

Security

The site only works over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Sign-in links and sessions are stored only in hashed form, card details stay with Stripe, and only a small number of administrators can see account email addresses, for moderation and support. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will tell you if a breach affects you as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top. If a change affects how we use information we already hold, we'll let you know in the game before it takes effect.

Contact us

Questions about your privacy, or a request about your data? Write to us here and it goes straight to the people who run the game. To ask us to delete your account, sign in first so we know the account is yours.