Privacy, in plain language

Who Hiscore is for

Hiscore is not for children under 13. Before you create an account we ask for your birth month and year, only to apply the right settings. We don't store your birth date: we keep a single result, "13 to 17" or "18 and over", and when you answered. If you say you are under 13, we don't create an account or collect an email address, we turn off analytics on that device, and we remember that answer on the device for 30 days. You can still keep a private hiscore on your device.

Using Hiscore without an account

Your logs, ratings, reviews, Top 4, Top 10 and Up Next are saved in your browser's local storage on this device. Nothing about them is sent to us. Clearing your browser data, or "Reset data" in Settings, deletes them.

What we collect, and why

• Email address (accounts only): to sign you in with a one-time link and to contact you about your account. It is never shown to other people.
• Handle and display name: to show who you are on your profile and to your friends.
• Age band (13 to 17, or 18 and over) and when you chose it: to apply the right defaults, such as private profiles for teens. Not your birth date.
• Your diary: archetype, platforms, Top 4, Top 10, Up Next, and the games you log (status, platform, hours, star rating, hot take, review, spoiler and recommend flags, mood tags, dates). This is the content of the app.
• Social data: who you follow, who follows you, who you blocked, and recommendations you send and receive (with short notes and feedback).
• Reports and feedback: if you report a profile or post, we keep the report (the reason, your optional note, who and what you reported, and your account id) so we can review it. Feedback you type into the feedback form is kept too.
• Device-local data: your settings, your sign-in session and a copy of your diary are kept in your browser's local storage so Hiscore works offline.
• Anonymous usage analytics: events like "game logged" or "screen viewed", with a random anonymous ID kept in your browser (not linked to your email or account), a session ID, the screen you were on and a few counts. Turn it off any time in Settings with "Share anonymous usage data".
• Technical error reports: what broke and on which screen, with no personal information.

What other people can see

• Public by default: your handle, display name, archetype, Top 4, Top 10, and the games you log with their ratings, takes and reviews. Anyone with your profile link (hiscorehq.com/#u-yourhandle) can see them, even without an account, and people who follow you see them in their feed.
• Teens are private by default. If you are 13 to 17, your profile starts private. You can make it public in Settings; we warn you first.
• Private profile. Turn on "Private profile" in Settings and only you can see your ratings, reviews and Top 10. Your ratings still count, anonymously, toward the crowd average of each game: nobody can tell which ratings are yours.
• Always private: your email, your Up Next list, your blocked list, and the reports you file. Recommendations are only seen by the sender and the recipient.
• Who follows whom is visible to signed-in users, except that people you blocked can't see your follow lists.

Crowd averages

Each game shows the average of every rating Hiscore players have given it, with a rating count and a histogram. These are totals only; no names are attached.

Who else handles your data

• Supabase: our database and sign-in provider. It stores account data and sends the sign-in emails on our behalf.
• Fly.io: hosts the Hiscore website. Like any host, it sees technical request data such as your IP address.
• Google Forms and Google Sheets: receive the anonymous analytics events, error reports, feedback and the anonymous report notices described above. Only the Hiscore team can open the sheet.
• Twitch / IGDB: game information and cover images. Cover images are loaded from IGDB's servers (images.igdb.com), so IGDB sees your IP address when your device loads a cover.
• Google Fonts: the app and these pages load fonts from Google, which sees your IP address when it does.

We don't sell your data, and we don't share it with advertisers.

How long we keep things

• Account data: until you delete your account.
• Reports: we keep them as long as needed to look after the safety of the community and to follow the law, even if the reporter or the reported person later deletes their account.
• Analytics, error reports and feedback: kept in our Google Sheet without your account details, for as long as they are useful to improve Hiscore.
• Backups held by our provider roll off within their normal retention window after you delete.

Your rights, and how to use them

You can ask to see your data, get a copy, correct it, delete it, or withdraw your consent, and you can complain to your local data protection authority. Most of this is in the app:

• Access and export: Settings → Account → "Export my data" gives you everything stored about your account as JSON, to copy or download.
• Correction: change your display name, handle, ratings and reviews at any time.
• Deletion: Settings → Account → "Delete account". This immediately deletes your account, profile, logs, reviews, Top 10, Up Next, follows, blocks and recommendations from our database. Your ratings are removed from crowd averages. It can't be undone. Signing out only removes the data from that device.
• Withdraw consent: turn off "Share anonymous usage data" in Settings, or delete your account.
• For anything else, email us (see Contact).

Children's privacy

Hiscore is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If someone tells us they are under 13, we don't create an account. If you are a parent or guardian and think your child has an account or has sent us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.

Cookies and local storage

Hiscore doesn't use advertising or tracking cookies. It uses your browser's local storage for your diary, your sign-in session, your settings, your age band, and the anonymous analytics ID.

Security

Data is sent over HTTPS, and access rules in our database mean you can only change your own data and only read what is public or yours. No system is perfectly secure, so please keep your inbox safe: it is how you sign in.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll say so in the app before it takes effect.

Contact