Privacy Notice

What Hide-Tag knows, why it needs it, and when it goes.

This notice applies to the Hide-Tag Android, iPhone and web apps. I am Sebastian Salin, an independent solo developer based in Finland, and I operate Hide-Tag and am its data controller. Seba Games is the developer name I use, not a registered company or a separate legal entity. Questions and privacy requests can be sent to hello.sebagames@gmail.com.

Delete your Hide-Tag account or data

Location sharing stops when you leave the lobby, not when the round ends. In Android version 4.8.17, sharing includes setup, play and the post-game map, including while your phone is locked. Join only people you trust, and leave the lobby when you finish. Other participants may see your location under the game rules and your route in a round replay. They could save or copy what they see.

Precise locations are stored for gameplay and, where available, round replay. They can remain on the server after a round ends and appear in your data download. This also applies when you choose Accept only necessary. Optional analytics is separate: it does not store your precise route. The retention and export sections below explain the difference.

Data the game processes

• Precise location. The game server stores your latest reported latitude, longitude, accuracy, speed and report time to run the game. These are precise coordinates, not the broad area used for optional analytics. Versions with round replay also store timestamped positions and role changes during the round so its participants can review their routes afterwards. These records are stored in the database, not only displayed on your phone, and are removed under the gameplay retention rules below.
• Your chosen name. The nickname you enter is stored with that game and is visible to its invited players. Use a nickname, not your full name.
• A random account and session. Supabase Authentication creates a random identifier and session so the server can recognise the same installation. No email address, phone number or social login is requested.
• Game and profile activity. Lobby membership, team and role, catches, missions, powerups, penalties, game settings and results are processed to run the match. Coins, number of games and achievements remain attached to the random account identifier so they can return in later games.
• Technical request data. Internet services necessarily receive data such as an IP address, device or browser information, requested resource and timestamp when answering a request. I do not use advertising tracking. Optional game analytics is described below.

Most information comes from you, your device and your actions in the game. Other invited players also generate information about you through catches, team actions and shared game events. Your device stores the sign-in session, privacy preferences and app settings needed to keep the game working. These are not advertising cookies or cross-site tracking.

The camera is used only on your device to scan a game invitation QR code. Hide-Tag does not store or send the camera image. Local notifications, sound and vibration are used for game alerts. Hide-Tag does not collect contacts, photos, advertising identifiers or payment information, and does not sell personal data.

Optional game analytics

You can play with optional analytics off. If you opt in, I store a separate random analytics ID linked to your account to count returning players. Each recorded round includes its date, your participation date, duration when a finish was observed (including the head start), planned duration, end reason, group size, area radius, app version, Android, iOS or web, your starting role, whether you hosted, catches, supplies collected, missions completed and whether you left. Abandoned rounds have no invented finish time. Group size includes all players; linked records are saved only for players who opted in before participating in that round.

Approximate game area is a separate optional choice. When every participant has agreed, I may retain the centre of a 0.1-degree grid cell containing the game centre. A cell is about 11 km north to south; its width varies with latitude. No precise game coordinates, player routes, nicknames or invitation codes are copied into analytics. A non-consenting late arrival removes that round's saved area. This restriction applies to optional analytics; precise gameplay and replay records are still stored separately, even with analytics off.

These are pseudonymous personal data, not fully anonymous data. I use them internally to understand retention, game length, gameplay and broad playing areas, and improve Hide-Tag. Supabase processes them on my behalf. They are not sold, used for advertising, published as player histories or provided to independent researchers. Future movement research would require separate participant information and an appropriate legal basis before collection; this choice does not enrol you in research.

Both choices start off. Accept only necessary agrees to the Terms without optional analytics; Accept all enables both. You can also select them individually. Change or withdraw your choices in Settings → Privacy and data. Turning analytics off deletes your linked analytics and stops future records. Turning approximate area off removes the area from your recorded rounds. Enabling either again does not import earlier play. I store the notice version, time and choices to honour and demonstrate your decision.

Why it is processed

Location, nickname, pseudonymous account and game activity are processed because they are necessary to provide the game you choose to join (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)). Limited technical data may also be processed to keep the service secure, diagnose failures and prevent abuse, based on my legitimate interests in operating a reliable service (Article 6(1)(f)). Optional analytics and approximate-area analytics rely on your consent (Article 6(1)(a)). Necessary gameplay does not depend on agreeing to analytics. I keep your privacy preferences and limited choice history to honour your decisions and meet accountability obligations (Article 6(1)(c)). Withdrawal does not affect earlier lawful processing.

Your device permission choices control whether the app can access location and the camera. You can revoke a permission in your device settings. Revoking location stops new reports, but a location-based match cannot work without it.

Location in the background

Hide-Tag collects and sends precise location while a match is running even when the app is not visible or the phone is locked. This is needed because players walk or run with their phones in their pockets and everybody’s map must continue updating. Background collection starts only for a lobby you joined. In Android version 4.8.17 and current Dev versions, sharing includes lobby setup and continues on the post-game map so players can find each other; it stops when you leave the lobby. Some earlier versions stop at the end of the round. Android shows an ongoing location-sharing notification. Stopping new reports does not immediately delete positions already stored. Precise background location and routes are not copied into optional analytics or used for advertising. The optional approximate-area record comes from the game area chosen by the host, not your route.

Who receives data

• Players in your invited game. They see your nickname and game activity. Location is revealed only as the rules require: for example to teammates, through a reveal, freeze, footprint, arrival or mission. A lobby code is required to enter the game; Hide-Tag has no public player directory or stranger matching. In versions with round replay, the round’s participants can review everyone’s recorded route and role changes after it ends. Replay history is not accessible during play or to people outside that round.
• Supabase provides anonymous authentication, the database and the game API as a service provider. See Supabase’s privacy information.
• Vercel Inc. hosts the website, web app and private administration backend. The backend processes game, player and analytics information when I administer the service. Vercel also processes technical request and security information. See Vercel’s privacy notice.
• OpenFreeMap (Hyperknot Software Kft.) and its delivery providers. Your device requests map styles and tiles directly, which discloses its IP address, browser or app information and the map area requested. OpenFreeMap says it does not routinely log IP addresses, but may do so temporarily during a security incident. See OpenFreeMap’s Privacy Notice.
• Google Gmail. If you email support, Google processes your email address, message and attachments to deliver and store that correspondence. Do not email precise routes, identity documents or other sensitive information unless needed for your request. See Google’s privacy policy.

Data may also be disclosed when required by law, to protect somebody from harm, or to establish or defend legal claims. It is not shared with advertisers or data brokers.

International transfers

I administer Hide-Tag from Finland. The production game database is hosted in Sweden. Provider support, website delivery, maps and email can involve processing in other countries, including the United States; this does not mean that all records stay in Sweden. Supabase’s data-processing agreement includes standard contractual clauses for relevant international transfers. Its subprocessor list identifies additional providers and locations. The other providers’ linked notices explain their own international processing. Contact me for information about the safeguards relevant to your data; a provider’s presence in this list is not a claim that every country has the same privacy protections.

How long data is kept

• Precise gameplay locations and replay: a lobby and its player names, precise locations, game events and replay history become eligible for deletion once no player in that lobby has been active for 24 hours. The clock runs from the last activity by any player, not from the end of the round or when you personally leave. If someone remains active in the lobby, its records can be kept longer. Cleanup runs daily and when somebody hosts a game, so deletion can occur up to a day after the lobby becomes eligible. Starting a rematch deletes the previous round’s replay immediately; this does not delete every other record belonging to the lobby.
• The anonymous authentication record, coins, game count and achievements outlive an individual lobby so they can return on the same app installation. They are retained while the service operates unless they can be deleted in response to a verified request.
• Support correspondence and necessary legal records are kept only as long as needed for the request, security, disputes or legal obligations. Infrastructure providers keep their own operational records under the policies linked above.

Analytics retention

Round analytics and privacy-choice history become eligible for deletion after 12 months. Daily cleanup removes expired records within the next day, even when nobody plays. Cleanup also runs when a game starts, privacy choices are saved or the private analytics report is opened. Current preferences remain until account deletion. Deleting your account also removes your choice history. Other players' summaries and non-identifying group totals may remain. Counts cover the retained records, not a lifetime history.

Delete your Hide-Tag account or data

To request account or data deletion without using the app, email hello.sebagames@gmail.com and say whether you want your whole account or only optional analytics deleted. If you still have access, include the support reference from Settings → Privacy and data. I may need to verify ownership; the reference alone does not authorise deletion. If you have lost access, contact me before sending identity documents. I may be unable to identify your random account once its session is lost.

Leaving a game stops participation; ending or abandoning a game does not immediately erase it because the short retention period lets the match finish and results be shown. Uninstalling Hide-Tag or clearing its storage stops new collection and removes the anonymous credentials from that device, but does not itself delete the server-side pseudonymous profile.

In updated apps, Settings → Privacy and data → Delete my account and data verifies your current session and deletes your authentication account, profile, coins, achievements, privacy preferences and history, linked analytics, memberships, nicknames, positions and replay samples from the active database. Other players' records remain and hosting is transferred where necessary. You do not need to email a UUID. Deletion cannot be undone; continuing afterwards creates a new account.

To delete only optional analytics while keeping your account, use Settings → Privacy and data → Turn off and delete analytics. This removes your linked analytics and stops future collection. Necessary gameplay records, profile progress and privacy-choice history remain under the retention rules above.

Why your data download can contain coordinates

Download my data includes your records still held in the active database, not just optional analytics. Depending on the app version and what remains stored:

• locations contains your latest reported precise location for a lobby.
• replay contains your saved round samples. Their lat and lng values are precise replay coordinates, with timestamps and game state.
• Gameplay records such as footsteps, forbidden_zones and flare_samples may also contain coordinates used by the game’s rules.
• analytics contains the separate optional summaries. Any saved area there is the broad grid-cell centre described above, not your precise route.

Precise coordinates in the gameplay or replay sections do not mean you opted into analytics. Downloading a copy does not delete the server records; the cleanup rules and account-deletion option above still apply. A downloaded copy remains on your device until you delete it.

A support reference appears on the same screen. You can send it to me for help, but a reference alone is not proof of account ownership. An internet connection is needed; the app reports failures rather than claiming unconfirmed changes succeeded.

Deletion cannot recall information other players have already seen or copied. Provider security logs and backups can persist for their applicable retention periods, restricted to operational purposes. Contact me about records outside the app export or if you cannot use the in-app controls.

You may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or objection, and may withdraw consent where consent is the legal basis, by emailing hello.sebagames@gmail.com. Because Hide-Tag deliberately does not collect your real identity, I may need information that can reliably connect you to the anonymous record. Do not send more personal information than requested. If the app has been removed and no reliable connection remains, I may be unable to identify the record without collecting additional data solely for that purpose.

I handle privacy requests and complaints at the email address above. I normally respond within one month, or sooner where local law requires it. If a lawful extension or refusal applies, I explain the reason and available complaint options. Requests are normally free; any permitted fee or exception will be explained before it is applied. You can ask me to reconsider a decision. Hide-Tag does not use your data for automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects; automated decisions about scores, catches and game status are part of gameplay.

You may complain to the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman of Finland or the data-protection authority where you live or work. These rights may vary by location and may be subject to lawful exceptions.

Children

Optional analytics is offered only to players who confirm they are 16 or older. I record that confirmation, not a date of birth. Younger eligible players can use necessary data only.

Hide-Tag is not directed to children under 13. Players must be at least 13. If the law where you live requires a parent or guardian to authorise use of an online service or location processing at your age, use Hide-Tag only with that authorisation and with the adult aware of where the game is being played. There is no chat, public profile or way to join a game without an invitation code.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit. Database tables are not directly readable by app users; server-side access rules decide what each invited player may receive. Hide-Tag minimises location retention and limits sharing to your joined lobby. No internet service can promise absolute security, so report a suspected privacy or security problem to the contact address above.

Changes to this notice

This notice will be updated when Hide-Tag’s data use, providers or legal obligations change. Material changes will be described in the app or its store listing where appropriate. The effective date appears below.