Privacy Policy

Maponica ("we", "us", "our") operates the website at maponica.com and the multiplayer geography games available through it.

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable EU/EEA law.

The data controller is Maponica. For any privacy-related questions, contact us at privacy@maponica.com.

Technical data (collected automatically)

When you visit our website, our servers receive standard technical information: your IP address, browser type, operating system, and device type. This is necessary to deliver the game to your device.

Gameplay data (provided by you)

When you play, you choose a username and avatar emoji. During a game session, your map guesses (coordinates), scores, and chat messages are transmitted to our servers. This data is stored temporarily in memory and deleted when the game room closes (typically within 4 hours). We do not build persistent player profiles from this data.

Product analytics data

To understand performance and improve gameplay, we collect first-party analytics events such as page views, session starts, gameplay interactions, and client error diagnostics. These events may include pseudonymous identifiers (session/device UUID), browser, operating system, language, timezone, and referrer information. We also use Google Analytics 4 for aggregated traffic and engagement reporting.

Video interaction data

CityGuesser uses embedded YouTube videos. When a video plays, YouTube (operated by Google) may collect data about your interaction, including your IP address and device information. This data is processed by Google under their own privacy policy. We do not have access to this data.

Aggregated video statistics

We collect anonymous, aggregated statistics about videos (times played, average guess distances, like/dislike counts). This data cannot be traced back to individual players and is not personal data.

• No user accounts or login credentials (yet)
• No email addresses or real names
• No payment or financial data
• No location data from your device (only your voluntary in-game map guesses)
• No third-party advertising trackers (for example remarketing or ad targeting pixels).
• No non-essential cookies are set directly by our own backend systems. Third-party services such as YouTube and Google Analytics may set cookies (see Section 6).

Under GDPR Article 6, we process your data on these grounds:

• Contract necessity (Art. 6(1)(b)) — Processing your gameplay data (username, guesses, scores) is necessary to provide the multiplayer game service you requested.
• Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — Processing technical and product analytics data (such as request logs, event telemetry, and service diagnostics) is necessary for security, abuse prevention, service reliability, and product improvement. We have assessed that this interest does not override your rights.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — Where third-party services set cookies or trackers (e.g. YouTube embeds or Google Analytics), this occurs on the basis of your consent. You may withdraw consent at any time.

• Game room data (usernames, scores, chat) — deleted automatically when the room expires, at most 4 hours after creation.
• Server logs (IP, timestamps) — retained for up to 30 days for security monitoring, then deleted.
• Raw analytics events — retained for up to 90 days.
• Hourly analytics aggregates — retained for up to 30 days.
• Daily analytics aggregates and pseudonymous session profiles — retained for longer-term product measurement.
• Video statistics — stored indefinitely, but contain no personal data.

YouTube (Google)

We embed YouTube videos as part of the game experience. When a video loads, your browser connects directly to YouTube's servers. Google may collect data about your viewing activity and set cookies. Google processes this data as an independent controller under the Google Privacy Policy.

Google Analytics (Google)

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand aggregated usage patterns (for example page views, session trends, and feature engagement). Google may set cookies or use similar technologies and process related technical data as an independent controller under the Google Privacy Policy.

Hosting and infrastructure

Our servers are hosted within the European Union. Your gameplay data does not leave the EU except through third-party services such as YouTube and Google Analytics.

Sentry (error monitoring)

We use Sentry to monitor application errors and stability. Sentry may process technical diagnostic data related to errors (for example device, browser, and request context) as our processor.

Vercel Speed Insights

We use Vercel Speed Insights to measure site performance and availability trends.

As an individual in the EU/EEA, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — Ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure — Ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Restriction — Ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Portability — Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection — Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time.

Since Maponica currently operates without user accounts, most gameplay data is ephemeral. If you need to exercise your rights, contact us with your IP address and approximate time of play and, where possible, your analytics user identifier used by the site.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

We do not knowingly process personal data of users under 16 without a valid legal basis (such as parent or legal guardian permission, or school authorization where allowed by law).

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal data to us, please contact us at privacy@maponica.com.

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We plan to introduce optional user accounts (via Google login), advertising (Google AdSense), and additional game modes. When these features launch, we will update this privacy policy accordingly and, where required, obtain your consent before any new processing begins. We will also implement a cookie consent mechanism before introducing advertising trackers.

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Significant changes will be communicated through a notice on our website. The "Effective date" at the top indicates when the policy was last revised.