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.

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 advertising or analytics trackers
• No cookies set by Maponica (YouTube may set its own — 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 data (IP addresses, request logs) is necessary for security, abuse prevention, and ensuring service availability. 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), 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.
• 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.

Hosting and infrastructure

Our servers are hosted within the European Union. Your gameplay data does not leave the EU except through third-party embeds (YouTube).

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 and cannot be linked back to you once a game session ends. If you need to exercise your rights, contact us with your IP address and approximate time of play so we can locate any relevant data.

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

Maponica does not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. The game can be played without providing any personally identifiable information. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected data from a child under 16, we will delete it promptly.

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 any advertising or analytics 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.