Privacy Policy — Hide & Seek

Privacy at a Glance

Hide & Seek is designed as a lightweight multiplayer game and does not require you to create a traditional user account.

However, the game uses certain information that is necessary for multiplayer gameplay, including your player name, room information, connection identifiers, and, when permission is granted, your live device location.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the game.

1. Information We Process

Depending on how you use the game, the following information may be processed:

Player name: The name you enter when creating or joining a room.
Room code: The short code used to identify the multiplayer room.
Game role: Your role as a Seeker or Hider during an active game.
Location information: Your device's latitude and longitude when you grant location permission and an active round is running.
Connection information: Technical peer/connection identifiers used to establish multiplayer communication.
Gameplay information: Information such as player roles, reveal status, game positions, timestamps, and round state.
Chat messages: If hider chat is enabled, messages sent by hiders can be transmitted to other eligible hiders.
Browser storage: The game uses your browser's local storage to preserve certain session and game information when the page is refreshed.

2. Location Information

Location information is an important part of the Hide & Seek gameplay experience.

When you grant permission, the game uses your device's browser Geolocation API to obtain your approximate current latitude and longitude.

The location information is used to calculate the distance between you and relevant players in the game.

For example, the game may calculate whether another player is within the BLUE, YELLOW, or RED distance zone.

The game does not require location permission merely to view the initial website. Location tracking is started when an active game requires it.

3. Location Permission

Your browser or device controls access to your location. You may allow or deny the location permission request.

If you deny location permission, the multiplayer game may still open, but the live distance-tracking functionality may not work correctly.

You can revoke location permission later through your browser or device settings.

4. How Location Is Shared

Hide & Seek is designed as a multiplayer game using PeerJS/WebRTC-style peer communication.

During an active round, location information may be transmitted between the host and connected players as necessary to provide the game's distance-tracking functionality.

This means that players in the same game may receive information that allows the game to calculate their distance from relevant opposing players.

You should only join rooms with people you trust and should not use the game to share sensitive location information.

5. Player Names

You may choose the player name displayed in the game.

Please avoid using sensitive personal information as your player name, such as:

Home address
Phone number
Email address
Government identification numbers
Passwords
Financial information

6. Chat

The host may enable or disable the hider chat feature.

When chat is enabled, hiders can send messages to other eligible hiders participating in the same round.

Revealed hiders cannot send new chat messages, although they may still be able to view messages already available to them.

Do not send passwords, financial information, private addresses, or other sensitive information through the game chat.

7. Browser Local Storage

Hide & Seek uses your browser's localStorage to preserve your game session.

This allows the application to remember information such as:

Your session token
Your room code
Your player name
Whether you are the host
Host game state where applicable

This functionality is used so that refreshing the page does not immediately remove you from an active room.

8. Leaving a Room

You can leave a room using the game's Exit button.

When you explicitly leave the game, the application clears its saved session information from the device and stops active location tracking.

You can also clear the website's local storage or site data using your browser's privacy settings.

9. Third-Party Services

The game uses third-party technologies to provide multiplayer functionality.

PeerJS

The game uses the PeerJS JavaScript library to establish peer-to-peer multiplayer communication.

PeerJS-related infrastructure may process technical information required to establish and maintain connections.

CDN Services

The PeerJS library is loaded through a third-party CDN. When your browser loads a library from a third-party service, that service may receive technical information associated with the request, such as an IP address.

Third-party services operate according to their own terms and privacy policies.

10. Analytics and Tracking

Hide & Seek uses Vercel Web Analytics to understand basic website usage and improve the performance and user experience of the service.

Analytics may provide information such as page views, approximate visitor activity, referring sources, device type, browser type, operating system, and general geographic information.

Vercel Web Analytics is used for website analytics and is not intended to identify you personally.

The game does not use analytics for targeted advertising.

Analytics information is handled through Vercel's services and may be subject to Vercel's own privacy practices and policies.

Apart from analytics, the application uses browser localStorage for session persistence as described in the Browser Local Storage section of this Privacy Policy.

11. Data Retention

The application may temporarily maintain game information while a room or round is active.

Some session and game-state information may remain in your browser's localStorage until you leave the room, clear the application's storage, or otherwise remove the stored data.

The actual retention of information transmitted through third-party networking infrastructure may depend on those services and their systems.

12. Children's Privacy

Hide & Seek is not specifically designed as a service for children.

Because the game uses real-world location information, parents and guardians should supervise minors and determine whether location sharing is appropriate and safe.

Children should never be encouraged to meet strangers or travel to unsafe locations as part of the game.

13. Security

We take reasonable measures within the design of the application to limit information to what is necessary for gameplay.

However, no internet-connected system can guarantee complete security.

You should therefore avoid entering confidential, financial, authentication, or other highly sensitive information into the game.

14. Your Choices

Depending on your browser and device, you can:

Choose the player name you use.
Deny or revoke location permission.
Leave a multiplayer room.
Clear the website's localStorage/site data.
Avoid entering sensitive information into chat.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the game's features, technology, data practices, or applicable requirements change.

Any updated version will be published on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.

16. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of information by Hide & Seek, please contact the developer through the contact information provided on the About Us page.