Privacy policy

DRAFT

This text is a working draft, not legal advice. It must be reviewed before the site launches.

Last updated: [date to be set before launch]

Games Lighthouse helps you choose a Steam game. This page explains what the site keeps on your device and what it keeps on its servers.

What is stored on your device

Your privacy choice (localStorage, key games-lighthouse.consent): your answers to the privacy banner and the time you gave them.
Release calendar filters (cookie gl-calendar-filters, kept for a year): the genres, tags and hype level you last chose in the release calendar, so they are there on your next visit.
Next Game picks (sessionStorage): the games you liked or disliked in the swipe tool. It is kept for this browser tab and cleared when the tab closes.

You can clear these with your browser's site-data controls at any time. The site works without them.

Signing in (optional)

You can sign in with a Google account. We then store the email address and display name that Google provides, an internal player number, your saved games and your swipe history. Signing in sets a session cookie named gl.session. It is HTTP-only, is valid for up to 14 days and is removed when you sign out.

Steam profile import (optional)

When you import a public Steam profile, our server reads its game library from Steam to make recommendations. The results are kept only if you choose to save them, and then only for your account.

Server logs

Like any web service, the hosting provider keeps standard request logs (IP address, time, page requested) for security and operation. [Retention period and provider to be set before launch.]

Your choice and how to change it

You can withdraw or change your answer to the privacy banner at any time. The button clears the saved answer and opens the banner again.

Advertising and analytics

We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are read. It loads only after you allow analytics in the privacy settings, and it sends nothing before that. Advertising is not loaded yet; when it is added, it will also load only after you allow it, and this page will be updated first.

Where the game data comes from

Game information comes from IGDB.com (opens in a new tab) (a service of Twitch) and from Steam, through its store and its Web API. Our server collects it ahead of time and stores it in our own database, so visiting a game page does not send a request about you to either service. The one exception is the number of players a game has right now, which our server asks Steam for when you open the game. Those requests carry no information about you, apart from a Steam profile you choose to import, whose public Steam ID is sent to Steam to read its game library.

Game images (covers, screenshots and header pictures) are loaded by your browser directly from the IGDB and Steam image servers, and video thumbnails from YouTube. Those services can therefore see your IP address and browser details when a game page loads, as they would for any image they serve. Review summaries are written by an automated process from a sample of public Steam reviews; the reviews themselves are not shown on the site.

Your rights and contact

You can ask us for a copy of your data, a correction or its deletion. [The legal basis for processing, the deletion procedure and the contact address are to be added before launch.]

For questions about this policy, see the about page.