Privacy Notice
Last updated: [DATE]
Quest for Language doesn't ask who you are, and your gameplay is not linked to your identity. Nothing we store is sold or used for advertising. This page explains exactly what is stored, why, and what your choices are. It is written for the adult who obtained the game, including when it is being played by a child.
Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is [DATA CONTROLLER]. Privacy questions and requests: [DATA CONTACT].
You choose what is stored
After you enter your team cipher, the game asks whether we may store information about your playthrough. You can choose No storage and still play the whole game.
If you choose “Store Gameplay”, we store
- your team cipher and which quest you played;
- when each stage (puzzle, investigation, experiment, results) started and finished;
- your moves: puzzle placements, spin-and-vote choices, experiment rounds and words, and your structured answers to the closing reflection (e.g. whether the results supported your hypothesis);
- the randomly generated anonymous animal names for each player (never the names players choose for themselves).
The free-text parts of the closing reflection (your explanations and your poster title and subtitle) are not stored. They stay in your browser to build your poster. If you choose a custom name for gameplay, this is only used for display purposes and never leaves your device.
If you choose “No storage”, we store only
- your team cipher, the quest, and when the playthrough started and finished.
This minimal record lets us count how many playthroughs are started and finished.
Why, and our legal basis
We use gameplay data only to understand how people play and to improve the game, and to let you see your own play history. Where we store detailed gameplay data, the legal basis is your consent. The minimal record kept if you choose “No storage” (start and finish times) is kept on our legitimate interest in knowing how many playthroughs are started and finished. Nothing is sold or shared for advertising, and there is no profiling. Gameplay data is not linked to your identity.
How long we keep it
Stored gameplay data (including the minimal “No storage” record) is automatically deleted 12 months after the playthrough starts. If you signed up or purchased, the record of your sign-up is kept for up to two years (see below).
Who can link a cipher to a person
Team ciphers are created by us, and stored independently from any contact information we collected to deliver the game to you. If you obtained the game through a sign-up or purchase, we or our supplier will have received your email address. We [CONTROLLER DEFINED] only use your email address to deliver your team cipher and keep a record of your signup for the game for up to two years (this allows us to re-deliver your cipher if it is lost). The legal basis is our legitimate interest in delivering what you asked for (or, for a purchase, the contract with you). Because we can re-deliver your cipher, that record does connect your email address to your team cipher, but it is held separately from gameplay data, and we do not combine the two or use them together for any purpose.
Your rights, and how to use them
You may ask to see, correct, or delete the data stored under your team cipher, or withdraw your consent. You may also ask about the contact details held for you, which are handled separately from your gameplay data. Please quote your team cipher when contacting [DATA CONTACT], and we will use it to find and act on the matching gameplay records. For anything involving your email address we may ask you to write from that address so we can confirm it is you. Withdrawing consent does not affect the use of data before you withdrew it. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
Storage in your browser
The game sets no cookies. It uses your browser’s own storage for these purposes only. None of it is used for tracking or advertising, and none of it is sent to us except the cipher and consent choice you make during the game.
| Name | Where | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
lq-team | sessionStorage | Carries your team cipher and storage choice from the start page into the game. | Until you close the tab |
| Audio settings | localStorage | Remembers whether you turned music and sound effects on or off. | Until you clear site data |
| Tour “seen” flags | localStorage | Remembers which guided tours you have already seen so they don’t repeat. | Until you clear site data |
These are needed to provide the game as you use it, so no consent banner is required. You can clear them at any time in your browser settings.
IP addresses
We do not store your IP address. Our hosting provider’s routers necessarily see it in order to deliver the page; that transient log is automatically overwritten within 7 days. Our database never receives it.
Other services the game contacts
- Music samples: the game loads instrument samples from a content delivery network (
strudel.b-cdn.net, operated by Bunny.net), which necessarily receives your IP address when your browser fetches them. - Hosting: the game runs on Heroku ([HEROKU REGION]), and gameplay data is held in MongoDB Atlas, in Ireland. They act as our processors.
Some of these providers are based in, or may process data in, countries outside the UK/EEA (for example the United States). Where that happens we rely on the safeguards the law provides for, such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy framework.
Administrators
The small number of people who edit the game’s content log in with a username, which we keep on our legitimate interest in securing and auditing the content system.
Changes
If this notice changes we will update the date above.