Privacy Policy
The short version
Timeburn games have no accounts and ask for no personal details. We keep technical server logs with hashed addresses for a few weeks, store the nickname and score you choose to post to a leaderboard, and keep your unfinished game state in your own browser. AI features run on a language model on our own server, not a third-party AI service. Advertising is provided by Google AdSense, which uses cookies; you can control that below.
1. Data we process on our server
Server logs
Our server records each request: the page or API called, the time, the response code, your browser's user-agent string, and a one-way hash of your IP address (the raw address is not written to disk by our application). We use this to keep the site working and to detect abuse. Logs are deleted after 30 days. Cloudflare, which sits in front of our server, also processes your IP address to deliver the site and block attacks, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.
Scores and leaderboards
When a game lets you post a result, we store the nickname you typed, the score, the time, and the hashed address (so one visitor holds one leaderboard slot per day). Nicknames are public on that leaderboard. Do not use your real name if you do not want it shown. You can ask us to remove an entry via the contact page.
AI features
In Gatesmith, asking for a hint or a new puzzle sends the puzzle, your current circuit and the hint level to a language model that runs on a computer we own, on a private network. Nothing is sent to OpenAI, Google, Anthropic or any other AI provider. We record that a request was made (hashed address, day, puzzle) to enforce daily limits, and model output may be kept briefly in logs for debugging. The AI never receives free text from you, only game state.
Contact
If you email us, we keep the message for as long as needed to answer it.
2. Data stored in your browser
Games use localStorage (not cookies) to remember boards, a chosen nickname, used hints and similar conveniences. This stays on your device, is sent to us only as part of an action you trigger, and is cleared when you clear site data in your browser. We do not set tracking cookies ourselves.
3. Advertising (Google AdSense)
We display advertisements served by Google AdSense to support the site. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites, and to measure ad performance. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- Opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ads Settings, or opt out of third-party vendors' cookies at www.aboutads.info.
- How Google uses information from sites that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
- Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland see a consent message before personalized ads load and can change their choice at any time through the "Privacy and cookie settings" link when it is shown.
- Visitors in US states with privacy laws can decline the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for advertising through the same message, where shown.
4. Analytics
We may use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which measures page views without cookies and without fingerprinting individual visitors. We do not use Google Analytics.
5. Children
Timeburn games are general-audience and do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the age required in your country). Nicknames are the only free text we store; please choose one that does not identify you.
6. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal data, to object to processing, or to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Because we hold almost nothing that identifies you, the practical actions are: clearing your browser's site data, asking us to remove a leaderboard entry, and using Google's ad settings above. Our legal basis under the GDPR is legitimate interest (running and protecting the site) and, for personalized advertising in the EEA/UK, your consent.
7. Security and retention
Sites are served over HTTPS. Server logs are kept for 30 days; leaderboard entries and generated puzzles are kept indefinitely as part of each game's history; daily usage counters are deleted after a few days.
8. Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top will be updated. Material changes will be announced on the home page.
9. Contact
Questions about privacy: [email protected] or the contact page.