Privacy Policy
_facts.md for the single source of truth.1. Who we are
Hostable (hostable.games) is operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME — PENDING INCORPORATION], of [REGISTERED ADDRESS — PLACEHOLDER] ("Hostable", "we", "us"). We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.
ICO registration number: [ICO REGISTRATION NUMBER — PENDING].
Contact us about your data at privacy@hostable.games.
2. What Hostable is, in plain terms
Hostable gives you a free, lightweight Minecraft server. You can boost it (more RAM, more uptime, extra features) by watching ads, completing a survey, or paying. This policy explains what we collect to run that service, why, and what rights you have over it.
3. Who this policy is for — read this if you are under 18
You must be at least 16 years old to create a Hostable account. We ask for your date of birth at signup and will not create an account for anyone who tells us they are under 16.
We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13. If we learn that someone under 13 has given us personal data, we will delete their account and associated data as soon as reasonably practicable. A parent or guardian who believes their child (under 16) has created a Hostable account can contact privacy@hostable.games to have the account and data removed.
If you are 16 or 17, you can use Hostable, but we recommend a parent or guardian is aware, particularly before you make any payment.
4. What we collect, and why
| Category | Examples | Purpose | Lawful basis (UK/EU GDPR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account data | Email, username, hashed password, date of birth (age-gate only, not stored beyond the check unless needed for a support dispute) | Create and secure your account | Contract (Art 6(1)(b)) |
| Server data | Server name/ID, status, RAM/uptime tier, configuration | Operate the Minecraft server you asked for | Contract |
| Billing data | Purchased boosts, transaction reference (card details never touch our servers — see §7) | Process payment, tax records | Contract; legal obligation (HMRC, 6-year retention) |
| Support data | Ticket contents, whatever you tell us in a support request | Resolve your issue | Contract; legitimate interest in providing support |
| Ad/survey interaction | Which ad or survey network delivered your boost, completion status, advertising identifiers set by that network | Grant the boost you earned; the ad network's own processing is described in §8 | Contract (granting the boost); the ad network's own processing runs on consent, obtained through the cookie banner — see the Cookie Policy |
| Technical/security data | IP address, device/browser metadata, access logs | Keep the service secure, detect abuse, rate-limit | Legitimate interest (security) |
| Communications | Emails we send you (password resets, service notices, marketing if you opt in) | Operational and (opt-in only) marketing email | Contract (operational); consent (marketing) |
| Legal agreement records | A record of your agreement to our EULA, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and the cookie/storage notice — timestamp, IP address, and (where available) a copy of the exact document text you agreed to | Prove what was agreed to and when, if it's ever disputed | Legal obligation / legitimate interest (accountability, UK GDPR Art 5(2)) |
We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you. Boost eligibility and server limits are applied by simple rule (e.g. "watched N ads this period"), not profiling.
5. Where your data is processed, and international transfers
Your account, server, and session data is held on infrastructure we operate ourselves — a mixture of Linode and other self-hosted infrastructure. The exact split and datacenter location(s) are not yet finalized — see the Hostable repo's TODO.md, which tracks this as an open decision (a prior host was retired; the final topology is still being confirmed) — so this section cannot yet commit to a single country or a blanket "no international transfer" claim for that data. This will be updated with the confirmed provider mix and location(s), and the transfer table below corrected accordingly, before this policy is published. A small number of other providers already process data outside the UK/EEA regardless of where our own infrastructure ends up. Where that happens, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, and/or the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension, as the applicable safeguard. You can request a copy of the relevant safeguard by writing to privacy@hostable.games.
| Where | What's processed there | Safeguard |
|---|---|---|
Linode + other self-hosted infrastructure — [TBC — exact split/location(s) not yet finalized] | Account data, server records, sessions, backups | [TBC — depends on final locations] |
| United States | Transactional email (Resend, AWS US by default) | UK IDTA / EU SCCs and/or EU–US DPF (UK Extension) |
| Ireland / US (Stripe) | Payment processing (implemented; live once production Stripe keys are configured — see §7) | Stripe's own SCCs / DPF certification |
| US by default, EU option available (Cloudflare) | Traffic passing through the tunnel/edge (TLS termination) | Cloudflare DPA, DPF certification |
See suppliers.md for the full list with roles.
6. Cookies and similar technologies
Handled in full in the Cookie Policy, including the separate UK/EU consent-based model and the US "opt-out"/Global Privacy Control model for AdSense once it's live. This policy covers the personal data behind those cookies; the Cookie Policy covers the mechanism.
7. Payments
Card payments are handled entirely by Stripe (the integration is built and live in the product — see the Hostable repo's TODO.md for the current status of production API keys). Your card details go directly to Stripe and never touch Hostable's servers. Stripe acts as an independent controller for fraud prevention and anti-money-laundering checks, not purely as our processor — see Stripe's own privacy policy for that processing.
8. Advertising and surveys
No ad or survey network is integrated into Hostable yet. Earning a boost by watching an ad or completing a survey is a planned feature, not a live one — the current product has no ad-network script loaded anywhere (see suppliers.md). Once a network is chosen (currently under consideration: Google AdSense; a survey network is not yet chosen) and actually wired in, it will set its own cookies/identifiers and process data under its own privacy policy, which we'll link to at the point you interact with it, and this section will be updated to describe what's actually live rather than what's planned. We would only ever receive confirmation that the ad/survey was completed, not the network's own analytics about you.
We will not enable an ad or survey network without a signed data processing term from that network, and — because Hostable's userbase may include 16–17 year olds — we require any network we use to support non-personalized / non-behavioral ad delivery for under-18 accounts at minimum. [This is a product requirement to build, not yet implemented — see TODO.md.]
9. Who we share data with
We share data only with the sub-processors listed in suppliers.md, each under a written data processing agreement, and:
- with law enforcement or regulators where we're legally required to;
- with a buyer if Hostable is ever sold or merged, under the same protections as this policy, with notice to you first;
- never for other companies' independent marketing purposes.
10. How long we keep your data
| Data | Retention | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account + server data | Duration of account + up to 30 days after you request deletion (an automated daily sweep completes erasure once that window passes) | Contract; short window to reverse an accidental/malicious deletion request |
| Billing/invoice records | 6 years after the end of the tax year | HMRC statutory requirement |
| Support tickets | 24 months after closure | Legitimate interest — support history |
| Security/access logs | 90 days | Legitimate interest — security |
| Marketing consent records | Until withdrawn, plus 24 months | Evidence of consent (PECR) |
| Legal agreement records (EULA, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, cookie/storage notice) | 6 years after account closure | Accountability (UK GDPR Art 5(2)); matches our billing-record retention as the same "may need it for a future dispute" reasoning — kept independently of your account record, identified by the email address you used rather than a live account link, once the account itself is erased |
| Backups | 35 days rolling | Service availability |
11. Your rights
Under UK GDPR (and EU GDPR if it applies to you), you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- have inaccurate data rectified;
- request erasure ("right to be forgotten"), subject to the retention table above (e.g. we can't erase an invoice HMRC requires us to keep for 6 years, but we'll explain why when we decline);
- restrict or object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- data portability for data you gave us, processed by automated means under a contract or consent;
- withdraw consent at any time, for anything we process on that basis (marketing email, non-essential cookies);
- not be subject to solely automated decisions with legal/significant effects (we don't do this — see §4);
- complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk) if you think we've got this wrong. You don't have to come to us first, though we'd appreciate the chance to fix it.
To exercise any of these, email privacy@hostable.games. See our internal DSAR procedure for how we handle and time-box these requests.
If you are in the United States
Hostable does not sell your personal data for money. Depending on your state of residence and applicable state privacy law (e.g. California's CCPA/CPRA), you may have rights to know, delete, correct, opt out of the "sale or sharing" of personal information (which under CCPA's broad definition can include some advertising-cookie data even without a cash sale), and to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. We recognize the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out request. See the Cookie Policy §"Your US privacy rights" for the mechanism. [Other state-specific variations (Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, etc.) need a state-by-state legal review before Hostable claims compliance with each by name — flagged, not yet done.]
12. Security
See our public Security page for how we protect your data, and our internal Information Security Policy (available to enterprise/insurer requests) for the underlying controls.
13. Changes to this policy
We'll post the new version here with an updated date, and keep prior versions archived so you can see what changed. For a material change (e.g. a new category of data, a new international transfer, a new sub-processor) we'll email you or show an in-app notice the next time you sign in, summarizing what changed — not just a silent date bump. See Terms of Service §8 for the same commitment applied to pricing and plan changes specifically.
14. Contact
privacy@hostable.games · [REGISTERED ADDRESS — PLACEHOLDER]