Privacy

HeapPlay is built to work without accounts and to collect only what a feature needs. This page describes what the site does today.

Browsing

You can browse, search and play without registering. Just reading pages sets no cookie.

Favourites and recently viewed games are kept in your browser's own storage. They are not sent to HeapPlay, and clearing the browser's site data removes them.

Popularity counts

To count a view, a click to an official source or a game start once per visitor per day, the page sends a small signal. HeapPlay turns your network address and browser type into a code that changes every day and cannot be turned back into the address. The code de-duplicates the day's activity; it is not a profile and cannot be linked from one day to the next. The address itself is not stored in the ratings and popularity database.

Ratings and reviews

The first time you rate or review, HeapPlay sets one cookie (__Host-hp_b) holding a random identifier, so that your browser has one rating and one review per game and can change them. It is not shared with anyone and not used to follow you across sites.

Alongside a rating or review HeapPlay stores a daily-changing code for the network it came from, used only for the anti-abuse limits described on the About page.

With a review HeapPlay stores the text, the optional name you typed, what you said about how you played, and three coarse things your browser reports: computer, phone or tablet; the operating system family; the browser family. No version numbers and no address.

Screenshots: embedded information such as camera, location and editing data is cut out of the file before it is stored. Screenshots are shown only after a moderator has checked them. Please crop out names, messages and notifications before uploading.

You can change or delete your review from the same browser, or with the private link shown after posting. Deleting removes the text and the screenshots.

What developers receive

Developers whose connection to a game has been verified can read that game's published reviews through an API and receive them as notifications. They get the review's text, rating, displayed name, what was said about platform and version, the three coarse browser facts, approved screenshots and timestamps. They do not get network addresses, the browser identifier, private links or anything from moderation.

Games that play here

Games hosted by HeapPlay are served from a separate address (play.heapplay.com) and keep their saves and settings in your browser's storage for that address. They cannot read HeapPlay's cookies. HeapPlay's own games contain no advertising and no third-party trackers.

Games played elsewhere

When you follow a button to a developer's website or a store, that site's own privacy terms apply. HeapPlay does not control what it collects. Game pages say what HeapPlay knows about registration, advertising and purchases there.

Submissions, reports, claims and messages

These store what you typed, including any contact detail you chose to give, so the owner can act on them, plus the daily-changing network code for the limits on bulk submissions. Private links are stored only in hashed form.

Advertising and analytics

HeapPlay currently runs no advertising and no third-party analytics or tracking scripts, and loads its fonts from its own server. If that ever changes, this page will be updated before the change takes effect.

Logs

Like any website, the server keeps technical logs that include network addresses, to operate the site and stop abuse. The access log is limited in size and kept for at most 30 days; the application log is limited in size.

Children

HeapPlay is used by children as well as adults, and needs no personal information from anyone. Please don't put names, addresses, phone numbers or contact handles in reviews; reviews that look like they contain contact details are held for a moderator.

Your requests

To ask what is held in connection with you, or to have something removed, use the contact page. Because HeapPlay has no accounts, it helps to include the private link you were given, or the address of the page concerned.

This page describes how the site works. Which data-protection laws apply depends on who operates HeapPlay and who uses it; the owner is responsible for that assessment.