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This Privacy Policy explains how HOMETOWN STORIES, INC. ("Hometown Stories," the "Company," "we," "us," or "our") handles information in connection with: (a) the Hometown — Stories Played Together mobile application for iOS and Android (the "App" or the "Game"); (b) our website at hometowngames.app (the "Website"); and (c) related services we provide (together, the "Services").
Hometown is a family game built for grandparents, parents, and children to play together. Because children are among our players, we hold ourselves to the highest standard of privacy protection: we designed the Game to collect only the minimum information needed to operate it, an email address and password to create a player account, and the technical data needed to connect two players online. This Privacy Policy describes that approach in detail, explains how children's accounts are protected, describes the limited information handled by the Website, and sets out the rights available to you and your family under applicable privacy laws, including the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended ("CCPA/CPRA"), and other applicable laws.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms and Conditions & End User License Agreement, available at hometowngames.app/terms-and-conditions. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the Services.
The Game was engineered on a privacy-by-design and data-minimization basis. In plain language:
For clarity and transparency, especially for parents and guardians apart from the account email address and password described in Section 4, the App does not request, collect, transmit to us, or store on our systems any of the following:
The only personal information the Game asks any player for is the email address and password used to create the account. We do not build advertising or marketing profiles of players, and we never sell player information.
To play the Game, you create a free player account using an email address and a password. We use this information to create and secure your account, sign you in, enable two-player connections, respond to support requests, and send essential service communications (such as password resets or important changes to the Services). Passwords are stored in hashed form and are never visible to us. We do not use account email addresses for marketing unless you separately opt in, and we never use them for advertising to children. Accounts for children under 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction) must be created or approved by a parent or legal guardian, as described in Section 5.
Game progress, city designs, and the stories and memories created through the Library feature are stored on the device on which the Game is installed and, where needed to operate the Game (for example, to synchronize a shared city between two connected players), in association with your account on our systems. This content is your family's: we use it only to operate the Game, we do not mine it for advertising or profiling, and you can delete it at any time using the Game's delete functions or by requesting deletion of your account (Section 12).
Two-player mode works over the internet. When you play with a partner, we process the technical information necessary to establish and maintain the session, such as account identifiers, IP address, connection and session data, and the gameplay data synchronized between the two connected players. Players who are online, including players on the same Wi-Fi network, may discover one another and send private invitations to play; sessions are established only when an invitation is accepted. There is no open matchmaking with strangers and no public chat. Session data is used solely to provide the two-player experience and for security and abuse prevention.
Apple and Google may provide us with aggregated, de-identified statistics about the App, such as the number of downloads, crash reports, and general performance metrics generated through their own platforms in accordance with their own privacy policies and your device-level settings (for example, iOS "Share With App Developers" and Android usage & diagnostics settings). This information does not identify individual players to us. You can control these platform-level sharing settings on your device.
If a future version of the App were ever to introduce features requiring the collection of additional personal information, we would first update this Privacy Policy, provide prominent notice, and, where required for children under 13 (or the applicable age in your jurisdiction), obtain verifiable parental consent before any collection, in accordance with COPPA and other applicable laws.
The Game is intended to be played by children together with their parents, grandparents, or guardians. The only personal information collected from any player is the account email address and password (Section 4.1). Consistent with COPPA, an account for a child under 13 must be created, or its creation approved, by the child's parent or legal guardian; the parent's or guardian's creation or approval of the account constitutes consent to the collection and use of the child's account information as described in this Privacy Policy. Where the GDPR applies, the parent or guardian likewise provides the consent required for children under the applicable age of digital consent (13–16, depending on the country). We use children's account information solely to operate the Game, never for marketing, advertising, or profiling, and we apply the data-minimization principles of the UK Age-Appropriate Design Code and similar frameworks.
The Game shows no third-party advertisements of any kind and performs no behavioral profiling or targeted advertising to children or to anyone else.
Parents and legal guardians may contact us at any time at info@hometowngames.app to: (a) ask questions about our privacy practices; (b) review the information we hold in connection with their child's account (the account email address and associated game content); (c) request deletion of the child's account and associated information; or (d) revoke consent and refuse to permit any further collection or use, in which case the child's account will be closed. We will respond to verified parental requests as required by COPPA and other applicable laws. Parents can also delete Game content directly in-App, and account deletion is available in-App or by emailing us.
The Website, newsletter, contact forms, and our community channels are directed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction) through the Website. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us through the Website, please contact us at info@hometowngames.app and we will promptly delete it.
When you use the Website as an adult visitor, you may choose to provide us with information, for example when you: contact us by email or through a contact form (name, email address, and the content of your message); subscribe to a newsletter (email address); submit a testimonial, story, or press inquiry; or apply to participate in community programs, events, or creator partnerships (contact and professional details you choose to share).
Like most websites, our hosting infrastructure automatically logs limited technical information when you visit, such as IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring pages, pages viewed, and timestamps. We use this information for security, fraud prevention, debugging, and to understand aggregate Website performance. Where we use cookies or similar technologies (including any analytics services), we will present a cookie notice and, where required by law, obtain your consent. You can control cookies through your browser settings; essential cookies required for the Website to function may not be disabled.
We use the information described in Sections 4 and 6 to:
We do not use personal information for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process personal information on the following legal bases: (a) consent for newsletters, non-essential cookies, and testimonials (you may withdraw consent at any time); (b) legitimate interests to operate and secure the Website, respond to inquiries, and promote our Services in ways that do not override your rights and freedoms; (c) performance of a contract where processing is necessary to provide Services you request; and (d) legal obligation, where we must retain or disclose information to comply with applicable law.
We do not sell personal information. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:
We retain account information for as long as the account remains active; when an account is deleted (by you, by a parent or guardian, or by us), the associated personal information is deleted or de-identified within a reasonable period, except where retention is required by law. We retain personal information collected through the Website only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy: correspondence for as long as needed to handle your inquiry and for a reasonable period thereafter; newsletter emails until you unsubscribe; and server logs for a limited rolling period for security purposes. We then delete or de-identify the information, unless a longer period is required by law. Game content stored on your own device is retained under your control, as described in Section 4.2.
We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect the information we handle against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include encryption in transit (HTTPS) for the Website, access controls, and vendor due diligence. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We also protect accounts structurally: passwords are stored hashed, we collect no more personal information than the Game needs, and children's accounts are protected by the parental controls described in Section 5.
Regardless of where you live, you may contact us at info@hometowngames.app to ask what information we hold about you, request a correction or deletion (including deletion of a player account and its associated data), unsubscribe from communications, or raise any privacy concern. We respond to all legitimate requests within the timelines required by applicable law.
If you are located in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection, as well as the right to withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing) and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
If you are a resident of California or another U.S. state with a comprehensive privacy law (including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, and others), you may have the rights to know/access, correct, delete, and obtain a portable copy of your personal information, and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and certain profiling. We do not sell personal information and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. You may submit requests via info@hometowngames.app; we will verify your request and respond within the statutory period. You may also designate an authorized agent to act on your behalf as permitted by law.
If the law of your country provides additional rights (for example, in Canada under PIPEDA, in Brazil under the LGPD, or in Australia under the Privacy Act), we will honor those rights as required. Contact us and we will work with you.
Hometown Stories, Inc. is based in the United States, and information collected through the Website is processed in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. Where we transfer personal information from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an applicable adequacy framework. By using the Website, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in countries with data protection laws different from those of your country of residence, subject to the safeguards described here.
The Services link to or interact with third parties that operate under their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review, including: Apple (App Store distribution and platform diagnostics), Google (Google Play distribution and platform diagnostics), and our community platforms such as Discord, Twitch, YouTube, and social media services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. Any information you provide directly to those platforms, for example, joining our Discord server, is governed by their policies, and participation is subject to their minimum age requirements.
Some browsers transmit "Do Not Track" signals or the Global Privacy Control ("GPC"). Because we do not track visitors across third-party websites and do not sell or share personal information, our Services do not respond differently to such signals; to the extent GPC constitutes a legally valid opt-out request in your jurisdiction, our practices already comply with it.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Services, or applicable law. When we make changes, we will revise the "Last Updated" date above, and for material changes, we will provide prominent notice, for example, on the Website or through the App or the applicable app store listing. If a change would materially affect the handling of children's information in a way that requires parental consent under COPPA, we will obtain that consent before the change takes effect. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, including all parental inquiries under COPPA, please contact us:
701 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 250 Raleigh, NC 27607, United States
Email: info@hometowngames.app
Telephone: +1-323-237-9182
Website: https://www.hometowngames.app
