Privacy policy
The short version
- We collect your email address, your runs and purchases, what happens in your games, and how you use the site.
- We never see your card number. Stripe handles payments.
- During live runs, what you type and choose is sent to Anthropic's AI models to generate the game.
- We use one cookie, to keep you signed in, and browser storage for guest progress. Our analytics don't use cookies.
- We don't sell your data or show ads. Email support@bgworldlab.com to see, export or delete your data.
1. Who is responsible
Background World is run by Kyle Smith in Ontario, Canada. We are responsible for your personal information under this policy. Contact us about privacy at support@bgworldlab.com. Kyle Smith is our privacy officer.
2. What we collect
| What | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Email address, account ID, sign-in times, the age confirmation you tick | You |
| Runs and purchases | Run balance, packs bought, amounts, refunds, the Stripe payment reference, country | You and Stripe |
| Play | Your choices, scores and outcomes; in live runs, what you type and what the AI generates in return | You and the game |
| Usage and device | Pages viewed, clicks, approximate location from your IP address, browser and device type, errors, and session replays with typed text masked | Your browser, through PostHog |
| Messages | Emails you send us, and whether you asked to be notified about new releases | You |
Stripe collects your card details directly. We never receive or store your full card number.
3. Why we use it
| Purpose | Legal basis (for people in the EU and UK) |
|---|---|
| Run your account, sign you in, sell and track runs, and generate live runs | To perform our contract with you |
| Prevent fraud, abuse of free runs and harmful content; keep AI costs within limits | Our legitimate interest in a safe, working service |
| Understand how people play and make our games better | Our legitimate interest in improving our games |
| Email you about new releases when you ask us to | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Keep purchase records for tax and accounting | Legal obligation |
We use records of game choices and outcomes to improve our games. We do not use what you type to train AI models, and our AI provider does not train its models on it.
4. Who processes it for us
We use these service providers. Each only processes your data to provide its service to us.
| Provider | What for | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Netlify | Hosting, data storage, and routing AI requests | United States |
| Anthropic | AI models that generate live runs | United States |
| Stripe | Payments, receipts and fraud checks | United States and Canada |
| Resend | Sign-in links and account emails | United States |
| PostHog | Product analytics and session replay | United States |
| Cloudflare | Domain and email forwarding | United States and global network |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect people from harm, or as part of a sale or reorganisation of Background World, in which case this policy continues to apply.
We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.
5. Data outside your country
Our providers store and process data in the United States and other countries, where privacy law may differ from yours. Where the law requires it, we rely on safeguards such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
6. How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account and run balance | Until you delete your account, then removed within 30 days |
| Purchase and refund records | 7 years, for tax law |
| Live run text (what you typed and what the AI generated) | 90 days, for safety reviews and support |
| Play records without text | Until you delete your account, or kept only in a form that no longer identifies you |
| Analytics and session replays | Up to 12 months |
| Support emails | 2 years |
7. Cookies and analytics
We set one cookie: a sign-in cookie that keeps you logged in for up to 90 days. It is strictly necessary for your account to work, so we don't ask for consent for it. If you never sign in, we don't set it.
If you play without an account, the game keeps your progress and whether you've had your free live mission in your browser's local storage. It stays on your device, and you can clear it in your browser settings.
Our analytics, PostHog, run without cookies or local storage. They forget you when you close the tab. Session replays mask what you type. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, analytics and replays are switched off.
When you pay, Stripe's checkout page sets its own cookies to prevent fraud. Those are covered by Stripe's privacy policy.
We don't use advertising or social media tracking cookies.
8. Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- show you or send you a copy of your personal information;
- correct it;
- delete it and close your account;
- stop using it for analytics or release emails.
Email support@bgworldlab.com from the address on your account. We reply within 30 days. You can also complain to your privacy regulator: in Canada, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner; in the EU or UK, your local data protection authority.
Every release email has an unsubscribe link.
9. Children
The service is not for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information. If you think a child under 13 has given us information, email us and we will delete it.
10. Security
We use encrypted connections, sign-in links that expire, no passwords, and access limited to the people who run the service. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts you at real risk of harm, we will tell you and the regulators the law requires us to tell.
11. Changes
If we change this policy in a material way, we'll tell you by email or on the site before the change takes effect.