Hometown Kart - Bulli: privacy policy
The short version
- Playing single player or exploring Bulli needs no account. The game asks for Bulli's weather (see "Live weather") and, when something goes wrong, sends a crash report (see "Crash and error reports"; you can switch them off).
- Playing online, you sign in as a guest (no details asked) or with an email and password (or, where the game offers it, a Google or Apple account). The game keeps your racer name, your kart's look and your race times, so other players can race you and see the leaderboard.
- Accounts and results are held by Supabase, the account and database service the game uses, in its Sydney region.
- No ads, no location, no contacts, and no data sold.
What is stored on your device
Your settings (graphics, sound, frame rate, controls), your racer name and your kart (driver, body and three colours). If you have signed in for online play, also your sign-in session (a login token and a refresh token, and the email address of an email account) so you stay signed in. Nothing here is sent anywhere unless you play online. While crash reports are on, also the last lines of the game's log and any reports waiting to be sent (ten at most). Signing out removes the session; switching crash reports off removes the reports and the log lines; uninstalling the game removes everything.
Live weather
When Weather is set to Live (the default), the game shows Bulli's real weather. To do that it asks the Norwegian Meteorological Institute's free weather service (api.met.no) for the current forecast for Bulli: the request names Bulli's fixed coordinates and the game's name, never your location or anything about you, and it is made when the game starts and every half hour while it runs. Like any internet request it comes from your device's internet address, which the weather service receives under its own privacy terms (met.no). The answer (the weather in Bulli) is kept on your device for a few hours so the game starts with it. Set Weather to any other choice in Settings and the game makes no requests at all. Without an internet connection the weather is simply sunny. The time of day comes from your device's own clock; nothing is sent for it.
Crash and error reports
When the game hits an error or closes unexpectedly, it makes a short report so the problem can be found and fixed, and sends it to the game server the next time it can reach it (no account needed). A report holds: what went wrong (the error message and where in the game's code it happened), the last lines of the game's own log before it, the game's version, your device model, operating system, graphics chip and memory, the graphics setting and how long the game had been running. Before a report is saved, email addresses, account and race IDs, internet addresses and your racer name are taken out of the log lines. A report carries no account ID, so it is not linked to you. Like any connection, it comes from your device's internet address: the server's operational logs note that address (kept 30 days, see below), but it is not saved with the report. Reports are kept for 90 days, then deleted automatically. Settings › Crash reports switches them off: then nothing is recorded or sent.
Analytics
We use the information described in this policy, such as race results and crash reports, to understand how the game is played and to make it better. This is done by Hometown Kart itself, not by advertising companies. If the game starts collecting more for this (for example which features are used), this policy will describe it first.
What the game server receives (online play only)
Only when you choose Race online or open the Leaderboard:
| Data | Why | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Racer name (3-16 letters and numbers; you choose it; offensive names are refused) | to show you in lobbies, races and the leaderboard | other players |
| Kart look: driver, kart body, three colours | so other players see your kart | other players |
| Your account: a random user ID; for an email account your email address and your password (stored only as a one-way hash); for a Google or Apple account the email and name that provider shares | to sign you in and keep your results with you | nobody else (the operator can see the email address to answer requests) |
| Race results: finishing positions, race and lap times, wins | for your results and the leaderboard | other players (leaderboard) |
| Your IP address and port | needed to connect you to the game server, a race and the account service; written in the server's operational logs | the operator only |
Signing in, the game talks directly to Supabase over an encrypted connection (HTTPS); the game server checks your sign-in with Supabase and stores your racer name and results there. A guest account has no email: if you lose the device or sign out, its results cannot be recovered unless you first add an email to it.
Server logs (including the addresses) are kept for 30 days, then deleted automatically. Your account, racer name and race results stay until you ask for them to be removed. The connection to the game server is encrypted (TLS), and the game checks it is talking to the real Hometown Kart server before it sends your sign-in.
What the game does not do
- No advertising and no data sold. Data is shared only with the services that run the game for us (Supabase for accounts and results, AWS for the game server).
- No location, camera, microphone, contacts or photos.
- No in-game chat or messages between players.
- The game engine (Unity) is set not to send its own usage statistics, and no Unity services are used: the crash reports above go to the game's own server.
Children
The game is suitable for all ages. It does not knowingly collect personal information from children: online play works as a guest with no details asked, the racer name is filtered for offensive words, and there is no chat. An email account is optional.
Your choices
- You can play everything except online races without an account.
- Switch off crash reports: Settings › Crash reports.
- Play online as a guest if you prefer not to give an email address.
- To delete your account in the game: Settings › Delete account, pressed twice. It deletes your account, racer name, race results and leaderboard places straight away, and signs the game out.
- Or email phillipbaden@gmail.com with your racer name (and the email address of your account, if it has one); we will delete them within 30 days.
Where the data is kept
Accounts, racer names and results: with Supabase (supabase.com), in its Sydney, Australia region. The game server that runs the races and keeps the crash reports, operated by Hometown Kart: Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Sydney, Australia. If more servers are added in other regions, the game will let you choose one, and this policy will list them.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new date.