Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

• Account information: email address, username, password hash, and authentication details managed by our secure auth provider.
• Profile information: avatar image, display preferences, status updates, and any content you choose to post publicly on your profile.
• Game data: your Chocukats, habitats, genetics, breeding history, trades, market listings, raffle tickets, coins, and other in-game activity.
• Usage data: pages visited, features used, device/browser type, and approximate location derived from your IP address for security and analytics.
• Payment information: we do not store credit card details. Purchases are processed by Paddle, our Merchant of Record; we only retain transaction references, purchase history, and coin grants. Paddle collects and processes payment data in accordance with its own privacy policy.

2. How we use your information and our legal basis

We process your personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under applicable data protection law, such as the GDPR. The bases and purposes include:

• Performance of a contract: to create and manage your account, provide the game services, save your progress, creatures, habitats, and preferences, and process trades, market sales, coin purchases, and raffle entries.
• Legitimate interests: to improve game balance, fix bugs, develop new features, enforce our Terms of Service, prevent abuse or fraud, and keep our services secure.
• Consent: where you choose to upload a profile picture, post public status updates, or otherwise share optional content with other players.
• Legal obligation: to comply with applicable laws, respond to lawful requests, and protect our rights and users.
• To send service-related emails such as confirmations, security alerts, and policy updates.

3. Cookies and local storage

We use session cookies and browser local storage to keep you signed in and remember your in-game settings. You can clear these through your browser settings, but doing so will sign you out and may reset certain preferences.

4. Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal information. We only share data with trusted service providers who help us run the game, and only to the extent necessary for them to perform those services. Our recipients include:

• Paddle.com Market Limited — our Merchant of Record for payments, subscription management, tax compliance, invoicing, and related buyer services.
• Hosting, authentication, analytics, email delivery, and customer support providers that process data on our behalf.
• Professional advisers and authorities where required by law or to protect our rights and users.

5. Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Account and game data: retained while your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to keep it longer by law.
• Payment records: retained for at least the period required by applicable tax and accounting laws (typically 6–7 years).
• Logs and security data: retained for up to 90 days, unless needed for an ongoing investigation or legal claim.

6. Data security

We use industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit, access controls, and regular backups. However, no online service is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Children’s privacy

Chocukat Island is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

8. Your rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or export your personal information, and to object to or withdraw consent for certain processing. We aim to respond to requests within one month. To make a request, contact us using the information below.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the effective date.

10. Contact us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please reach out through our Contact page or email chocukatartstudios@gmail.com.