Privacy policy
What Thole keeps about you, why, who can see it, and how to get a copy or have it deleted.
Thole is a small game made and run by me, Joe, on Prince Edward Island. This page says, in plain words, what the game keeps about you and what happens to it. Canada's privacy law for businesses, PIPEDA, applies, and I'm the person responsible for following it. If anything here is unclear, write to me and I'll explain it.
What the game keeps#
| What | Why | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Your email address | To sign you in, and so I can reach you about your account | Me and anyone I make an admin. Never other players. |
| Your password | To sign you in | Nobody. It's scrambled (with scrypt) before it's saved, so not even I can read it. |
| Your settler's name | So other people know who you are | Everyone, in the game and on its public pages |
| Your settler: where they are, what they carry, their skills and what they've built | It's the game | Other players see what's out in the world. Admins can see all of it. |
| The game's log of what you do: what you picked up, made, built, bought and sold, with the time and place | To fix things when they go wrong, put back what a bug took, and look into reports and cheating | Admins |
| Chat messages and letters to friends | To pass them on, and to look into reports | The people you sent them to, and admins |
| Your friends list, and who you trust with your things | So the game can show it and let them use what you've shared | You, the people on it, and admins |
| Problem reports you send | To fix the problem | Admins |
Chat and letters#
What you say in chat goes to the people it's meant for: everyone who's out in the woods, or only the people near you. The game also writes every chat message into its log, with the time and your settler, so if someone reports being harassed I can see what was really said. Letters to friends are kept so your friend can read them when they're next in, and they go in the log too. Admins can read both. Nobody else can read a letter that wasn't sent to them.
Voice chat#
Voice goes straight from your browser to the other person's. The game's server only passes along the few setup messages that let two browsers find each other. It never hears, records or keeps what anyone says. The log does note when you turn voice on or off and when you start talking, but not what was said.
Because the two browsers connect to each other, the other person's browser learns your internet (IP) address, the same as in most voice and video calls. If your network won't allow a direct link, your voice goes through a relay that Thole runs, which passes it on without keeping it. To help browsers find each other the game also asks a public server run by Google, which sees your IP address when it does.
Hearing voices is on when you start and your microphone is off until you turn it on. If you'd rather your browser didn't connect to anyone's, switch off Hear voices in Settings and leave your mic off. Voice chat has more on the settings.
Reporting a problem#
When you send a report from the menu, it carries what you wrote, your settler's name and where they were, the game day, and some details about your device: your browser and its version, your language, your local time and time zone, the size of your screen, your graphics card, whether it's a touch screen, any recent errors, and the last few lines from your game log (never anyone's chat). It also carries a picture of what you could see, unless you untick it. Only admins can see reports.
What's public#
Some things are meant to be seen. Your settler's name, what you build, and the things you do that make the news show up in the game, in The Lantern (the game's paper) and on the Atlas, and anyone can read those pages without an account. The Lantern has a page for each settler with their record. Other players can also see when you're out in the woods.
On your own device#
The game keeps your settings in your browser: sound and music levels, graphics, zoom, your voice settings and the people you've muted on voice, and whether you've seen the tips for newcomers. They stay on your device and aren't sent anywhere.
The only cookie is the one that keeps you signed in. It lasts 90 days, or until you sign out. There are no advertising, analytics or tracking cookies, and no tracking scripts. The game and its pages do load their lettering from Google Fonts, so your browser asks Google for it, and Google sees your IP address when it does. Joe: or host the fonts on thole.ca and drop this sentence.
Internet addresses#
The game doesn't keep your IP address with your account or in its log. The web server in front of the game may keep ordinary access logs, which include IP addresses, to keep the site running and fend off attacks. Joe: say what Caddy logs and how long it keeps them.
Who can see it#
I can, and so can anyone I make an admin to help run the game. Admins use a private console where they can see your email, your settler, the game's log and your reports, and everything done there, like a mute or a ban, is written into its own record.
I don't sell your information, rent it, or share it with advertisers. I'd only hand it to someone else if the law required me to, like with a court order.
Where it's kept#
Everything is kept in a database on one rented server. Joe: name the hosting company and the country the server and its backups are in. If any of it is outside Canada, say so here, since the law there may let its authorities ask for it.
How long it's kept#
Thole is an early test, and there's nothing yet that clears things out on its own. Your account and your settler are kept until you ask me to delete them. The game's log, chat and letters included, is kept for as long as the game runs, because it's how I fix things and look into reports. Reports are kept after they've been dealt with too. Joe: decide how long the log, chat and reports should be kept, and put it here.
A copy, a correction, or deleting it all#
Write to me at contact email from the email on your account, so I know it's really you, and say what you'd like. I'll answer within 30 days, which is what the law asks, and usually much sooner.
- A copy: I'll send you a file with everything the game keeps about your account. That's your account details (never your password), your settler, your friends, your letters, your reports and your part of the game's log.
- A correction: you can change your settler's name yourself in the game. To change your email, write to me.
- Deleting it: your email, password, sign-ins, friends list, reports and letters (the ones you sent and the ones sent to you) are deleted, and everything you wrote in chat or letters is wiped from the game's log. Your settler loses their name and goes back to a plain settler's name, and comes off everyone's trusted list. What you built stays standing, because other people live alongside it, and the log keeps its record of things moving about, without your words in it. Other people's own lines in the log, like a letter they sent you, can still have your old name in them. Joe: say how long backups take to roll off.
Children#
You need to be 13 or older to play Thole. If you're a parent and think your child under 13 has signed up, write to me and I'll delete the account.
If something goes wrong#
If your information is ever lost or gets out in a way that could hurt you, I'll tell you, and report it to the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.
Changes and complaints#
If this changes, I'll update this page and the date at the bottom, and if it's a real change in what the game keeps, I'll say so in the game.
If you have a concern, write to me first and I'll do my best to put it right. If you're not happy with the answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.