Privacy policy

Summary

TERMINALWARS is a multiplayer game you play in your browser or over ssh. It has no email sign-up, no tracking, no advertising and no third-party content. Personal data is processed to run the game: the connection, your operator and its game data, and a cookie that recognises your browser.

1. Controller

David Lammerz, Thadenstraße 22, 22767 Hamburg, Germany, email: hi@darwyn.io

2. Hosting and connection data

The game runs on a server operated by netcup GmbH, Emmy-Noether-Str. 10, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany, in a data centre in Germany. netcup processes the connection data on my behalf (Art. 28 GDPR).

When you open the page, your browser necessarily sends data to the server: IP address, date and time, the requested address, the amount of data transferred, browser and operating system, and the previously visited page (referrer). The web server records page requests in log files so that I can keep the service secure and trace faults or attacks. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The logs are deleted after 7 days at the latest unless they are needed longer to investigate a specific incident. If the server is attacked, netcup additionally collects its own log files for defence and keeps them for no more than 14 days.

The game server itself does not write IP addresses to disk. It keeps them in memory to limit connections, new operators and wrong invite codes per address, and forgets them after one hour at the latest. This protects the game against abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

3. Your operator and game data

When you create an operator, the server stores your callsign and everything that happens in the game: your outpost, ships, fleets, reports, logs, the signals you send and your corporation. Other players see your callsign, your corporation, your position on the map and your score. Corp mates also see the signals you send. Signals are fixed messages; the game has no chat.

To recognise you when you come back, the server stores an identifier: for the browser a hash of the random token in your cookie (see below), for ssh the fingerprint of your public key. Your key itself is not stored.

This data is necessary to provide the game you asked to play (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). It is kept for as long as the game runs. An outpost that is left alone for 72 hours decays, but the operator remains so you can return. When the game is shut down, all game data is deleted. You can ask me to delete your operator at any time.

4. Cookie and storage in your browser

The page sets one cookie, ld60_term, with a random token. It identifies your browser as your terminal, so you get your operator back. It expires after 90 days. The sound setting (on or off) is kept in your browser’s local storage and does not leave your device. Both are necessary to provide the game (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). You can delete them in your browser settings; you then start with a new operator.

5. Reports and moderation

If a player reports another player with /report, the server stores the reporter, the reported player, the reason they entered and the reported player’s recent signals. Only the operator of the game sees these reports. They are used to handle the report (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and deleted after 30 days. If a name is offensive, it can be changed, and a player can be locked out. The decision and its reason are stored with the operator concerned, shown to them at their next login and kept with their operator so that repeated cases are recognised.

6. No third-party services

The game does not use analytics, advertising or other third-party services. Scripts, styles and sounds are served from this server, and no web fonts are loaded.

7. Contact by email

If you email me, I keep your message and address in order to reply (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and delete it once the matter is settled.

8. Your rights

You have the rights under Art. 15 to 21 GDPR: access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection. You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. To find your operator, I need its callsign; for requests about the server logs I may need additional information to identify you (Art. 11 GDPR). For any questions, use the contact details above.

9. Last updated

October 2026. I update this policy whenever the technology behind TERMINALWARS changes.