We store almost nothing

In your browser

Everything the toys remember lives on your own device, in your browser’s storage for this site:

• your Spark Jar (which Sparks you found, and when),
• your tickets, prizes, best scores and the things you’ve made at the Forge,
• your settings: sound, calm mode and hints.

None of it is sent to us unless you sign in (below), with one small exception: when you find a Spark, your browser tells us “someone found Spark X”, with nothing attached that says who you are. That’s how we show how many Sparks everyone found today.

On our server

We only keep what you choose to send us:

• Messages from the Mail Room: your name, email, topic and message, plus a scrambled (hashed) version of your internet address and the name of your browser, so we can spot spam.
• Postcard sign-ups: your email and the date. We only use it to tell you when we ship something. If we ever use a mailing service to send postcards, we’ll say so here first.
• High scores and the Wall of Fame: three letters, the score and the date.
• Accounts, only if you make one: a copy of your save (the things listed under “In your browser”, plus the ledger from the Old Foundry if you’ve found your way in), so it can follow you between devices. With a username, we keep the username, your password scrambled so even we can’t read it, and an email only if you add one, used only to send you a password-reset link. With Google, we keep Google’s account number for you and your first name. No email, no password.
• Sign-in safety: to slow down password guessing, we note failed sign-ins and reset requests with a scrambled (hashed) version of your internet address, and forget them within a day.
• Anonymous counts: how many Sparks everyone found each day, and how many times the DO NOT PRESS button got pressed. No names, no addresses.

Continue with Google: Google’s button and sign-in window come from Google, and Google’s privacy policy covers what happens there. We only load it when you open Settings or the account page while signed out.

Like every website, our web host also keeps ordinary server logs (such as which pages were asked for) for security and fixing problems. We don’t use them to follow anyone around.

Cookies

Just a few small ones, and none of them follows you anywhere else:

• A form-safety token (af_t), which proves a form was really sent from this site.
• A session (af_s), used only to stop anyone sending messages or scores too fast, and to count each Spark just once.
• A sign-in cookie (af_acct), only if you sign in, so the site remembers it’s you for up to 180 days. Signing out removes it.

No advertising, no analytics services, no social media buttons that watch you. Even our fonts come from our own server. (If you use Continue with Google, Google’s button can use Google’s own cookies.)

Deleting your stuff

• Everything in your browser: open Settings (the gear at the top), then Reset my progress. Clearing this site’s data in your browser does the same.
• Your account: open your account, then Delete my account. The account and its save are deleted right away.
• A message, your postcard email or your initials: write to us and we’ll delete them.