Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how L8TENCY, LLC (“L8TENCY,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), the operator of PlayChart, collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use the PlayChart website at playchart.gg (the “Service”).

By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. Who we are

The Service is operated by L8TENCY, LLC, a limited liability company organized in the State of New York, United States.

For any privacy question or request, contact us at marketing@l8tency.com.

L8TENCY, LLC is the “data controller” for your personal information under the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the “business” responsible for your information under U.S. state privacy laws.

2. A quick summary

• We collect the information you give us when you create an account (email, username, password, date of birth) and the activity you generate by using PlayChart (your votes, rankings, reviews, and who you follow).
• We use a sign-in cookie to keep you logged in, a cookie that remembers votes you cast in a lobby as a guest, and cookieless, privacy-focused analytics to count page visits. We do not use advertising trackers or tracking cookies.
• Your username, profile, and rankings are public by design. If you link Discord, your rankings can be displayed in our Discord community and our weekly posts on X (Twitter).
• If you delete your account, we delete your personal information. The results of your past duels stay in the global rankings with nothing linking them to you.
• We do not sell your personal information.
• You can access, correct, export, or delete your information by emailing us.
• The Service is not for children under 13.

3. Information we collect

Information you provide directly

• Account information: your email address, username, date of birth (used to confirm you meet our minimum age), a record that you accepted our Terms, and a password (which we store only as a securely hashed value; we never store your actual password).
• Profile information (optional): display name, bio, and avatar image URL.
• Discord link information (optional): if you connect your Discord account, we store your Discord user ID and username and generate temporary, single-use link codes.
• Discord DMs (optional, off by default): if you turn them on, our bot DMs you when someone follows you and/or sends a weekly digest of your top games, your duels that week, your biggest mover, and games people you follow rank highly. To show your biggest mover we keep your top 50 from the last two digests. Turn them off any time with /notify or in your Discord settings; unlinking Discord turns them off too.
• Discord messages (Discord features only): in Discord servers where our PlayChart bot is installed, anyone can use the Summary button on a duel card (or the Summary view in /server). It reads the messages posted in that channel after that day’s /duel command and checks them for keywords to summarize the discussion and report which game won the matchup. This includes messages from people who don’t have a PlayChart account.
• Discord server activity (Discord features only): in servers where our PlayChart bot is installed, we store the Discord user ID of each person who votes on a duel card and which side they picked, and the Discord user ID of whoever started or closed a duel or bracket. This applies whether or not that person has a PlayChart account. We use these to count votes, apply the server’s daily duel limit, and build the server’s own chart. They are not added to the global rankings.
• Discord server information: for each server that adds the bot, we store its settings (chosen channels and roles, duel limits, when votes close, schedules, recaps, and whether it has a public page), its Discord server ID, name, icon, and member count, and when the bot joined or was removed. If a server admin makes the server page public, the server’s name, icon, and chart are shown on playchart.gg. Server pages never show who voted.
• Linked member role (optional, per server): a server can choose a role that our bot gives to members who have linked a PlayChart account. To do this the bot checks new members when they join and compares the server’s member list with linked accounts once a day. We don’t store the member list; the only thing kept is the role assignment in Discord.

Tips through Ko-fi (optional)

PlayChart takes tips through Ko-fi. Ko-fi and its payment providers handle the payment, and we never see your card or bank details. When you tip, Ko-fi sends us the email address and name you gave Ko-fi, the amount and currency, the type of tip (one-off or membership), and Ko-fi’s transaction ID. We use these to match the tip to the PlayChart account with the same email address and to give that account supporter status: a supporter badge next to your username and, if you’ve linked Discord, a Supporter role in the PlayChart Discord server. The badge and the role are public. Your email address and the amount are never shown publicly. Ko-fi’s own privacy policy covers what Ko-fi collects.

Information generated by your use of the Service

• Voting activity: each head-to-head game choice you make (“duels”), including which two games were shown, which you picked, and when.
• Reviews: reviews you write about games, their edit history, and votes you cast on other people’s reviews.
• Rankings: the personal game ratings we calculate from your votes, and records of which games you’ve marked as not played.
• Social activity: the accounts you follow and who follows you.

Information collected automatically

• Cookies: we set a cookie (pc_session) to keep you signed in, and, if you vote in a lobby without an account, a cookie (pc_guest) that keeps track of those votes. See Section 6.
• Local browser storage: before you create an account, votes you cast as a guest are stored locally in your browser so they can be added to your account if you later sign up. We also store a small flag to remember if you’ve dismissed a sign-up prompt, and information about how you arrived at PlayChart. See Section 6.
• Analytics data: we use Vercel Web Analytics to understand how the Service is used. It records the pages you visit, the referring site, and general device, browser, operating system, and country information. It does not use cookies, does not track you across other websites, and does not identify you personally.
• Game page views: we count views of game pages as anonymous daily totals per game. Nothing links a view to who made it.
• Technical/log data: like most websites, our hosting providers automatically process limited technical data such as your IP address and browser type to deliver and secure the Service. Loading game cover images from our game-data provider (IGDB) also exposes your IP address to that provider’s image servers (see Section 5).

We do not intentionally collect special-category/sensitive data (such as health, biometric, or precise-location data).

4. How we use your information and our legal bases

We use your information to:

• Create and operate your account and let you vote and build rankings. Legal basis (GDPR): performance of a contract with you.
• Build and display the global leaderboard and aggregate statistics. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in operating a ranking service.
• Provide social features (profiles, following, public charts). Legal basis: performance of a contract / legitimate interest.
• Connect your account to Discord and display your chart in our community, when you choose to link it. Legal basis: your consent.
• Understand how the Service is used and improve it, using aggregated page visit statistics. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
• Summarize duel discussions in Discord when someone uses the Summary button on a duel card (or the Summary view in /server). Legal basis: legitimate interest in providing community features in servers that have added our bot.
• Keep the Service secure, prevent abuse, and debug problems. Legal basis: legitimate interest.
• Communicate with you about your account or important Service changes. Legal basis: legitimate interest / contract.
• Comply with legal obligations. Legal basis: legal obligation.

We do not use your information for behavioral advertising. Our analytics are limited to the cookieless statistics described in Section 3 and the visit information described in Section 6. If this changes, we will update this policy and obtain consent where required.

5. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

We share information in these limited ways:

Public by design. Your username, display name, bio, avatar, follower/following relationships, reviews, and your personal and contributed rankings are publicly visible on the Service to anyone, including people without an account.

Discord and social posts. If you link your Discord account, our Discord bot can display your public chart in our Discord server on request. Our weekly head-to-head poll may also be posted publicly to X (Twitter). These features only involve information that is already public on the Service plus your linked Discord identity. In servers that have added our PlayChart bot, the Summary button on a duel card (or the Summary view in /server) reads that day’s messages in the channel where it’s used, checks them for keywords, and shows a summary of the duel discussion only to the person who asked for it; it isn’t posted in the channel. Message text is processed only by our bot, is not sent to any other service, and is discarded right after the summary is created. The finished summary, which can quote up to 3 short messages per side, is kept in the bot’s memory for up to 10 minutes so repeat clicks load quickly, then discarded. Nothing is written to a database.

Service providers (sub-processors). We use trusted third parties to run the Service. They process information only on our behalf and under contract:

Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, to enforce our Terms, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of L8TENCY, our users, or others.

Business transfers. If L8TENCY is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

6. Cookies and local storage

We use the minimum storage needed to run the Service:

• pc_session (essential cookie): keeps you logged in. It is set only after you sign in, is restricted to our site, and expires after 30 days. This cookie is strictly necessary, so it does not require consent.
• pc_guest (essential cookie): set only when you vote in a lobby without being signed in. It holds a random code (we store only a scrambled version of it) that links your lobby votes to this browser, so your vote counts once per matchup and your votes can be added to your account if you sign up or log in. It is restricted to our site, expires after 1 year, and is removed when you sign up or log in. It is needed for the lobby voting you asked for, so it does not require consent.
• pc_game_views (session storage): remembers which game pages you’ve viewed this session, so each view is only counted once. It holds game IDs only and clears when you close the tab.
• Local browser storage: used to temporarily hold guest votes and a sign-up-prompt flag, as described in Section 3. We also store:
  • the site that referred you to PlayChart, the campaign tags included in the link you followed (such as utm_source), the page you landed on, and when. We keep this for your first visit and your most recent one.
  • a random visitor ID used to count how visitors use the Service, such as how many guests go on to create an account, and to group a guest’s duel activity (see Section 7). It contains no name, email, or other details about you. When your browser reports one of these steps, our server also records its user agent (the browser and device type it announces) and the page you first landed on, so automated traffic can be filtered out of these counts.

  If you create an account, this information is saved with it so we can see which channels bring people to PlayChart. We do not sell it or share it with advertisers. You can remove what’s stored in your browser at any time by clearing your browser’s site data for playchart.gg.

  Links posted by our PlayChart Discord bot carry campaign tags naming the bot command and the Discord server they were posted in. When you open one, our server records that campaign and server, without your IP address. If you link your Discord account, we also record when you linked it and which server you ran /link in.

We do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or third-party tracking cookies. Our web analytics (Vercel Web Analytics) work without cookies or local storage and do not track you across sites. Because of this, we do not currently display a cookie-consent banner. If we add any non-essential cookies in the future, we will ask for your consent first where the law requires it.

7. How long we keep information

• Account information and activity (votes, rankings, profile, follows): kept for as long as your account is active.
• Session records: deleted when they expire or when you log out.
• Duel activity log: which pairs of games we showed you on the duel page and whether you picked one, marked one as not played, or moved on. We use it to improve which games we show. Kept for 90 days, then deleted, and deleted with your account.
• Discord link codes: expire within minutes; used codes are retained briefly for security/audit purposes.
• After account deletion: we delete your account, profile, reviews, personal rankings, follows, sessions, and any Discord link. The results of the duels you made (which two games were shown, which one you picked, when, and how much that duel counted toward global rankings) are kept so the global leaderboard stays accurate. These results are no longer linked to your account or to any username, email, or other account details, and are kept for as long as we operate the global rankings. Aggregate statistics that do not identify you may also be retained.
• Discord messages read by the Summary button (or the Summary view in /server): processed only to create the summary and discarded right after. We do not store them. The summary is shown only to the person who asked for it; it isn’t posted in the channel.
• Discord server votes and settings: kept while we run the server features, so server charts stay accurate. A server’s settings, name, and icon are kept after the bot is removed so past results still read correctly, and its public page is taken down. To have a server’s data or your server votes removed, contact us as described in Section 8.
• Tips: the tip record (email address, name, amount, currency, type of tip, and Ko-fi transaction ID) is kept so we can count tips and handle refunds. If you delete your PlayChart account, your supporter status and the link between the tip and your account are removed, but the tip record, including the email address, stays. To have it removed, contact us as described in Section 8.

8. Your rights and choices

You can exercise the rights below at any time by emailing marketing@l8tency.com. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (generally within 30 days). We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Everyone can ask us to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is inaccurate (you can also edit much of your profile directly in the app).
• Delete your account and associated personal information. You can also do this yourself from your account settings. Duel results are kept without any link to you, as described in Section 7.
• Export a copy of your information in a portable format.

If you are in the EEA or UK (GDPR), you also have the right to:

• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Withdraw consent at any time (for example, by unlinking Discord), without affecting prior processing.
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are a California resident (CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose.
• Delete and correct your personal information.
• Opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information — note: we do not sell or share your personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of.
• Not be discriminated against for exercising your rights.

Residents of other U.S. states with privacy laws (such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, and Oregon) have similar rights, which you can exercise using the same contact above.

9. International data transfers

We are based in the United States and our service providers store and process data in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the U.S. (including the EEA or UK), your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S.

Where we transfer personal information out of the EEA or UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the Standard Contractual Clauses offered by our service providers. You can contact us for more information about these safeguards.

10. Children’s privacy

The Service is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. When you create an account, you confirm that you are at least 13 years old.

If you are in a country where the minimum age for consent to online services is higher than 13 (for example, certain EEA countries set it at 14, 15, or 16), you must be at least that age, or have permission from a parent or guardian, to use the Service.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact marketing@l8tency.com and we will delete it.

11. How we protect your information

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect your information, including hashing passwords, using secure session cookies, and limiting access to personal data. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a data breach affecting your personal information occurs, we will notify you and any required authorities as the law requires (including under the GDPR and the New York SHIELD Act).

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you through the Service. Your continued use of the Service after an update means you accept the revised policy.

13. Contact us

L8TENCY, LLC
Email: marketing@l8tency.com

If you are in the EEA or UK and have concerns we have not resolved, you may contact your local data protection authority.

Read our Terms of Service →