Privacy Policy for Video Games Made Me

Overview

This Privacy Policy describes how Video Games Made Me ("We," "Us," or "Our") handles information when you use our website at https://videogamesmademe.com (the "Service"). We're committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our practices.

What Data We Collect

We collect the following data:

• IP addresses: Your IP address is used temporarily during your visit for bot detection and geolocation lookup only. IP addresses are never stored in our database and are discarded immediately after processing.
• Browser and device information: We collect your browser type and version, operating system, device type, and language preferences to understand how users access our site.
• Location data: We derive your approximate geographic location (country and region) from your IP address using ip-api.com, a third-party geolocation service. Only the location data is stored—your IP address is discarded.
• Page activity data: We track which pages you visit, when you visit them, referrer information, and basic engagement metrics (page loads and user first interactions).
• Session identification: We generate random, cryptographically secure session keys to track user sessions without collecting any personal information.
• No personal identification information: We do not collect names, email addresses, or other directly personally identifiable information unless explicitly provided through contact forms.

Analytics and Tracking

Session Tracking: We use a privacy-focused approach to analytics:

• We generate completely random session keys using cryptographically secure methods
• These session keys are not derived from any personal information and cannot be traced back to individual users
• We track two types of events: "view" (when a page loads) and "engage" (when a user interacts with the page)
• All data is processed on our own servers—we don't use third-party analytics services like Google Analytics
• We filter out known bot traffic using request header analysis and datacenter IP detection

Geolocation Processing: We use ip-api.com to convert IP addresses to approximate geographic locations:

• Your IP address is sent to ip-api.com for location lookup during your visit
• According to ip-api.com's policy, they store access logs (including your IP) for a maximum of 24 hours for troubleshooting purposes only
• ip-api.com states they never share this data with other companies
• Once we receive the location data, your IP address is immediately discarded and never stored

Legal Basis: We process this data under the legitimate interest legal basis to analyze website performance, prevent abuse, and improve our service for all users.

Cookies and Local Storage

Analytics Cookies: We use secure cookies to maintain your analytics session:

• Contains only a random, non-identifying session key, a bot detection token, an engagement status, and a timestamp
• Uses SameSite=Strict security setting to prevent cross-site tracking
• Cannot be used to identify you personally

Local Storage: Our website uses localStorage to save your cookie banner and theme preferences. This data:

• Remains exclusively on your device
• Is never transmitted to our servers
• Cannot be accessed by us
• Is fully controlled by you (you can clear it through your browser settings)

Embedded Content

YouTube Videos: Our website includes embedded YouTube videos. Please note:

• YouTube (owned by Google) may set cookies when you interact with these videos
• YouTube may collect data about your interactions with embedded videos
• This embedded content is governed by YouTube's own privacy policy
• YouTube may use cookies for analytics, ad personalization, and video functionality
• You can learn more about YouTube's data practices in the Google Privacy Policy

What We Don't Collect

For clarity, we do not:

• Store IP addresses in any form
• Use persistent tracking cookies (our cookies expire in 30 minutes)
• Track your browsing activity across other websites
• Use invasive browser fingerprinting techniques
• Sell any information to third parties
• Offer public user account registration
• Use third-party analytics services like Google Analytics
• Store any personally identifiable information in our analytics

How We Use Information

We use the collected information for:

• Server administration and security
• Troubleshooting technical issues
• Defending against automated attacks or abuse
• Understanding how our website is used to improve the user experience
• Tracking article view counts and engagement to gauge content performance
• Analyzing traffic patterns and user behavior
• Generating statistical reports for internal use
• Occasionally sharing aggregated analytics with game publishers for press purposes

Data Sharing

We may share limited data in the following circumstances:

• Press and Publisher Analytics: We occasionally share visit analytics with game publishers and press contacts. This shared data may include: pages visited, session keys (random identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country/region), referrer data, and visit timestamps.
• Geolocation Service: IP addresses are temporarily shared with ip-api.com solely for location lookup purposes and are immediately discarded.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights and safety.

Data Retention

We automatically delete and aggregate data according to the following schedule:

• Detailed session data: Deleted after 90 days
• Analytics cookies: Expire automatically after 30 minutes of inactivity
• IP addresses: Never stored—discarded immediately after processing
• Aggregated statistics: After 90 days, we aggregate data into anonymous daily view and engagement counts by page, which are retained indefinitely for historical analysis

Your Rights and Choices

You have several options to control your data:

• Use a VPN service if you wish to mask your IP address and location
• Use browser privacy settings to control cookies and local storage
• Clear your browser's cookies and local storage to remove all stored data
• Contact us directly to request exclusion from analytics tracking

Data Subject Requests

If you would like to know what data we have about you or request deletion of your data, please contact us. Due to our privacy-focused approach of not storing IP addresses and using random session identifiers, we cannot typically identify specific user sessions. However, if you can provide:

• Approximate dates and times of your visits
• Pages you remember visiting
• Your approximate location (country/region)
• Browser and device information

We will make reasonable efforts to identify and delete any data that may be associated with your visits, though our privacy-by-design approach means we often cannot definitively link data to specific individuals.

Children's Privacy

Our Service does not target and is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites not operated by us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, you can contact us:

• By email: contact@videogamesmademe.com
• By visiting this page on our website: https://videogamesmademe.com/contact