Privacy Policy

Game: Grow with the Dungeon Operator: YSNH Games (a sole proprietorship operated from Japan) Contact: grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com Effective Date: 2026-06-14 Last Updated: 2026-07-06

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how YSNH Games (“we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, stores, and protects personal information in connection with the game Grow with the Dungeon (“the Service”) provided to players (“you”, “your”, or “user”).

This document is intended as a transparent disclosure of our data practices. If you do not agree with how we handle personal information as described here, please do not use the Service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information collected via Google OAuth

We use Google Sign-In for authentication. We request only the openid scope from Google, which provides us with a single piece of information:

Google Account ID (the sub claim — a unique opaque identifier issued by Google for the purpose of identifying returning users across sessions)

How the sub claim is stored: We receive the sub claim during authentication but do not store it in plain form. Instead, we store a one-way keyed hash (HMAC-SHA256) derived from the sub claim using a server-side secret key. The original sub value is discarded immediately after the hash is computed. The stored hash is used solely for (a) recognizing returning users (so you sign back in to the same in-game account on subsequent sessions), (b) moderation continuity (so prior moderation history follows the account), and (c) abuse prevention (for example, detecting re-registration shortly after account deletion). Because the hash is one-way and keyed, it is not designed to be reversed to recover the original Google Account ID. The server-side secret is required to compute and compare the hash for a given sub claim.

We do not request, receive, or store your email address, display name, profile picture, or any other Google account information. We do not collect or store your Google password — authentication is handled entirely by Google.

You choose a separate character name within the game at account creation. We do not derive character names from your Google account.

2.2 Information generated through gameplay

The following data is created and stored on our servers as you play:

Character data: name, level, stats, inventory, equipment, in-game currency
Position data: current floor, coordinates
Action logs: chat messages (if free chat is enabled on the server), bulletin board posts (if the bulletin board feature is enabled on the server), active marketplace orders (buy/sell, pending claims), boss first-kill records (publicly displayed on in-game ranking), deepest dungeon floor reached with timestamp (publicly displayed on in-game ranking), login/logout times. Availability of chat and bulletin board features depends on the server’s communication level setting.
AccountCenter communications: in-game notifications you receive (moderation notices, individual messages from operators, service-wide announcements) and their per-account read-receipt records; messages you submit to operators via the “Opinion” tab. These are visible to you in the in-game AccountCenter and, where applicable, to authorized administrators for moderation purposes.
Technical data: IP address (recorded in server access and security logs — see Section 4 for retention), client version (logged for debugging and update prompts)

2.3 Information NOT collected

We do not collect:

Real name (unless you voluntarily use it as a character name — not recommended)
Phone number
Physical address
Payment information (the Service is free; see Section 8 regarding potential future changes)
Browser cookies set or read by us. The desktop client does not use cookies; the browser-based HTML5 client is hosted by itch.io, which may set cookies for itch.io platform functionality as described in Section 7
Analytics or tracking pixels in the desktop game client (we do not embed any analytics SDK or telemetry in the desktop client itself; the browser-based HTML5 client is hosted and served by itch.io from html.itch.zone (see Section 7 for details), while the static webpages — including this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service — are delivered via Cloudflare Pages, which may process minimal edge metrics such as request counts and aggregate region statistics as part of CDN delivery)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information solely to:

Provide the Service: authenticate you, maintain your character state, enable multiplayer interactions
Operate the Service: monitor server health, detect bugs, balance gameplay
Enforce the Terms of Service: investigate cheating, harassment, and other violations
Communicate with you: respond to support inquiries sent to our contact email
Deliver important service notifications: notify you of significant changes (e.g., policy updates, maintenance, security incidents, future monetization or service-termination announcements) via in-game notifications and our official website, official distribution pages, or official development logs (including the itch.io devlog where applicable). We may also reply by email if you previously contacted us by email or if email communication is otherwise available, but because we do not store users’ Google email addresses (see Section 2.1), we cannot send unsolicited mass email notifications to the player base
Verify your identity: handle deletion requests, appeals, and other account-related requests where verification is possible through your active Google sign-in session (we do not store your Google email address and cannot perform out-of-band account recovery if you lose access to your Google identity — see Section 5.1)
Prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access: detect and respond to multi-accounting, ban evasion, automated bots, credential-stuffing attempts, and other forms of malicious activity targeting the Service or other users
Comply with legal obligations: respond to subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, and lawful requests from law enforcement, regulatory authorities, or other governmental agencies. We may also voluntarily report content or activity to law enforcement if we reasonably believe it involves serious criminal conduct (e.g., threats of violence, child exploitation, fraud, or imminent risk to life)

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

4. Data Storage and Retention

Data Type	Retention Period
Account information (internal `account_id` and a one-way keyed-hash (HMAC-SHA256) identifier derived from the Google Account ID `sub` claim; the raw `sub` value is not stored; no email, display name, profile picture, or other Google profile data is stored — see Section 2.1)	Until you delete your account
Character data	Until you delete the character or your account
Chat logs (`chat.log`, when chat features are available)	365 days, then permanently deleted
Process lifecycle logs (`process.log`: startup, crash, restart events)	365 days, then permanently deleted
Bulletin board posts (in-game display, when bulletin feature is available)	1 day, then automatically deleted (FIFO with 100-post cap per board)
Bulletin board posts (mirrored to `chat.log` for audit, when bulletin feature is available)	365 days, then permanently deleted
Server access and security logs (including IP address, used for connection management, abuse prevention, security monitoring, and troubleshooting)	Up to 365 days
Authentication audit log (`process.log` `[AUTH]` entries: internal account_id, source IP address from `X-Real-IP` and `X-Forwarded-For` headers, server name, client version, and timestamp; recorded at successful sign-in; used to link in-game activity (chat, bulletin posts, moderation events) to the source IP for abuse investigation and lawful disclosure requests)	Up to 365 days
Deleted character audit identifiers (character_id, account_id, name, deleted_at)	Retained as long as the associated account exists; if the account is subsequently deleted, retained for 365 days alongside the account audit record, then permanently deleted. Used to maintain moderation continuity (e.g., investigating reports referencing past character names and preventing ban evasion via character deletion).
Deleted account audit identifiers (`account_id`, the same keyed-hash Google identifier (HMAC-SHA256) that was stored for the live account when applicable, `deleted_at`)	365 days from account deletion, then permanently deleted. Used to maintain consistency with chat audit log retention for moderation purposes and to detect re-registration of recently deleted accounts.
In-game notifications and operator announcements (delivered to your AccountCenter “Notifications” tab; includes moderation notices, individual operator messages, and service-wide announcements), and their per-account read-receipt records	Up to 90 days, then permanently deleted (a per-account FIFO cap of 200 entries also applies to individual notifications)
Opinion submissions (messages you send to operators via the AccountCenter “Opinion” tab; used solely to handle support, appeals, and feedback)	Up to 90 days, then permanently deleted
Email correspondence with the operator (emails you send to `grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com` for support, appeals, or other inquiries; stored in Gmail — see Section 7)	Retained as long as reasonably necessary to address your inquiry and any follow-up; periodically purged from the mailbox, typically within 365 days from the last interaction
SQLite database backup snapshots — Cloudflare R2 off-site mirror (`accounts.db`, `game_data.db`, for off-site disaster recovery of database contents)	Up to 1-2 days (single latest mirror, overwritten daily)
SQLite database backup snapshots — LOCAL rolling backups on the VPS (`accounts.db`, `game_data.db`, for bug / admin-mistake / corruption recovery)	Up to 90 days, then automatically overwritten or purged by rolling backup rotation; not actively accessed except for disaster, bug, or administrator-error recovery
Legal request and disclosure records (records of lawful requests received from law enforcement, courts, regulatory authorities, or other public bodies; disclosures actually made in response to those requests; and the basis for each disclosure — see “Disclosure to law enforcement and authorities” below)	Retained for as long as reasonably necessary for legal, audit, and compliance purposes, and then deleted when no longer required. If a longer retention period is required by applicable law or by an active legal hold, that period applies.

Note on off-site backup mirrors: For disaster recovery purposes, copies of the SQLite database snapshots and rotated log archives (chat.log, process.log) are mirrored off-site to Cloudflare R2 (see Section 7 for the encryption applied in transit and at rest). Backup mirrors do not extend the retention periods stated above — the SQLite R2 mirror is a single latest snapshot overwritten daily (~1-2 day effective retention on R2), and mirrored log archives are purged in alignment with the 365-day primary retention (i.e., no mirrored copy of a chat.log or process.log entry exists anywhere beyond 365 days from the date it was written). Longer-history database recovery (bug rollback, admin mistake) is handled by the LOCAL 90-day rolling SQLite backups on the VPS, not by R2, which is intentionally not used as a long-history archive. Backups are not actively accessed except for disaster, bug, or administrator-error recovery.

Legal hold exception: If we receive a lawful preservation request (e.g., from law enforcement, courts, or pursuant to ongoing litigation), specific logs or data identified in the request may be retained beyond the standard retention periods stated above, for as long as legally required. Such data is segregated from active systems and accessed only by authorized personnel for the specific legal purpose.

Disclosure to law enforcement and authorities: We may disclose stored personal data — including IP addresses recorded in server access logs and authentication audit logs, chat log entries (chat.log), bulletin board posts and their audit mirrors, account login history, internal account identifiers, and related metadata — to law enforcement agencies, courts, regulatory bodies, or other authorities when we are (a) compelled by a lawful demand (such as a subpoena, court order, search warrant, or equivalent legal process recognized under applicable law), (b) acting on a good-faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to prevent imminent danger to life, physical safety, or critical public safety (for example, credible threats of violence, terrorism, or self-harm posted through in-game communication features), or (c) responding to an inquiry from a Japanese statutory authority (such as a police agency under the Code of Criminal Procedure) within the limits permitted by Article 27 of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (個人情報保護法第 27 条) and analogous provisions in other applicable jurisdictions. Disclosures are limited to the data reasonably necessary to respond to the specific request, and we may decline or seek narrowing of overbroad requests where lawful to do so. We do not store Google account email addresses or other Google profile data (see Section 2.1); identifying a Google account from the data we hold typically requires separate cooperation between authorities and Google. Each disclosure is recorded in our internal audit log.

Data is stored on servers operated by YSNH Games in Japan or other regions where our infrastructure is hosted. We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect data, including (without limitation) HTTPS/TLS encryption for data in transit, restricted server access (SSH key authentication only, no password login), separation of authentication secrets from source code via environment variables, audit logging of administrative actions, and periodic backups protected by encryption in transit and, where applicable, server-side encryption at rest (see Section 7 for details on the Cloudflare R2 off-site backup mirrors). We do not store user passwords for the Service — authentication is handled by Google Sign-In (see Section 2.1). Administrative credentials, where used by the operator, are protected separately from ordinary user account data. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute protection against all threats.

5. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction and the applicable data protection laws, you may have rights regarding your personal information, such as:

Right to access: request a copy of the data we hold about you
Right to correction: request correction of inaccurate information
Right to object or restrict: object to or restrict certain processing of your data
Right to data portability: request export of personal data you provided and basic account metadata associated with your account, within the scope described in the data portability note in Section 8.2
Right to deletion: request deletion of your personal information

The exact scope, procedure, and timeline of these rights vary by applicable law. We provide the following channels in addition to any legally required mechanisms:

5.1 Account-affecting requests (in-game required)

Requests that affect, depend on, or require us to act on a specific account — including account deletion, data export, and other data-subject-rights requests tied to your particular account — must be exercised through the in-game AccountCenter. Sign in to your account, then:

Account deletion: AccountCenter → “Delete Account” tab
Data export (data portability): AccountCenter → “Account Info” tab → “Export My Data”
Appeals against enforcement actions (BAN, suspension, mute, etc.): AccountCenter → “Opinion” tab (see Terms of Service Section 7.3)

We require the in-game route for these operations because we cannot reliably verify your identity from an email address. As described in Section 2.1, we use Google Sign-In with the minimum scopes necessary for authentication and do not retain the email address of the Google account you use to sign in. An email message from an arbitrary address cannot be linked to a specific user account, so we cannot safely act on account-affecting instructions received that way (doing so would risk impersonation and the deletion or disclosure of the wrong user’s data).

If you have lost access to the Google identity you originally signed in with (for example, because Google itself has suspended or deleted your Google account), we have no out-of-band means to verify that you are the same person, and we will not be able to act on identity-dependent requests in that case. You may need to create a new account to use the Service going forward.

5.2 General communication (email accepted)

For purposes that do not require us to identify your specific account, you may contact us by email at grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com:

General questions about this Privacy Policy or the Service
Support inquiries and bug reports
Reports of violations by other players (see Terms of Service Section 7.4)
Opinions, feedback, or other free-form communication

We will respond within a reasonable timeframe, typically within 30 days where required by applicable law. Please note that we are a small operation and response times may vary; see Section 11 regarding support limitations.

For EU/UK residents: To the extent the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to our processing of your personal information, you may have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

For California residents: To the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) applies, you have the right to know what personal information is collected, to request deletion, and to opt out of any sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information).

6. Account Deletion

When you delete your account:

The stored one-way keyed-hash (HMAC-SHA256) identifier derived from your Google Account ID (sub claim) is removed from our active database. The raw sub claim itself is not stored in our database (see Section 2.1). A minimal audit identifier — an internal account_id reference and, when applicable, the same keyed-hash Google identifier — is retained for the period stated in Section 4 to maintain moderation continuity
Your characters, inventory, equipment, and deepest-floor ranking entries are permanently deleted from our active database (deepest-floor ranking entries are removed entirely rather than anonymized, as the entry has no meaning without the character)
Bulletin board posts (if the bulletin board feature was used): your displayed name in the in-game bulletin board is anonymized to [Deleted] (the post content remains visible until the standard 1-day display retention expires)
Chat messages (if free chat was used): chat messages are ephemeral and do not have a persistent in-game display once sent; no UI display exists to anonymize. Both chat messages and bulletin posts (where applicable) remain in our server-side audit logs (chat.log, accessible only to authorized administrators) with the original character name for the standard retention period (Section 4) for legal, moderation, security, and audit purposes. These audit logs are not publicly visible and are not used for any purpose beyond those listed above
Marketplace orders and pending items are cancelled and removed
Your character name in boss first-kill records (public ranking entries) is automatically anonymized to [Deleted]. The underlying record (boss name, kill timestamp, kill duration) is preserved as shared game history

Note on backup snapshots: Personal data stored in SQLite database records (account information, character data) may persist in two categories of backups after account deletion:

Cloudflare R2 off-site mirror: Up to 1-2 days. The R2 SQLite mirror is a single latest snapshot overwritten on the next daily push (03:45 JST), so the residual copy is superseded by a snapshot taken after the deletion within roughly a day.
LOCAL rolling backups on the VPS: Up to 90 days. These daily snapshots roll off automatically as the 90-day retention window advances, and are used only for disaster recovery, bug recovery, or administrator-error recovery.

Both windows apply to database snapshots only. Log archives (chat.log, process.log) follow their own 365-day retention schedule from the log date (see Section 4), independent of account deletion. During the backup rotation windows, backups are not actively accessed except for the recovery purposes stated above. After the respective rotation windows expire, all residual personal data in both backup categories is permanently and irrecoverably purged.

Account deletion of active data is irreversible. Once deleted, your data cannot be restored.

7. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate Grow with the Dungeon. We do not control how these third parties handle your data. Please review their policies independently.

Google Sign-In (Google LLC). Used for account authentication via OAuth. Subject to Google’s Privacy Policy.
Xserver VPS (operated by Xserver Inc., headquartered in Osaka, Japan). Used for server infrastructure (game servers, database files, audit logs). Servers are physically located in Tokyo, Japan. Subject to Xserver Inc.’s Privacy Policy.
Cloudflare, Inc. Used for: (a) DNS resolution (ysnhgames.com and its subdomains), (b) TLS edge termination, (c) hosting of static webpages, including this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Service, and other official informational pages, via Cloudflare Pages (the browser-based HTML5 game client itself is not hosted on Cloudflare Pages; it is hosted and served by itch.io, as described in the itch.io entry below), and (d) off-site backup storage via Cloudflare R2 object storage, consisting of two categories:
- (i) SQLite database snapshots (accounts.db, game_data.db, gzip-compressed): used for disaster recovery of account and character data. Stored as a single latest mirror at a fixed R2 path, overwritten daily by the backup script; only the most recent snapshot exists on R2 at any time (effective retention ~1-2 days until the next daily overwrite). Longer-history recovery of database contents (e.g., recovering from a bug or admin mistake) is handled by the LOCAL 90-day rolling backup on the VPS, not by R2.
- (ii) Rotated log archives (chat.log and process.log daily gzip rotations): used for disaster recovery of the audit trail described in Section 4 (moderation records, authentication IP audit, verify-export hash records) that we may need to preserve for lawful disclosure requests. Each newly rotated archive is uploaded by the daily backup script and purged in alignment with the 365-day primary retention (no mirrored copy exists beyond 365 days from the log date).
Data is encrypted in transit via TLS, and Cloudflare applies server-side encryption at rest to objects stored in R2. Contents include personal data such as account records, character data, in-game chat messages, and authentication events including source IP addresses.

Cloudflare may also process IP addresses and connection metadata as part of DNS and CDN delivery. Subject to Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.
itch.io (Leaf Corcoran). Hosts the game’s project page and serves both the browser HTML5 client (delivered from html.itch.zone) and the downloadable desktop clients (Windows / Linux / macOS). Also used for service announcements via devlog posts. When you visit the project page or run the HTML5 client, itch.io may log your IP address, user agent, and page-view metadata for their own platform analytics (independent of our game server), and may set cookies for itch.io platform functionality; playing the browser client does not require an itch.io account. Interaction with itch.io-native features (comments, ratings, favorites, following) is governed by itch.io’s own terms in addition to ours (see Terms of Service Section 2). Note on Google Sign-In: Google authentication is initiated from a popup window served from our own domain (ysnhgames.com), not from itch.io. Your Google account credentials and OAuth tokens do not pass through itch.io’s servers; only the internal JWT we issue after successful authentication is exchanged between the browser client and our account server. Subject to itch.io’s Privacy Policy and itch.io’s Terms of Service.
Gmail (Google LLC). The operator’s contact address grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com is hosted on Gmail. Messages sent to this address are stored and processed by Google. Subject to Google’s Privacy Policy.

8. Changes to the Service

YSNH Games operates Grow with the Dungeon as a free game on a best-effort basis. We reserve the right to make significant changes to the Service, including but not limited to:

8.1 Future monetization

The Service is currently free of charge. We do not currently offer paid features, subscriptions, in-game purchases, donations, or advertising, and have no immediate plans to do so. If this ever changes, we will provide reasonable advance notice (at least 30 days) via in-game announcement and our official website, official distribution pages, or official development logs (including the itch.io devlog where applicable), along with any additional terms, payment conditions, refund policies, and legally required disclosures. No charges will be applied to your account without your explicit, separate consent. Continued use of the free portion of the Service after paid features are introduced does not by itself authorize any payment or constitute consent to any paid feature.

If you object to any such change, you may delete your account before it takes effect.

8.2 Service termination

We reserve the right to discontinue the Service at any time, including but not limited to the following circumstances:

Server hosting or maintenance costs become unsustainable
The game does not attract sufficient player interest
Operator’s personal or professional circumstances prevent continued operation
Technical, legal, or regulatory issues make continued operation impractical
Continued operation becomes impractical for any other personal, technical, legal, or operational reason where reasonably necessary in the operator’s judgment

In the event of Service termination, we will:

Provide at least 30 days’ advance notice via in-game announcement and our official website, official distribution pages, or official development logs (including the itch.io devlog where applicable) when reasonably possible
Permanently delete personal data stored in our active Service systems within 90 days of termination. This deletion covers data we directly control (such as the game databases and our server-side audit logs); it is subject to backup rotation, legal hold obligations, and any data retained by third-party services (e.g., Gmail mailbox contents, itch.io comments, Cloudflare edge logs) under their own retention policies, which we cannot unilaterally purge

Note on in-game progress: Character data (levels, items, inventory, currency) has no value or utility outside the Service. We do not provide character data exports, as such data is non-transferable to other games and cannot be used independently. You acknowledge that all in-game progress is lost upon Service termination.

Note on personal data export (data portability): Where required by applicable law (such as Article 20 of the EU/UK GDPR), eligible users may request a machine-readable export (typically JSON) of personal data they provided to us and basic account metadata associated with their account, while the Service is still operating. As described in Section 5.1, this request must be exercised through the in-game AccountCenter (“Account Info” tab → “Export My Data”) so that we can verify the request originates from the actual account holder. We do not accept email-based export requests because we cannot reliably link an email address to a specific user account. Such an export would typically include:

Internal account_id and the HMAC-SHA256 identifier derived from the Google Account ID (sub claim); the raw sub claim is not included because it is not stored (see Section 2.1)
Account creation date and last login date
Character names you created
Chat messages you sent, if any (subject to retention period in Section 4)
Bulletin board posts you made, if any

This export does not include:

Server-generated data (character stats, levels, inventory contents, equipment, gameplay history, position data)
Other players’ content (messages they sent to you, posts they made)
Enforcement records (bans, mute history, internal moderation notes)
Inferred or derived data (behavioral analytics, if any)

After Service termination, data export requests may no longer be available once the relevant personal data has been deleted or is no longer reasonably accessible. As stated above in this section, personal data stored in the active Service systems we directly control is deleted within 90 days of termination, subject to backup rotation, legal hold obligations, and third-party retention policies. Other categories of data (such as chat and process logs, rolling backups, and data held by third-party services) follow their own retention schedules described in Section 4 and Section 7.

You acknowledge and accept that, as a free service with no paid contract, no compensation or refund will be provided in the event of Service termination, modifications, or interruptions.

8.3 Privacy Policy updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last Updated” date at the top will reflect the latest revision. Significant changes will be announced via in-game notification and our official website, official distribution pages, or official development logs (including the itch.io devlog where applicable). Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

9. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not intended for users under the age of 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under this age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com. We will take reasonable steps to investigate and delete or disable the relevant data where we can identify it and where required or appropriate.

10. International Users

The Service is operated from Japan. If you access the Service from outside Japan, your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Japan or other regions where our infrastructure is hosted, as necessary to provide and operate the Service.

11. Support and Communication

YSNH Games is operated by a single individual alongside other professional commitments. We cannot guarantee real-time or rapid response to inquiries.

Support inquiries: grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com
Bug reports: itch.io comments or email
Service announcements: our official website, official distribution pages, or official development logs (including https://ysnhgames.itch.io/grow-with-the-dungeon where applicable)

We will respond on a best-effort basis. Typical response times may range from several days to several weeks.

12. Contact

For general privacy-related questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, you may contact us at:

Email: grow.w.t.dungeon@gmail.com Operator: YSNH Games (a sole proprietorship operated from Japan) Country: Japan

To exercise data subject rights that affect your specific account (deletion, data export, etc.), please use the in-game AccountCenter as described in Section 5.1. We cannot act on account-affecting requests sent by email.

The operator’s full legal name and address are not published on this page for privacy and safety reasons. They are available upon written request to the email above where required by applicable law or reasonably necessary for privacy-related requests, formal legal notices, regulatory inquiries, dispute resolution, responses to lawful demands by courts or authorities, or other legitimate requests.

The English version of this Privacy Policy is the governing version. A Japanese translation is provided for convenience as a reference translation. In case of any inconsistency between the two versions, the English version prevails.