Privacy policy

Summary

- Parley has no ByteBadgers account and no ByteBadgers game server. A match runs on one player's computer (the host) and players connect through Steam.

- The only data that reaches us is anonymous crash and session reports. They are on by default and you can turn them off in Settings > General.

- The people you play with see your Steam profile name, as in any Steam game.

- Voice chat and ravens travel from player to player through the match host. We never receive or store them.

- No advertising, no analytics, no in-game purchases and no sale of data.

Who is responsible

The data controller is ByteBadgers, Ümraniye, İstanbul, Türkiye. Privacy contact: yunus@bytebadgers.net. We have not appointed a data protection officer.

Crash and session reports

Parley uses Sentry, a crash-reporting service run by Functional Software, Inc., to find and fix crashes. Reports are on by default. You can turn them off in Settings > General > Send crash reports. Turning them off stops reports at once; turning them back on takes effect the next time you start the game.

A crash report contains the error and its stack trace (where in the game's code it happened), the game version, your operating system and its version, and the device details the Sentry SDK adds: graphics card, processor type, memory size and screen resolution. The game adds only these labels: gt.scene (which game screen was open), gt.phase (the match phase), gt.transport (the network transport in use), gt.build (the kind of build) and gt.context (a short label naming the part of the game, such as "voice"). Every other label is removed before a report leaves your computer.

Session reports tell us that the game started and whether the session ended normally or with a crash, so we can count crash-free sessions. They carry a random installation identifier that the Sentry SDK creates on your computer. It is not your Steam ID and we cannot link it to you.

Reports never contain your user name, your computer's name, your Steam name or Steam ID, the game's log text, screenshots, chat, voice, drawings or invite codes. The game does not put your IP address into reports; Sentry receives the network connection itself, as any web service does, and uses it only to receive the report.

Reports are stored in Sentry's European Union region (Germany) and deleted after 90 days, Sentry's standard retention. Sentry's privacy policy: https://sentry.io/privacy/

Steam

Parley is played through Steam. Valve Corporation processes your Steam account under its own privacy policy: https://store.steampowered.com/privacy_agreement/

When you host or join a match, the other players see your Steam profile name on your hero's name plate, in the lobby and on the results card. Steam uses your Steam ID to run lobbies, invite codes, rich presence (what your friends see you doing) and achievements.

If Steam Cloud is on, the game keeps one file, settings.json, in your Steam Cloud so your settings follow you to another computer: volume levels, language, V-Sync, screen shake, rumble and the tutorial setting. It holds no progress and no personal data.

Players connect through Steam's networking, including Valve's relay servers. ByteBadgers runs no server in between.

Voice chat and ravens

Proximity voice chat is on by default; the game tells you so the first time it starts. You can mute your microphone with the mic key or switch to push-to-talk in Settings > Audio. Your voice goes from your computer to the match host, who passes it on to the other players in the match. It is played live and is never recorded or stored.

A raven is a short voice message (up to 5 seconds) or a drawing you send to one other player. It travels through the match host to that player only, stays in their game until the match ends, and is never saved to disk or sent to us.

What stays on your computer

Your settings, key bindings, the hero looks you have unlocked and the game's log files are stored only on your computer (plus settings.json in Steam Cloud, as described above). We do not receive your progress.

We never collect your email address (unless you write to us), real name, payment details, friends list, precise location, camera, advertising identifiers, the contents of your files or the list of programs on your computer.

Why we use this data

Crash and session reports: our legitimate interest in finding and fixing crashes (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f); KVKK Art. 5(2)(f)). You can object at any time by turning them off; the game works the same without them.

Steam features, voice chat and ravens: needed to run the online game you asked to play (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b); KVKK Art. 5(2)(c)). Support emails: to answer your request.

Who receives data

We do not sell or rent personal data or share it for advertising. Recipients are Functional Software, Inc. (Sentry), which stores crash and session reports on our behalf; Valve Corporation, for Steam features; the other players in your match, who see your Steam profile name and hear your voice; and authorities where the law requires it.

Crash and session reports are stored in the European Union. We are based in Türkiye, so where Turkish law treats this as a transfer abroad we rely on the safeguards required by KVKK Article 9.

Your rights

Under the GDPR you can request access, rectification, erasure, restriction and portability, object to processing based on legitimate interests and complain to your local data protection authority. Under KVKK Article 11 you have the matching rights, including learning whether your data is processed and requesting its correction or erasure.

Because crash and session reports carry no identifier that links to you, we cannot find, show or delete the reports that came from your computer. You can stop new ones at any time by turning off Send crash reports; existing reports are deleted automatically after 90 days.

Write to yunus@bytebadgers.net. We reply free of charge within 30 days.

Children

Parley is not directed at children under 13, and Steam accounts are subject to Steam's own age rules. The game includes live voice chat with other players. If you believe a child sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

We will publish changes to this policy on this page with a new date at the top.