Privacy policy

Who we are

Critter Planet is made by De Bruijne Investments BV in the Netherlands (Chamber of Commerce no. 83215832). De Bruijne Investments BV is responsible for your data: the "controller", as privacy law calls it.

Do you have a question, or do you want something changed or deleted? Email info@debruijneinvestments.nl.

What we keep, and why

• Your keeper account. Your keeper name and password, so you can log in on any device. Your password is stored scrambled: nobody can read it, not even us.
• Your email address. You give it when you make an account. We only use it for mail about your account, such as a link to confirm the address and a link to choose a new password when you forget yours. Other players never see it, and we never send you news or ads.
• Your planet. Your game (your critters, eggs, discoveries, coins and settings) is saved online, so you can go on playing on another device. If we start your planet over, or put an earlier one back (for example because you asked us to), we first keep a copy of the planet it replaces, so that can be undone.
• Friends and gifts. Who your friends are, friend requests, and gifts on their way with their sticker. A gift is deleted as soon as it is opened.
• Missions with friends. How many eggs you hatched, how much DNA you took and a few other counts, so you and your friends can see how far you got together this week.
• Technical data. When your browser talks to our servers, they see its IP address and what kind of browser it is. Our helpers keep this in logs for a short time, to keep the game running and safe.

We do not ask for your real name, age, address or phone number, and we do not build a profile of you.

What other players see

Other players can find you by your keeper name, with the profile picture you picked (one of the game's own drawings). Your friends see your name, the gifts and stickers you send, and your part in the missions you do together. That is all: your email address and your planet stay private, and there is no chat, so nobody can send you messages. Tip: pick a keeper name that is not your real name.

In your browser

The game keeps a few things in your browser's local storage: your planet, your login (so you stay logged in), the keeper name last used on this device, and choices such as the language. The game needs them to work, so it does not ask first. It sets no cookies of its own, and it uses no trackers or analytics.

Logging out takes your login out of the browser. To remove everything, clear this website's data in your browser's settings.

Who helps us

A few companies do part of the work for us. They may only use your data for that work.

• Supabase: keeps the accounts, planets, friends and gifts, on servers in Ireland (EU).
• Cloudflare: brings the website and the game to your browser.
• Resend: sends the mail about your account, such as the link to confirm your email address and the link to choose a new password.
• Google Fonts: the two fonts of the game come from Google's servers, so your browser tells Google its IP address when it fetches them.

Some of these companies are based in the United States. Where data leaves the European Union, the EU's standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework protect it.

Ads

Critter Planet shows no ads from other companies yet. We plan short ads in the game that you can choose to watch for a reward, through Google AdSense. We will update this page before they start.

Once there are ads, Google and its partners use cookies to show them and to count them, and they may use them to show ads based on your visits to this and other websites. In the EU, the UK and Switzerland the game first asks whether you agree to that, and you can change your mind at any time. You can turn off personalised ads from Google in Google's ad settings.

Why we may use your data

Privacy law only lets us use your data for a good reason. These are ours:

• To give you the game: your account, your planet, friends and gifts. That is our agreement with you, the terms of use.
• To keep the game safe and working, and to stop cheating and misuse. That is our legitimate interest.
• Personalised ads, once there are ads: only if you agree.

How long we keep it

• Your account, email address, planet, friends and mission counts: as long as you have an account. When you ask us to delete your account, all of it is gone within a month.
• Gifts: until they are opened.
• Technical logs at our helpers: only as long as they need them for safety, usually a few days to a few weeks.
• In your browser: until you clear this website's data.

Your rights

You may ask to see the data we have about you, to correct it, to get a copy of it, to have it deleted, or to limit how we use it or object to it. Email info@debruijneinvestments.nl and tell us your keeper name; we may ask you to show that it is really you. We answer within a month.

You can change your email address yourself, in the game under Settings → Keeper account.

Do you think we handle your data wrongly? Please tell us first. You may also complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, or to the one in your own country.

Children

Critter Planet is for everyone, children too. If you are younger than 16, ask a parent or guardian before you make an account. Parents can ask us at any time to see or delete their child's account. There is no chat, and other players only see a keeper name and a drawing from the game, so a child can play without sharing anything personal with others.

Keeping it safe

Everything between your browser and our servers travels encrypted. The database checks that no other player can read or change your planet or email address. Keep your password to yourself, and tell us if you think someone else is using your account.

Only the makers of the game can see every keeper's name, email address and level, on a page that is closed to everyone else. They use it to help players, for example to start a planet over when someone asks.

Changes

When this policy changes, we update this page and the date at the top. For a big change we also tell you in the game.