Privacy

Who keeps what

Oldwoods is a small game run by one person, the keeper. This page says what the game keeps about you, why, and for how long. For questions, or anything about your data, write to the keeper from inside the game: Write to the keeper, or the box at the foot of any page.

What the game keeps

Your login and your hero's name, and what your hero does in the game.
Your password, only as a one-way scramble that cannot be turned back into the password.
Your email address, if you give one: to confirm it, and to send a link when a password is lost. Other players never see it.
The internet addresses (IP) you play from, with the country they belong to, and the pages you open with your browser's name: to keep the game safe from cheating, spam accounts and abuse, and to know how many people play.
What you write: letters, words in the square and in clan halls, and petitions to the keeper.

Letters

Letters are private between players. The keeper reads a letter only when someone reports it (together with the few letters just before it between the same two heroes), or when the game's safety checks hold it back before delivery, for example a letter from a brand-new account that carries contact details. The keeper can see how many letters pass between two heroes without reading them. Words in the square and in clan halls are seen by everyone there.

Automatic safety checks

The game checks words by itself, on its own server: no outside service or AI reads them. Banned words are refused in names and starred out in the square, clan halls and hero pages. Contact details (phone numbers, email and web addresses, handles on other apps) are hidden in letters and chat. A letter that looks risky, for example one asking a young player's age or trying to arrange a meeting, or one that carried contact details, is held back for the keeper to read before it is delivered. New heroes can only answer letters until they have played a little. Words bought for others to read, and names changed later, are read by the keeper or a warden before anyone sees them; a new hero's first name is checked afterwards.

Payments

If you support the realm, the payment is handled by Stripe. The game never sees your card: Stripe tells it the amount, your email address and which account to thank.

Other services

A few services see a little, to make the game work: the mail host (MXroute) carries the keeper's letters to your inbox; ip-api.com is asked which country an internet address belongs to; the keeper's phone receives notices through Pushover, which can name your login. Nothing is sold, and there are no ads and no trackers.

Where it is kept

On the keeper's own server in the United States, and in encrypted backups kept apart from it.

For how long

An account not seen for 120 days, below level 10 and with no guardian slain, is removed, but never one that supported the realm. An account whose email address is never confirmed is removed after 14 days. Internet addresses are kept for a year, and the record of pages opened for 90 days. Backups are kept separately and can still hold an account for a while after it is deleted from the game.

Your choices

You can change or remove your email address in Settings, and delete your account yourself at the bottom of Settings: your hero, letters, points and looks all go. You can also ask the keeper, from inside the game, for a copy of what the game keeps about you, for a correction, or for a deletion.

Young players

Oldwoods has no adult themes or language, so younger children who can read and follow the story can play it too, but it is best suited to older players. Players under 16 should play with a parent's knowledge. To keep younger players safe, letters from new accounts are held back for a while, and contact details in letters are hidden.

Last changed 2026-10-04 · Deleting your account