Privacy policy
What this site collects, why we need it, who handles it, and how you can see, fix or delete it.
Last updated:
The short version
Summary- We don't show ads, we don't use analytics or trackers, and we don't sell your information.
- You sign in with Discord, Twitch, Google or a link we email you. We get your email address and your account id with that service.
- Your display name and what you post are public. Your email address, reports and creator applications are private.
- In preview mode, everything you type stays in your browser and never reaches us.
- The community is for people 13 and older. If we learn an account belongs to someone younger, we delete it.
- You can ask to see, fix or delete your information at any time.
This box is a quick guide. The full policy below is what counts.
Who we are
VTuber Smash is a 2D platform fighter where every fighter is a VTuber. The VTuber Smash team ("we" or "us") is making it and runs vtubersmash.com. We're responsible for the information this policy describes. Privacy laws call that being the controller.
This policy covers vtubersmash.com and its community features: the forums, requests, bug reports and creator applications. It doesn't cover other sites we link to, or the services you use to sign in.
To reach us about privacy, see Contact.
Preview mode
Before the community server opens, the site runs in preview mode. A Preview banner on the community pages shows when it's on. In preview mode:
- Your display name, threads, replies, requests, votes, bug reports, reports and creator applications are saved only in your browser, on your device.
- Nothing you type or pick is sent to us or anyone else. We can't see it, and other visitors can't either.
- There's no sign-in with Discord, Twitch, Google or email. You pick a display name, and it stays in your browser.
- If you clear this site's data in your browser, all of it is deleted. We can't restore it.
Everything else in this policy describes the site with the community server open. Server logs, fonts and browser storage apply in both modes, because your browser still loads the site's pages and fonts.
What we collect
With the community server open, this is everything the site collects, and who can see it.
- Sign-in details Private
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If you sign in with Discord, Twitch or Google, that service sends us your email address and your account id there. It can also send basic details from that account, such as the name on it and a link to your profile picture. We don't show your profile picture anywhere.
If you sign in with an email link, we get your email address. Either way, we never see or store a password.
- Display name Public
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The name shown on everything you post. When you first sign in, we give you a random starting name, such as player_048213. We never take it from the account you signed in with. You can change it in the account panel at the top of the page. Don't use your real name. A Team or Mod badge shows next to the names of our team and moderators.
- Your answer to the age question Private
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Before you sign in, post, vote or apply, we ask whether you're 13 or older. We don't ask for your birth date. If you answer yes, your account records that you confirmed it. If you answer no, the answer stays in your browser, and this browser can't sign in, post, vote or apply. If you were already signed in when you answered no, your account records the answer too, and posting stays off for it. We then delete the account, as described in Children and teens.
- What you post Public
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Forum threads and replies, requests and bug reports, with the date and time you posted them. A bug report holds its title, the area, where you found it, the steps, what happened and how bad it is, plus what you expected, the version and your input device if you fill those in.
- Votes Private
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Which requests you voted for. Other players see only each request's vote total.
- Reports Private
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When you report a thread, post, request or bug report, we keep what you reported, your reason and which account sent it. Only the team sees reports.
- Creator applications Private
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If you apply on the For VTubers page, we keep your VTuber name, your channel links, your agency's name if you have one, your contact email, the languages you stream in, your message, your confirmation that you're 18 or older or applying through an agency or legal guardian, your OK for us to contact you at that email, and which account sent it. Only the team sees applications.
- Moderation records Private
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If we hide something you posted or suspend your account, we keep a record of what we did and how long it lasts.
- Emails you send us Private
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Your email address, what you wrote, and our replies.
- Server logs Private
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When your browser loads a page or talks to the community server, the computers that serve it record technical details: your IP address, the time, what was asked for, and the browser and device type your browser reports. Our hosting and database providers keep these logs.
- Storage on your device On your device
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A few things are saved only in your browser. See Cookies and browser storage.
We don't ask for your birth date, home address, phone number or location, and we don't use analytics, ads or tracking tools.
What other players can see
Anyone who visits the site can see:
- your display name and any Team or Mod badge;
- the threads, replies, requests and bug reports you post, with their dates;
- the vote total on each request.
Everything else stays private: your email address and sign-in account ids, your age answer, which requests you voted for, reports, creator applications, moderation records, emails and server logs. Only the team, and the service providers that store information for us, can see them.
Public posts can be copied, shared and shown in search engines. Think before you post, and keep personal details about yourself and other people out of your posts.
How we use it, and why we're allowed to
We use your information to run the site and its community, keep them safe, and make the game better. Privacy laws such as the GDPR ask us to name a legal basis for each use. Here they are.
- Run your account and the features you use
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Signing you in, sending sign-in links, showing your display name and posts, counting votes, and storing requests and bug reports.
Basis: contract. We need it to give you the service you asked for.
- Keep the site safe and working
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Server logs, stopping spam and abuse, handling reports, moderation, and keeping banned accounts out.
Basis: legitimate interests. Protecting players and the site is a real need, and we use only what that takes.
- Keep the community 13 and older
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The age question, and deleting the accounts of children under 13.
Basis: legitimate interests, and legal obligations where they apply.
- Make the game better
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Reading requests and bug reports to decide what to build and fix.
Basis: legitimate interests.
- Review creator applications
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Reading your application, and contacting you about it at the email you gave.
Basis: consent, which you give with the consent box on the form. You can withdraw it at any time, and we'll delete your application. Withdrawing doesn't change anything we did before.
- Answer you
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Replying to your emails, and to requests about your information.
Basis: legitimate interests, or legal obligation when you use a privacy right.
- Follow the law and protect people
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Keeping or sharing information when the law requires it, such as answering a valid court order or reporting child sexual abuse material to the authorities.
Basis: legal obligation, or legitimate interests when we need to protect someone's safety.
We don't use your information for ads, and we don't build profiles of you. People on the team make moderation decisions. No program suspends or bans anyone on its own.
Cookies and browser storage
We don't use cookies to track you, show ads or count visits, and we don't set cookies of our own. The site saves a few things in your browser's local storage instead, on your device:
- your answer to the age question (saved as
vts-age-v1). With the community server open, a yes is also saved with the time you gave it (vts-age-at-v1), so it counts for the account you sign in with right after. Signing out forgets a yes; - in preview mode, your display name and everything you post (
vts-preview-v1); - with the community server open, your sign-in session, so you stay signed in;
- an unsent forum thread or reply you're writing (
vts-forum-draft-...), until you post or discard it.
This storage lives on your device. The site uses it only to work for you, and we don't use it to follow you around the web. To delete it, clear this site's data in your browser's settings. That signs you out and deletes anything you posted in preview mode.
Discord, Twitch and Google may set their own cookies on their own sites when you sign in with them. Their policies cover those.
How long we keep it
- Account details
Your email address, sign-in account ids, display name and age confirmation: while your account is open.
- What you post
Threads, replies, requests and bug reports: while they're on the site. You can ask us to remove any of them.
- Votes
Until you take a vote back or your account closes.
- Reports and moderation records
As long as we need them to handle the problem and to spot problems that repeat.
- Creator applications
While we consider your application. If we don't work together, we delete it within [one year] of our decision.
- Emails
As long as we need them to help you and to keep a record of what we agreed.
- Server logs
For a short time set by our providers. We keep them longer only to look into abuse or a security problem.
- Browser storage
Until you clear it.
When you ask us to delete your account, we delete your account details and votes within [30 days], and we remove your threads, replies, requests and bug reports. If you'd rather leave your posts up without your name, say so when you ask. Copies can stay in our providers' backups for a short time, until those backups are replaced.
If we close an account for breaking the rules, we may keep its email address and sign-in account ids for as long as we need them to stop the person from coming back.
Your rights and choices
Wherever you live, you can:
- See it. Ask for a copy of the information we have about you.
- Fix it. Change your display name in the account panel at any time, or ask us to correct anything else.
- Delete it. Ask us to delete your account, or to remove any thread, reply, request or bug report you posted.
- Object. Ask us to stop using your information for something you don't agree with. We'll stop unless we have a strong reason to continue, such as keeping the site safe.
- Take back consent. If you gave consent, such as for a creator application, you can withdraw it at any time.
To ask, use the privacy contact in Contact, writing from the email address you sign in with. If you can't, tell us your display name and how you sign in, and we'll find another way to check it's you. We answer within one month. If a request is complex, we may need up to two more months, and we'll tell you why. Using your rights never counts against you.
Parents and guardians can contact us about a teen's account too.
If you're in the EU, the EEA or the UK
You also have the right to limit how we use your information, and to get the information you gave us in a common, machine-readable format so you can take it elsewhere. If you think we've mishandled your information, you can complain to your local data protection authority. In the UK, that's the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We'd like the chance to put it right first, so please contact us too.
If you're in California
California law gives you the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose, and to ask us to delete or correct it. We don't sell or share personal information as California law defines those words, and we don't use it for targeted ads. We won't treat you differently for using your rights. Someone you authorize can make a request for you, and we'll ask for proof that you gave them permission.
In California's terms, we collect identifiers (such as your email address, sign-in account ids and IP address), internet activity (server logs), and content you post or send us. We get them from you, from the sign-in service you choose and from your browser. We use them for the purposes in How we use it, and we disclose them only as described in Who we share it with.
If you're under 18 and live in California, you can ask us to remove content you posted on the site. Send us links to it through the privacy contact in Contact. Removing it from our site doesn't remove copies other people made.
Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
We don't track you across other sites, so these browser signals don't change anything here. We treat them as a request not to sell or share your information, which we never do.
Children and teens
The VTuber Smash community is for people 13 and older. Anyone can read the public pages, but you must be 13 or older to sign in, post, vote or apply.
We ask the age question before any of those. If you answer that you're under 13 before you sign in, this browser can't sign in, post, vote or apply, and we collect no account information from you. If you answer no while signed in, posting stays off for that account and we delete it.
If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 13, we delete it and everything posted from it. Parents and guardians: if you think your child under 13 has an account or sent us information, tell us through the privacy contact (see Contact) and we'll delete it. If you answered no by mistake, tell us the same way. We may ask for proof before we turn posting back on.
For teens: we don't show ads, we don't build profiles, and your email address is never public. Keep your real name, school, location and photos out of your posts, and read the Community Guidelines to see how we keep the community safe. Where the law sets a higher age for using sites like this without a parent's permission, you need that permission first (see our Terms).
Security
We protect your information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), database rules that limit who can read and change what, and team access only for the people who need it. We don't store passwords: you sign in through Discord, Twitch, Google or a one-time email link.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we'll tell you and the authorities when the law requires it.
Found a security problem on the site? Please tell us privately through the contact in Contact, and don't post it publicly.
International transfers
Our service providers may store and handle your information in other countries, such as the United States. Privacy laws there may differ from the laws where you live.
When information about people in the EU, the EEA or the UK goes to a country without an adequacy decision, we use legal safeguards such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses, with the UK addendum for UK information.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we update the date at the top. If a change matters, such as a new kind of information or a new use for it, we'll post a notice on the site, and email players with accounts where we can, before it takes effect.
This is the first version of this policy. It takes effect on the date at the top.
Contact
A direct contact address for privacy questions, requests about your information and security reports will be listed here soon.