Legal Information — GameBuddies.io
Impressum
Legal Notice according to § 5 DDG (German Digital Services Act)
Service Provider
Gamebuddies - Sebastian Krol
c/o Online-Impressum #6596
Europaring 90
53757 Sankt Augustin
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Regulatory and Supervisory Authority
Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen
Based in: Germany
VAT ID
A VAT identification number has not yet been assigned pursuant to § 27a of the German VAT Act (UStG).
Consumer Dispute Resolution
We are not obliged or willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
This impressum applies to all legal notice obligations pursuant to § 5 DDG, § 55 (2) RStV & MStV § 18, as well as all social media presences.
Privacy Policy & Cookies
Data Protection Declaration (GDPR Compliance) — Last updated: 2026-08-25
1. Data Controller
Responsible for data processing on this website:
Gamebuddies - Sebastian Krol
c/o Online-Impressum #6596
Europaring 90
53757 Sankt Augustin
Email: [email protected]
2. Data We Collect
Account Data
When you create an account (via email, Discord, or Google), we store your email address, username, and avatar selection. Authentication is handled by Supabase.
Game Session Data
We temporarily store game room participation, scores, and game state data to enable real-time multiplayer gameplay.
Technical Data
We do not actively collect or store IP addresses or browser information ourselves. However, our hosting provider (Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany) may process technical data such as IP addresses at the infrastructure level for security and performance purposes. The only technical information we process directly is what is strictly necessary for the real-time connection during gameplay.
Local Storage
We use your browser's local storage to save language preferences, audio settings, theme preferences, and session tokens. No tracking cookies are set unless you accept analytics cookies (see section 6).
3. How We Use Your Data
We use your data exclusively to:
- Enable multiplayer gameplay and room management
- Manage your account and save your preferences
- Track achievements and game progress
- Improve the platform and fix bugs
We do not sell your data to third parties. We may show advertising through Google AdSense (see sections 6 and 7); with your consent it may be personalised, otherwise you see non-personalised ads. We do not otherwise profile you.
4. Legal Bases for Data Processing
We process your data on the following legal bases under the GDPR:
- Art. 6(1)(b) — Contract fulfillment: Processing necessary to provide our services, including gameplay, account management, and room functionality.
- Art. 6(1)(f) — Legitimate interest: Processing for security purposes, fraud prevention, and infrastructure operation (e.g., hosting via Hetzner Online GmbH).
- Art. 6(1)(a) — Consent: Processing based on your explicit consent for optional features such as video chat (WebRTC), optional analytics, and advertising.
5. International Data Transfers
Some of our third-party service providers are based in the United States:
- Supabase (database and authentication)
- Stripe (payment processing)
- Google LLC (Google Analytics 4 — only with your consent; Google AdSense advertising — personalised only with your consent)
Our website and our European game servers run at Hetzner Online GmbH in Nuremberg, Germany. In addition, we operate one game server at a Hetzner location in the United States (Ashburn, Virginia) so that players in the Americas get short response times. If you play through that server, the connection and gameplay data required for it are processed in the United States.
PostHog is hosted in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany) and does not transfer data outside the EU. It is used only with your consent for analytics and session recording.
These transfers are safeguarded by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF) and/or Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as approved by the European Commission. You may request a copy of the applicable safeguards by contacting us at [email protected].
6. Cookies & Local Storage
GameBuddies.io uses optional analytics cookies only with your explicit consent. When you accept analytics cookies, we use:
- PostHog — for usage analytics, session recordings, and heatmaps to improve the user experience (data processed in the EU)
- Google Analytics 4 — for traffic analysis and marketing attribution
These cookies are only activated after you click "Accept all" on the cookie consent banner. If you choose "Only essential", no tracking cookies are set.
We may also show advertising via Google AdSense. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet. For visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland, consent for personalised advertising is obtained through Google's certified consent management platform (Google Privacy & messaging), which you can grant, refuse or change at any time via the privacy link in our footer. If you refuse, you see non-personalised ads. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings (https://www.google.com/settings/ads), or opt out of third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising at https://www.aboutads.info/choices/. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy · How Google uses data from partner sites: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. Premium members see no ads, and no advertising scripts are loaded for them.
We also use local storage (not cookies) for:
- Authentication session tokens
- Language preference
- Audio/music volume settings
- Theme preference (dark/light)
- Guest player name
- Cookie consent preference
You can change your cookie preference at any time by clearing your browser storage or clicking the cookie settings link in the footer. You can clear all local data at any time through your browser settings.
7. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services:
- Supabase — for authentication and database hosting (their privacy policy applies)
- WebRTC — for peer-to-peer video chat (video/audio data flows directly between players and is not stored on our servers)
- Stripe — for payment processing of optional premium subscriptions (Stripe's privacy policy applies)
- Hetzner Online GmbH (Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany) — for website and server hosting. Our servers are located in Germany (EU); one additional game server runs at a Hetzner location in the United States. As our hosting provider, Hetzner may process technical data such as IP addresses at the infrastructure level for security and performance purposes (their privacy policy applies)
- PostHog — for usage analytics, session recordings, and heatmaps (only with your consent; their privacy policy applies)
- Google Analytics 4 — for traffic analysis and marketing attribution (only with your consent; Google's privacy policy applies)
- Google AdSense (Google LLC, USA) — for advertising delivery and measurement; Google and its advertising partners use cookies to serve and measure ads, and personalised ads are shown only with your consent, collected via Google's certified consent platform. Opt out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads · https://www.aboutads.info/choices/ · Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Premium members see no ads
- Cloudflare — for passive web analytics and CDN services (no tracking cookies; their privacy policy applies)
- Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, 7 rue de Madrid, 75008 Paris, France) — for sending announcement emails to larger groups of recipients (e.g. new game launches) and as a fallback for transactional email. Data processed: your email address and delivery metadata (timestamp, delivery status). Processing takes place within the EU. Art. 28 GDPR data processing agreement accepted at registration. No open/click tracking pixels are embedded in our emails.
Transactional emails (sign-up confirmations, password resets, magic links, service notices) are sent from our own mail server in Germany; no third party is involved in those messages.
8. Data Retention
Account data is stored until you request deletion. Game session data is temporary and deleted shortly after the game ends.
9. Your Rights Under GDPR
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the following rights:
- Right of access — request a copy of your personal data
- Right to rectification — correct inaccurate personal data
- Right to erasure — request deletion of your personal data
- Right to data portability — receive your data in a structured format
- Right to object — object to the processing of your data
- Right to restriction — request limited processing of your data
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.
10. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS/WSS), secure authentication via Supabase, and regular security reviews.
11. Children's Privacy
GameBuddies.io does not intentionally collect personal data from children under the age of 16. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "last updated" date. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance.
13. Contact
For any questions about this privacy policy or your personal data, contact us at:
Sebastian Krol
GameBuddies.io
Email: [email protected]
Terms of Service
General Terms and Conditions — Last updated: 2026-08-25
1. Acceptance of Terms
By accessing or using GameBuddies.io ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.
2. Service Description
GameBuddies.io is a multiplayer browser game platform that connects users to play various online party games. The platform offers both free and premium features. Features may change over time, and temporary service interruptions may occur.
3. User Accounts
You may use the Service as a guest or create an account. If you create an account, you are responsible for maintaining the security of your credentials. You may not share your account or use another person's account. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
4. User Conduct
When using the Service, you agree not to:
- Cheat, exploit bugs, or use unauthorized tools to gain unfair advantages
- Harass, bully, or use hate speech against other players
- Use the Service for any illegal purpose or to transmit harmful content
- Impersonate other players, moderators, or staff
- Attempt to disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
5. Intellectual Property & User-Generated Content
All content, design, code, and branding of GameBuddies.io are the property of their respective owners. You may not copy, modify, or distribute any part of the Service without permission.
User-generated content (such as custom questions, drawings, audio recordings, text answers, and other creative submissions made during gameplay) remains your intellectual property. However, by creating or submitting content through the Service, you grant GameBuddies.io a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, and sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, display, distribute, and create derivative works of your user-generated content for any purpose, including but not limited to operating, promoting, and improving the Service, as well as for marketing, social media, blog posts, and promotional materials.
This license survives termination of your account. You represent that you own or have the necessary rights to the content you submit, and that it does not infringe on any third party's rights. We may remove any user-generated content at our sole discretion.
Drawings and other creative content created during gameplay may be stored on our servers for quality assurance, platform improvement, and potential display in galleries or promotional contexts.
6. Disclaimer of Warranties
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee uptime, data persistence, or uninterrupted gameplay. Use the Service at your own risk.
7. Limitation of Liability
The operator is liable without limitation for damages caused by intent or gross negligence, as well as for injury to life, body, or health. For slight negligence, the operator is only liable in the event of a breach of a material contractual obligation (cardinal obligation), and in such cases liability is limited to the foreseeable, contract-typical damage. This does not affect liability under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz). All other liability for slight negligence is excluded.
8. Withdrawal Rights (Widerrufsbelehrung)
If you are a consumer in the EU/EEA, you have the right to withdraw from a premium subscription within 14 days of purchase without giving any reason.
To exercise your withdrawal right, please send a clear statement (e.g., by email) to:
Sebastian Krol
GameBuddies.io
Email: [email protected]
Important exception for digital content: If you have expressly consented to the immediate provision of digital content (e.g., premium features) and acknowledged that you thereby lose your right of withdrawal, the withdrawal right expires upon the start of the service.
In the event of a valid withdrawal, we will reimburse all payments received from you within 14 days using the same payment method used for the original transaction.
9. Modifications
We reserve the right to modify these Terms or the Service at any time. Changes to the Terms will be posted on this page. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
10. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Any disputes shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts in Germany.
11. Contact
For questions about these Terms of Service, contact us at:
Sebastian Krol
GameBuddies.io
Email: [email protected]