Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

GhostKeys (“we”, “us”, or “our”) operates the website at ghostkeys.eu. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website and use our services, including the blog, video tutorials, FAQ knowledge base, community question-and-answer system, user profiles, and all related features (collectively, the “Service”). GhostKeys is a gaming content and support platform — we do not sell game keys or process financial transactions. By using the Service, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

Account Information: When you create an account using email and password, we collect your email address and display name (username). If you choose not to provide a username, one is automatically generated from your email address. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google. We store this information in your user profile along with your account creation date.

User-Generated Content: We collect content you voluntarily submit through the Service, including support questions (with title, category tag, description, and any embedded images), answers to other users' questions, comments on answers, and helpful/not-helpful votes on FAQ articles and community answers. Images you upload or paste into questions and answers are compressed and stored as part of the content.

Reading and Browsing Activity: For logged-in users, we track which blog articles you have read (reading history), which articles you have bookmarked, and the timestamps of these interactions. This data is stored in your user profile and is only visible to you. Blog post and question view counts are incremented anonymously for all visitors.

XP and Engagement Data: If you participate in the community, we track experience points (XP) earned through actions such as creating questions, posting answers, and other activities. Your XP total and level are stored in your user profile.

Notification Preferences: We store your notification settings, including whether you wish to receive in-app notifications when someone replies to your questions. You can manage these preferences in your account settings at any time.

Report Data: If you use the report feature to flag a question, answer, or comment, we collect the report reason, the content being reported, and your user ID and email to prevent abuse of the reporting system.

Device and Browser Data: We may collect your IP address, browser type, operating system, device type, and referral URLs through standard web server logs and analytics tools. This data is used for security, analytics, and to improve the Service.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to: provide, maintain, and improve the Service and its features; create, authenticate, and manage your user account; display your username and profile on questions, answers, and comments you post; maintain your personal reading history and bookmarks; deliver in-app notifications about replies to your questions and other relevant updates; calculate and display your XP level and community participation; process and review content reports to maintain community safety; track anonymous view counts on blog posts, FAQ articles, and questions to highlight popular content; detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and security issues; analyze aggregate usage patterns to improve content and features; and comply with legal obligations.

4. Public Visibility of Your Data

When you use the Service, certain information is publicly visible. Your display name (username) is shown alongside any questions, answers, and comments you post. The content of your questions, answers, and comments is publicly visible and may be indexed by search engines. Your XP level may be visible on your public profile. Helpful/not-helpful vote counts on answers are publicly visible, but your individual votes are not attributed to you publicly. Your email address is never displayed publicly to other users. Your reading history, bookmarks, and notification preferences are private and visible only to you.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored using Google Firebase services, including Firebase Authentication for account management and sign-in, Cloud Firestore for database storage (profiles, questions, answers, reading history, bookmarks, notifications, XP records, and FAQ content), and Firebase Hosting for serving the website. Images embedded in questions and answers are stored as compressed base64 data within Firestore documents rather than as separate file uploads. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Cookies and Tracking

We use essential cookies and local storage to maintain your Firebase authentication session and keep you signed in across visits. We may use analytics services such as Google Analytics to collect anonymized usage data, including pages visited, session duration, and traffic sources. These tools may place cookies on your device to help us understand how visitors interact with the website. We do not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels, and we do not serve ads on the Service. You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences, but disabling essential cookies may prevent you from signing in or using account-based features.

7. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

Google Firebase: Provides authentication (including Google Sign-In), database storage, and website hosting. Google's privacy policy governs how Firebase processes your data.

Google Analytics: We may use Google Analytics to collect anonymized usage statistics. This service uses cookies to track visitor interactions. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

YouTube: Our video tutorials link to and may reference YouTube content. When you click through to YouTube, Google's privacy policy applies.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing, advertising, or any commercial purposes. We do not share your data with data brokers or advertising networks.

8. Data Sharing

We do not share your personal information with third parties except in the following limited circumstances: when required by law, regulation, subpoena, or legal process; to protect the rights, safety, or property of GhostKeys, our users, or the public; with your explicit consent; or with service providers who assist in operating the Service (currently limited to Google Firebase), subject to confidentiality obligations. When you post content on the Service, your display name and the content itself are visible to all visitors, including search engine crawlers. Email addresses submitted with questions by non-logged-in users are stored internally and never displayed publicly.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction (including rights under GDPR for EU/EEA residents and CCPA for California residents), you may have the right to: access the personal data we hold about you; request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data; request deletion of your account and associated personal data; object to or restrict certain processing activities; request a copy of your data in a portable format; withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent; and opt out of analytics tracking. You can manage your account settings, update your display name, change your password, and configure notification preferences through the Settings page. To request account deletion or exercise other data rights, please contact us through our support page.

10. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. Specific retention practices include: account profile data is retained until you delete your account; reading history and bookmarks are retained until you delete your account; notification records are retained for the active life of your account; XP records are retained for the active life of your account; and questions, answers, and comments you have posted may be retained in anonymized form after account deletion to preserve the integrity of community discussions and help other users who may benefit from the content. If you delete your account, we will remove your profile information, email address, reading history, bookmarks, and notification preferences. We may retain certain data as required by law or for legitimate business purposes such as fraud prevention.

11. Image Data

When you upload or paste images into questions or answers, those images are automatically compressed (reduced in resolution and file size) before being stored. Images are stored as embedded data within the question or answer content in our database, not as separate files on a file server. We do not extract metadata (such as EXIF data including GPS location) from uploaded images, but we recommend stripping metadata from images before uploading if you have privacy concerns. Images included in your posts are publicly visible as part of the associated question or answer.

12. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us through our support page.

13. International Users

The Service is hosted using Google Firebase infrastructure, which may store and process data in various locations worldwide. If you access the Service from outside the country where our servers are located, your data may be transferred across international borders. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer and processing of your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We take steps to ensure that your data receives an adequate level of protection regardless of where it is processed.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Service, or applicable laws. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. For significant changes that materially affect how we handle your personal data, we may provide additional notice through the Service. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please reach out through our support page by submitting a question, or visit the FAQ section for additional help.