Privacy — Sovereign Earth

This policy covers the Sovereign Earth website (sovereignearth.ironbuffalostudios.com; the game was formerly known as Epochfall, and the website’s earlier addresses now lead here) and buying Sovereign Earth directly on this website, made by Bradley Freitas, doing business as Iron Buffalo Studios (“we”). The short version: the website keeps only the email address you give us for playtest and launch news, and if you buy the game here we keep the order details we need to send your key and keep our tax records.

Who is responsible

Bradley Freitas, doing business as Iron Buffalo Studios, Houston, Texas, is responsible for (the “controller” of) the personal data described here. Privacy contact: bfreitas@ironbuffalostudios.com.

This website

• Playtest and launch lists. When you join a list we store your email address, which list and game you chose, the date, the page you signed up from, your browser type and a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address, which we use only to stop automated sign-ups. We first send you one confirmation email; nothing else is sent until you click its link. We use your email only to tell you about this game. Every email carries an unsubscribe link, and one click takes you off the list.
• Contact and support forms. If you write to us through a form on this site we keep your name (if you give it), your email address, your message and the date, so we can answer you.
• Server logs. Like most websites, our web server keeps logs for a limited time of requests (IP address, page, browser type, time) to keep the site running and secure.
• No cookies, no ad trackers. The site sets no tracking cookies and runs no ad trackers. We count visits with our own analytics (Matomo, hosted on our own server at ironbuffalostudios.com, shared with no one): IP addresses are shortened before they are stored, Do Not Track is respected, and raw visit records are deleted after 180 days.

Playtest builds

Playtest builds of Sovereign Earth are sent by invitation. What a build records on your PC, if anything, is stated in the invitation that comes with it; nothing is sent to us without your knowing.

Buying Sovereign Earth here

• Paddle runs the checkout. When direct sales open on this website, our reseller Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for our orders. Paddle collects your payment details and the name, email, country and address it needs for payment and tax. We never see your card details. Paddle's own privacy notice covers what it collects.
• What we keep. Paddle sends us your email address, name, country, what you bought, the price, the order and transaction numbers, and whether the order was refunded. We store the key we sent you with the order. We use this to deliver your key, help you with support and refunds, and keep the tax and accounting records the law requires.
• Your key email. Your key is emailed to you from our own mail server.

Why we use it

• Sign-up lists: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• Messages you send us: to answer you (our legitimate interest in supporting the game).
• Orders: to carry out our agreement with you and to meet our tax and legal obligations.
• Server logs: our legitimate interest in keeping the website running and secure.
• Visit counts: our legitimate interest in knowing how many people visit and which pages they read.

Who we share with

We do not sell or rent personal information. Your data is stored on servers we operate. We share it only with Paddle (for purchases, as above), with professional advisers such as an accountant when needed for our records, and with authorities when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Sign-up lists: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your record.
• Messages: until your question is settled, then no longer than we need for our records.
• Server logs: a limited time, for running and securing the site.
• Visit counts: raw visit records are deleted after 180 days; only totals are kept after that.
• Order records: as long as tax and accounting laws require us to keep them.

Your choices and rights

Email bfreitas@ironbuffalostudios.com to see, correct or delete what we hold about you, to get a copy of it, to object to or restrict how we use it, to withdraw consent, or to leave a list. We reply within one month. Every list email includes a way to unsubscribe. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

International transfers

Our servers are in the United States. Paddle may process your purchase data in other countries, under the safeguards described in its privacy notice.

Security

We keep personal data on servers we operate, limit who can access it, and use encrypted (HTTPS) connections for the website and checkout.

Cookies

This website does not set tracking or advertising cookies. When you open the checkout, Paddle may use cookies that are needed for payment and fraud prevention.

Children

Our games and website are not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has given us their email, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of this page, and tell list members about any material change by email.

Contact

Bradley Freitas, doing business as Iron Buffalo Studios, Houston, Texas · bfreitas@ironbuffalostudios.com