← BallGuessr

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 August 2026

Controller

The controller for BallGuessr (“we”, “us”) under the GDPR is:

Julian Yaman
Heiligenberger Straße 15
88630 Pfullendorf
Germany
E-Mail: mail@yaman.pro
Web: yaman.pro

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we process for the BallGuessr website and game, for what purposes, and which rights you have under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and German law (including the BDSG and, where relevant, the TTDSG).

What we process

  • Gameplay on your device. Round progress, guesses, and ratings may be stored in your browser (for example local storage) so the game can resume and show results. This data stays on your device unless you clear site data.
  • Server logs. When you use the site, our Contabo VPS may record standard request data such as IP address, browser type, pages visited, and timestamps. We use this for security, abuse prevention, and reliability (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interests).
  • Search queries. When you type in the guess typeahead, your query is sent to our server to search the footballer catalog. We do not use this to build a personal profile (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b) / (f) — providing the service / legitimate interests).
  • Online count. While you have the site open, your browser sends an anonymous ping about every 30 seconds so we can show how many Guessers are on BallGuessr right now. The ping uses a random id for this browser, kept in memory and (when available) in session storage so another page or another tab in the same browser does not count you twice. Open tabs in that browser share the id with each other while they are open. It is not a cookie, not used for advertising, and is gone when you close the last tab. The server keeps that id in RAM for about 45 seconds after the last ping, then drops it — closing the last tab does not remove it immediately. We do not link it to a name, account, or Party seat. Legal basis: GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interest in showing a live activity count.
  • Feedback (Tally). The Feedback button opens a form hosted by Tally (tally.so/r/KY269g). If you submit that form, Tally processes the content you enter (and any contact details you choose to include) so we can read your message and improve BallGuessr. Legal basis: GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interests; or Art. 6(1)(b) if you ask us to reply. How Tally handles personal data is described in Tally’s privacy policy.
  • Analytics (Plausible). We use a self-hosted Plausible Analytics instance at analytics.yamanlabs.com (on the same Contabo VPS as BallGuessr) to understand aggregate traffic (for example page views and referrers) for ballguessr.eu. Plausible is designed to be cookie-free and not to collect personal data for advertising profiles. See Plausible’s data policy. Legal basis: GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest in measuring and improving the service) and, where terminal-device access is involved, the corresponding TTDSG rules for privacy-friendly reach measurement.
  • Error tracking (PostHog). We use PostHog (EU Cloud) to detect and diagnose application errors (for example uncaught exceptions in the browser or on the server), and to record a small set of product events: Daily Challenge opened / started / completed, Free Play opened / completed (including which pool was chosen and whether the round was solved, failed, or given up, plus hints used), Challenge share rounds opened / started / completed, and Online Party created / joined / started / completed (including whether the table is Invite-only or a Public Game, guest count, and party settings — not pageviews, click autocapture, or session replay). About once a minute the server also sends an aggregate snapshot (how many Guessers are online, how many Online Parties are open, seated vs recently present Party Guests, and process memory) with no ping ids, Account ids, or invite codes. Exception reports may include technical details such as error message, stack trace, browser/runtime info, and the URL where the error occurred. We configure PostHog in cookieless mode so it does not set cookies or use local/session storage for this purpose, and product events are not tied to a lasting visitor identity. Events are sent via a same-origin reverse proxy (/ingest) to PostHog’s EU endpoints. See PostHog’s privacy policy . Legal basis: GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) — legitimate interest in keeping BallGuessr reliable, fixing bugs, and understanding how Daily, Free Play, and Online Party are used.
  • Accounts (optional). You can play without logging in. If you choose to log in, authentication is Google OAuth only. Google provides your Google account id and email; we receive that via Supabase (EU), which hosts Auth and stores Account data so we can keep you signed in. Supabase may use hCaptcha to prevent bot abuse during Auth (for example challenge widgets and related technical data such as IP address). We store the Username you pick, your official Daily results (score, date, personal placement among other logged-in Guessers), Daily streak, your Username and Daily Pot on today’s public Daily Standings (top 50), ELO and Elo Placement on public Elo Standings (UI: Duel Leaderboard, top 100), and Online Party series standings (mode, your points, your placement). When you pick a Username we may send it to OpenAI’s Moderation API to screen abusive names. Public pages show your Username, Games Played, Public Game wins, ELO, Streak, and Daily Calendar (which Berlin dates you solved or missed the official Daily). Legal basis: GDPR Art. 6(1)(b) (providing the Account you requested) and Art. 6(1)(f) (keeping the game fair and preventing abuse). You can stop using the Account by logging out; to delete it, email mail@yaman.pro. How those providers handle personal data: Google’s privacy policy, Supabase’s privacy policy, hCaptcha’s privacy policy, OpenAI’s privacy policy.

What we do not do

V1 does not require an account. We do not ask for your real name, email, or payment details to play. We do not sell personal data. We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking pixels. We do not use PostHog for pageviews, click autocapture, or session recordings.

Cookies and similar tech

We do not set advertising cookies. Optional Google login uses strictly necessary first-party cookies (via Supabase Auth) to keep you signed in. Completing Google OAuth also involves Google’s own cookies and storage on Google’s domains as part of the login you start. If Supabase shows an hCaptcha challenge, hCaptcha may set cookies or similar storage on its domains to tell humans from bots. The game may use browser storage (local storage) for gameplay state. Online Party uses a strictly necessary first-party cookie to keep your seat in a party (so you can refresh or reopen the table without rejoining). The home-screen online count does not use cookies; it may keep a random id in session storage (cleared when that tab closes) so navigation and extra tabs in the same browser do not count the same visit twice. Plausible Analytics does not use cookies for its default privacy-friendly setup. PostHog error tracking is configured not to set cookies or use browser storage. We do not show a separate cookie banner for these tools in their current configuration. If that changes, or if we add tools that require consent under German/EU law, we will update this policy and obtain consent where required.

Third parties / processors

  • Hosting (Contabo). BallGuessr runs on a virtual private server from Contabo GmbH (Germany). Contabo provides the infrastructure on which the application and related services run. See Contabo’s privacy information.
  • Plausible Analytics (self-hosted). Aggregate usage data is processed on our own Plausible instance at analytics.yamanlabs.com, hosted on the same Contabo VPS (software: plausible.io/privacy).
  • PostHog (error tracking). Application exceptions are processed by PostHog Inc. on PostHog EU Cloud. See posthog.com/privacy.
  • Google (OAuth). Optional Account login uses Google OAuth. Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC processes the authentication request. See policies.google.com/privacy.
  • Supabase (Auth and Account data). Optional Accounts are authenticated and stored with Supabase (EU). See supabase.com/privacy.
  • hCaptcha (bot abuse prevention). Supabase Auth may use hCaptcha (Intuition Machines, Inc.) to block automated abuse. See hcaptcha.com/privacy.
  • OpenAI (Username moderation). When you pick a Username we may send that name to OpenAI’s Moderation API to screen abusive names. See openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.
  • Tally. Optional feedback is collected via Tally forms. Tally BV (Belgium) processes submissions under Tally’s privacy policy and related terms. Opening the form loads tally.so in your browser.
  • Fonts (Bunny Fonts). We load web fonts from Bunny Fonts (bunny.net), a GDPR-oriented font CDN. Bunny may process technical connection data (such as IP address) when font files are requested. See Bunny’s privacy policy.
  • Football data. Player facts come from community Transfermarkt-style datasets processed on our servers. Those datasets are not provided by us to third parties as part of your play session.

Purposes

  • Provide the game and catalog search
  • Keep the service secure and fix bugs (including PostHog error reports)
  • Understand how Daily, Free Play, and Online Party are used (opens, chosen Free Play pools, party create / join / start / complete counts)
  • Keep aggregate counts of Guessers online and open Online Parties over time
  • Measure aggregate usage with Plausible and improve BallGuessr
  • Show how many Guessers are on the site right now
  • Optional Google login, Account storage via Supabase, Username screening (OpenAI), and bot abuse prevention (hCaptcha)
  • Respond to feedback you send us

Retention

Server logs are kept only as long as needed for operations and security, then rotated or deleted. Browser-stored game state stays on your device until you clear site data. Feedback submitted via Tally is retained according to our need to respond or improve the product and according to Tally’s retention practices. Analytics data is retained according to our Plausible configuration. PostHog error reports, product events, and aggregate online/party snapshots are retained according to our PostHog project retention settings, only as long as needed to diagnose issues and understand usage. The anonymous online-count id is dropped from server memory after about 45 seconds without a ping.

Your rights (GDPR)

You have the right to:

  • Access your personal data (Art. 15)
  • Rectification (Art. 16)
  • Erasure (Art. 17)
  • Restriction of processing (Art. 18)
  • Data portability (Art. 20), where applicable
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21)
  • Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority — in Germany, typically your state data protection authority (Landesdatenschutzbeauftragte) or the authority where you live/work

To exercise these rights, contact us at mail@yaman.pro.

Children

BallGuessr is a general-audience game about public football facts. If you are under 16 (or the age required in your country), use the game only with a parent or guardian’s permission.

Changes

We may update this policy as BallGuessr evolves. The “Last updated” date at the top will change when we do. For material changes, we will take reasonable steps to make the update noticeable.

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