Privacy Policy

How we handle your data. Spoiler alert: we're not Facebook. We actually respect your privacy and don't try to monetize every breath you take.

🎯 The Straight Truth

We don't sell your data. We don't share it with dodgy marketing companies. We don't build creepy profiles to manipulate you into buying stuff you don't need.

We collect what we need to run the treasure hunts and nothing more. No tracking your browsing habits across the internet, no building psychological profiles, no nonsense.

This policy tells you exactly what we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it. In plain English, not lawyer-speak.

📊 What We Actually Collect

What
Why We Need It
Email Address
To create your account, send hunt notifications, and contact you about important stuff
Password
Secured your account (we hash it, we can't see your actual password)
Payment Info
To process entry fees and send you winnings (handled by secure payment processors)
Hunt Performance
To track your progress, calculate winners, and improve hunt difficulty
Device Info
Basic stuff like browser type to ensure the site works properly
IP Address
For security, preventing fraud, and ensuring you're in an allowed location

What We DON'T Collect

  • Your browsing history on other websites
  • Your contacts or social media accounts
  • Your location when you're not actively hunting
  • Anything from your microphone or camera
  • Personal details we don't need for the service

🍪 Cookies & Tracking

We use cookies, but not like those annoying sites that track everything you do. Ours are pretty boring:

Essential Cookies

These keep you logged in and make the site work. You can't really turn these off without breaking everything.

Analytics Cookies

Basic stuff like "how many people visited today" and "which hunts are popular". Nothing personal, just general website stats to help us improve things.

No Advertising Cookies

We don't use advertising networks or third-party tracking. No Facebook pixels, no Google Ad tracking, no creepy retargeting nonsense.

⚠️ Your browser probably has settings to block cookies if you're paranoid about it. Just know that essential ones are needed for the site to actually work.

🔐 How We Protect Your Data

Security Measures

  • Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit and at rest
  • Secure Servers: Hosted on reputable platforms with proper security
  • Limited Access: Only essential team members can access user data
  • Regular Updates: We keep our systems patched and up-to-date
  • No Plain Text Passwords: Your password is hashed and salted

Payment Security

We don't store your full card details. Payments are handled by PCI-compliant processors (Stripe, PayPal) who know what they're doing better than us.

Data Breaches

If something goes wrong and data gets compromised, we'll tell you within 72 hours. We won't try to hide it or downplay it - you deserve to know.

📤 Who We Share Data With

Short answer: Almost nobody. And when we do, it's for good reasons, not profit.

Service Providers

Sometimes we need help from other companies:

  • Payment Processors: Stripe and PayPal handle payments securely
  • Email Service: To send you hunt notifications and important updates
  • Cloud Hosting: Secure servers to run the platform

These companies are contractually bound to protect your data and can only use it for the specific services they provide.

Legal Requirements

We might have to share data if:

  • Required by law or court order
  • To prevent fraud or illegal activity
  • To protect someone's safety

We'd fight unreasonable requests, but we're not going to jail for you.

Business Changes

If we sell the company or merge with someone else, your data might transfer. We'd make sure the new owners follow the same privacy principles.

🌍 International Data Transfers

We're UK-based and try to keep data within the UK/EU where possible. Sometimes data might travel (cloud services, payment processors), but always with proper protections in place.

If you're outside the UK and using our service, your data will be processed here under UK data protection laws (which are pretty decent).

⏱️ How Long We Keep Your Data

Data Type
Retention Period
Account Info
Until you delete your account, then 30 days for cleanup
Hunt Results
5 years for tax/accounting purposes, then deleted
Payment Records
7 years (legal requirement), then deleted
Support Messages
3 years to help with ongoing issues
Analytics Data
2 years, anonymized after 6 months

We regularly review and delete data we no longer need. No point hoarding it.

🎮 Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you've got some solid rights:

Access

You can ask to see what data we have about you. We'll provide it in a readable format within a month.

Correction

If something's wrong, tell us and we'll fix it. Most stuff you can update yourself in your profile.

Deletion

Want to delete your account? You can do it yourself in settings. We'll wipe everything except what we're legally required to keep.

Portability

You can download your hunt history and account data if you want to take it elsewhere.

Objection

Don't like how we're processing your data? You can object. We'll stop unless we have legitimate reasons to continue.

Complaints

Think we've messed up? Contact us first at privacy@yachickenshit.com. If we can't sort it out, you can complain to the ICO.

👶 Children's Privacy

Our main hunts are for adults (18+) only. Family-friendly hunts might allow younger participants with parental consent.

We don't knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we find out we have, we'll delete it immediately.

Parents: if your kid somehow created an account, let us know and we'll sort it out.

📱 Third-Party Services

Social Media

If you share hunt results on social media, that's between you and them. We don't track or store your social media activity.

External Links

Our hunts might include links to external websites for clues. Those sites have their own privacy policies - read them if you're concerned.

No Advertising Networks

We don't use Google Ads, Facebook tracking, or similar services. No third-party advertising cookies on our watch.

🔄 Changes to This Policy

We might update this policy occasionally. If we make significant changes, we'll email you about it and post the changes here.

We won't make changes to reduce your privacy protections without your explicit consent.

Bottom line: We treat your data like we'd want ours treated. With respect and common sense.

📞 Questions or Concerns?

Got questions about your privacy or how we handle data? Drop us a line:

  • Email: privacy@yachickenshit.com
  • Data Protection Officer: dpo@yachickenshit.com
  • General Support: support@yachickenshit.com

We're real humans and we'll give you straight answers, not corporate waffle.

Last updated: 1st January 2026

Effective: Immediately upon posting