This privacy policy applies to the website ostfrieslandgames.de (in German and English) and to the game Ostfriesland Games in all versions: the Steam version for Windows, macOS and Linux, the arcade cabinet and a test version in the browser at ogbeta.m01n.com without the online leaderboard.
m01n digitalagentur – Tim Bruns
Hafenstraße 9
26603 Aurich, Germany
Phone: +49 4941 95 0 80 98
Email: moin@ostfrieslandgames.de
We have not appointed a data protection officer. Please send any privacy questions to the email address above.
In short: The game sends results with initials to us, in the Steam version only when you confirm your initials. Anyone on the internet can see the top ten results of each discipline, with initials, score and date. We delete all other entries 12 months after receipt. If you do not want that, choose “skip entry” when asked for initials, or write to us and we will delete your entry.
Apart from initials, the game asks you for nothing: no name, no email address, no account with us.
The game stores settings, language, your local leaderboard and your album progress only on your device. They stay there until you delete them. Only results with initials are uploaded, as described below. In the Steam version, your local leaderboard is kept in a folder on your computer. The game stores settings, language and album progress (plus a copy of your best scores) in the preferences storage of the game engine Unity: in the registry on Windows, in a preferences file on macOS and in the same folder on Linux (see “Deleting and switching off”). In the test version at ogbeta.m01n.com, all of this data is kept in your browser’s storage (IndexedDB). On the arcade cabinet, it is kept on the cabinet itself.
No consent is needed for this, because storing this data is strictly necessary for the game to keep your settings and results (Section 25(2) no. 2 of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act, TDDDG).
In addition, the game engine Unity creates five entries of its own in the same preferences storage at start-up: a random identifier for the installation, three identifiers for the current session and a counter of game starts (their names begin with unity_connect. or unity.player_). The game does not use them and does not send them to anyone, including Unity. They stay on your device and are removed when you delete the game’s settings (see “Deleting and switching off”).
The online leaderboard is built into the Steam version and the arcade cabinet. The test version at ogbeta.m01n.com has not included it since 23 September 2026. If it is off – because you have switched it off (see “Deleting and switching off”) or because a test version does not include it – the game sends no game data to our server. When the game loads the leaderboard, which ID it sends and whether it confirms initials by itself depends on the version (see below). The following applies to all versions:
online-scores-client-id.txt or the clientId entry in online-scores-config.json), the game deletes it at start-up.Our firewall also checks these requests (see “Security (Wordfence)”).
In the Steam version, our game code connects only to ostfrieslandgames.de (leaderboard) and to Steam (see “Steam (Valve)”). The services of the engine maker Unity (analytics, crash reports, diagnostics) and the engine’s hardware statistics are switched off. The Steam version makes no other connections, including none to Unity. If you choose “PRIVACY” in the settings, the game shows a summary of this policy.
For each uploaded result we store: result ID (random), discipline, score, time of play, initials, game mode (free play or story), for story runs the partial results per discipline, time of receipt and an internal note on its origin (upload from the game or import by us). The leaderboard does not store your IP address.
Instead of the ID sent along (session, device or installation ID), we store only a code. Our server calculates it from the ID using a secret key; the ID itself is not contained in it. The code tells us which results come from the same game session of the Steam version or from the cabinet. We clear the code 30 days after receipt. Until 14 October 2026, a browser version of the Tea Ceremony at ostfrieslandgames.de/bin/ also sent results, each with a permanent installation ID; the same retention periods apply to these entries.
To prevent abuse, our server limits how many requests may come from one connection, one ID and one session key. Our server issues the session key to the game for uploading; it is valid for one hour. For the limit, the server calculates codes in the same way from the IP address, the ID or the session key and counts the requests. These counters expire after two hours at most and are deleted by the next hourly clean-up.
With the secret key, we could check whether a code belongs to a particular IP address or ID. The codes are therefore not anonymous.
The top ten results per discipline and in the story overall ranking are public in the game and on ostfrieslandgames.de/en/highscores: rank, initials, score and date; the page source contains the time to the second. Via our open interface (ostfrieslandgames.de/wp-json/ogames/v1/leaderboards), anyone can retrieve the same lists, there with the time to the second and the result ID. We store all other results for up to 12 months but do not show them.
The lists also contain results from before the online leaderboard launched on 14 September 2026. We imported results from the arcade cabinet. In addition, the first time a version with the online leaderboard starts, the game uploads older results with initials stored on the device. Results we imported without initials appear as “—”.
Deleting entries: You cannot change or delete entries yourself in the game. We delete them on request; email moin@ostfrieslandgames.de. Tell us the initials, discipline, score and date. If we have doubts that an entry is yours, we will ask. Deleted entries may remain in our encrypted backups for up to 6 months.
Steam version – where the data is kept:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\m01n\Ostfriesland Games\ (paste the path into the address bar of File Explorer); settings in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\m01n\Ostfriesland Games~/Library/Application Support/com.m01n.ostfrieslandgames/ (in Finder, press ⇧⌘G and paste the path); settings in ~/Library/Preferences/com.m01n.ostfrieslandgames.plist (to delete them, run defaults delete com.m01n.ostfrieslandgames in Terminal)~/.config/unity3d/m01n/Ostfriesland Games/; settings in the file prefs in this folderSwitching off the online function: Close the game. In online-scores-config.json (in the folder above), change “enabled”: true to “enabled”: false. Start the game. It then no longer exchanges any data with our server.
The Steam version stores no leaderboard ID that you would need to delete (see “Steam version”).
In the browser: At ogbeta.m01n.com, you delete all game data by deleting the site data for that address in your browser. This also deletes your local leaderboard. An installation ID exists there only if you played on or before 23 September 2026. If you played the browser version at ostfrieslandgames.de/bin/ on or before 14 October 2026, its installation ID is still stored in your browser; it is no longer used. You delete it with the site data for ostfrieslandgames.de.
Arcade cabinet: We operate the cabinet. Its device ID belongs to the cabinet, not to you.
If you play the Steam version, Valve Corporation, P.O. Box 1688, Bellevue, WA 98009, USA, processes the data of your Steam account under its own responsibility. Valve’s privacy policy applies; it also sets out Valve’s safeguards for transfers to the USA.
The game uses the Steam interface (Steamworks). It checks whether the game belongs to your Steam account. It uses the language set in Steam until you choose another one in the game. And it reports unlocked achievements to your Steam account. We do not receive your Steam account data; the game does not send a Steam ID to our server. Steam is not involved on the arcade cabinet.
We count visits with Koko Analytics. Koko runs only on our server. We do not pass the data on to third parties.
On every page view, a small script in your browser sends two pieces of information to our server: which page you open and which external page you came from (referring page, “referrer”). If the link contains campaign identifiers, it sends those too. Such identifiers (for example “utm_source=…”) appear in links from our advertising, for instance. Our server discards these identifiers.
So that we count you as a visitor only once a day, our server calculates a code from your IP address, your browser identifier and a random value; the code does not reveal this data. Koko generates a new random value every day. Under this code, the server keeps a list of codes for the pages you have viewed today. Koko does not store your IP address or browser identifier themselves. At midnight, Koko deletes these records and the random value. Our backups may contain these records and the random value for up to 6 months.
The statistics keep only aggregated figures per day: page views and visitors per page, and the domains of referring pages (for example google.com; for a few sites such as github.com or reddit.com with the path). Koko sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device.
We serve all typefaces on our website from our own server. No outside company learns your IP address in the process.
Our website contains links to our Steam page and buttons for sharing via WhatsApp, Facebook and email. These are simple links. Only when you click one does your browser open the provider’s page; that provider’s privacy policy then applies. Before that, the provider receives nothing from us. The “Email” button opens your email program with a prepared text; only what you send yourself is sent. The “Send” and “Copy link” buttons open your device’s share function or copy the link; nothing is sent to us. The same applies to all other links to external websites: only your click opens the external page.
Our links to the Steam page contain campaign identifiers such as “utm_source=ostfrieslandgames”. These tell Valve that you came from our website. According to Valve, Steam attributes follow-up actions such as wishlisting, purchases or activations only if you are logged in to Steam and act within 72 hours of the click. Depending on your browser and cookie settings, Steam does not track you at all; in the cookie settings of your Steam account you can opt out of tracking via such links. In Steam, we see only aggregated figures per identifier, never Steam IDs or other personal information.
At ostfrieslandgames.de/en/bugtracker you can make suggestions or report bugs in the game. You don’t need an account, and we don’t ask for your name or email address. We store only whether it is a suggestion or a bug, your text, the date and a running number. We do not store your IP address here; as with every request, it stays in the server logs for at most 8 days (see “Server logs”). Please don’t put names, email addresses or other personal details in your text.
The website, the online leaderboard and the test version in the browser run on our own server at Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany. The server is located in the Falkenstein data centre in Germany. Hetzner processes the data only on our instructions (data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR). We serve images and videos from this server; we do not embed YouTube or similar services.
Every time your browser or the game requests something, our server writes an entry in the access log:
The security plugin Wordfence protects our website and the online leaderboard. It is made by Defiant, Inc., 1700 Westlake Ave N Ste 200, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. The firewall runs on our server. It checks requests for attack patterns, blocks attackers and protects the login to the website’s admin area, where only our team logs in. To do this, Wordfence processes your IP address and the data of your request.
Wordfence stores suspicious events in our database: blocked requests and requests identified as attacks, with IP address, time and request data, as well as login attempts to the admin area, which also include the user name and browser identifier. It also keeps statistics on blocked IP addresses. A log of all requests (“Live Traffic”) is switched off on our site. Wordfence emails notifications about such events to a mailbox on our own mail server; they may contain IP addresses.
No transfer to Defiant: We do not take part in the Wordfence Security Network. Wordfence does not report IP addresses or requests from visitors or from the game to Defiant; the firewall and login protection work only on our server.
Wordfence sets cookies only for people who log in to the admin area, not for visitors.
We back up the website and the database every day. This includes the leaderboard, the abuse counters, the Wordfence security logs and the visitor statistics, including the records for counting unique visitors and the random value of the respective day. The backups are encrypted before they leave our server; only we have the key. They are stored at Hetzner (Germany), on our own storage devices and in Synology C2 Cloud.
C2 Cloud is operated by Synology Inc., 9F, No. 1, Yuan Dong Rd., Banqiao, New Taipei 220632, Taiwan, as our processor. The data is stored in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The European Commission has not adopted an adequacy decision for Taiwan. Our contract with Synology therefore includes the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR); they are part of the data processing agreement Synology concludes with all C2 customers (view). Synology cannot read our backups, because only we have the key.
If you email us, we process your email address, your name if you give it, and the content of your message.
To exercise these rights, email us at moin@ostfrieslandgames.de.
We cannot link much of the data to a person, for example IP addresses in logs or codes in the statistics. If you tell us your IP address and the time period, we will check the logs as long as they still exist (8 days at most). How we find your leaderboard entries is described under “Deleting and switching off”.
The right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) applies only to data we process based on your consent or for a contract with you. We currently do not do so.
You can object. We base what we do with your data as described in this policy on our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The exception: we handle requests concerning your rights because the law requires it. You can object to everything else at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then stop, unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or we need the data to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
How: email moin@ostfrieslandgames.de. In the Steam version, the game uploads only when you confirm your initials; there you can switch off the online function completely via a file on your device (see “Deleting and switching off”). Switching off is not possible on the arcade cabinet; there you decline an entry by choosing “skip entry” when asked for initials, before the game confirms the initials by itself after 30 seconds without input. Multiplayer mode does not offer this option. We delete leaderboard entries on request. You can prevent the visitor count yourself (see “Visitor statistics”).
We do not make automated individual decisions within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR. The firewall blocks suspicious requests automatically; this has no legal or similarly significant effect on you. The AI check in “Suggestions” deletes insulting messages, spam and advertising automatically; this too has no legal or similarly significant effect on you.
You can complain to any data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example the one where you live. The authority responsible for us is: Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz Niedersachsen (State Commissioner for Data Protection of Lower Saxony), Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover, Germany, phone +49 511 120-4500, email poststelle@lfd.niedersachsen.de, online complaint.
No. Without your IP address, however, your device cannot connect to our server, and you cannot use the website or the online leaderboard. An entry in the leaderboard is voluntary. You can also play without an entry.
If the website or the game changes, we will update this policy.
Last updated: 20 October 2026