Who we are
The Hacker: Protocol ZER0 is made by ER Games Studios, a brand of Softwear Suit Ltd., the company responsible for your data. We decide what the game collects and what it’s used for. Write to us about anything on this page: [email protected].
What the game and this site send
The game and this website talk to our server for the six things below, and for nothing else.
Automatically, while you play
Play statistics
- What
- The agent name you chose. A random code made for your browser or computer (like PC-7K2QXA), which isn’t tied to your device, accounts or anything else. A random code for the playthrough. The game’s version, and whether you play on the web, on Steam or in the desktop app. When the playthrough started, how long you’ve actively played (and how much of that was in the free demo), when you solved each riddle, how many hints you opened for each, when you first did a few things (such as opening a device), and which Hacker Eggs you found. Roughly where you play from (your country, region and city), as Cloudflare estimates it from your IP address; the IP address itself isn’t kept.
- Why
- To see where players get stuck, so we can make the puzzles and hints fairer and fix bugs.
- Not sent
- Your real name (unless you use it as your agent name), your Steam ID or account, your email, your IP address, your exact location, or anything else on your device.
Only when you send it
Feedback
- What
- Your star rating, the kind of feedback (a bug, an idea…), your message and, if you add it, your email. The game adds its version, your agent name, the computer code, where you are in the game and how long you’ve played.
- Why
- To read it, and to answer you if you left an email.
Only if you sign up
The mailing list
- What
- Your email, from the sign-up on our home page or at the end of the free demo. From the demo it comes with your agent name, the computer code and the game’s version.
- Why
- Two emails: one on the day our Steam page opens, and one on the day the game comes out. Nothing else, and we never share your address.
Only when you ask for it
Moving your save to Steam
- What
- Your saved progress (not your settings) and the game’s version, kept under the code the game shows you.
- Why
- So the desktop app can bring in your progress from the web. Each one is deleted after 30 days.
On this website
Visit counts
- What
- When a page of this site opens, and when you click one of its main buttons or play its trailer, we add one to a daily count: which page, what was clicked, whether it’s a phone, whether it’s your first visit to that page that day, and the site (or the link’s tag) you came from. Only the counts are kept: no cookie, no code, nothing that tells one visitor from another.
- Why
- To see which pages and links work.
Cookies
One cookie, for testers
- What
- If you unlock the full game’s closed test on the web, a cookie remembers it for a year. It’s our only cookie. Our host, Microsoft Azure, also sets two technical cookies (ARRAffinity) on every visit to keep you on the same server; they hold nothing about you.
- Why
- So you don’t have to type the password again.
What stays on your device
Your saved game, settings and achievements are kept on your device: in your browser’s storage on the web, or in the app’s folder on a computer (%APPDATA%\ER Games\Protocol ZER0). They’re only sent to us as described above. This site also remembers the last day you opened each of its pages (so a visit is counted once a day) and whether you joined the mailing list. If you clear this site’s data in your browser or uninstall the app, they’re deleted, and your progress with them.
Technical data
Like any website, our server sees your IP address when the game or this site connects to it. We use it to stop abuse (for example, to limit repeated password or code attempts) and, through Cloudflare, to estimate roughly where a playthrough comes from (a city at most, never a street or coordinates). We don’t store the address itself with your statistics, feedback or email. Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs for security.
Other services involved
- Microsoft Azure hosts this site and our server, and stores the data above in Israel.
- Cloudflare sits in front of this site (TheHacker.Quest): every visit passes through it on its way to Azure, so it sees your IP address, protects the site from attacks, and tells our server the approximate location it belongs to (see Cloudflare’s privacy policy).
- Google Fonts: this site and the web game load their fonts from Google, which sees your IP address when they download (see Google’s privacy policy).
- jsDelivr: the web game loads its 3D library from the jsDelivr network, which sees your IP address in the same way.
- Steam (Valve): if you play on Steam, Valve handles your account, achievements, cloud saves and the overlay under Steam’s privacy policy. The desktop app carries its own fonts and libraries, and it doesn’t send us your Steam ID or account name.
- Discord only if you follow our link there.
We don’t use analytics services, ad networks or social-media trackers, and we don’t sell or rent anything we hold.
How long we keep it
- Statistics and feedback: until you ask us to delete them.
- The mailing list: until its second email, on the day the game comes out, has gone out. Then we delete the list.
- A moved save: 30 days.
- Visit counts: the daily totals, about a year (400 days).
- Backup copies: before we delete statistics or feedback, the server keeps a copy of that file in case the delete was a mistake. Only the last five copies are kept, and when you ask us to delete what we hold about you, we remove it from those copies too.
Your choices and rights
- Pick a code name. Your agent name doesn’t have to be your real name.
- Ask us. Write to [email protected] with your agent name (and roughly when you played) to see, correct or delete what we hold about you, or to leave the mailing list. We answer within 30 days.
- If you live in the EU or the UK: we use the statistics because we have a legitimate interest in improving the game (you can object at any time, and we’ll delete your playthroughs). We use your email only with your consent (you can withdraw it at any time). We move a save, or answer feedback, because you asked us to. Your data is stored in Israel, which the EU recognizes as protecting personal data adequately. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
The game has no age limit and never asks anyone’s age. It sends only what this page describes. If a parent wants something their child sent us removed, such as an email address, write to us and we’ll delete it.
Changes
If what the game sends changes, we’ll update this page and the date at the top before the new version comes out.