Privacy Policy

Hoku. HokuGames.com decides how the data in this policy is used (in legal terms, Hoku is the "controller"). Hoku is run by one independent developer. Every game can be played without an account. If you create one, we keep what the account needs to work (see 1.2). We don't share your account data with anyone for their own purposes.

Google (advertising). Google AdSense shows the ads on Hoku. Google's ad code loads on every page, except in the Kids Zone, on games opened from it and while Kids Mode is on. Our cookie bar does not control Google: in the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland Google asks for your consent in its own message before it uses ad cookies, and in US states with privacy laws Google offers a "Do not sell or share" choice. Google and its partners may use cookies, your IP address and browser details to show ads, measure them and stop fraud, including ads based on your visits to this and other websites. Google decides how it uses this data and is responsible for it: see how Google uses information from sites that use its services. Google only gives us totals, such as how many ads were shown, never data about you. How to limit personalized ads is explained in 2.4.

GamePix (games). The games come from GamePix and the studios that make them. We're working on adding games from more platforms. Games and game pictures load from GamePix's servers inside a frame on our page, so GamePix and the game makers receive your IP address and browser details, and may use their own cookies, statistics or ads inside the games. They are responsible for that under their own rules: see the GamePix privacy and cookie policy. We don't give them your account details.

Companies that work for us. Hostinger hosts the website and its database on servers in France and only follows our instructions. If you turn on reminders, your browser's push service delivers them. Our email provider stores the messages you send us.

Other players. If you have an account, other players can see some of your details on the leaderboards (see If you create an account).

General purposes

Next to the specific reasons below, we may use any of this data for these general purposes:

• running, fixing and securing the website;
• preventing cheating, fraud and abuse;
• understanding and improving the website and its games;
• handling questions, requests and complaints;
• setting out and defending our rights;
• meeting legal obligations and lawful requests from authorities;
• if Hoku is ever taken over, passing it to the new owner, who must then follow this policy.

Below, the data is split by situation: when you visit, if you create an account, if you click "Accept", if you turn on reminders and if you contact us.

A. When you visit Hoku (everyone, no account needed)

B. If you create an account

What other players can see: your username, avatar and level, with your Stars, XP, login streak, play time, number of games played, Stars spent, invites and friends, can appear on the public leaderboards. Friends see when you are online, the last game you played and when, and the games you share with them. You can remove a friend at any time on the Friends page.

C. If you are logged in and click "Accept"

D. If you turn on reminders

If you turned on reminders without an account before 26 September 2026, you keep getting general reminders until you switch them off in your browser.

E. If you contact us

How we get your data

• Automatically. Your browser sends some technical data with every visit, like your IP address and browser details. Our pages also send small messages when a page is opened, when game tiles are shown or clicked, and when you search.
• From you. What you give us when you create an account, play, send a report or email us.
• Worked out by us. Your country, from your IP address, using the free DB-IP country list on our own server (nothing is sent to DB-IP; IP geolocation by DB-IP). Your device type and browser name, from your browser details.
• From others. We don't receive personal data about you from other companies. Google only sends us totals about the ads, and never data we could link to you.

Who we share your data with

We only share data on a need-to-know basis: only the data a party needs for its job, and only with parties that must keep it confidential and follow privacy laws.

• The site owner, the only person who can open the admin panel.
• Hostinger, which hosts the website and database for us, on servers in France.
• Your browser's push service, only if you turned on reminders.
• Google and GamePix don't get data from us. They receive it directly from your browser when our pages load their ads and games (see 1.1).
• Authorities, only when the law requires it (for example a court order), or when needed to protect people or the site from harm or fraud.
• A new owner, if Hoku is ever taken over. They must then follow this policy.
• Anonymous totals, like the number of visits, may be shared because they contain nothing about you.

We do not sell your personal information and we don't give it to advertisers.

How we protect your data

• Passwords, magic phrases, recovery codes and stay-logged-in tokens are stored only as secure hashes.
• Everything between your browser and Hoku is encrypted (HTTPS).
• Logins and sign-ups are limited to stop guessing and spam.
• A security watch looks for hacking attempts and unusual activity, and a person decides what to do about it.
• Only the site owner can open the admin panel, which has its own password and only works on approved devices and networks, each confirmed with a code sent to the owner's email.
• We keep data only as long as needed (see 1.5).

No system is 100% secure. If a data breach affects your information, we will tell the data protection authority and you when the law requires it.

Is my data used in other countries?

Hoku's website and database are on Hostinger servers in France, in the European Union. If you visit from another country, your data travels between your country and the EU. The United Kingdom, Switzerland and many other countries recognize the EU as a safe place for personal data.

Google, GamePix and the browser push services may handle data in other countries, including the United States. They explain in their own policies how they protect data that leaves the EU or the UK, for example under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's standard contract clauses.

Deleting your account erases your account and everything linked to it straight away, including uploaded bug report files and your detailed visit log. Security logs may still hold your IP address for up to 90 days, and anonymous totals can't be linked to you.

Exceptions. We may keep data longer if the law requires it, or if we need it for a legal claim. We may delete it sooner if you ask us to (see your privacy rights).

A cookie is a small piece of text that a website asks your browser (like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge) to keep. Your browser sends it back to that website on your next visit, so the site can for example remember that you are logged in. Cookies that Hoku places are "first-party" cookies. Cookies placed by other companies on our pages, like Google's ad cookies or cookies inside games, are "third-party" cookies.

Similar tools do the same kind of job: "local storage" keeps small notes in your browser until you clear them, and "session storage" keeps them only until you close the tab. Hoku uses these for settings you choose, like dark mode. They stay on your device and are not sent to us, unless we say so in 2.2.

Types of cookies on Hoku

• Needed cookies make the website work, keep it secure, or remember a choice you made. The law allows them without asking first.
• Advertising cookies are set by Google to show ads, measure them and stop fraud. They can be used for ads based on your visits to other websites.
• Game cookies are set by GamePix and the game makers inside the games, for example to save your progress in a game.

Cookies

Browser storage

Your browser deletes a cookie automatically when it expires. The exact lifetime of each Hoku cookie is in the table in 2.2. Browser storage stays until you clear this site's data, unless the table says otherwise. You can delete everything sooner (see 2.4). For the lifetime of Google's cookies and cookies inside games, see their own policies linked in 1.1.

On Hoku. Use Your choices to turn "Accept" on or off and to stop or restart anonymous visit counting. Your choice is saved in this browser only, so repeat it on your other devices.

Personalized ads. In the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland, change your answer to Google with the "Change my answer to Google" button in Your choices or Google's own privacy link on our pages. Anywhere: turn them off in Google's Ads Settings, and opt out of personalized-ad cookies from many companies at aboutads.info or, in Europe, youronlinechoices.eu. You will still see ads, just not based on your interests.

In your browser. You can see, block and delete cookies and site data:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari on a Mac and Safari on an iPhone
• Microsoft Edge
• Opera

If you block or delete our needed cookies, you will be logged out and logging in won't work until you allow them again.

You can always ask what information we have about you. You can ask us to fix it if it's wrong, to delete it, or to keep it without using it. If you think we are not following the rules, you can complain to a data protection authority, but please talk to us first so we can try to fix it. If you are young, you can ask a parent or guardian to help you.

• Take back your consent. Where we rely on your consent ("Accept" and reminders), you can take it back at any time in Your choices, on your profile, or in your browser. This doesn't affect what happened before.
• See your data (access). Ask for a copy of the data we have about you, and we will also tell you why we use it, where it came from and who gets it.
• Correct your data. Change your username, avatar and bio on your profile, or ask us to fix anything else that is wrong or incomplete. Some technical records, like the time of a visit, can't be changed; we can delete them instead.
• Delete your data. Go to your Profile and choose "Delete my account". This erases your account and everything linked to it straight away. We may keep something only if the law requires it (see 1.5).
• Move your data (portability). Ask for your account data in a common, machine-readable format, for you or for another service.
• Limit or object. Ask us to stop using your data, or to keep it without using it, for example while we check a request. You can object at any time to the anonymous visit counting in Your choices.
• No automatic decisions. We don't make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly serious effects. Our security watch flags unusual activity, but a person decides what happens.
• No discrimination. We will never treat you differently for using your rights.

Anonymous totals contain nothing about you, so we can't find or remove your part of them, and there is no need to.

The GDPR and the Swiss data protection law apply. The legal basis for each use of your data is in 1.2. You have all the rights in 3.2, including the right to object and to restrict. You can complain to the data protection authority where you live, work, or where the problem happened: see the list of EU and EEA authorities, or in Switzerland the FDPIC. In some EU countries you must be up to 16 to give consent yourself (see Children).

The UK GDPR and the UK cookie rules (PECR) apply, with the same rights as in the EU. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

In the last 12 months we collected these categories of personal information:

• Identifiers: IP address, username, email address, cookie and device identifiers.
• Internet activity: pages, games and searches, mostly as anonymous totals.
• Approximate location: country only.
• Commercial information: items bought with Stars (never real money).
• Sensitive information: only your login details, used only to log you in.

We collect it from you and your device, for the purposes in 1.2, and keep it as long as described in 1.5. We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it with others for their own marketing. Google's ad cookies on our pages may count as "sharing" for targeted advertising under some state laws; to opt out, use the "Do not sell or share" choice Google shows in those states, or the links in 2.4. We honor Global Privacy Control for our own visit counting.

Depending on your state, you can ask to know, get a copy of, correct and delete your information, opt out of targeted advertising, and appeal our answer. Someone you authorize can also ask for you. If we turn down your appeal, you can contact your state's attorney general, and in California also the California Privacy Protection Agency.

You can access and correct your information and take back your consent. You can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Under the LGPD you can confirm that we use your data, access it, correct it, have it anonymized, blocked or deleted, move it, learn who we share it with, and take back your consent. You can complain to the ANPD.

For example in Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, South Africa or Turkey: you have the rights in 3.2. For any question or complaint, write to support@hokugames.com first; you can also go to your local data protection authority.

Tell us what you want to do and which account it is about. To check that the account is yours, we may ask you to write from the account's email address, or, for magic phrase accounts, to confirm something only the account owner can see while logged in. Someone you authorize can also make a request for you, with proof that you allowed it.

Most of our data about visitors without an account is anonymous or short-lived, so we often can't link it to you. If your request is about such data, we will explain what we can and can't find.

Age. Hoku is for a general audience. Anyone can play without an account, but you must be at least 13 to create one. In some countries, including parts of the EU where the age is up to 16, you must be older to agree to optional things like "Accept" or reminders yourself. If you are younger than that where you live, ask a parent or guardian.

Kids Zone and Kids Mode. The Kids Zone and Kids Mode show no sign-up, install or reminder prompts, and we never keep detailed visit stats there, even if someone is logged in. Like everywhere on Hoku, we keep only security logs and anonymous totals. Parental controls (the Kids Mode lock, parent PIN and daily time limit) are stored only on your own device; we never receive, see or store them, and clearing your browser's site data removes them.

Ads. Google's ad code does not load in the Kids Zone, on games opened from it, or anywhere while Kids Mode is on. The games come from GamePix (more platforms are on the way) and the studios that make them, and they may show their own ads or ask about cookies inside the game (see 1.1). The Kids Zone shows games from kid-friendly categories, and a filter keeps out horror, weapons and fighting games. Games are checked automatically, not one by one.

If a child gave us information. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, apart from security logs and anonymous totals. If you think a child under 13 has an account or gave us personal information, email support@hokugames.com and we will delete it.