Terragraph.
Privacy Policy — effective July 31, 2026
Terragraph (terragra.ph) is a free geography game. This page describes, in plain language, what data the site handles and why. The short version: we collect the minimum needed to run the game, we don't run ads or analytics, and we never sell data.
What we collect
- Google account basics. When you sign in with Google we receive your name, email address, and profile photo. We use them to identify your account and display your profile; only your name is stored in the account record, while the address and photo live in the sign-in session alone (see "How long we keep it"). We never see your Google password. Your Google name is stored to identify your account, but you may hide it behind a generated pseudonym — when you do, your real name and photo are never shown to other members.
- Gameplay data. Game sessions record your guesses, their timing, and scores, tied to your account.
- Server logs. Like nearly every website, our server logs requests (IP address, browser user agent, timestamps) for security and debugging. Logs are routinely rotated and are not used to profile you.
Cookies
We set exactly one cookie: an essential session cookie that keeps you logged in. There are no advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies, which is why there is no cookie banner.
Location
The map initially centers on your approximate continent, derived on your device from its timezone setting. This never leaves your browser and is not collected, transmitted, or stored. We do not request your precise location.
Third parties
- Google provides sign-in (OAuth) and the map itself (Google Maps). Your browser communicates directly with Google to load map imagery, subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
- DigitalOcean hosts our server (US region).
That's the whole list. No ad networks, no analytics services, no data brokers.
How long we keep it
- Your account. Your name and pseudonym are kept until you close the account.
- Your sign-in session. Signing in stores a session record holding your name, email address and profile photo. It is deleted when you sign out, and otherwise expires 30 days after you last used the site. Your email address and photo live only here — they are in no other table, and closing your account or signing out removes them.
- Gameplay. Sessions, guesses and scores are kept indefinitely, as the record of what was played. Closing your account unlinks them from you rather than deleting them (below).
- What you write. Letters you send us are kept until we have dealt with them.
- Moderation records. Where a moderator acts on an account, the site keeps a permanent record of the action taken. If you later close your account, your identity is removed from those records and only the action itself remains.
Deleting your account
You can close your account yourself, at any time, from Settings → Dangerous acts → Close account. No email and no waiting. It takes effect immediately and cannot be undone.
When you close your account:
- Erased: your account record — the link to your Google account, your display name, your pseudonym — along with your atlas marks and your sign-in session, and with it the email address and photo it held.
- Kept, but no longer yours: the expeditions you filed, their guesses and scores, any letters you sent, and any moderation records. These stay in the site's record with every link to you removed, so they are no longer attributable to any person. We keep them because the game's history and the site's moderation record have to remain whole; we do not keep anything that identifies you.
If you'd rather ask us to do it, or want a copy of your data first, email terragraph@googlegroups.com and we'll handle it.
Playing without an account
Most of Terragraph can be played as a guest, with no account and no sign-in. A guest run is scored in your browser session and kept off the permanent record; we store the session and its guesses, but they are tied to no person.
What a signed-out visitor is shown is limited on purpose: the map, the places, and their own game. Nothing another player has written — no member names, no standings, no correspondence — is shown to a signed-out visitor. Anything a member writes is visible only to signed in members and to the site's moderators.
Children
Terragraph is a general-audience site and is not directed at children under 13. Because guest play needs no account, we treat everything a signed-out visitor can reach as suitable for all ages, and we keep player-written content behind sign-in for that reason among others.
Signing in requires a Google account, and Google applies its own age requirements to those. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13; if you believe a child has signed in, write to terragraph@googlegroups.com and we will remove the account.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, we'll update this page and the effective date above.