Legal
Privacy policy
Gecktopia collects as little as it can get away with. This page says what that is, who else sees it, and how to have it removed.
The short version
- You can read every page on this site without giving a name.
- Your email address is collected only if you hand it over, by joining the Hatch List or making a founder purchase.
- Card details never reach this site. Stripe takes them directly.
- Nothing is sold, and nothing is shared for advertising.
- Ask and your data is deleted. There is no form to fill in, just an email.
What is collected
When you just visit
Pages viewed on the public site, the site that referred you (the site only, not the page), and any campaign tags in the address, so it is possible to tell which links bring people here. On the builder and in the morph library, which genes are turned on and off and which library entries are opened in the builder, so it is possible to tell which genes people explore. Only the gene codes are kept, never anything you type.
These are recorded against a random identifier kept in a cookie, not a name or an account. If you join the Hatch List or make a founder purchase, the visit you do it in is linked to your email address, so it is possible to tell which pages led there. Ask and that link is deleted with the rest of your data.
How many gecko pictures and link previews the site serves each day. That is a count per day and nothing more: not who asked, and not from where.
When you play
Once you are signed in, a few steps are counted: signing up, keeping your first three founders, signing in, starting a pairing, hatching an egg, renaming a gecko and selling one. Each is recorded against your account’s random number, never your name, username or email, so it is possible to tell which step new players stop at. The pages you view are counted too, with nothing kept that links one visit to the next.
A pairing event also says whether one parent hatched in your own collection. A sale event says its price and currency, and whether the buyer was another keeper or a game character. These events do not carry an animal’s identity, genes, genotype, recipe, your email address or anything you wrote. The operator can also read summary counts from saved game records. Daily aggregate counts, rates and median values from those records are also sent to PostHog without a keeper or animal identifier.
When something goes wrong
If the site hits an error, in your browser or on the server, a report goes to PostHog: what failed, the page it happened on (without anything after a question mark in its address), and the kind of browser and device. It carries no name, account or email address. Your screen is never recorded, and nothing you type or click is read.
When you report a bug
What you write, and the details the form shows you before you send it: the page you were on (without anything after a question mark in its address), the time, the version of the game, the kind of device and browser, the size of your screen, whether you use the installed app, your username, and the error’s reference when there is one. If you tick “Include a picture of this screen”, a picture of the game page behind the form goes too, with password fields blacked out, and is kept in private storage. Only the Gecktopia team reads reports. Each is deleted, with its picture, 180 days after it is closed.
How fast pages load
Vercel, which hosts the site, measures how long each page takes to load and to respond when you press something. Each measurement names the kind of page, such as a gecko’s page rather than which gecko, with the kind of device and the country. It carries no name, account or email address, and it uses no cookies.
When you join the Hatch List
Your email address, and whether you agreed to be emailed about updates.
When you ask for updates
Your email address, and when you confirmed. Ticking the updates box sends a confirmation link to that address, and nothing is sent until it is clicked, so nobody can sign up an address that is not theirs.
When you make a founder purchase
Your email address, which tier you bought, and the records Stripe returns about the payment. Your card number, expiry and security code go to Stripe and are never seen by, sent to, or stored on this site.
When you are emailed
Whether a message was delivered, opened, or reported as spam, so that broken addresses can be stopped rather than mailed forever.
Who else processes it
These companies handle data on Gecktopia’s behalf. Each has its own privacy policy.
Hosts the site, keeps short-lived server and request logs, holds the game's private daily backups, and provides aggregate visitor and page-speed statistics. These count visits and measure loading, without cookies and without identifying anyone.
Stores the Hatch List, analytics events and founder purchase records.
Takes payment for founder purchases. Card details go to Stripe directly and are never seen by or stored on this site.
Receives error reports from your browser and the server, counts pages viewed, and counts the steps of play against an account's random number. It sets no cookies, records no screens, and is sent no names, usernames or email addresses.
Sends confirmation and update emails, and reports whether they were delivered or opened.
Nobody else receives your data. It is not sold, rented, or handed to advertisers, and there are no advertising or social media trackers on this site.
How long it is kept
| What | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Analytics events | 13 months |
| Error reports and traces | 90 days |
| Ordinary server logs | 30 days |
| Daily backups of game records | 30 days |
| Security-relevant logs | 12 months |
| Bug reports | 180 days after the report is closed |
| Hatch List email address | Until you unsubscribe or ask for it to be deleted |
| Founder purchase records | Kept as long as the purchase is honoured, and as long as tax and payment rules require |
Your choices
Email support@gecktopia.com to ask for a copy of what is held about you, to correct it, or to have it deleted. You do not need a reason and you will not be talked out of it.
Every update email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing does not affect anything you have bought.
One limit worth stating plainly: records of a completed payment cannot always be deleted on request, because payment and tax rules require them to be kept for a period.
Cookies
This site uses no advertising cookies and nothing from another company that follows you across sites. It sets two cookies of its own for the visits described above: one that recognises your browser when it comes back, kept for a year, and one for the visit itself, kept for thirty minutes. Neither is shared with anyone. PostHog sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser. Other storage is used only to keep the site working and to remember small preferences in your own browser, such as whether you last used the simple or advanced builder.
Children
Gecktopia is not intended for children under 13, and their information is not knowingly collected. If you believe a child under 13 has given us their details, email support@gecktopia.com and it will be deleted.
Purchases require you to be at least 18. See the terms.
Changes, and who to ask
If this policy changes in a way that matters, the date at the top changes and anyone on the Hatch List is told. Gecktopia is run by Built by Dusty, a sole proprietorship operated by Dusty Mumphrey. For anything on this page, email support@gecktopia.com.