Privacy policy.

Who operates this service

Hople is the publisher and controller of the game data described below. Privacy questions and data requests can be sent to msshriram02@gmail.com.

Information Hople collects

• Random browser identifier: an HTTP-only cookie identifies a browser without requiring an account. Its configured lifetime is up to 365 days.
• Puzzle activity: Hople stores the puzzle date, submitted route, validation result, score, hint count and submission time.
• Statistics: saved attempts are used to calculate played games, valid routes, perfect scores, averages and streaks.
• Theme preference: light or dark mode is stored locally in the browser and is not part of the player database.
• Technical logs: the hosting platform and web server may process request times, URLs, IP addresses, user-agent information and error details for security, reliability and debugging.

Why the information is used

Game records are used to provide requested functionality, preserve statistics, show saved results, enforce one attempt per puzzle, protect the service and diagnose failures. The random identifier is not a login and should not be treated as proof of a person's identity.

Google advertising

Hople uses Google AdSense on selected content pages. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies, local storage, IP addresses and device or browser information to deliver, measure and protect advertising. Google's explanation of how it uses information from sites that use its services is available at Google's partner-sites policy.

Where required, advertising consent choices are collected through a consent management platform. Depending on the choice and location, advertising may be personalised, non-personalised or limited. Consent can be revisited through the privacy controls provided with the advertising message.

Maps, hosting and external resources

Route maps use OpenStreetMap tiles and Leaflet resources. Static libraries may be delivered by the unpkg content-delivery network. Opening these resources necessarily sends technical request information, including an IP address, to the relevant provider. Hople is hosted on Railway, which processes application traffic and database operations on Hople's behalf.

Retention and sharing

Player and attempt records are retained while they are needed to operate statistics, archives and abuse controls, unless deletion is requested or a shorter period is required. Technical logs are retained according to hosting and operational settings. Information is shared only with service providers needed to host, secure, map, measure or advertise the service, or where disclosure is legally required.

Your choices and rights

You can remove the Hople identifier by clearing site cookies; doing so resets the browser's game identity but does not automatically delete previously stored anonymous records. You may contact Hople to request access, correction or deletion where the request can reasonably be linked to the browser identifier. Depending on applicable law, you may also have rights to object, restrict processing or withdraw consent.

UK users may raise data-protection concerns with the Information Commissioner's Office. Contact Hople first where possible so the concern can be investigated.

Children and changes to this policy

Hople is a general-audience geography game and is not intentionally designed to collect personal information from children. This policy may change when features, providers or legal requirements change. The effective date at the top of the page will be updated when material revisions are published.