Privacy notice
Sink the Fleet · last updated 19 September 2026
Sink the Fleet is a free, non-commercial game. It has no accounts, no ads, no third-party analytics and no tracking cookies, and it loads nothing from other websites. This page explains the little data it does handle.
Who is responsible
The controller of your data is Sink the Fleet. For any privacy question or request, write to privacy@sinkthefleet.com.
What we process, why and for how long
| Data | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Connection records: your IP address, the time, the address requested (which can include a room code), the result, and your browser's user-agent, language and referring page. Game credentials are never recorded. | To run the service securely: investigating faults and abuse such as request floods. | Deleted after 14 days. |
| Your IP address in the server's memory for rate limiting. | To stop one connection from overloading the game. | Seconds to minutes; never written to disk. |
| Match data: the room code, the random seat credential that identifies your side of a room, your fleet placement, shots and specials. | To play the match you started or joined. | Kept only in the server's memory, and removed when the room ends, after 20 minutes idle, or when the server restarts. |
| Room chat: the quick phrases and, only if both players switch it on, the short messages you send to your opponent, plus whether you allowed free text. Words on a built-in list are masked. | To deliver your messages to the other player in the room. | Only the latest 50 messages of a room, kept in the server's memory and removed with the room or on restart. Messages are never written to disk, logs or statistics. |
| Quick Match search: the random credential of a player who is searching, and when the search started. | To pair two players who are searching at the same time. | In the server's memory until you are paired or cancel, or about 12 seconds after your game stops checking. |
The server also keeps daily totals of online matches, such as how many rooms were created, joined, finished or left early, and how many Quick Match searches started, found an opponent or were cancelled. These totals contain no room codes, credentials, IP addresses or anything else that relates to you, so they are not personal data. Practice games against the bot are not counted.
The legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing a working, secure game (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR), and, for match data, providing the game you asked to play (Article 6(1)(b)).
Stored on your device
The game keeps its settings (sound, reduced motion, camera) and, while you are in an online room, the room's address, code and your seat credential so you can resume after a reload. It also caches its own files so it loads faster next time. This stays in your browser's storage for this site and is not sent anywhere except the seat credential, which goes only to this game's server. It is needed for the game to work, so no consent banner is shown. You can remove it by clearing this site's data in your browser.
Who else is involved
- Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) hosts the server in Helsinki, Finland, and processes the data above on our behalf.
- Cloudflare, Inc. provides the domain's DNS. Game traffic does not pass through Cloudflare.
Data is not sold, not shared for advertising, and not transferred outside the European Union. There is no automated decision-making or profiling.
Your rights
You can ask for access to, correction or deletion of your data, ask us to restrict its use, and object to processing based on legitimate interest. Because we hold no names or accounts, please include your IP address and the approximate time of your visit so we can find the records. You can also complain to a data protection authority; in Bulgaria this is the Commission for Personal Data Protection (cpdp.bg), or the authority where you live.
Changes
If this notice changes, the date at the top changes with it.