Personal Information Collection Statement

HONG KONG ZERO (the "Game") is an independently developed and operated project. The data user is Arthur Chin. Prepared in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong), this statement informs you of the purposes, scope, handling methods, and your statutory rights regarding personal data collected by the Game. Contact email: admin@arthurchinai.com.

Purposes & Categories of Data

• Player Accounts (Optional): You may sign in with Google or Apple to create an account. The Game receives only the account identifier provided by the sign-in service (a unique ID representing your account with that service); it neither requests nor stores your email address, name, or avatar. Your account also retains your custom nickname, creation and last-active dates, and gameplay metrics—including level, XP, map, level, match outcome, solo or co-op, eliminations, shots fired, hits, time elapsed, level completion status, and best times. This data is used to store and synchronise your game progress and battle records, display your nickname in co-op rooms and on leaderboards, and prevent abuse. Upon your initial sign-in, you can import guest records from this device (completed levels and best times) into your account. Once signed in on this device, guest match records temporarily cached locally (up to 50 matches over the past 7 days) are saved to that signed-in account.
• Leaderboards (Signed-in Accounts Only): When a signed-in player starts a level from the beginning and completes it, the match statistics (map, level, difficulty, solo or co-op, eliminations, headshots, shots fired, hits, damage sustained, and time elapsed) along with the server-calculated score are stored in your account, updating your best level scores and total score. The public leaderboard displays your account nickname, total score, and rank, viewable by anyone; your account identifier and other account details are never displayed. Non-signed-in players cannot join the leaderboard; their personal bests remain stored only on their device. To display an estimated rank, the page transmits only the total score to the server for real-time calculation without storing it. Upon starting a level, the server records a session entry (map, level, solo or co-op, difficulty, and timestamp) to verify run validity: entries for signed-in players link to their accounts, while entries for non-signed-in players carry no identity, allowing players who win to sign in and submit that run to the leaderboard. Session entries are purged upon submission or after 24 hours.
• Sign-in State: Once signed in, the server sets an essential cookie in your browser to maintain your session. The server session record is refreshed upon its first use more than 24 hours after the last refresh; it expires after 90 days of inactivity from the last refresh and is immediately deleted upon sign-out or account deletion. The cookie is retained for up to 400 days and becomes invalid once the session record expires or is deleted. An additional cookie valid for 10 minutes is used during sign-in to ensure the process completes within the same browser. These cookies are not used for tracking or advertising. Guest records created while signed out remain stored only on your device and are never collected by the Game unless you subsequently sign in on this device (see "Player Accounts" above).
• New level and development updates: we collect your email address, a sign-up source tag, your browser language setting, the screen you signed up from and a timestamp. Your email address is used only to send you notices about new levels and development progress. You must tick the consent box and complete verification through a confirmation email (double opt-in); every notice sent afterwards includes a link to unsubscribe at once.
• Gameplay Ratings and Feedback: Collected items include star ratings, text comments (optional), map, level, and game version upon submission. This content is solely reviewed internally to evaluate and improve game quality, and is never made public.
• Multiplayer Mode: The custom name and chat messages you send in co-op lobbies are relayed in real time only to players in the same room; chat contents are not retained on the server. Your name is stored on your device; while a room remains active, the room server temporarily caches the name to let room members see it and facilitate reconnecting after a disconnect. When a signed-in player joins a co-op room, the room displays their account nickname and level. The room server temporarily caches the nickname, level, and a derived pseudonym that cannot be resolved back to the account identifier, solely for the duration of the room.

All of the personal data above is provided by you voluntarily; if you choose not to provide it, your play is not affected in any way. To prevent malicious repeat submissions and apply rate limits, the server converts your IP address into a one-way hash that changes every day and uses it only for counting; the Game's database never stores your original IP address.

Data Disclosure and Processors

• Infrastructure and Communications Providers: Includes cloud hosting, database, and email delivery providers (e.g. Cloudflare) contracted to store subscription and feedback data, send verification emails, and process essential technical connection logs for network security and content delivery.
• Sign-in Services (Google, Apple): When you choose to sign in, the respective service verifies your identity and provides only an account identifier to the Game. Your data with that service is governed by its own privacy policy.
• Google Analytics: Used to gather statistics on game flows (e.g. level progression, win/loss status, sign-in success, asset loading progress, and runtime performance), identifying unique visitors via browser cookies. Collected data strictly excludes email addresses, feedback comments, player names, nicknames, or any account details. The Game has disabled Google Signals and personalised ads tracking. For details on Google's data handling, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

Your nickname is visible to other players in the same co-op room; leaderboards likewise show only your nickname. Apart from the technical service providers listed above, the Game will never sell, rent, or transfer your personal data to any third party for their own purposes. Because multinational cloud infrastructure is utilised, your data may be processed and stored on servers located outside Hong Kong.

Data Retention Policy

• Player Accounts: Retained until you delete your account; accounts inactive for 24 consecutive months are automatically deleted alongside all associated data. Match-level breakdown logs are deleted after 90 days, while cumulative stats remain on your account. The server session record is refreshed on its first use more than 24 hours after the last refresh; it expires and is deleted after 90 days of inactivity from the last refresh, or immediately upon sign-out. The browser session cookie is kept for up to 400 days and ceases to be valid once the session record expires or is deleted. Match results not yet synchronised (along with the associated account pseudonym), as well as matches played while signed out, are cached locally on your device for up to 7 days; they are cleared as soon as the server confirms storage or when the associated account is deleted. Following account deletion, data may persist in service provider backups for up to 30 days before being automatically purged.
• Leaderboards: Match-level breakdown logs are deleted after 90 days; best level scores and total scores are retained until account deletion; daily leaderboard records are deleted after 8 days. When you delete your account, all your leaderboard records (including session entries) are immediately deleted; public leaderboard pages use a cache of approximately 30 seconds, during which your nickname may still appear before disappearing completely.
• Unverified Subscriptions: Retained for 30 days from the last confirmation email; unconfirmed entries are automatically deleted upon expiry.
• Confirmed Subscriptions: Retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion. Upon unsubscribing, the system converts your email into an irreversible one-way hash, kept with sign-up, confirmation, and unsubscribe dates as an unsubscribe record; contextual data like source, browser language, and screen are fully purged.
• Ratings and Feedback: Retained for 24 months from submission; deleted automatically upon expiry.
• Multiplayer Temporary Names: Including signed-in player nicknames, levels, and pseudonyms, these are automatically deleted along with the room within a few minutes after all players leave.

Expired data is purged automatically when the system processes a later submission, so actual deletion may be subject to a reasonable technical delay.

Data Access, Correction & Erasure Requests

Under the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, you have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data held by the game. To submit a request, please email admin@arthurchinai.com.

You may change your nickname at any time on the in-game account page, or select "Delete Account" to instantly erase your account and all associated data, signing you out of all devices simultaneously; guest records on this device will remain unaffected.

To verify identity and ensure data security, email subscription requests must be sent from your registered email address. Because gameplay ratings and feedback are submitted anonymously and not tied to user accounts, it is technically impossible to retrieve or locate individual records unless the submitted comments contain information identifying you.

English and Japanese translations of this statement are provided. If the language versions differ, the Traditional Chinese version prevails.

Last updated: 1 October 2026

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