Privacy Policy

1. Data we store

We store only what is necessary to run the service: your account credentials (email, hashed password), session data, and the content you create (e.g. character origins and journal entries). Journal entries are stored only in association with your account and are not shared with other participants or third parties.

2. Inactivity Reaper

To minimize the retention of personal data, we run an automated Inactivity Reaper:

• Unverified accounts: Accounts that have not verified their email within 24 hours of registration are automatically deleted.
• Inactive verified accounts: Verified accounts that have been inactive for more than 6 months and have no journal entries are considered abandoned and are purged. This ensures we do not retain your data indefinitely.

3. No third‑party tracking

We do not use third‑party analytics, advertising, or tracking. We use only strictly necessary cookies (session and security). No data is sold or shared with advertisers and it never will.

4. Journal privacy

Your journal entries are private. They are visible only to you and are stored in a way that isolates them from other participants. The engine is designed so that narrative content you write in your journal is not exposed in the shared game space unless you choose to share it through the game mechanics.

5. Data residency & jurisdiction

All application servers, participant databases, and narrative logs are physically located in Toronto, Canada. This gives participants the protections of Canadian privacy law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable, British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (BC PIPA). No data is stored on foreign soil or subject to foreign surveillance legislation.

6. Research ethics: inclusivity and respect

This project is committed to inclusivity and respect. We respect the privacy and diverse identities of all participants. Data handling and design choices are intended to create a welcoming environment for people of all faiths and perspectives.

7. Use of your content in research

The purpose of this project is to study player narratives, so the content you create (journal entries, character details, and reflections) may be analysed and quoted, always in anonymised form, in academic research outputs such as a thesis, articles, or presentations. The following protections govern that use:

• Anonymised before publication. Any excerpt is stripped of identifying information first: usernames, emails, real names that may appear in your writing, and contextual details that could identify you.
• No pre-publication review. Participants do not review their excerpts before publication; the anonymisation step above is the safeguard.
• Research rooms and open play. Rooms are designated either for research or for open play. Joining a room designated for research implies your consent to anonymised quotation from the content you create in it. Open-play rooms are never used for research output, so if you prefer not to contribute, play only in open-play rooms.
• Who can read research-room content. The researchers of a research room can read the journals, character details, reflections, and any demographic answers of the people in that room, for analysis. A room's researchers are its creator plus anyone the creator or another researcher names as a researcher in that room. Before you join, the room names its researchers and asks you to join only if you know and trust them. Open-play rooms have no researcher reading.
• Optional demographic questions. A research room may ask a short set of optional questions when you join, for example an age range, gender identity in your own words, or a country or region. You can skip any of them. Your answers are tied only to your participation in that specific room and are never added to your account profile. Open-play rooms never ask these. Once anyone in a room has answered, its questions are locked so they cannot change after the fact.

When a room is created, the owner chooses whether it is a research room or an open-play room, and joining a research room records your consent as described above. Outside the researchers of a research room, journal content is read only by the project operator for maintenance and support.

8. Adult participants

JOURNEYWAYS is intended for adults. We do not ask your age at registration and so do not verify it; sign-up is kept low-friction by design. Where a specific study requires a minimum age (usually 18 or older), that is stated and checked when you join the room for that study.

9. Your choices: consent and withdrawal

• Withdrawing consent. You can withdraw at any time, without penalty, by deleting your account (Profile, Danger zone). Deletion opens a 30-day reversible grace window and then permanently removes your account and the content tied to it. There is no separate withdraw step: deletion is how you withdraw.
• What you agreed to is recorded. When you accept these policies, we record which version you accepted and when, so the record reflects what was in effect at the time.
• Changes. If we materially change this policy or the Terms, you will be asked to read and accept the updated version the next time you sign in. The version and effective date are shown at the top of each page.
• Export. A self-service way to download your own content is not yet available; you can delete it at any time, as above.

10. Contact

For questions about this policy or your data, please refer to the main JOURNEYWAYS site or the project repository.