Updated 12 October 2026.
MapZa is responsible for the information described in this policy. For privacy questions and requests, email [email protected].
We save your email for sign-in, and each player’s nickname, avatar, preferences, games, guesses and scores. Adult profiles also have a home country and home city. When you use the home globe, we also save your chosen pin coordinates and resolve the nearest catalog city. This sets your country leaderboard; your home pin and city stay private to your account. Choose a general area, not a street address. Please use a made-up nickname.
To understand and improve the gaming experience, we record detailed gameplay measurements such as timing, map movements, zoom, intermediate pins, clues and lock-in actions. These start on for new accounts and new player profiles, including children’s profiles. You can turn them off in Account; an adult manages this choice for children. Existing settings are respected for account profiles. Detailed measurements are always recorded for anonymous play, with no anonymous-mode switch. They are linked to a device identifier and may be linked to an account if you later sign in; playing without an account does not guarantee that records are anonymous.
For account profiles, turning off detailed measurements stops new collection and discards pending measurement uploads. Core guesses, scores and results still save as part of playing. Records already saved remain for statistics and gameplay analysis.
Child profiles have no separate email or home location and never appear on public leaderboards. Adults on the account can see their games and manage their settings. Private league members can see nicknames, avatars, scores and saved guesses after locking their own guess. Only join leagues with people you know. We do not keep a history of nickname changes.
We use account and game data to run the service, keep scores fair and provide history and leagues. Gameplay analytics help us improve map controls, difficulty, scoring and reliability. We rely on our legitimate interests in running and improving MapZa, subject to your rights and the safeguards described here. Account holders can switch off detailed measurements for their profiles. Your rights to object and other privacy rights remain unchanged, including when you play without an account.
Cloudflare hosts the service and handles security checks; Resend sends sign-in emails. Your browser contacts NASA for satellite tiles and Google for site fonts. When an administrator opens the custom-event planning globe, their browser also contacts OpenStreetMap for street tiles. These providers receive the information needed for their services and may process it outside the UK. Essential cookies and device storage keep you signed in and save play; no advertising trackers are currently used.
Account has a data download and a permanent deletion action with two confirmations. Deletion immediately removes the email and/or nickname from the active service, replaces them with random identifiers, closes access and removes league and ranking visibility. A later sign-up starts fresh. This cannot be undone.
We retain adult country/city and any saved home pin coordinates, game results, guesses and saved measurements without a fixed expiry for restricted statistical analysis. These records are pseudonymised, not guaranteed anonymous, and are never returned to a new account. We review whether continued retention is necessary. This also applies to deleted child profiles.
Expired sign-in links are removed daily. Sent mail copies are cleared daily once seven days old, unsent copies once one day old. Sessions expire after 180 days; deletion revokes related access immediately. Restricted backup copies may take up to 30 days to expire; restorations must reapply deletions before the service reopens.
You can correct your profile, download your records and stop optional measurements. You can also request access, erasure, restriction or object to processing; retained records and applicable exceptions are considered individually. You may complain to the UK Information Commissioner.
For younger players: choose a pretend name. Your family can see your games. We also record how you play to help improve the game. This starts on for new players. Ask the adult on your account to turn it off, change settings or delete your player. Scores and past game records remain.