Privacy Policy

1. Information collected

Steam account and game information

When you use the picker or library export, you provide a Steam ID or Steam vanity name. The application uses Steam's publicly available APIs to retrieve information such as:

• Your public Steam library and game identifiers.
• Game names, playtime, and last-played information when available.
• Game descriptions, artwork, and Steam Deck compatibility information.

This information is used to select games, display results, create exports, and reduce unnecessary requests to Steam through caching.

Steam sign-in is not required. The application does not ask for your Steam password or modify your Steam account. It can only retrieve library information that Steam makes publicly available.

Visitor statistics

The application stores visitor IP addresses, visit counts, and last-seen timestamps in a database. These records are used to calculate website statistics, including total visits and estimated unique visitors displayed on the homepage.

These visitor statistics records currently have no automatic expiration or deletion schedule and may be retained indefinitely.

Operational information

IP addresses are also used for rate limiting and abuse prevention. Some rate-limiting information is held temporarily in server memory.

The application produces diagnostic logs and sends operational events to my self-hosted monitoring system, Mission Control. Depending on the event, this information may include:

• An IP-derived visitor identifier.
• Browser user-agent information.
• Requested operations, errors, and processing times.
• Selected game identifiers and names.
• General library-size and export statistics.

Diagnostic logs may also contain Steam identifiers or request URLs when errors occur. These records are used for troubleshooting, monitoring reliability, and understanding how the service is used.

Recent game picks may be displayed publicly on the homepage. The recent-picks database stores the game and selection time, not the visitor's Steam ID or IP address.

2. Cookies and browser storage

The application uses first-party cookies for functionality, remembered preferences, and security. They are not used by the application for targeted advertising or third-party analytics.

Blazor may also use browser storage for application resource-version information. Browsers may cache website files to improve loading performance.

You can remove browser-stored information through your browser's site-data controls. Doing so may reset your saved Steam identity, preferences, and voting identity.

Clearing browser cookies does not automatically delete information already stored in server databases.

3. Feature voting

The public Support page includes optional feature voting. When the interactive voting board loads, the application may create a persistent browser identifier, even if you do not cast a vote.

When you vote, the server records the feature proposal, a hash derived from your browser's voting identifier, and the time of the vote. This allows the application to remember which features that browser has supported and helps prevent duplicate votes.

Voting does not require Steam sign-in, and the voting records are not associated with your Steam account. However, the browser identifier makes votes pseudonymous rather than completely anonymous.

You can withdraw support while a proposal remains open. After a proposal is closed or moved to another status, the current interface does not allow its historical votes to be withdrawn.

Votes currently have no automatic expiration period. Clearing your voting cookie does not remove votes previously recorded on the server.

Feature voting is available on the main public website and may not be available through alternative-network versions of the application.

4. How long information is retained

Different information is retained for different purposes:

• Steam library caches: Public library information generally has a configured cache lifetime of approximately 30 days.
• Game metadata: Store information and compatibility results have their own cache periods, generally between one day and 30 days.
• Recent picks: The application keeps the latest 20 recent-pick records.
• Visitor statistics: IP addresses and associated statistics currently have no automatic retention limit.
• Feature votes: Voting records currently have no automatic retention limit.
• Mission Control: Archived operational events currently have no automatic retention limit. A retention policy may be introduced in the future.

Cache expiration means information should no longer be reused as a valid cached result. It does not necessarily mean the underlying database record is physically deleted at that exact moment. Expired records may be removed during subsequent cache activity.

Server, hosting, and infrastructure logs may have separate retention behavior. Database backups can also retain older copies of records beyond their removal from an active database.

Library CSV exports are generated for download. The application does not intentionally maintain a separate permanent server-side copy of each generated CSV file. Files you download remain under your control.

5. Third-party services

Steam and Valve

The application contacts Steam's APIs to retrieve public library information and game metadata. When game artwork or other externally hosted content is displayed, your browser may also request resources directly from Steam or its content delivery providers.

Those external requests are subject to the providers' own data-handling practices.

Hosting and infrastructure

The website uses hosting and network infrastructure, including Cloudflare for parts of its public delivery. These providers may process ordinary connection information, such as IP addresses, when handling requests.

Mission Control is my own operational monitoring system, not a third-party advertising or analytics service.

External links

The site links to services such as GitHub, Ko-fi, PayPal, and my developer website. Following those links takes you to a separate service with its own privacy practices.

Donations and sponsorship inquiries are handled through external destinations. Random Steam Game Picker does not directly process payment-card information.

The application does not currently include third-party advertising scripts or third-party analytics SDKs. If that changes, this policy will be updated to describe the new data processing.

6. I2P deployment

Random Steam Game Picker is also available through the I2P anonymous network. This deployment has different privacy characteristics from the public website.

• No visitor IP collection: I2P does not reveal visitors' real IP addresses to the application. Consequently, the I2P deployment does not collect or store visitors' public IP addresses.
• No Mission Control telemetry: Application telemetry reporting to Mission Control is disabled for the I2P deployment.
• Server logs: Server and operational logs are still maintained. These may include request information, timestamps, and local tunnel or proxy addresses, but not visitors' real IP addresses.
• Steam API access: The application still contacts Steam's APIs when necessary to provide its functionality. Steam identifiers and public library information may still be cached.

These differences apply specifically to the I2P deployment. Other data-handling practices described in this policy still apply unless stated otherwise.

7. Your choices

• You can clear remembered Steam information and preferences by removing this website's cookies and site data in your browser.
• You can use the picker's reset control to remove your blocked-game list.
• You can withdraw feature votes while their proposals remain open.
• You can control what library information Steam makes public using your Steam privacy settings.
• You can contact me about information associated with your use of the website or to make a privacy-related request.

Some server-side records may not be directly identifiable from a browser after its cookies have been cleared. Requests involving personal information will be reviewed in accordance with applicable requirements and the information reasonably available to identify the records.

8. Contact and policy changes

Random Steam Game Picker is operated by JoyfulReaper. For privacy questions or requests, use the contact form on my developer website. You can also reach me through LinkedIn.

This policy may be updated as the application evolves, particularly if account features, advertising, or additional game providers are introduced. The date at the top will reflect the latest revision.