Privacy Policy

This is a translation of our Dutch privacy policy (Privacyverklaring). If the two differ, the Dutch version applies.

Who we are

Golf Buddies is published by Foreplay Indoor Golf B.V. in the Netherlands. We are responsible for the personal data that reaches us through golfbuddies.nl, the Golf Buddies game and the Golf Buddies app. A question about your data? Send us a message via the contact page. The form is in Dutch, but you are welcome to write in English.

In short

• You don't need an account. We only ask for personal data if you send us a message yourself.
• We count how often stories are read and the game is played ourselves, without cookies and without knowing who you are.
• Google Analytics only uses cookies if you tapped Akkoord (Agree). Advertising features are always off.
• We don't sell data and we don't show ads.

When you read the website

Our own counters. For each story we count how often it is read per day. We keep nothing about you: no IP address, no cookie, only the number. We don't set any cookies for readers ourselves.

Google Analytics. To see which stories are read, we use Google Analytics 4 by Google. On your first visit we ask whether it may use cookies.

• If you tap Akkoord (Agree), Google Analytics sets two cookies (_ga and _ga_…) that recognise you on a later visit. They last at most two years.
• If you tap Liever niet (No thanks), or don't choose, Google Analytics sets no cookies and cannot recognise you. Google then only receives separate measurements, such as which page was viewed and on what kind of device.
• Advertising features are always off. According to Google, Analytics does not store IP addresses. Google may also process data in the United States; for this, Google is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
• Your choice is stored only in your own browser. You can change it with Cookie-instellingen (Cookie settings) at the bottom of every page.

Videos. Some stories contain a YouTube video, also from Google. We use the privacy-enhanced version (youtube-nocookie.com): according to Google, YouTube only uses information about you once you play the video. To load the video and its preview images, your browser does connect to Google. If you play a video, Google's privacy policy applies.

Sharing. The buttons for sharing a story are plain links. Only when you tap one do you go to that app or site. We don't load buttons or scripts from social networks.

Our server. The website runs on our own server in the Netherlands. Fonts and images come from that server (only the preview images of videos come from YouTube). We don't keep a visitor log: no list of IP addresses or pages visited.

The Golf Buddies game

The game at golfbuddies.nl/spel and in the app works without an account.

• On your own device the game stores your settings, your best score and the name you enter for multiplayer. These are not sent to us. You can erase them by deleting the app, or by clearing the data for golfbuddies.nl in your browser.
• Multiplayer. Your name and your state in the game (where your cart is, your score) are passed through our server to the others in your session. The server stores none of this: everything is kept in memory only and disappears when the session ends. To prevent abuse, the server briefly counts how many connections come from one IP address, also in memory only. If you open an invitation in the browser, the session sees that you are getting the app (with your name, if you entered one before), so your buddies wait for you. If you get the Android app through such an invitation, Google Play passes the session code to the app so you can join straight away; nothing more.
• Counters. We count how often the game is played, played together and shared, and how often it is opened in the app (and of those, on Android), added up per day. Without cookies and without knowing who you are. We don't store your scores, only the number of holes played, added up with everyone else's. To prevent abuse, the server briefly looks at how much comes from one IP address for the counters, in memory only; we don't store the address.
• Google Analytics also measures the game at golfbuddies.nl/spel, with the same choice you made on the website: when a round starts and ends, and your final score as a number (without a name). The app does not use Google Analytics.
• Sharing your score goes through the app you choose, such as WhatsApp or Instagram; that app's privacy policy applies there. We don't see who you share with or from which account, and we get no access to your contacts; we only count which button you tapped. The game creates the image on your device. The link to your score (golfbuddies.nl/score/…) contains only numbers, such as your points and the hole, no name. If you share the result of a multiplayer game, the names from your session are in the image and the text; you share those yourself, they don't go through us.

The app

The Golf Buddies app for iPhone, iPad and Android works like the game on the website, with these differences:

• No Google Analytics, no ads and no advertising ID. We don't track you across other apps or websites.
• Vibration and sharing happen on your device itself. When you share your score, the app briefly puts the image in its own temporary storage so your device can share it.
• Downloads go through Apple's App Store or Google Play; their privacy policies apply there. From them we only receive general figures, such as the number of downloads.

When you send us a message

You can send us a message via the contact page. For that we ask for your email address, your name (your first name is enough) and your message. We only use these to reply to you, not for anything else such as a newsletter. Messages are stored only on our own server. We keep them as long as needed for your question, and at most one year; after that they are deleted automatically. A message then remains in the nightly backup on that server for at most two more weeks; the backup we keep outside the server contains no messages. To prevent spam, the website checks at the moment of sending how many messages come from your IP address. We don't store that address.

Why we are allowed to do this

• Google Analytics cookies: only with your consent. You can withdraw it with Cookie-instellingen (Cookie settings).
• Our own counters, measurements without cookies, multiplayer and the protection against abuse and spam: our legitimate interest in making the website and game work and knowing what is read and played, in a way that says as little as possible about you.
• Your message via the contact page: our legitimate interest in answering your question.

Who we share data with

We don't sell data and we don't share it with advertisers. Only these parties receive data, as described above:

• Google Analytics processes the measurements on our behalf, under Google's data processing terms. These state that Google uses them only for us and protects them at least as well as this policy describes.
• YouTube (the videos) and the stores, Apple's App Store and Google Play (downloads, and the invitation code on Android), are themselves responsible for what they process; their own privacy policies apply.
• What you share yourself via WhatsApp, Instagram or another app goes to that app.

How we protect your data

• All connections to golfbuddies.nl are encrypted (https), including those from the game, the app and multiplayer.
• The website, game and messages run on our own server in the Netherlands. Only the people of Golf Buddies have access, and the admin area is password-protected.
• We keep as little as possible: no accounts, no IP addresses and no visitor log. What isn't there can't leak.
• If something does go wrong with personal data, we report it as the law requires to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens), and to you if it may affect you.

How long we keep things

• Our counters: numbers per day, without personal data.
• Google Analytics: cookies at most two years; Google keeps the measurements for at most 14 months.
• Multiplayer: only while the session lasts.
• Messages via the contact page: until your question has been dealt with, and at most one year (in the backup on our server at most two weeks longer).
• What the game stores on your device: until you delete the app or clear the data in your browser.

Your rights

You may ask us which data we have about you, and have it corrected or deleted. You may also object to its use, or receive your data to take with you. Send us a message via the contact page for this. We reply within one month. Because we keep so little, we usually only have something about you if you sent us a message yourself. If you disagree with how we handle your data, you can file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority or the data protection authority in your own country.

Children

The game is for everyone. We don't ask anyone for personal data, and the name for multiplayer can be a nickname. Are you younger than 16? Then ask a parent or guardian before you tap Akkoord (Agree) or send us a message.

If something changes

If we start keeping track of something different, we update this page. At the top you can see when that last happened.