Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal data Ghost Network (ghostnetwork.no, the Minecraft server and the apps that belong to it) collects, why, who else gets it, how long it is kept, and what you can do about it. It is written to meet the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as it applies in Norway through the Personal Data Act (personopplysningsloven).

1. Who is responsible

Ghost Network is a non-commercial hobby project run by Ferdinand Risan, Norway, who is the data controller. Contact for anything about your data: privacy@ghostnetwork.no. Volunteer staff (moderators and admins) help run the community and only see what their role needs: moderators cannot see your email address or IP address.

2. What we collect, and why

• Your account: username, email address, password (stored only as a bcrypt hash), optional 2FA secret, role and sign-up date. Needed to run your account (contract, GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).
• Things you choose to add: display name, bio, avatar and banner, social handles, profile widgets, characters, posts, wiki edits, documents, newspaper articles, and messages. Needed to provide the features you use (Art. 6(1)(b)).
• Sign-in and security data: the IP address and browser of each sign-in and of security-relevant account actions, and active sessions. Used to protect your account, show you your own sign-in history, and investigate abuse (legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f)).
• Minecraft link: if you link your Minecraft account, its UUID and username, plus playtime and event attendance used for progression. Needed for the in-game features (Art. 6(1)(b)).
• Moderation records: reports you file or that concern you, and warnings, mutes or bans with their reasons. Kept to enforce the rules and prevent ban evasion (Art. 6(1)(f)).
• Settings: notification preferences, the optional email digest, and push notification subscriptions for devices you turn them on for. Email digests and push notifications are off until you switch them on, and you can switch them off at any time.

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind, we do not build profiles of you for marketing, and we do not sell or rent data. Images you upload are re-encoded on our server, which removes hidden metadata such as the GPS location a phone camera adds.

3. What is public

Ghost Network is a community: your username, profile, characters, forum and Gitter posts, wiki edits, articles and in-game activity are visible to other visitors, as you would expect. You control who can send you direct messages and whether others see that you have read them under Settings → Privacy. Direct messages are visible only to the people in the conversation; staff have no tool to read them.

4. Boo, the AI assistant

Boo is powered by OpenAI. When you use Boo (the chat, the GT-OS terminal, writing help or read-aloud), your message, the recent conversation, and, if you are signed in, your username, display name, rank and character names are sent to OpenAI to generate the answer. OpenAI processes this in the United States under its data processing terms. It does not use API data to train its models, and it keeps it for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring. We keep the conversation in temporary storage for the session only. Boo is optional: do not tell it real-life personal details.

5. Who else receives data

We use a small number of service providers (data processors), each only for the purpose listed:

• Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany): hosts the servers, the database and the backups.
• Google (Gmail, USA): sends our emails (verification, password reset, security alerts and digests you opted into). It receives your email address and the email's content.
• OpenAI (USA): Boo, see section 4.
• Your browser's push service (Google, Mozilla, Apple or Microsoft, depending on your browser): delivers push notifications if you turn them on. The content is end-to-end encrypted, so the push service cannot read it.

Fonts, maps and voice calls are served from our own server. We disclose data to authorities only when Norwegian law requires it.

6. Transfers outside the EEA

Google and OpenAI are in the United States. Transfers to them rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where the recipient is certified, and otherwise on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses in their data processing terms (GDPR Art. 45 and 46). Everything else stays in the EEA.

7. How long we keep it

• Your account and content: until you delete your account.
• Sign-in history (IP address and browser): 90 days.
• IP addresses in audit logs: 90 days; the record of the action itself stays without the address. Account security events (sign-ins, 2FA changes) are deleted after 12 months.
• Sessions: end 30 days after your last visit, or when you sign out; the record of the session is deleted the next day.
• Security incident logs: 12 months.
• Previous email addresses (to help recover a hijacked account): 12 months.
• Notifications: 12 months.
• Unused password-reset and verification links: deleted 7 days after they expire.
• Boo conversations: temporary storage for the chat session only.
• Backups: 14 days, so data you delete can survive in a backup for up to 14 days before it is overwritten.

These periods are enforced by an automatic job that runs every night.

8. Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time under Settings → Privacy. It takes effect immediately. Your email address, password, sign-in history, IP addresses, sessions, devices, notifications, profile, friend list, Minecraft link, uploaded avatar and banner, and your previous usernames and email addresses are deleted. Content you published for others (forum and Gitter posts, wiki edits, messages you already sent) and your in-world characters remain, credited to an anonymous "deleted" user. If you want specific content removed as well, delete it before you delete your account, or email us. Moderation records (such as bans) are kept to prevent ban evasion.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access your data and take it with you: download it as JSON under Settings → Privacy (GDPR Art. 15 and 20).
• Correct it: most of it is editable in Settings (Art. 16).
• Erase it: see section 8 (Art. 17).
• Restrict or object to processing based on our legitimate interest (Art. 18 and 21).
• Withdraw any setting you opted into, such as digests or push notifications, at any time.

For anything you cannot do yourself in Settings, email privacy@ghostnetwork.no. We answer within one month.

10. Cookies and local storage

We set one cookie, ghost_session, which keeps you signed in. It is HttpOnly, Secure and SameSite=Lax, and it lasts 30 days from your last visit. Your browser's local storage holds display preferences (theme, motion, volume), unsent drafts and your recently visited pages. Drafts and recent pages are removed when you sign out. All of these are strictly necessary for features you use, so no consent banner is needed (ekomloven § 3-15). There are no third-party cookies.

11. Security

Traffic is encrypted with HTTPS. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt, two-factor authentication is available, and sign-in is rate-limited. Staff access follows their role. If a breach puts your data at risk, we report it to Datatilsynet within 72 hours and tell you when the law requires it.

12. Children

You must be at least 13 to create an account. If we learn that someone younger has registered, we delete the account.

13. The Minecraft server

The Minecraft server itself records your Minecraft username, UUID and IP address in its server logs and ban list when you connect, to run the game and enforce bans. This stays on our server and is never sent to the website.

14. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we update the date at the top. If a change affects how your data is used, we tell registered users by email or with a site notice before it takes effect.

15. Complaints

Please contact us first at privacy@ghostnetwork.no. You can also complain to Datatilsynet, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, at www.datatilsynet.no.