Privacy notice
What we keep about you
The plain-English version. Last updated 31 October 2026.
Who we are
GTA Sim City (gtasim.city) is run by the GTA Sim City team. We are the data controller for the details described here. To contact us about anything in this notice, including any data request, use the contact form.
Who can make an account
- 13 or older: you can make an account yourself. In the UK, 13 is the age when you can agree to an online service on your own.
- 12: you can make an account, but you cannot play until a parent or guardian approves it by email. This is what UK data protection law expects for children under 13 (UK GDPR Article 8).
- 11 or younger: please do not make an account. We do not collect any details from or about children under 12.
What we keep, and why
- Your sign-in: your email address and a scrambled (hashed) password We use it only so you can sign in.
- Your GTA Sim City profile: the username you pick, the date you made it, your age group (13 or older, or 12) and whether a parent approval is needed, waiting or given. Please do not use your real name as a username.
- For players aged 12, the parent or guardian approval record: the date they answered and a scrambled one-way code made from their email address. We cannot turn the code back into the email address. We keep it only to show that a parent or guardian agreed.
That is everything. We use it only to run your account and let you play. Our lawful basis is contract: we need it to give you the account you asked for. For players aged 12 we also need a parent or guardian to agree, and we keep the approval record because the law expects us to be able to show that they did. We never use your details for anything else.
Parent or guardian approval (players aged 12)
A 12-year-old player types a parent or guardian's email address. We send that address one email with an approval link, through our email provider. We do not store the email address: it is used to send that one email and then dropped. We keep only the scrambled one-way code described above.
The link works once and expires after 7 days. Unused or expired links are deleted. Until the parent or guardian presses Approve, the account cannot be used to play. If they decline, the account stays locked and can be deleted. A parent or guardian can ask us to delete their child's account at any time through the contact form.
One sign-in for more than one site
Your sign-in may also work on other sites run by the same team. Each site keeps its own data separately. Nothing about your GTA Sim City profile is shared with other sites.
What we do not do
- No chat and no messages between players.
- No public profiles. Other players cannot look you up.
- No ads, no analytics, no tracking, and we never sell or share your details.
Cookies and browser storage
We use no cookies for ads or analytics. Your browser keeps only what is strictly needed: your sign-in session, so you stay signed in, your username, the age answer from the sign-up form until you pick a username, and your game settings and progress. Because it is all strictly necessary, there is no cookie banner. Game progress never leaves your device.
Contact form
If you use the contact form, we get your email address, your message, the topic you chose and, if you give one, a name. We use them only to reply to you. They are kept in our website host's form inbox and deleted once your question is sorted, and within 12 months at most.
Where it is kept and who helps us
Sign-ins and profiles are stored by our sign-in and database provider, Supabase, which processes them only on our instructions. The website, the contact form inbox and the small server program that sends parent approval emails are hosted by Netlify. Emails such as "confirm your email", "reset your password" and parent approval emails are sent by our email provider. Some of these providers may handle data outside the UK under UK-approved safeguards.
How long we keep it
Your GTA Sim City profile, including any parent approval record, is kept until you delete it. Approval links last at most 7 days. Your sign-in is kept while you use it, or until you ask us to delete it. Contact form messages are kept for 12 months at most.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you can:
- See your data: press Download my data on My account.
- Correct it: change your username on My account.
- Delete it: see below.
- Take it with you: the download is a standard JSON file.
- Object to how we use it, or ask us anything, through the contact form.
- Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113. We would like the chance to help first.
Send any data or deletion request through the contact form, choosing "Privacy or data request". We answer within one month.
Deleting your account
Sign in, open My account and press Delete my account. This deletes your GTA Sim City profile straight away (username, join date, age group and any parent approval record) and signs you out. Your sign-in itself is not deleted by that button, because it may also work on other sites run by the same team. To delete the sign-in as well, send a request through the contact form using the same email address, and we will do it within one month.
Changes
If we change this notice we will update the date at the top. Big changes will be shown on the sign-in page.