Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 23, 2026.

Who we are

deckofcards.net is an online table for playing card games, dice, and board games with people you invite. This policy explains what information the service handles and what happens to it.

The service is operated by Deckofcards.net, based in British Columbia, Canada, who is responsible for the information described here. You can reach us about anything in this policy at hello@deckofcards.net.

Playing as a guest

No account is needed to play. When you join a table as a guest, we handle only what the game itself requires: a temporary connection identifier, the seat you pick, the name you choose to show at the table (if any), and the state of the game (where the cards and pieces are). A random identifier is stored in your browser so you can rejoin your seat if you refresh the page. We do not ask for a guest's name, email address, or other contact information. When a signed-in player takes a seat, that same temporary connection record also carries their account identifier, so the table can show their profile name and avatar. Game data is deleted automatically as described under Retention.

When a guest creates or connects to a table, short-lived identifiers are used to enforce abuse limits. We store only a one-way hash of the random browser identifier used for table creation and, for short-term abuse prevention, a one-way hash derived from the connection's network address. We cannot use these hashes as direct contact information. These rate-limit records expire automatically after a few days.

If you create an account

Accounts are optional and are for people 16 or older. When you sign up we collect your email address and a display name. If you sign in with Google, we also collect the basic profile information Google shares (handled by Google Firebase Authentication). Your display name and avatar are shown to everyone at a table you join; your email address is not.

The birthday you enter for the age check is read only in your browser. It is not sent to us, Google, or Firebase, and it is not stored. Where the check happens depends on how you sign up. If you sign up with an email address, it runs before the account is created. Google sign-in works the other way around: Google creates the account before returning you to us, so for a brand-new Google account we ask for the birthday immediately afterwards and delete the account we just received if the answer is under 16, or if the check is closed without an answer. Deleting it removes the sign-in and the profile information Google supplied.

If the check makes account creation unavailable, your browser remembers a local eligibility-block flag and, for the Google case, a short list of the account identifiers that were turned away, so the same account is not re-created on the next attempt. Both stay on your device and are never sent to us.

When an account creates a table, we keep a short-lived daily counter on the account to enforce the creation limit; that counter expires automatically after a few days.

Browser storage

We use first-party browser storage, including local storage, session storage, IndexedDB, and similar technologies, to provide features you request. This storage remembers authentication sessions, guest and avatar identifiers, recent and solo tables, game setup and interface preferences, eligibility and abuse-prevention flags, cached pass information, a table PIN you have entered for the length of the browser session, and the information needed to resume a table setup after returning from checkout.

Google Firebase Authentication uses browser storage to keep an account signed in until the user signs out. Session-storage items generally disappear when the browser session ends; other functional items may remain until they expire, are replaced, you sign out where applicable, or you clear the site's stored data in your browser.

We do not use browser storage for advertising, behavioural profiling, or tracking you across unrelated websites. Blocking or clearing it may sign you out, remove locally saved solo games, recent tables and preferences, reset abuse-limit identifiers, or prevent checkout and game-resume features from working correctly.

Table PINs and names

An account holder can lock a table with a six-digit PIN. We store the PIN only as a salted one-way hash on the table's record, never in readable form, and your browser keeps the PIN you entered for the length of the browser session so you are not asked again on every refresh. To slow guessing, a wrong PIN is counted against a one-way hash of the account identifier or random browser identifier it came from. That count sits on the table's record for about fifteen minutes and then expires.

Table names and account display names are checked automatically against a list of prohibited terms and are refused if they match.

Reports

You can report a custom deck, player or table name, harassment, or a security or privacy concern from the table menu. A report includes the category and details you choose to provide, plus the game identifier, submission time, and a report identifier. We attach the game reference ourselves; you do not need to download or re-upload an image.

If you are signed in, the report is associated with your account identifier. For a guest report, we use a random browser identifier and a one-way hash derived from the connection's network address to prevent spam. We use reports to investigate, enforce our terms, protect users, and respond to security or legal issues.

What we don't do

• No advertising, ad tracking, or targeted ads, whether free or paid.
• We do not sell or rent your information to anyone.
• We do not use free-text chat; table reactions are chosen from a fixed set.
• We have opted out of AWS using uploaded images to improve or train its AI services.

Custom deck images and automated screening

If you use Deck Builder, the images you select are resized in your browser and sent to Amazon Rekognition for an automated check for prohibited content before they are saved. Resizing re-encodes the picture, which drops camera metadata such as location and device details before the file ever leaves your device. We use content-moderation analysis only; we do not use facial identification or create biometric profiles. The result determines whether an image is accepted for upload. Automated screening can make mistakes. If you believe an image was rejected incorrectly, contact us for review at the address below.

Images that pass the check are stored with Amazon Web Services and delivered to people playing at tables that use your deck. Deck image addresses are not advertised, but anyone who receives or discovers an image address may be able to access it, so do not upload private or confidential images. A deck's saved settings, including its name and image addresses, are published the same way, as a small file everyone at a table using the deck loads, and are just as reachable by anyone who finds the address. Images that fail are not written to our deck image bucket. Our AWS account is covered by an AI services opt-out policy, which opts out of AWS using these uploads to improve or develop its AI services.

Before the first upload, we record the date and version of the image-processing notice that the account holder acknowledged. This lets us show the notice again if the processing or sharing practices materially change.

Service providers

We use Google Firebase for sign-in and Amazon Web Services to run the game, store game and deck data, deliver deck images, and perform the automated image safety check described above. If you make a purchase, Stripe Managed Payments handles checkout and is the merchant of record. We never see or store your full card number. We keep a limited receipt recording the product, amount, currency, Stripe session, and the version and time of the purchase terms you accepted. These providers process information under their own terms and as needed to provide their services.

Every file our pages need - code, styles, the typeface, and images - is served from our own servers. Opening a page, including sitting down at a table as a guest, contacts no other company.

Signing in is the exception, because sign-in is Google Firebase Authentication. When you sign in, and while a signed-in session is being kept alive, your browser talks to Google's identity servers directly, so Google receives that request and with it your network address and browser information. That is what makes sign-in work, and there is no way to offer a Google-backed login without it. It happens only for sign-in and session refresh - never merely because someone opened a page or joined a table as a guest. We send Google no game, table, or deck information, and none of it is used for advertising.

Service logs

Like any web service, ours keeps operational logs. Our content delivery network, our gateways, and our server functions record ordinary request information, including the network address, browser and device information, the time, what was requested, and the result. Our server functions also write diagnostic entries when something fails. These logs are held with Amazon Web Services and used only to operate, secure, and debug the service. They are not used to build a profile of you, and they are not combined with your account for any other purpose. They are deleted automatically after two weeks to one month, depending on the log.

International processing

Deckofcards.net is available worldwide. Our service providers may process and store information in Canada, the United States, and other countries where they operate. Privacy laws in those countries may differ from the laws where you live, and information may be available to courts, law enforcement, or regulators under applicable local law. Where required, we use contractual and other safeguards for international transfers.

Retention and deletion

• Game tables: a free table is deleted automatically about 72 hours after the last activity. A premium table is deleted automatically about 90 days after the last activity. A table created while its creator holds a pass is premium. If the creator of a free table later buys a pass, the table becomes premium the next time they resume it themselves. No one else's pass changes the table or when it is deleted.
• Your table list: while you are signed in, tables you create and tables you join are listed on your account, with the table's name, its settings, and when you last played it. The list holds your 50 most recently played tables and drops older entries automatically. An entry outlives the table itself by about 30 days, so the list can still show a table that has since been deleted. You can remove an entry yourself from the dashboard, and the whole list goes when you delete your account.
• Accounts: account information is kept until you delete your account using the Delete account control on the profile page. Your profile, avatar, saved-table list and custom decks are removed, and the Firebase login is then deleted. Tables you shared remain until their normal deletion time so other players are not disconnected mid-game.
• Custom decks: approved images and deck settings are kept until you replace or delete the image, delete the deck, or delete your account. Images rejected by the automated check are not added to our storage.
• Reports: report records and abuse-prevention identifiers normally expire after about 90 days. We may retain a report longer when needed to address an active safety, security, legal, or terms-enforcement matter.
• Purchases: limited transaction and terms-acceptance records may be retained after account deletion for accounting, refunds, payment disputes, fraud prevention, enforcement, and legal obligations. Stripe may retain payment records under its own policies and legal obligations.

Children

Deckofcards.net is a general-audience service. Children under 16 may play as guests but may not create accounts. Guest play does not require an email address or other contact information, although the service still handles the temporary game and abuse-prevention data described above. We do not knowingly create accounts for, or solicit contact information from, children under 16. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us and we will delete it as required.

Your consent

Sitting down at a table means sending your play to us and to the other people seated there: the cards and pieces you move, the seat and table name you choose, the reactions you pick, the dice you roll, and the scores you keep. By joining a table you consent to us, and to the service providers named above, transmitting, processing, recording, and storing those communications, along with the technical information needed to deliver them and the service logs described above, for as long as is needed to run the table, keep it secure, and provide the features you use. A shared table cannot work otherwise. There is no free-text chat; reactions come from a fixed set. Signing in additionally means your browser contacts Google Firebase Authentication directly, as described under Service providers, and you consent to that too. You can stop at any time by leaving the table, and game data is deleted on the schedule under Retention. Where the law requires consent for something else described in this policy, we ask for it separately, and you can withdraw it as described below.

Your rights

You may ask us what information we hold about your account, ask us to correct, export, or delete it, object to or restrict certain processing, or withdraw consent where consent applies. You may also ask for human review of an upload rejected by automated screening or ask about a report you submitted. Contact us at the address below and we will respond as required by applicable law, including Canadian privacy laws, the GDPR and UK GDPR, and California privacy law where they apply. Some rights have lawful exceptions, including records we must retain. You may also complain to your local privacy or data-protection authority.

Security

Data is transmitted over encrypted connections and stored with access limited to what the service needs to operate. No online service can promise perfect security, but we keep what we collect to a minimum. Holding less information limits what can go wrong.

Changes

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we will update the date at the top and note the change on this page before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions or requests: hello@deckofcards.net