This policy covers the game Veche and this website. It explains what we collect, why we need it, how long we keep it and what you can make us do about it. It is written to be read, not to be survived.
The short version. To match you with opponents and keep a ranking, we store your Steam ID, your rating and a history of your matches. We record ranked matches as replays. Voice chat is relayed live and never stored. We run no advertising and no third-party analytics, and this website sets no cookies and loads nothing from anyone else.
Who is responsible
The data controller is Andrei Golubev, publisher of Veche. Contact for anything in this policy, including requests about your data: privacy@veche.games.
What we collect and why
Your Steam identity
When you launch the game it authenticates you through Steam, and we receive your Steam ID. It is the only account identifier we hold. We do not have your email address, your password or your payment details, and Valve does not give them to us.
Your Steam display name is stored alongside your match records so that results remain readable later. Your Steam avatar and friends list are read by the game client directly from Steam to draw the menu; that information is not sent to our servers.
Matchmaking
While you are in a queue we hold your Steam ID, the mode you chose, your current rating, the other members of your party, and the latency your client measured to each available server city. This is what lets us build a fair match on a server close to you. It is deleted when the queue entry resolves into a match or you leave the queue.
When a match is formed we create a short-lived session token so the game server knows the player connecting is you. Only a hashed form of the token is stored, and it expires within hours.
Match results and rating
For every completed match we keep: match ID, mode, the time it was played and how long it ran, which side you were on, the result, the hero you picked, your rating before and after, and the damage and healing you dealt. Your rating itself, a skill estimate and its uncertainty, is stored per mode.
We need this to rank players, to show leaderboards and hero statistics, and to investigate reports of cheating or match-throwing.
Replays
Ranked matches are recorded server-side as replay files and stored in object storage. A replay contains the movement, abilities and outcomes of every player in that match. It contains no voice and no chat.
Voice and text chat
Voice chat is transmitted live through the game server to your teammates and is not recorded, not stored and not analysed. Text chat is delivered to the players in your match and is not retained on our servers after the match ends. Because neither is stored, we cannot review either one after the fact, so a report about something said in a match has to be supported by your own recording.
Enforcement
If an account is suspended we store the Steam ID, the reason, when the ban was issued and when it expires. We keep this for as long as it takes to enforce and to handle any appeal.
Server logs
Our game and matchmaking servers write operational logs. These include IP addresses of connecting clients, connection and disconnection events and error traces. We need them to run the service, to diagnose faults and to deal with abuse such as denial-of-service attempts. We do not use them to profile players.
This website
This site is static. It sets no cookies, runs no analytics, and loads no fonts, scripts or images from third parties. Our hosting provider records standard web-server access logs.
What we do not do
- We do not sell or rent your data, to anyone, ever.
- We run no advertising and no ad networks are present in the game or on this site.
- We use no third-party analytics, tracking or attribution SDKs.
- We do not read your files, your other running programs or your browsing.
- We do not record voice or keep chat logs.
Legal basis
If the GDPR applies to you, we rely on:
- Performance of a contract: Steam ID, matchmaking data, match results and rating. Without these the game cannot function; there is no version of Veche that matches you with an opponent without knowing who you are.
- Legitimate interests: server logs, replays and enforcement records, for keeping the service running, secure and free of cheating.
- Legal obligation: where we are required to retain something by law.
How long we keep it
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Queue entries | Deleted when the queue resolves |
| Session tokens | Expire within hours; deleted after |
| Rating | While the account is active |
| Match history | 24 months |
| Replays | 12 months |
| Ban records | Duration of the ban, plus 12 months |
| Server logs | 30 days |
Who else processes it
We use a small number of providers, each of which acts on our instructions only:
- Valve Corporation: Steam authentication and distribution. Valve's own handling of your account is governed by the Steam Privacy Policy.
- Hetzner Online GmbH and DigitalOcean: hosting for game and matchmaking servers.
- Cloudflare: object storage for replay files.
- A hosting provider in the Russian Federation: the one game server located there.
Matchmaking and most game servers run in the European Union. One game server is in Russia. The queue routes you onto it only when it is among the closest servers to you; while you are connected, your IP address and your session are processed there, and the result is written back to matchmaking in the EU. Russia sits outside the European Economic Area and has no adequacy decision from the European Commission, so that transfer relies on the Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
Your rights
You can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict how we use it, or export it in a machine-readable form, and you can object to processing we base on legitimate interests. Write to privacy@veche.games from an address you can prove is yours, and include your Steam ID, since we have no other way to identify you.
We answer within 30 days. Deleting your data removes your rating and match history and forfeits your position on the leaderboards; this cannot be undone. We may keep a ban record after deletion where we need it to keep an enforcement decision effective.
If you are in the EEA or the UK and you think we have handled your data badly, you may complain to your national data protection authority. We would rather you told us first.
Children
Veche is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. Access to Steam is governed by Valve's own age requirements. If you believe a child has given us data, write to us and we will delete it.
Security
Traffic between the game and our servers is encrypted, session tokens are stored hashed rather than in the clear, and administrative access to player data is restricted and requires a separate credential. No system is perfect; if we ever suffer a breach affecting your data, we will notify the relevant authority and, where the law requires it, you.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top, and we will announce anything material in the game and on the Steam store page before it takes effect. We will not retroactively reduce your rights over data we already hold.