Privacy policy

The Tanks · en

Also available in: ru

Privacy Policy — The Tanks

Effective date: 2026-06-03 Last updated: 2026-06-03

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains how Bukazoid (“we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects information when you (“user”, “you”) play the game “The Tanks” (“the Game”), whether as a web build at https://tanks.bukazone.ru, as an embedded build on Yandex Games (https://yandex.ru/games/app/209366), or as an Android application distributed via Google Play (a Trusted Web Activity wrapper around the same web build).

By using the Game you confirm that you have read and understood this Policy. If you do not agree with any part of it, please do not use the Game.

1. Who we are (Data Controller)

The Game is developed and operated by an individual developer doing business as Bukazoid.

  • Contact: bukazoid.com@gmail.com
  • Country of operation: Russian Federation

For data-protection requests, the contact above is the responsible point. If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with similar data-protection legislation, you may also contact us at the same address to exercise the rights described in Section 11.

2. Scope

This Policy applies to:

  • The web build of the Game served at https://tanks.bukazone.ru and any subdomain we operate
  • The build embedded in the Yandex Games platform
  • The Android build distributed via Google Play under the package identifier com.bukazoid.thetanks
  • The multiplayer game server we operate, including its WebSocket endpoint at wss://tanks.bukazone.ru/ws

This Policy does not apply to:

  • The Yandex Games platform itself — see the Yandex Games Terms of Use (https://yandex.com/legal/games_termsofuse/) and the Yandex Privacy Policy (https://yandex.com/legal/confidential/)
  • Google Play and the underlying Android operating system — see the Google Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy)
  • Other websites that may be linked from inside the Game (we currently do not link to any)

3. Categories of data we process

3.1 Data stored only on your device

The following data is stored in the browser’s localStorage and is never transmitted to any server we operate:

  • Key: tanksPlayerName — Purpose: The display name you choose for matches — Retention: Until you clear it or your browser storage
  • Key: tankSavedGame — Purpose: A serialized snapshot of a single-player match so you can resume it if you press the leave button — Retention: Until the next single-player match starts or you clear browser data
  • Key: tankSawTutorial — Purpose: A boolean flag indicating the first-time tutorial has been shown — Retention: Until you clear browser data
  • Key: tanks-quality / tanks-quality-granular — Purpose: Your selected graphics quality and per-feature overrides — Retention: Until you change them or clear browser data
  • Key: tanks-sticky-first-game-day — Purpose: (Yandex Games build only — ads are not shown in the Google Play build) The local date of the first match per day, used so the first match each day is free of the sticky banner — Retention: Resets at local midnight, but only after the next match
  • Key: tanks-leaves-day / tanks-leaves-count — Purpose: (Yandex Games build only — ads are not shown in the Google Play build) Local count of how many matches you have left mid-game today, used to gate the post-leave interstitial — Retention: Resets daily

You may inspect or clear this data at any time via your browser’s developer tools, or by clearing browsing data in your browser settings.

3.2 Data transmitted to our game server

When you join an online match, the following is transmitted to our WebSocket game server and processed there:

  • Display name — as chosen by you, used as your in-game identifier and shown in scoreboards and chat
  • Game inputs — keystrokes / touch events (movement, fire, bonus usage) needed to simulate your tank on the server
  • Match outcomes — kills, deaths, sphere captures, match duration, end reason
  • Connection metadata — your IP address (used by our nginx reverse proxy for routing and rate limiting; not persisted past connection close) and a session token

The following data is persisted on our server in a Redis database keyed by an anonymous user identifier:

  • Display name, current rating, total games played, last 10 match results (timestamp, scores, configuration)
  • For users authenticated through Yandex Games: the anonymous Yandex player ID linking your sessions across devices
  • For unauthenticated users: a random per-browser identifier generated when you first connect

3.3 Data we receive from third-party platforms

Yandex Games SDK

When the Game runs inside the Yandex Games platform, the Yandex Games SDK provides us with:

  • An anonymous Yandex player identifier (unique per Yandex Games account; not a personally identifying string)
  • Your selected interface locale (e.g. ru, en)
  • Device type (desktop / mobile / tablet) used to gate the sticky banner
  • If you choose to sign in: your Yandex display name and profile photo URL

Yandex also collects telemetry on your behalf under its own privacy policy. We receive aggregated game-session data, ad-impression counts, and crash reports from Yandex’s developer dashboard.

Google Play

When the Game runs as a Google Play app, Google may collect installation, crash, and aggregated usage statistics under the Google Privacy Policy. The Android wrapper itself is a Trusted Web Activity — a thin shell around Chrome that loads the same web game. No additional tracking is added by the wrapper.

3.4 Data we explicitly do NOT collect

  • We do not collect your real name, email, postal address, phone number, geolocation, or device identifiers (IMEI, MAC, Android Advertising ID) beyond what is described in Section 3.3.
  • We do not use third-party analytics scripts (Google Analytics, Yandex Metrica, Sentry, etc.) inside the Game.
  • We do not set HTTP cookies.
  • We do not use fingerprinting techniques beyond reading navigator.userAgent to detect the device type for the sticky-banner gate.

4. Purposes and legal bases for processing

We process the data listed in Section 3 for the following purposes:

  • Purpose: Operate the multiplayer matchmaking and match simulation — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Performance of the service you requested by joining a match (contract)
  • Purpose: Maintain anonymous leaderboards and per-user history — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Legitimate interest in providing a comparable competitive experience
  • Purpose: Remember your settings between sessions (quality, name, mute) — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Performance of the service; data is local to your device
  • Purpose: Show interstitial and sticky banner ads inside Yandex Games — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Legitimate interest in monetising the service; ads are served by Yandex and gated by your device type and the rules described in Section 7
  • Purpose: Provide save & continue for single-player games — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Performance of the service
  • Purpose: Detect graphics performance to choose a default quality preset — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Legitimate interest in delivering a playable experience on your device
  • Purpose: Comply with platform requirements (Yandex Games, Google Play) — Legal basis (GDPR-style): Legal obligation under platform agreements

5. Third parties and data sharing

We share data only with the operators of the platforms required to run the Game:

  • Yandex Games (YANDEX LLC) — when the Game runs inside Yandex Games. Yandex receives the data and telemetry described in Section 3.3.
  • Google LLC — when the Game is distributed via Google Play. Google receives install / crash / usage data as part of the Play Console developer agreement.
  • Our infrastructure provider (NA4U.RU) — operates the virtual server where our game server runs. Connection IPs are processed transiently for network routing.

We do not sell user data to any third party, and we do not share it for marketing, advertising, or profiling purposes beyond what is required to display ads inside Yandex Games (handled by Yandex, not by us).

6. International transfers

Our game server is hosted in the Russian Federation. When you connect from outside Russia, your IP address and game data cross national borders. We rely on legitimate interest in providing a global multiplayer service as the legal basis for this transfer.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable data-protection laws and you would prefer your data not to cross borders, please refrain from using the Game.

7. Advertising

Ads inside the Game are served by Yandex’s ad network when the Game runs inside Yandex Games. We control when these ads appear:

  • Interstitial ad — shown to non-winners after a match ends, and after the third mid-match leave per day. Winners are never shown an interstitial.
  • Sticky banner — shown only on desktop, only after the second non-winning match per day. The first non-winning match per day is banner-free. Winning a match clears any visible sticky banner. Mobile and tablet users never see the sticky banner.
  • Rewarded video — shown when you choose to create an online match on a large map; granting your reward lets the room be created. You can decline the ad and the room will not be created.

We do not show ads outside the Yandex Games build. The Google Play build is currently ad-free.

The ad inventory, the privacy disclosures around ad targeting, and any opt-outs are governed by Yandex’s own policies; see the Yandex Personal Data Processing Policy (https://yandex.com/legal/confidential/).

8. Retention

  • Data: Browser localStorage entries — Retention: Until you clear them via your browser; we do not control this remotely
  • Data: Per-user record in Redis (name, rating, history) — Retention: Indefinitely while the user is reachable. You may request deletion at any time (see Section 11).
  • Data: Game match logs on the server — Retention: 7 days (then rotated out of the docker log driver)
  • Data: Connection IP addresses — Retention: Held in memory for the duration of your WebSocket session; not written to long-term storage
  • Data: Server-public artifact bundles (the published game zip / APK) — Retention: Indefinitely; these do not contain personal data

9. Security

We employ the following technical measures:

  • All client–server communication uses HTTPS / WSS (TLS 1.2+)
  • The server runs in an isolated container; persistent data (Redis) is not exposed to the public internet
  • Application tokens for our internal artifact-distribution system are scoped and revocable
  • Signing keys for the Google Play AAB are stored locally, encrypted at rest

We do not store payment card data — we do not accept direct payments; any monetisation runs through Yandex Games’ or Google Play’s billing.

No internet-connected system is fully secure. If we become aware of a personal-data breach affecting users, we will publish a notice on https://tanks.bukazone.ru and notify the relevant platforms as required by law.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

The Game does not set HTTP cookies. The data described in Section 3.1 is stored in browser localStorage. Browser localStorage is similar to cookies in that it is stored on your device, but unlike cookies it is not transmitted to any server with each request. You can inspect and clear it at any time via your browser’s developer tools.

A service worker (/sw.js) is registered to cache assets so the Game loads quickly on repeat visits and works offline. The service worker stores responses in the browser’s Cache Storage and does not transmit data on its own.

11. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
  • Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data
  • Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — ask us to delete your data from our game server
  • Right to restrict processing — ask us to limit what we do with your data
  • Right to data portability — request your data in a machine-readable form
  • Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interest
  • Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, contact bukazoid.com@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity (e.g. by asking you to log in via Yandex Games again so we can map your request to a server-side user record).

If you believe we have processed your data unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data-protection authority in your jurisdiction. In Russia this is Roskomnadzor (https://rkn.gov.ru/). In the EU, the relevant Supervisory Authority is listed at https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en.

12. Children

The Game is not directed at children under 13 (or under the equivalent age of digital consent in your jurisdiction; this is 14 in some EU member states, 16 in others, and 14 under Russian law).

In particular, the Google Play build is distributed as a Trusted Web Activity, and per Google’s policy Trusted Web Activities are not currently eligible for the Designed for Families program.

If we learn that we have collected data from a child under the applicable age without parental consent, we will delete that data promptly.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top. Material changes (e.g. new data categories, new third-party recipients) will be reflected in the Game’s release notes and announced at https://tanks.bukazone.ru.

Continued use of the Game after a change becomes effective means you accept the revised Policy.

14. Contact

Questions, requests, complaints — please email bukazoid.com@gmail.com.

This Policy is published in English and Russian. In case of any inconsistency between the language versions, the English version prevails.

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