This policy explains what personal information HostGoblin collects, why, and what you can do about it.
What we store
- your name and email address;
- server and billing metadata — your plans, server names, order history, subscription status, and the ledger of donations received on your funding pages;
- your notification preferences;
- the data on your game servers themselves — worlds, files, and console output — which live on our infrastructure so we can run them for you.
Payments
Payments are handled by Stripe, our payment processor. Card details are entered on Stripe's systems and never reach us. We store only the subscription and invoice records needed to run your billing.
Cookies
We use first-party session and security cookies for sign-in, checkout, forms, and support conversations. Your browser may also remember your light or dark appearance preference. These are used to provide the features you request, not to build an advertising profile. Referral codes travel in the referral link and checkout form rather than a persistent attribution cookie.
Google Ads measurement
We use the Google tag to measure whether an ad led to checkout or a completed purchase. We send the purchase amount, currency, and a non-personal order reference so Google can avoid counting the same purchase twice. We do not send your name, email address, card details, server name, support messages, or account id to Google Ads; enhanced conversions are not enabled; and we keep ad personalization off — measurement only, never a profile for targeting you.
What happens by default depends on where you are, which we infer from your device’s time zone. In consent-first regions (the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland), the Google tag is not loaded until you choose “Allow measurement,” and declining keeps it off entirely. Everywhere else, including the United States, measurement is on by default; we show a notice on your first visit, and you can opt out at any time with the button below. We also honor the Global Privacy Control browser signal as a standing opt-out everywhere. Your choice is stored in your browser and in your browsing session, and can be changed below.
If you arrive from a Google ad, the link carries an ad-click identifier (such as a “gclid”). We keep that identifier with your browsing session and, if you place an order, with the order. When measurement is permitted — you allowed it, or you are in an on-by-default region and have not opted out — we also report the completed purchase to Google Ads from our server using that identifier, the purchase amount, currency, and the same non-personal order reference, so the purchase is counted even if the browser-side tag was blocked or the page was closed. If you opt out (or, in consent-first regions, never allow it), the identifier is never sent to Google.
Privacy-first analytics
We count a small set of storefront events so we can see where ordering is confusing — for example, which game, featured modpack, plan, or call-to-action was selected and whether checkout was reached. These analytics do not create an analytics cookie or persistent visitor id. We do not put your IP address, email, account id, server name, support messages, or free-text searches into analytics.
Raw events are kept for up to 90 days. Daily aggregate totals are kept for up to 400 days. Aggregate dimensions may include the game, pack slug, plan, billing term, coarse device class, referring domain, and campaign tags explicitly present in the URL.
Emails we send
We send transactional emails you can't opt out of because they're essential — for example, email verification, password resets, and payment-failure warnings. We also send optional emails, such as referral-reward notices and product updates, which you can turn off any time from your notification settings.
Who we share it with
We share personal information only with the service providers we need to run HostGoblin — such as Stripe for payments and our email delivery provider — and only as needed to provide the service. We do not sell your personal information.
Data deletion
You can ask us to delete your personal data. Some records may be retained where we have a legal or accounting obligation to keep them. To make a request, email goblin@hostgoblin.com.
Contact
Questions about your privacy, or a request about your data? Email goblin@hostgoblin.com.