Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Spottle is operated by Oaklake Studio. This policy explains what we collect when you use Spottle, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It applies to the Spottle website and game. For the rules that govern using the Service, see our Terms of Service.

2. What we collect

• Account data. When you sign in through our authentication provider, Clerk, we receive an account identifier and your email address, and any display name or handle you set. Clerk manages your sign-in method and credentials on our behalf.
• Gameplay data. The matches you play and their results, including points, wins and losses, your skill rating over time, the automated opponent you faced, and timestamps.
• Answer submissions. The words you type during a round.
• Technical data. Standard information sent by your browser and basic logs (such as approximate request details) used to run and secure the Service.

We do not collect payment information: Spottle is free and does not process payments.

3. How we use your data

• Run the game: create your session, draw scenes, score rounds, and judge answers.
• Maintain your record: track your rating, wins and losses, points, and match history.
• Tune your experience: match the bot's difficulty to your rating and rank you on the public leaderboard.
• Keep the Service safe: detect abuse, prevent cheating, and troubleshoot problems.

Your handle or display name and rating-related stats appear on the public leaderboard to other players. Your email address is not shown publicly.

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal data. We share data with service providers that help us run Spottle, only as needed to provide the Service:

• Clerk handles authentication and stores your account and sign-in details.
• Our hosting and database providers store match results, ratings, and the scene pool.
• fal.ai generates the scene images. Scenes are created ahead of time from our prompts, not from your personal data.
• Anthropic analyzes each scene image to build its answer key and, after a round, judges appeals. That judging step sends the scene image together with the answers you submitted that were not already matched, so the words you type can be sent to Anthropic to check whether they appear in the scene.

We may also disclose data if required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of Spottle and its users.

5. Cookies

Spottle uses cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to run the Service, primarily the session cookies set by Clerk to keep you signed in. We do not use them for advertising.

6. Data retention

We keep your account and gameplay data while your account is active and as needed to provide the Service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Answer submissions sent for judging are processed to score your round and are retained only as long as needed for that purpose and to improve accuracy.

7. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, or to object to or restrict certain processing. You can manage some account details through Clerk. To make a request, contact us at hi@oaklake.studio and we will respond as required by applicable law.

8. Children

Spottle is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal data. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal data, contact us at hi@oaklake.studio and we will delete it.

9. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, and we rely on established providers such as Clerk for authentication. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International transfers

Our providers may process and store data in countries other than yours. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for those transfers.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice.

12. Contact

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Reach us at [contact email].