Privacy notice
Last updated 6 October 2026
Who we are
Interstellar War: Fleet Battles is run by Bito Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 09492453), registered office Prince Of Wales House, 18/19 Salmon Fields Business Village, Royton, Oldham, OL2 6HT, United Kingdom. Bito Ltd is the controller of the personal data described here and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration number ZA157410).
Questions about this notice or your data go to the address above or to isw@bito.ltd.
What we collect
We collect only what the game needs to let you sign in and to keep your place in a shared world, plus a record of how each connection played so we can make the game better. We do not use advertising, third-party analytics or tracking services, and we do not sell or rent your data.
How you sign in
- Google. We ask Google only for the identifier it assigns you for this game. We do not receive your name, email address, picture or contacts.
- Discord. We ask Discord only for your Discord user id. We do not request your email address, servers or friends list.
- Email code. We store the email address you enter. It is used to send you sign-in codes and nothing else: no newsletters, no marketing.
That identifier or address is what links you to your account. We never store a password.
Your game account
Your callsign, the people you chose to play, and your progress in the game: rank, credits, ships, cargo, where you are, when you last played, your friends and blocked players, your corporation, votes you cast and your message settings.
What you write
- In-game mail you send is stored in the recipient's inbox.
- Chat is held in the game's memory, not written to our database. A channel keeps only its recent lines and is deleted about a day after it goes quiet.
Technical data
- Sign-in sessions: a record of each login, so that a refresh or a server restart does not sign you out.
- Play records: when a connection to a game server closes, one record of it, linked to your login: how long it lasted, why it ended, how much data it sent, how long it took you to launch and to board another player's ship, how many were aboard with you, and totals such as shots fired, damage dealt and taken, ore mined, docks, distance flown and messages sent. It names the star system, not your position in it, and never what a message said. You can turn play records off on the Profile desk in the game.
- Career record: lifetime totals of what you have done in the game, such as shots fired, damage dealt, kills, jumps, hours played, credits traded and votes cast. It is your in-game record, shown on your Profile, and is kept whether or not play records are on.
- Your IP address is used while you are connected to limit how fast any one address can make requests. It is not written to our database.
- Server logs record errors and operational events. A log line can contain an email address, for example when a sign-in code fails to send.
Why we use it
| Purpose | Legal basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Signing you in and running your account and the game world | Contract: providing the game you signed up to play |
| Delivering mail and chat between players | Contract |
| Rate limiting, preventing cheating and abuse, keeping the service secure and fixing faults | Legitimate interests: running a fair and working game |
| Acting on reports and enforcing the terms | Legitimate interests |
| Measuring how the game plays, such as how long new players take to launch and how often ships are crewed, to decide what to fix and build next | Legitimate interests: improving the game |
Cookies and browser storage
The game uses only cookies it needs to work, so there is no consent banner. None of them tracks you across other sites.
| Name | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
iw_sess | Keeps you signed in | Until you sign out, or 30 days unused |
iw_flow | Ties a Google or Discord sign-in to the browser that started it | A few minutes, removed when sign-in finishes |
iw_pkg | Lets your browser play the game's licensed music | 15 minutes, renewed while you play |
The game also keeps your preferences, such as panel layouts and settings, in your browser's local storage. They stay on your device and are not sent to us.
Who else handles it
The game runs on hardware we operate in the United Kingdom. These providers handle some data on our behalf or as part of the service you choose to use:
- Cloudflare carries all traffic between your browser and our servers, so it sees your IP address and the requests you make. We have no Cloudflare analytics or other Cloudflare features turned on.
- Google and Discord, if you sign in with them. Their own privacy policies cover what they do when you sign in there.
- Resend sends sign-in codes, so it receives your email address and the code.
Some of these providers process data outside the United Kingdom. Where they do, they rely on UK adequacy regulations or the UK's approved contract terms for international transfers.
We will disclose data if the law requires it. Otherwise it is not shared.
How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Sign-in identifier or email address, and your game account | As long as the account exists. An account never given a name is deleted two weeks after its last sign-in |
| Career record | As long as the account exists |
| In-game mail | Two weeks after it is sent once you have read it, a month if you have not |
| Chat | About a day after the channel goes quiet |
| Sign-in codes | A few minutes |
| Session records, and the play records linked to them | Deleted together two weeks after the session ends |
| Server logs | Overwritten as the log files roll over |
| Database backups | 14 days |
The game is in testing. We may reset the game world, and a reset can remove game progress earlier than shown here.
Your rights
You can ask us to show you the data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, restrict how we use it, or give it to you in a portable form. You can also object to our use of it on the basis of legitimate interests. To delete your account, write to us from the sign-in you use, or tell us which sign-in it is. There is no deletion button in the game yet. We will answer within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would rather hear from you first.
Age
You must be at least 13 to play. We do not knowingly hold data about anyone younger. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes
If what the game collects changes, this page changes first and the date at the top moves. A change that matters will also be announced in the game or on our Discord.