This policy explains what personal data the Summertale website (summertale.com) collects, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it. We have kept it short and written it in plain language. If anything is unclear, email us at villy@summertale.com.
At a glance
- We collect only what you give us (for the newsletter or a comment) and the minimum needed to run the site.
- No advertising, no third-party trackers, and no cookies for statistics or tracking.
- We never sell your data or share it for advertising.
- You can unsubscribe at any time from the link in every email.
- You can ask us to see, correct, or delete your data by emailing villy@summertale.com.
1. Who we are
The Summertale website is run by Studio Natsu, New York, United States (“we”, “us”). We are the controller of the personal data described here: we decide why and how it is used.
For anything about your data, email villy@summertale.com. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer, because our processing is small in scale; you can contact us directly instead.
2. What we collect, why, and for how long
Giving us personal data is always optional. You need to give an email address to join the newsletter or to post a comment; everything else on the site works without it.
| Data | Why we use it | Legal basis | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletter: email address, optional first name, consent record, how you found the sign-up | Sending the development updates you asked for; seeing which pages lead to sign-ups | Your consent | Until you unsubscribe |
| Blog comments: name, email address, comment | Reviewing and publishing comments; replying to you about what you wrote | Legitimate interests | As long as the comment is on the site |
| Site statistics: page views, broad referral category, a daily rotating code | Counting readers without cookies or tracking | Legitimate interests | Daily code about 36 hours; totals indefinitely (no personal data) |
| Security: IP address, browser information | Keeping the site available and stopping spam and attacks | Legitimate interests | Up to 30 days |
| Emails you send us | Answering you | Legitimate interests | Up to 2 years after the conversation ends |
“Legitimate interests” means we use the data because running the site requires it and it does not override your rights. Each interest is named in the sections below, and you can object to it at any time (see Your rights).
5. Site statistics
We count page views ourselves, without cookies and without any third-party analytics service. For each view we record the page, a broad referral category (search, AI assistant, another site, direct, or unknown), and newsletter sign-ups and confirmations. We do not record full referring addresses, search terms, link parameters, or email addresses.
To avoid counting the same reader twice in a day, we create a short code from your network (IP) address, your browser details, the date, and a secret value. The code changes every day, so it cannot link your visits across days, and it is deleted after about 36 hours. Your IP address and browser details themselves are not stored. What we keep are daily totals, which contain no personal data.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in understanding how many people read the site and which pages are useful.
6. Security and abuse prevention
Like every website, our servers receive your IP address and browser information when you visit. We use them to deliver the page, to limit how many comments or sign-ups can come from one address, and to block attacks. Rate-limit counters last minutes to hours; server and security logs are kept for up to 30 days.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and available.
7. When you email us
If you email us, we use your address and message to reply. We keep the conversation for up to 2 years after it ends, in case you follow up, and then delete it.
9. Transfers outside Europe
Our website is hosted in the EU, but Studio Natsu is based in the United States, so we access personal data from there. Resend is also based in the United States, and your email address and name are transferred there when we send you email. Resend is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK extension), which the European Commission recognises as giving adequate protection. Our agreement with Resend also includes the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Our other providers have US parent companies and use the same safeguards for any access from outside the EU.
11. Your rights
Under data protection law (including the GDPR and UK GDPR) you can:
- See the personal data we hold about you and get a copy.
- Correct data that is wrong or incomplete.
- Delete your data.
- Restrict how we use it while a concern is checked.
- Object to any use based on legitimate interests.
- Move data you gave us, in a common format.
- Withdraw consent at any time, for example by unsubscribing. This does not affect anything we did before.
Email villy@summertale.com to use any of these rights. We will answer within one month, and we may ask you to confirm the request from the email address involved so we know it is you. It is free.
We do not make automated decisions about you or build profiles. These rights apply to everyone, wherever you live.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in the country where you live or work.
12. Children
The website is meant for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. You must be at least 13 to join the newsletter or post a comment. In some countries the age at which you can agree to this yourself is higher (up to 16 in parts of the EU); if you are below that age where you live, please ask a parent or guardian before signing up. If we learn we hold data from a child who should not have given it, we delete it. Parents can contact us at villy@summertale.com.
13. Links to other sites
We link to our pages on Discord, YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, and Steam. These are plain links: nothing from those services loads on our pages, and no data is sent to them until you click. Once you are on their sites, their own privacy policies apply.
14. Changes to this policy
If we change how we use personal data, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change matters to newsletter subscribers, we will also tell them by email before it takes effect.
15. Contact
Studio Natsu
New York, United States
Email: villy@summertale.com
4. Blog comments
To comment on a blog post you give a name, an email address, and your comment. Every comment is reviewed before it appears. Once approved, your name and comment are public. Your email address is never published; we use it only if we need to contact you about what you wrote.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in hosting a moderated discussion about the game and keeping it free of spam and abuse.
How long: published comments stay as long as the post is online, or until you ask us to remove them. Comments we reject or mark as spam are deleted within 30 days.