Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 19, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Statedoku ("we", "us", "the site") handles information when you visit statedoku.com. Statedoku is operated by Sacha Bitoun, an independent solo developer based in Paris, France. The site is a free daily browser puzzle for US geography — you do not need to create an account to play.

1. What we collect

1.1 Stored on your device (localStorage)

The game uses your browser's localStorage — a small key/value store similar to cookies but local to your browser — to remember:

• Your current puzzle progress (cells filled, mistakes, completion time)
• Your statistics (puzzles played, win rate, streak, best time)
• Per-game stats for the /play/ mini-games (streak, best score)
• Your language preference (EN, FR, ES)
• UI dismissal choices (e.g. whether you dismissed the email signup banner)

localStorage never leaves your device. You can clear it any time via your browser settings or by clearing site data for statedoku.com.

1.2 Cookies and similar technologies (set by third parties)

Once a page loads, third-party services we use may set cookies on your browser. The cookies, their purpose, and how long they last:

1.3 Server-side request logs

Our hosting provider Cloudflare logs standard request information (IP address, user agent, timestamp, URL) for routing, security, and DDoS protection. We do not receive these logs in personally identifiable form. Read Cloudflare's privacy policy.

1.4 Information you choose to provide

Email subscribers — and only them — give us their email address to receive the daily puzzle reminder. We store the email address, your preferred sending hour (UTC), your language, and a country code derived from your IP at subscription time. Subscriptions are opt-in. Every email contains an unsubscribe link.

If you click the daily reminder email, we may store the click event (timestamp, country, browser, destination URL) in our analytics database to measure email performance.

We do not sell, rent, or share email addresses with third parties. Emails are sent via Resend.

2. Third-party services we use

Each of these services has its own privacy policy that governs the data they receive:

• Cloudflare (hosting, CDN, DDoS protection) — Privacy
• Google Analytics 4 (audience analytics) — Privacy · Opt-out add-on
• Google AdSense (advertising — coverage starts only when ads are turned on) — How Google uses information · Personalization controls
• Microsoft Clarity (UX heatmaps, session recordings) — Privacy
• Ahrefs Web Analytics (search-referrer attribution) — Privacy
• Google Fonts (the "Inter" typeface) — Privacy
• Resend (transactional email — reminders to subscribers) — Privacy

3. Advertising disclosure (required by Google AdSense)

Statedoku displays advertising provided by Google AdSense.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this site and other sites on the Internet.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (EU).
• For visitors from the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, Google's EU consent message will appear on first visit and allow you to grant or refuse personalization. Refusing personalization does not remove ads — only their tailoring.

4. Your rights

Under the EU GDPR, UK GDPR, California's CCPA, and equivalent regimes, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Rectify data that is inaccurate
• Erase data we hold (for email subscribers: click any "unsubscribe" link; for localStorage: clear your browser data for statedoku.com)
• Object to processing, including ad personalization (see §3)
• Withdraw consent at any time
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In France: CNIL.
• Data portability: request a copy of the data we hold about you (email subscribers can request this by writing to the address below)

For California residents specifically: we do not "sell" personal information as defined by the CCPA. We share data with advertising partners (Google) for serving ads, which may be considered "sharing" under recent CCPA amendments — opt out via Google Ads Settings.

5. Children's privacy

Statedoku is suitable for all ages but is not specifically directed at children under 13 (US) or under 16 (EU). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with information, contact us and we will remove it.

6. Data retention

• Email subscriptions: kept until you unsubscribe.
• Email click events: kept indefinitely for analytics but contain no personal identifier beyond the email itself.
• Cookies: see the durations in the table above.
• localStorage: persists until you clear it.
• Cloudflare access logs: retained per Cloudflare's policy (~30 days).

7. International data transfers

Some of our third-party providers (Google, Cloudflare, Microsoft, Resend) are headquartered in the United States and may process data there. Each provider has its own safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses, Data Privacy Framework certifications) that we rely on to meet GDPR adequacy requirements.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when we add or remove a service, change retention periods, or to clarify wording. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be flagged on the homepage for at least 7 days.

9. Contact

For any question about this privacy policy or to exercise any of the rights described above, write to [email protected].

Data controller: Sacha Bitoun, Paris, France.

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