Privacy policy

Your account. You sign in with GitHub, Google, or a code we email you. From GitHub we receive your user ID, username, display name, profile picture and your primary verified email address; from Google, your Google account ID, name, profile picture and email address (and whether Google has verified it). If both give us the same verified email, they're one KittyHome account. Signing in with an email code proves you own that address and works the same way; codes and sign-in links work once and expire after 15 minutes. The email is only visible to you, our admins and our support team; other players never see it.

Emails from us. When you join, we send you one welcome email. Now and then we email KittyHome updates (new features and events). Every email has an unsubscribe link: one click and you won't get updates anymore, and you can subscribe again from the same page. We keep a record of which emails we sent you and whether they were delivered, and if an address bounces or an email is marked as spam, we stop emailing it.

What you do in the Grid. Your points and coins (and a history of what you earned and spent), the items you bought or won, the character you picked, where you are in the world, your daily puzzle answers and duties, your arcade game results, the players you blocked, and your votes on jokes. Coins are earned by playing, and can also be bought with cryptocurrency (see below).

Messages. Broadcasts, private messages, messages in private rooms, and your chats with AI mentors. AI mentors also keep short notes about you (for example "is learning React") so they remember you next time.

Voice chat. Voice is streamed live to the people who can hear you and is never recorded.

Support requests. What you write, your name and your email, so we can reply.

Project inquiries. When you use "Start a project" (no account needed): your name, email, company, what you tell us about the project, and a one-way hash of your IP address, used only to limit spam. We use it to reply and discuss the project with you.

Coin purchases. When you buy coins, we keep which pack you bought, the price, the payment's status and the cryptocurrency used, linked to your account. The payment itself happens with CryptumPay, our crypto payment provider; we never see or store your wallet's keys. Your total unlocks supporter rewards: other players see a 💛 on your name tag, and from the Founder tier on, your display name appears on the Founders' Wall in the Grid. Ask us if you'd rather not be listed.

Job applications. When you apply on our careers page (no account needed): your name, email, where you're based, the links and message you send, your résumé (PDF), and a one-way hash of your IP address, used only to limit spam. Only our team can see them; we use them to review your application and contact you about it.

Moderation. If an admin mutes, suspends or removes a message, we keep a record of that action.

The KittyHome Chrome extension is a writing assistant, with your cat on a writing desk on new tabs. Here is exactly what it does with data.

Kept only in your browser

• Your settings, and a copy of your KittyHome profile (display name, points, cat style and color).
• The draft on the writing desk (the new tab page), so it's still there next time.

Sent to KittyHome, only for the feature you use:

• Translate / Explain: the text you selected and the page title.
• Write with KittyHome: your instruction, what's already in the text box, and the last few messages of the conversation.
• Writing desk: your instruction and your draft, when you press Write or one of the buttons.
• Suggestions while typing (Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp Web, Telegram Web, Discord): when you pause, your draft and the last few messages of the conversation.
• Gmail and Outlook: for reply ideas and summaries, the last few messages of the email you have open. For subject ideas, the email you're writing. For the inbox digest, the sender, subject and preview line of the emails on your screen.

Suggestions while typing and instant reply ideas run on their own once switched on. You can turn each off (and every other feature) in the extension's popup. The extension never reads password, credit card or one-time code fields, and it doesn't collect your browsing history.

Requests are made with your KittyHome sign-in, so we can apply a daily limit. We don't store the text you send or the answers: answers stay in our server's memory for up to 15 minutes (so asking the same thing again is instant) and we keep only a count of how many requests you made today.

• To run KittyHome: sign you in, show your cat and points, deliver messages and voice, and answer AI requests.
• To keep it safe: daily limits, blocking, and moderation.
• To help you when you contact support.
• To understand, in aggregate, which pages and features people use (see Cookies and analytics).

We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and we don't use your data for anything unrelated to these features, such as credit or lending decisions.

Only with services that help us run KittyHome, and only what they need:

• OpenAI writes the AI answers: mentor chats, jokes, reply ideas and the writing assistant. It receives the text needed for each answer. Under OpenAI's API terms, it doesn't use that data to train its models.
• GitHub and Google, for signing in.
• Slack, where our team receives support requests, project inquiries and job applications.
• Resend delivers our emails (the welcome email and KittyHome updates). It receives your name, email address and the email we're sending you, and tells us if an email bounced or was marked as spam.
• CryptumPay processes coin purchases. It receives the order (pack and price) and your KittyHome user ID so the payment can be matched to your account, plus whatever its own checkout asks for.
• Our voice chat server (LiveKit), which carries live voice (never recorded).
• Vercel, for privacy-friendly website analytics.
• Our server and database hosting providers.

We may also disclose data if the law requires it.

• Turn any Chrome extension feature on or off in its popup, or remove the extension to stop it completely.
• Sign out anytime; you can also revoke KittyHome's access in your GitHub or Google account settings.
• Block players so they can't message you.
• Ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, or to delete your account and everything linked to it: email hello@kittyhome.org. We reply within 30 days.

Depending on where you live (for example in the EU, UK or California), you may have further rights, such as objecting to processing or complaining to your data protection authority. Email us and we'll help.

• Sign-in cookie (kh_session): keeps you signed in for up to 30 days. A short-lived cookie also protects the GitHub sign-in step.
• Analytics: we use Vercel Web Analytics, which counts page views and a few anonymous events (like "puzzle answered") without cookies and without identifying you.
• Invite cookie (kh_invite): if a friend invited you, remembers who, so they get their reward when you join.
• Your cookie choice (kh_consent): remembers what you allowed, for a year, on the website and in the community.
• Your browser also stores a few preferences, like sound and alert settings.

The sign-in, invite and choice cookies are essential and always on. Analytics are optional: choose "Only necessary" on the cookie banner, or turn them off any time in Cookie settings (at the bottom of every page here, and in the ⋯ menu in the community).

KittyHome isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you think a child has signed up, email us and we'll delete the account.

We protect your data with encrypted connections (HTTPS), store sign-in tokens only in hashed form, and limit access to our team. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep yours safe.

If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.

Questions? Email hello@kittyhome.org.

If you choose "Continue with Google", KittyHome uses Google Sign-In with only the basic openid, email and profile permissions. KittyHome does not access your Gmail, Google Drive, contacts, calendar or any other Google data.

What we receive from Google

• Your Google account ID (a number that identifies your Google account).
• Your name and profile picture.
• Your email address, and whether Google has verified it.

How we use it

• To create and sign you in to your KittyHome account.
• To show your name and picture to you and, in the community, to other players.
• To recognise you as the same person if you also sign in with GitHub using the same verified email, so you keep one account.
• To reply to you when you contact support.
• To send you a welcome email when you join and occasional KittyHome updates. Every update has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes one click.

How we store and share it

• It is stored in our database with your account, over encrypted connections, until you ask us to delete it.
• We do not sell it, share it with advertisers, use it for advertising, or share it with anyone except the service providers that host KittyHome for us, or where the law requires it.
• We do not use it to develop, improve or train artificial intelligence or machine learning models, and we do not use it to create any content about you.

KittyHome's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Removing it

• Email hello@kittyhome.org to delete your KittyHome account and the Google information we have; we do it within 30 days.
• You can also remove KittyHome's access at any time on your Google Account permissions page.