Privacy Policy

SleuthCity ("SleuthCity," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect personal information when you use the SleuthCity website, create an account, participate in a SleuthCity investigation, communicate with us, or otherwise use our services.

SleuthCity is operated as a sole proprietorship based in Alberta, Canada.

Questions or requests relating to privacy may be sent to:

dispatch@sleuthcity.ca

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create or use a SleuthCity account, we may collect:

• your real name;
• email address;
• Detective Name or codename;
• home city;
• account creation and update dates;
• marketing consent preferences;
• referral information; and
• authentication and account information.

Your password is processed through our authentication provider. SleuthCity does not have access to your plaintext password.

Gameplay Information

When you participate in SleuthCity, we may collect information about your gameplay, including:

• cases you start and complete;
• investigation progress;
• Evidence Lockers you unlock;
• evidence and locations reached;
• QR code scans and scan attempts;
• timestamps associated with gameplay;
• Merit Points ("MP") earned or deducted;
• hints used;
• streaks and milestones;
• referrals;
• Local Support Bonus redemptions;
• final solve submissions;
• the suspect you accuse;
• theories or other text you submit as part of your solve;
• whether your solve was correct; and
• investigation completion times and other gameplay statistics.

We use this information to operate the game, maintain player progress, calculate MP and rankings, administer prize promotions where applicable, prevent abuse and improve SleuthCity.

QR Code Information

When you scan a SleuthCity QR code, we may record information such as:

• the QR code scanned;
• your account;
• the associated case, Evidence Locker, location or participating business;
• whether the scan was successful;
• the time of the scan; and
• information necessary to identify invalid, duplicate or otherwise unsuccessful scans.

SleuthCity does not currently request or collect your device's GPS location to verify your physical location.

Local Support Bonuses

If you choose to make a qualifying purchase from a participating business and claim a Local Support Bonus, we may record that the bonus was redeemed, the associated business and case, your account, the relevant QR code and the time of redemption.

We do not need to receive the details of what you purchased or your payment-card information in order to record a Local Support Bonus.

Information Collected Automatically

SleuthCity uses browser storage and similar technologies necessary to provide the service. For example, these technologies may:

• keep you signed into your account;
• maintain secure authentication sessions;
• remember a pending QR scan while you sign in; and
• remember certain interface preferences.

SleuthCity does not currently use its application code to create device fingerprints or collect GPS information.

Our hosting, infrastructure and other technology providers may automatically process technical information such as IP addresses, browser information, request logs and similar information as part of providing, securing and maintaining their services.

2. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information to:

• create and manage player accounts;
• authenticate users and reset passwords;
• operate SleuthCity investigations;
• save and display investigation progress;
• unlock Evidence Lockers;
• validate QR scans;
• calculate MP, rankings, streaks and statistics;
• administer leaderboards;
• process Local Support Bonuses;
• administer prize promotions;
• process final solves;
• prevent cheating, fraud and misuse;
• investigate technical problems;
• maintain and secure the website and application;
• respond to questions and support requests;
• send account and authentication communications;
• send case information, reminders, offers and marketing communications where permitted;
• understand how SleuthCity is used;
• measure and improve our services;
• measure advertising and marketing performance; and
• comply with legal obligations.

We limit our collection, use and disclosure of personal information to purposes we consider reasonable and appropriate for operating SleuthCity and related activities.

3. Public Player Information

SleuthCity uses public-facing Detective Names so players do not need to display their real names publicly.

Information that may be displayed publicly includes:

• Detective Name;
• leaderboard rank;
• MP totals; and
• other game achievements or statistics that are expressly identified as public features.

Your real name and email address are not intended to be displayed on public leaderboards.

Do not use a Detective Name that reveals personal information you do not want other people to see.

4. Email Communications

SleuthCity may send operational messages necessary to administer your account, including authentication, security and password-reset communications.

If you consent to receive marketing or informational emails, we may also send communications relating to:

• new cases;
• case files and gameplay;
• investigation reminders;
• case deadlines;
• streaks;
• prizes;
• SleuthCity news and promotions;
• participating businesses;
• special offers; and
• other SleuthCity-related information.

We use Klaviyo to support email marketing and lifecycle communications. A Klaviyo profile may be created in connection with registration and may contain information such as your email address, name, Detective Name, home city, consent status and relevant gameplay or engagement information. Players who have not provided the required marketing consent are not intended to receive marketing communications on the basis of that profile alone.

Marketing emails include an unsubscribe mechanism where required. You may withdraw your marketing consent at any time. Canadian anti-spam guidance requires commercial electronic messages to satisfy applicable consent, identification and unsubscribe requirements.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent us from sending communications that are necessary to provide or secure your account where permitted by law.

5. Service Providers and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information.

We may provide information to service providers where reasonably necessary to operate SleuthCity.

These may include:

Supabase — authentication, database and storage infrastructure.

Lovable — application hosting, transactional email delivery, technical infrastructure and diagnostic/error services.

Klaviyo — email marketing and lifecycle communications.

Google — services used in connection with the website, such as fonts, maps links, analytics or other technologies where implemented.

Meta and TikTok — advertising, attribution and analytics technologies where implemented.

Payment processors such as Stripe — where used to process payments from participating businesses, advertisers or other commercial customers. SleuthCity does not currently require players to provide payment information to play the game.

We may also disclose information where reasonably necessary to:

• comply with law or legal process;
• investigate fraud, abuse or security incidents;
• protect SleuthCity, players, participating businesses or others;
• enforce our Terms of Use or Prize Rules; or
• complete a sale, restructuring or transfer of all or part of the business, subject to applicable law.

6. Information Processed Outside Canada

Some of our service providers process or store information outside Canada.

In particular, SleuthCity's Supabase database is currently hosted using infrastructure in Oregon, United States. Klaviyo and other technology providers may also process information in the United States or other jurisdictions.

Personal information processed outside Canada may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is processed and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement agencies or governmental authorities in accordance with those laws.

For questions about our service providers or cross-border processing, contact dispatch@sleuthcity.ca.

7. Cookies, Analytics and Advertising Technologies

SleuthCity uses or may use cookies, local storage, session storage and similar technologies for purposes including:

• authentication;
• security;
• maintaining sessions;
• remembering preferences;
• processing QR interactions;
• understanding website usage;
• measuring marketing performance;
• analytics; and
• advertising attribution.

We currently use browser storage necessary for authentication and functionality.

We may also implement analytics and advertising technologies such as Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and TikTok Pixel. These services may use cookies or similar technologies and may receive technical or usage information in accordance with their own privacy practices.

Where consent is legally required for non-essential tracking technologies, SleuthCity will seek the appropriate consent before using those technologies.

You may also be able to control cookies through your browser or device settings. Disabling technologies necessary for authentication or essential functionality may prevent parts of SleuthCity from working correctly.

8. Participating Businesses

SleuthCity investigations may direct players to independent participating businesses.

Participating businesses may know that a player has claimed a Local Support Bonus or interacted with a SleuthCity QR code, but SleuthCity does not provide participating businesses with players' private account information simply because they host a game location.

We may provide participating businesses with aggregated statistics, such as numbers of visits or Local Support Bonus redemptions, where those statistics do not identify individual players.

If you independently make a purchase, join a mailing list or otherwise provide personal information directly to a participating business, that business's own privacy practices apply.

9. Retention

We retain account and gameplay information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide SleuthCity, maintain case history, Lifetime MP, streaks and player statistics, administer promotions, prevent abuse, meet legal requirements and support legitimate business purposes.

Gameplay history may remain associated with your account for as long as the account exists.

We may delete or anonymize information when it is no longer reasonably required, subject to legal, security, fraud-prevention and recordkeeping requirements.

We may also delete accounts that have remained inactive for an extended period.

10. Account and Privacy Requests

Players cannot currently delete their accounts directly through the application.

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information by contacting:

dispatch@sleuthcity.ca

Some information may need to be retained where required or permitted by law, including records reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention, legal compliance, dispute resolution or the integrity of completed promotions.

11. Security

We use administrative, technical and organizational safeguards intended to protect personal information.

These include authentication controls, database access controls, restricted administrative functionality and private storage for protected content.

No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, disclosure or loss will never occur.

12. Children and Teens

SleuthCity mysteries may contain fictional crime and murder themes. The game is generally designed with a PG-13-style audience in mind.

Parents and guardians are responsible for determining whether SleuthCity is appropriate for a minor in their care and for supervising participation where appropriate.

We do not intentionally design SleuthCity to solicit unnecessary sensitive personal information from children.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as SleuthCity evolves, technology changes or legal requirements change.

The updated version will be posted on our website with a revised effective date. Where required, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent.

14. Contact

For privacy questions or requests:

SleuthCity Email: dispatch@sleuthcity.ca Alberta, Canada