Data Handling

This page explains where your data lives, how long we keep it, and how it is removed. It complements the Privacy Policy.

1. Where data is stored

Account and game data is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted on Railway (servers in the United States). Session data is held in Redis (also on Railway). Data is processed only to run the Sim and is not copied to other systems except as needed for routine backups by the hosting provider.

If you are in the UK, EU or EEA, please see "International data transfers" in our Privacy Policy.

2. Retention periods

We keep data only as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected:

Account data — retained while your account is active. Deleted upon a verified erasure request.
Game worlds — completed worlds are automatically deleted 30 days after they finish, along with the airlines, fleets and routes within them.
Operational records — routine simulation history (notifications, financial records, maintenance logs) is pruned automatically and not kept indefinitely.
Payment records — purchase references, amounts and Stripe invoice/receipt URLs are retained for a minimum of 6 years to comply with UK tax and accounting obligations (HMRC requirements). Card details are never stored by us.
Session data — sessions expire automatically when you log out or after a period of inactivity.
Contact messages — kept only as long as needed to handle your enquiry, then deleted.

3. Security measures

We take reasonable steps to protect your data:

Database access is restricted to the Sim's maintainers.
All connections to the database and between services use TLS encryption.
Passwords are stored only as bcrypt hashes; we never see or store plaintext passwords.
Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe over their own PCI-DSS compliant infrastructure.
Admin access requires two-factor authentication (TOTP).

No system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights, we will notify affected users and, where required, the relevant supervisory authority without undue delay.

4. Deletion requests

You can ask us to delete your account and associated data at any time through the Contact page. Upon a verified request:

Your account record, email, name and password hash will be permanently deleted.
Your game data (airlines, fleets, routes, finances) will be removed.
Aggregate, non-identifying game statistics (e.g. total flights in a world) may be retained as they cannot be traced back to you.
Payment records required for legal/accounting obligations may be retained in anonymised form (transaction reference and amount only, with no link to your identity) for up to 6 years.

We aim to process deletion requests within 30 days. You will receive confirmation once your data has been removed.

5. Data shared with third parties

We do not sell your data. We do not share your data for advertising or marketing. Limited data is necessarily exposed to the infrastructure and services listed in the Privacy Policy (Stripe for payments, Railway for hosting, and map-tile providers) purely to operate the Sim. These providers act as data processors on our behalf or as independent controllers under their own privacy policies.