Privacy Policy

The Short Version

Rink Hunters is a directory of ice rinks and hockey programs, with a few hockey games. You don't need an account to use it. We count visits with privacy-friendly traffic stats that don't use cookies or identify you, we don't use ad networks or personalized ads, and we don't sell anyone's data.

What We Collect

Like any website, our servers receive standard technical information with each request:

• Your IP address
• The page or search you requested, including search terms, filters, and any location you search near
• Your browser and device type (the user-agent your browser sends automatically)
• The time of the request

To keep your searches working during a visit, the site uses a temporary, random session identifier held in the page's memory. It isn't a cookie and doesn't carry over between visits.

If you use our Add a Rink, Add a Club, or Report an Issue forms, we receive whatever you choose to send — typically rink or club details, plus an optional email address if you'd like a reply. Rink operators may also give us a contact email so we can reach them about their listing or schedule.

Location Searches

When you search near a city, ZIP code, or postal code, the text you type is sent to OpenStreetMap's geocoding service to turn it into map coordinates. If you choose to share your browser's location instead, those coordinates are used for that search. Either way, the coordinates are sent to our server as part of the search, so they can appear in standard server logs (see How Long We Keep It). We don't build location histories or link searches to individual people.

Traffic Statistics

To understand how many people use Rink Hunters and its games — and to report overall audience numbers to hockey businesses that sponsor or advertise on the site — we use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-focused analytics service. Plausible:

• Doesn't use cookies or store anything on your device
• Doesn't collect or store personal information, and doesn't track you across other websites or over time
• Counts unique visitors using a daily-rotating, one-way hash of your IP address and browser user-agent; the raw IP address isn't stored

What we see is aggregate only: pages viewed, the site that referred the visit, approximate location (country, region, city), browser, operating system and device type, clicks on links to outside websites (such as a rink's or shop's site), and, for our games, when a game is started and finished and the level reached. The service is designed so that we can't identify individual visitors.

Anything we share with sponsors or advertisers is limited to these aggregate totals.

Data Stored on Your Device

We don't set cookies. A few features save information in your browser's local storage, on your device only — for example, games may remember your best score and the rink checklist remembers what you've checked off. This information isn't sent to us, and clearing your browser's site data removes it.

What We Don't Collect

• No cookie-based or cross-site analytics (no Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or anything similar)
• No tracking pixels, advertising-network scripts, or personalized ads
• No user accounts, passwords, or profile data
• No payment information

How We Use What We Collect

• To run the site and return your search results
• To protect the site and its data from automated abuse, overload, and bulk copying — this can include usage limits and occasional checks to confirm you're a person
• To review form submissions, reply when asked, and keep listings accurate
• To understand overall usage and report aggregate audience totals to sponsors and advertisers

How Long We Keep It

Data used for security and abuse prevention is kept only briefly. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs for a limited period for operational and security purposes. Form submissions are kept as long as needed to review and act on them, and you can ask us to delete yours at any time.

Service Providers and Third Parties

We use a small number of providers to run the site. They handle data only to provide their service to us:

• Our hosting provider — runs our servers and keeps standard server logs
• Plausible Analytics — cookieless traffic statistics (see Traffic Statistics above); see Plausible's data policy
• OpenStreetMap — converts locations you type into map coordinates; see the OpenStreetMap Foundation privacy policy
• Resend — delivers email notifications to our team when a form is submitted; see Resend's privacy policy

The site also links to outside services — Google Maps and Waze for directions, and individual rink, club, shop, and program websites. Our schedule pages may also show public calendar feeds that rinks publish. When you follow an outside link, you're leaving Rink Hunters and that site's own privacy practices apply.

We don't sell or rent your personal information, and sponsors and advertisers receive only aggregate totals.

Children

Rink Hunters is a general-audience site about ice rinks and hockey. Some of our games may appeal to younger players, so the site is built not to need personal information from anyone: there are no accounts, and the games don't ask for names, email addresses, or other personal details. Our forms are intended for adults and rink operators. If you believe a child has sent us personal information through a form, please contact us and we'll delete it.

Your Choices

• You can use the site without sharing your browser's location — type a place instead, or use the other filters
• Most ad and content blockers block Plausible; blocking it doesn't affect how the site works
• You can clear saved game scores and checklist items through your browser's site-data settings
• You can ask for a copy of, or deletion of, anything you sent us through our forms — see Contact below

Changes to This Policy

If we change how the site collects or uses data, we'll update this page and the effective date below. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Privacy questions, deletion requests, or anything else along these lines: