Last updated: 19 October 2026
The short version
- You can play without telling us anything about you.
- If you play online as a guest, other players see the name you type. We don’t keep it after the game. Don’t use your real name.
- If you are 13 or over, you can make an account. We keep your username, a scrambled copy of your password and your game results. We never ask for your email or real name.
- Other players can see your username, level and rating. The top 20 players are shown on a public leaderboard.
- There is no chat. Other players only see your name, level, rating and moves.
- We show adverts from Google. If you tell us you are under 13, Google is told to treat you as a child, so the adverts are not based on what you do online.
- Your answer to “How old are you?” stays on your device. We never send it to our server.
- You can delete your account at any time. Accounts not used for 2 years are deleted.
- Questions? Email info@4inarow.online. A parent or carer can email us too.
Who we are
This notice covers this website (4inarow.online) and the Four in a Row game at play.4inarow.online (also when the game is shown inside a page of this website). They are run by Mark Davies (47 Ravenswood Road, London SW12 9PN), an individual based in England, United Kingdom (“we”, “us”). We decide how your information is used, so we are the “controller” under data protection law. You can contact us at info@4inarow.online.
We follow the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, the EU GDPR for visitors in the European Union, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR, as changed by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025), and the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code (the “Children’s code”).
What we collect and why
Reading this website (4inarow.online)
You can read every page without signing up. This website runs on WordPress. It does not have user accounts for visitors. If comments are switched on and you leave one, WordPress keeps the name, comment and (if you give one) email and website you type, plus your IP address and browser details to help stop spam. Comments that are approved are shown publicly. If comments are switched off, none of this is collected.
If you email us, we keep your email and our reply only as long as we need to deal with it (normally no more than 12 months).
Playing the computer, or 2 players on one screen
These games run only in your browser. Nothing about them is sent to us.
Playing online as a guest
You type a name and play. While you are connected, our game server holds your guest name, your moves and any game or tournament code, so that the game works. Other players in the lobby and in your games see your guest name. When you leave, this is deleted. Guest names and games are never saved to a file.
Game accounts (13 and over only)
If you make an account, we save:
- your username (you choose it; please don’t use your real name)
- a scrambled (hashed) copy of your password, made with a method called scrypt. We can’t read your password.
- your rating, best rating, and how many games you have played, won, lost and drawn
- the date the account was created and when it was last used
- sign-in codes for the devices you are signed in on. We only keep a scrambled (hashed) copy, and each one stops working after 90 days.
We do not ask for your email address, real name, date of birth, photo or location.
To protect accounts, our server counts wrong passwords for a username for up to 15 minutes (only in memory, never saved).
Your age answer
The game asks “How old are you?” with three choices. Your answer is kept only in your browser (see the cookies page). It is never sent to our server. We use it to switch off accounts for under-13s and to tell Google how to treat you for adverts.
Technical information
Like every website, when your browser connects, our host receives your IP address, browser type, the pages you open and the time. Our host keeps these server logs for a limited period set by our host, for security and to fix problems. Our game server does not save IP addresses. We do not use logs to work out who people are.
Adverts
We show adverts from Google AdSense. See Adverts and Google below.
Our reasons (lawful bases)
| What | Our lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Running the website and game, guest play, security and server logs | Legitimate interests: to provide a safe, working game you have asked to use |
| Game accounts, ratings, levels and the leaderboard | Contract: providing the account you asked for. Ratings and the leaderboard are part of that service. |
| Personalised adverts and advertising cookies | Consent (in the UK, EU and Switzerland you are asked first, and can change your mind) |
| Non-personalised adverts | Legitimate interests: adverts pay for the game. Any cookies these use are covered by the consent message where required. |
| Comments and emails you send us | Legitimate interests: to reply and to run the site |
Who can see what
- Other players see your guest name or username, your level and rating (accounts only) and your moves. There is no chat and no private messages, so nobody can send you messages through the game.
- Everyone can see the top 20 players (username, rating, level, games played and games won) on the leaderboard in the game and at
/leaderboard.json. Players appear only after 5 rated games. - Our host (GoDaddy) stores the website, the game server and the accounts file for us.
- Google provides the adverts (see below).
- We never sell your information. We only share it if the law makes us (for example, a court order).
Adverts and Google
Adverts help keep the game free. We use Google AdSense.
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings (adssettings.google.com). You can also opt out of some other companies’ use of cookies for personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info.
- Read How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
In the UK, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, a consent message from Google asks you before any personalised adverts or advertising cookies are used. You can change your choice at any time with the “Privacy and cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page.
Age and adverts. In the game, each advert is tagged with your age answer:
- Under 13, or if you haven’t answered yet: tagged as a child. Google then shows only non-personalised adverts and doesn’t build an advertising profile.
- 13 to 17: tagged as a teenager, so Google applies its extra protections for teenagers.
- 18 or over: no special tag. Adverts are personalised only if you agree in the consent message.
On the pages of 4inarow.online itself we can’t know your age, so adverts there follow the choice you make in the consent message.
Children
- The game is made to be safe for children. There is no chat, and we don’t ask for real names, emails, photos or locations.
- Under-13s can play the computer, play 2 players on one screen and play online as a guest. They can’t make an account.
- Accounts are only for people aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (this also follows the US law called COPPA).
- If we find out that a child under 13 has made an account, we will delete it. Parents and carers can ask us to do this: email us the username.
- Settings are private by default: no profile pictures, no friends lists, no location, and no nudges to share more.
- More for grown-ups: For parents and carers.
How long we keep things
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Guest names, lobby, games and game codes | Only while you are connected. Deleted when you leave (or when the server restarts). |
| Game account | Until you delete it, or after 24 months with no sign-in or play. The server checks every day. |
| Sign-in codes | 90 days. Expired ones are removed. |
Backup copy of the accounts file (accounts.json.bak) | One backup copy. It is overwritten each time the file is saved, and straight away when an account is deleted. |
| Wrong-password counter | Up to 15 minutes, in memory only |
| Server logs kept by our host | For a limited period set by our host |
| Things saved in your browser (name, sign-in code, age answer) | Until you sign out, change them or clear your browser’s site data |
| Advertising cookies | See the cookies page |
| Comments (if switched on) | Until the comment is deleted |
| Emails to us | Normally no more than 12 months |
Where information is stored
Our host and Google may store or process information outside the UK, including in the United States. When that happens it is protected by UK and EU rules: the UK–US “data bridge” and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (for companies signed up to them), or standard contractual clauses.
Keeping it safe
Passwords and sign-in codes are only stored scrambled (hashed). Too many wrong passwords lock that username for 15 minutes. The accounts file can’t be opened from the web. No system is perfect, so please use a password you don’t use anywhere else.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- tell you what information we have about you and give you a copy (access)
- correct it (correction)
- delete it (deletion). You can delete your game account yourself in the game: open your account and choose “Delete my account”.
- limit how we use it (restriction), or stop using it (objection)
- give it to you in a format a computer can read (portability)
- stop using it where you gave consent: use “Privacy and cookie settings” at any time (withdraw consent)
It’s free. Email info@4inarow.online and we’ll reply within one month. Because we don’t hold email addresses for accounts, we may ask you a question to check the account is yours, so nobody can delete someone else’s account. Children can ask for themselves, or a parent or carer can ask for them.
Complaints
If you’re unhappy, please tell us first and we’ll try to put it right. You can also complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk, phone 0303 123 1113. If you live in the EU, you can contact your local data protection authority.
Changes
If we change this notice, we will update it here and change the date at the top. Big changes will be shown in the game.
Contact
Mark Davies (47 Ravenswood Road, London SW12 9PN), England, United Kingdom. Email: info@4inarow.online