HooperLabs | Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy applies to hooper-labs.com and all associated subdomains — including sim.hooper-labs.com and hoopergm.com — and any other tools or services offered under the HooperLabs brand. By using any HooperLabs service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

HooperLabs is a basketball content platform operated as a personal project. We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties, and we do not use it for advertising.

HooperLabs offers several products:

HooperSIM — a basketball lineup simulator with optional account features
HooperGM — a multiplayer basketball GM simulation game requiring a free account
HooperTrivia, HooperData, NBA GOAT Calculator — standalone tools, no account required

2. Freeplay and Anonymous Tools (No Account)

Automatically collected data (via Google Analytics)

When you visit any HooperLabs site, Google Analytics automatically collects:

IP address (anonymized)
Browser type and version
Device type and operating system
Pages visited and time spent
Referring URLs
General geographic location (country/city level)

This data is collected via cookies and is used solely to understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. We do not have access to personally identifiable information through Google Analytics.

User-provided data

In anonymous tools, the only input HooperLabs may accept is an optional display label (such as a creator name when saving a lineup). This data:

Is entirely optional
Is not linked to any account, email address, or identity
Is validated and sanitized before storage

We do not collect email addresses, payment information, or any other personal information through anonymous tools.

3. Account Features (HooperSIM GM/Fantasy and HooperGM)

Creating an account unlocks persistent gameplay features across HooperSIM and HooperGM.

3.1 Information we collect with an account

Data	Purpose
Email address	Account login, email verification, password reset
Password	Stored only as a securely hashed value — we never store or have access to your plain-text password
Display name	Shown publicly wherever your activity appears
Rosters and player selections	Core gameplay data
GC balance and transaction history	Tracks in-game currency earned through gameplay and purchased via Stripe
Rank, rating, and match history	Powers ranking systems and matchmaking
Friends list and friend requests	Lets you connect with other accounts you choose to add
Lineup reactions	Records emoji reactions left on rosters

We deliberately collect as little as possible to run these features. We do not collect your real name, phone number, address, or any government ID. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe — we never receive, store, or have access to your card number or billing details.

3.2 What's public vs. private on your account

Your account has a public-facing profile that other logged-in users can view. It shows your display name, rank and rating, and rosters. It does not show your GC balance, purchase history, or transaction history.

3.3 Email use

We send exactly two types of transactional email: account verification (when you sign up) and password reset (when you request one). We do not send newsletters, marketing email, or digest emails of any kind, and we do not share your email address with any third party for marketing purposes.

3.4 Account deletion

You can request deletion of your account at any time by contacting us (Section 11). Deleting your account will remove your login credentials, email address, and personal identifiers. Some non-identifying gameplay history may be retained in a form that no longer identifies you, for the integrity of other players' match history.

4. Game Currency (GC) Purchases

HooperGM offers optional Game Currency (GC) purchases processed securely through Stripe. When you make a purchase:

You are redirected to a Stripe-hosted payment page
Your card number and billing details are entered directly on Stripe's servers and are never transmitted to or stored by HooperLabs
HooperLabs receives only a confirmation of successful payment and the purchase amount
GC is credited to your account upon confirmed payment

All GC purchases are final. Game Currency is virtual only with no cash value and cannot be refunded, transferred, or exchanged for real money. GC can also be earned for free through gameplay without any purchase.

5. Cookies

HooperLabs uses cookies for two purposes:

Analytics — via Google Analytics, to understand site usage. These do not track you across other websites for advertising purposes.
Authentication — a session cookie that keeps you logged in. This cookie is functional, not used for tracking or advertising, and is only set if you create an account and log in.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking at any time by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Disabling cookies will prevent you from staying logged in but will not affect anonymous tools.

6. Third-Party Services

HooperLabs uses the following third-party services:

Google Analytics — website traffic analytics. Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Stripe — payment processing for GC purchases. Your payment information is handled entirely by Stripe and is never stored by HooperLabs. Privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy
Railway — application hosting
Cloudflare / GoDaddy — DNS and domain management
Resend — transactional email delivery for account verification and password reset

These services may process data in accordance with their own privacy policies. HooperLabs does not control and is not responsible for the data practices of these third parties.

7. How We Use Your Information

We use the data described above to:

Operate core gameplay features across all HooperLabs products
Authenticate your account and keep it secure
Calculate GC balances, rankings, and matchmaking
Process GC purchases securely via Stripe
Display your public profile and social features as you use them
Understand how visitors use HooperLabs tools and fix technical issues
Improve site performance and content

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any commercial purpose, and we do not sell it.

8. Data Retention

Google Analytics data is retained according to Google's standard retention settings (26 months by default)
Anonymous tool data (including optional creator names) is retained indefinitely as it is referenced by shareable codes. Contact us to request removal.
Account data (email, rosters, GC history, rank history) is retained for as long as your account is active. Deletion removes identifying data as described in Section 3.4.
Purchase records are retained as required for financial and legal compliance.

9. Age Requirements & Children's Privacy

Anonymous tools have no age restriction since they require no account and collect no personal information.

Creating a HooperLabs account requires you to be at least 16 years old. Making GC purchases requires you to be of legal age to enter into contracts in your jurisdiction. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16 through account registration. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 16, we will delete the account and associated personal data.

10. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights under applicable privacy laws (including GDPR and CCPA) to:

Access the data we hold about you
Request correction or deletion of your data
Opt out of analytics tracking
Receive a copy of your data in a portable format

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to request data removal, or want to delete your account, contact us at:

james@hooper-labs.com

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of HooperLabs services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If we make a material change to how we handle account data or payment processing, we will make a reasonable effort to highlight that change.