Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy applies to hooper-labs.com and all associated subdomains — including sim.hooper-labs.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 analytics 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.

HooperSIM has two ways to play:

• Freeplay — no account required. Anonymous play, exactly as it has always worked. Covered in Section 2.
• GM and Fantasy modes — require a free account. Unlocks persistent rosters, an in-game currency (GC), a competitive ranking system (FAME), and social features like friends and reactions. Covered in Section 3.

You never need an account to use HooperSIM. Creating one is optional and only required if you want the persistent, account-linked features.

2. Freeplay (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 Freeplay, the only input HooperLabs accepts is an optional creator name when saving a lineup. This name:

• Is entirely optional
• Is limited to 32 characters
• Is stored only as a display label attached to your lineup's code
• 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 Freeplay.

3. GM and Fantasy Modes (Account Required)

Creating a HooperSIM account unlocks two additional ways to play — GM (roster assigned automatically, same as Freeplay's random team/era logic, but tracked under your account) and Fantasy (you choose your own players) — along with currency, ranking, and social features layered on top.

3.1 Information we collect with an account

We deliberately collect as little as possible to run these features. We do not collect your real name, phone number, address, payment details, or any government ID. There is no way to purchase GC with real money in HooperSIM — it is earned only by playing.

3.2 What's public vs. private on your account

Your account has a public-facing Account Page that other logged-in users can view. It shows:

• Your display name
• Your current FAME rating and tier
• Your GM and Fantasy rosters
• Aggregated reaction counts on your rosters (e.g. "🔥 12, 💯 4") — not who left each reaction

It does not show:

• Your GC balance
• Your Trade Block listing or purchase history

We chose not to surface GC balance or trade history publicly by default, since we think showing exact in-game wealth could invite unwanted pressure or just feel exposing. This may change in the future as an opt-in setting, but it will always be your choice, not a default.

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.

We use a third-party transactional email provider to deliver these emails. See Section 5 for details.

3.4 Account deletion

You can request deletion of your account at any time by contacting us (Section 10). Deleting your account will remove your login credentials, email address, and personal identifiers. Some non-identifying gameplay history (such as anonymized match outcomes used in aggregate ranking calculations) may be retained in a form that no longer identifies you, for the integrity of other players' match history.

4. 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 (GM/Fantasy modes only) — 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. You can disable cookies entirely through your browser settings — note that disabling cookies will prevent you from staying logged into a GM/Fantasy account, but will not affect Freeplay.

5. Third-Party Services

HooperLabs uses the following third-party services:

• Google Analytics — website traffic analytics. Google's privacy policy is available at https://policies.google.com/privacy
• Railway — application hosting for sim.hooper-labs.com
• Cloudflare / GoDaddy — DNS and domain management
• Resend — sends account verification and password reset emails. Your email address is shared with this provider solely to deliver those two email types.

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.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use the data described above to:

• Operate core gameplay features (Freeplay, GM, Fantasy)
• Authenticate your account and keep it secure
• Calculate GC balances, FAME ratings, and matchmaking
• Display your public profile and social features (friends, reactions) 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.

7. Data Retention

• Google Analytics data is retained according to Google's standard retention settings (26 months by default).
• Freeplay lineup data (including optional creator names) is retained indefinitely, as it is referenced by shareable lineup codes. Contact us to request removal.
• Account data (email, rosters, GC history, FAME history) is retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove identifying data as described in Section 3.4.

8. Age Requirements & Children's Privacy

Freeplay has no age restriction, since it requires no account and collects no personal information.

Creating a HooperSIM account (GM/Fantasy modes) requires you to be at least 16 years old. This is a deliberate requirement of ours, not just a legal minimum — these modes include public profiles, social features, and direct interaction with other users, and we'd rather set the bar higher than the law strictly requires.

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. If you believe a child has created an account or submitted information through our site, please contact us and we will remove it promptly.

9. 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

For Freeplay (no account), most of these rights are best exercised through Google's own tools, since we hold very little identifying data. For accounts, contact us directly (Section 10) and we will respond to access, correction, deletion, or portability requests.

10. 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

11. 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, we will make a reasonable effort to highlight that change rather than relying solely on the updated date.