CountryChase privacy policy

Who to contact

CountryChase is created by ChKo Apps. For questions about this policy or requests about information handled for the site, contact support@countrychase.com.

Your game and browser storage

The header language picker saves your chosen language in this browser's local storage under countrychase.language.v1. The choice stays until you change it or clear site data. Game text and written country names are translated on your device without a translation service. Spoken names use recordings hosted with the game as described below. The language preference does not grant analytics consent.

The Sound on / Sound off button below the map controls game tones and country-name announcements. Your mute preference is saved in this browser's local storage and stays until you change it or clear site data. Game tones are generated on your device. Country-name announcements play recordings hosted with the game. English is used by default; Greek, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Korean and Hindi have recordings in those languages. Playback does not contact a speech provider or require an installed voice. This is separate from analytics.

The game stores personal bests and your last 20 completed games in your browser's local storage. Personal bests contain countries found, elapsed time, accuracy, mistakes, and best streak, stored separately for each quiz and timed mode. Recent game history includes the completion date, quiz and mode, time, best streak, and each country's identifier, outcome, and number of mistakes so you can reopen the result breakdown and completed map. Practice games appear in history but do not set personal bests. These records are used to show your own progress. The stored record collection and history are not uploaded to a score server, and there are no accounts or online leaderboards. Analytics can receive summary metrics from your current run, as described below.

Open Your Progress from the user icon in the game header to view these records. Clear history removes recent games while keeping personal bests. Older history entries are replaced when you complete more than 20 games. Personal bests remain until they are replaced or cleared by you or your browser. Clearing this site's browser data removes both. Private browsing and browser storage settings may prevent records from being saved. A run in progress is not an account-based saved game.

Maps, flags, fonts, and game libraries are served with the site. No external map provider receives your quiz guesses.

Game, sharing, and support-link events

We measure when a game starts, finishes, or is restarted, when a hint is used, when a question is skipped, when the Challenge a friend button is clicked, and when a coffee support link is clicked. This helps us understand which quizzes people play, how often they finish, and where the game could be easier to learn.

These events can include the selected quiz and mode, number of places, and the button or action used. Run summaries can include places found and completed, accuracy, mistakes, best streak, skipped and revealed totals, elapsed seconds for timed modes, and whether the run set a local personal best. Restart events can include progress and the new mode selected.

We do not add country-by-country answers, full result lists, names, email addresses, account identifiers, or saved result histories to these game events. A Challenge a friend click records the button activation, even if the link cannot be copied; it does not confirm sharing or a friend joining. A support-link click records interest in the link; it does not confirm a donation or send a payment amount.

Plausible receives these events independently of the Google Analytics choice. Google Analytics receives them only while you have allowed it. Actions taken before Google Analytics permission are not saved for later submission to Google Analytics.

Plausible site statistics

We use Plausible to understand visits and page use. It records pageview and engagement events to calculate reports about pages visited, referral and campaign sources, approximate location, and browser or device type. Its dashboard shows aggregate trends; it stores event and session records to calculate those statistics.

The default Plausible integration used here does not use analytics cookies, browser cache, or local storage and does not create persistent visitor identifiers. Plausible processes IP addresses and User-Agent information to derive approximate location and a daily identifier specific to this site and device. It does not store the raw IP addresses or User-Agent strings. The daily identifier does not link visits across days, devices, or other sites. Read Plausible's data policy for details.

Plausible runs separately from optional Google Analytics and is not switched by the Google Analytics controls below. It receives the game-event summaries described above, rather than your stored record collection or individual country answers.

Optional Google Analytics

Google Analytics runs only when it has been activated for CountryChase and you explicitly choose Allow Google Analytics. Until then, this site does not load the Google Analytics script, send requests to Google Analytics, or set Google Analytics cookies. The game works the same if you reject Google Analytics.

If you allow it, Google Analytics helps us understand visits, page use, and the game events described above. Google may process page addresses, referrers, browser and device details, interaction information, cookie identifiers, and approximate location information. Network requests also expose your IP address to Google; Google states that Google Analytics does not log or store IP addresses. We do not add your email address, stored record collection, or individual country answers to Analytics events.

The site's Google Analytics configuration disables advertising personalization and Google signals. These settings apply to Google Analytics; the separate AdSense integration is explained below. Read Google's explanation of Analytics data collection and how Google uses information from partner sites for details of Google's processing.

Google Analytics cookies and consent

After you opt in, Google Analytics can use first-party cookies such as _ga and _ga_… to distinguish browsers and maintain session information. CountryChase sets these optional cookies to expire after 180 days without extending that expiration on each visit; browsers may remove them sooner. See Google's cookie documentation for their purpose.

Your allow or reject choice is saved separately in your browser's local storage and remembered for up to 180 days. The saved value may remain until it is replaced or you clear browser data, but an expired choice no longer allows Google Analytics. You can use Google Analytics preferences to reject Google Analytics or withdraw permission at any time. When you withdraw after Google Analytics has loaded, the site disables its collection, removes accessible Google Analytics cookies for this site, and reloads the page to unload that tracker.

Withdrawing applies to future Google Analytics collection; it does not automatically delete information already processed by Google. Clearing browser data removes your saved choice as well as game records. If your browser cannot save the choice, Google Analytics stays off by default on a later visit. These controls do not disable Plausible or the AdSense script.

Google AdSense and future advertising

CountryChase includes Google AdSense in preparation for possible advertising. We have not added manual ad placements. Whether ads appear also depends on the site's AdSense account settings, including Auto ads.

The AdSense script connects to Google when a page loads. Google can receive network information such as your IP address, browser details, and page address even when no ad is visible. This is separate from Google Analytics and is not disabled by declining Google Analytics.

If ads are served, Google and its advertising partners may use cookies or other storage for ad delivery, measurement, and personalization where enabled. Personalized advertising can use information about previous visits to this site and other websites. See Google's advertising cookie disclosures. You can review or opt out of personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings.

Advertising settings and any applicable advertising consent messages are managed separately through AdSense. If the advertising providers or the way ads are used change, we will update this policy and the relevant privacy choices.

Hosting and technical requests

The public site is hosted through Cloudflare. Delivering pages and protecting the service requires processing technical request information, such as IP addresses, requested URLs, browser information, and traffic or security details. This processing is separate from optional Google Analytics and happens when you request the site, including when Google Analytics is rejected.

Cloudflare's handling of service and end-user information is described in its privacy policy. Hosting and analytics providers may process information in countries outside your own under their applicable service terms and safeguards.

Email and external links

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever information you include, and use it to respond to your message. Include only information needed for your question. Email providers also process the message as part of delivering it.

Links to the creator's site, source credits, and optional support services lead to other websites. Those sites have their own privacy policies. Following an external link sends a request to that service.

Questions, requests, and changes

You can clear game records yourself in your browser and manage optional Google Analytics using the controls above. To ask about access, correction, or deletion of information handled for CountryChase, or to raise another privacy concern, email support@countrychase.com. The rights available to you can depend on where you live and the information involved.

We will update this page when the site's data practices change and show the revised date above. A change that requires fresh permission will not turn optional Google Analytics on automatically.