Privacy Policy

About this policy

This policy explains what information Cotonou Lifestyle collects when you create an account, play, make a purchase or message other players, where that information is stored, and the controls you have over it. It applies to the website and the game. By creating an account you accept the practices described here.

You must be 18 or older

Cotonou Lifestyle is an adult game. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or play. Your date of birth is collected at signup for one reason only, to verify your age, and the server rejects registrations that fall outside the permitted range.

We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that an account belongs to a minor, it is suspended and its data deleted. If you believe a minor holds an account, contact us so we can remove it.

Information we collect

Account data includes the display name and handle you choose, your date of birth, an optional email address, and your password, which is stored only as a salted hash and never in readable form.

Gameplay data is your save (position, money, possessions, housing, businesses, relationships and progress) and your settings such as language, audio and graphics quality.

Purchase records hold the amount, currency, status and provider reference of each real-money transaction on your account.

Player-to-player activity covers the messages and game-money transfers you send to other accounts.

Technical data is the IP address, browser user-agent and request timestamps used to run sessions, apply rate limits and block abuse.

Where your data lives

The game is local-first: the full copy of your save sits on your device in browser storage and the local database, so the world keeps running even when you are offline. When you are signed in, your save also syncs to our servers so your progress follows you between devices and survives a lost machine.

Deleting local data does not remove the cloud copy attached to your account, so see “Your rights and controls” below to erase both.

Payments and refunds

Real-money purchases, such as cash packs and verification badges, are processed by licensed payment providers. Your card or mobile-money details go straight to the provider: they are never received, stored or visible on our systems. We keep only the transaction record needed to confirm and credit your purchase.

All sales are final and no refunds are given. Because purchases are delivered automatically to your in-game account the moment payment is confirmed, we do not refund, exchange or cancel them, and that includes unused packs, accidental purchases, changes of mind, losses inside the simulated economy, and accounts later suspended for breaking the rules. In-game money and items have no real-world value and can never be converted back into cash.

If a payment was confirmed but the purchase never reached your account, contact us. A failed delivery is corrected, not refunded.

Messages between players

Messages and game-money transfers between players pass through and are stored on our servers so they can be delivered, synced across your devices and kept in your history. The recipient sees your handle and whatever you send. Never share passwords, payment details or other sensitive information in a message. We will never ask for them in the game.

Cookies and local storage

We use the minimum: a session token that keeps you signed in, a small flag remembering that you dismissed the cookie notice, and preferences such as your language. There are no analytics cookies, no tracking pixels and no advertising identifiers.

What we never do with your data

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information, not to advertisers, data brokers or anyone else. We do not run third-party ad networks, build marketing profiles or follow you across other websites. Data leaves our systems only toward the service providers that run the game itself, hosting and payment processing, and each receives only what it needs to do its job.

How long we keep it

Your account and cloud save are kept for as long as your account exists. Session and security records rotate out on a short cycle. Payment records are retained for the period that accounting and tax rules require and cannot be erased on request. Messages and transfers are kept while the accounts on both sides of the conversation remain active.

How we protect it

Passwords are hashed with scrypt, sensitive fields inside cloud saves, such as your email, are encrypted at rest, connections are served over encrypted channels, and every server route is rate-limited and strictly validated. No system is perfectly secure, but your plain-text password is never stored and your payment details never touch our infrastructure.

Your rights and controls

You can delete your local save from the game Settings, and clearing your browser’s site data erases everything held on your device. To delete your account and everything kept server-side, including your profile, cloud save, message and transfer history, contact us from the email address attached to your account.

Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to access, correct or export the personal data we hold about you. The same contact channel handles those requests.

Changes to this policy

The game is under active development and new features can change what we collect. When that happens this page is updated and the date at the top revised; significant changes are announced in-game before they take effect. Continuing to play after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy, deletion requests, or a confirmed payment that never reached your account: write to us at privacy@cotonoulife.app, including your account handle.