Privacy Policy — CheeseSMP

1. Who we are

CheeseSMP is an independently operated Minecraft multiplayer server, run by the CheeseSMP staff team. This policy covers the website at cheesesmp.top and the Minecraft game server reachable at the same address. In this policy, “we” and “us” mean the CheeseSMP staff team, and “you” means anyone who visits the website or plays on the server.

We are the party responsible for the data described here. You can reach us at any time at cheesesmp.help@gmail.com.

CheeseSMP is not an official Minecraft product and is not approved by or associated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft.

2. What this website and server do

The website is an information site. It tells you what CheeseSMP is, how to connect to it, what the gameplay features are, and where to find our Discord server, our store and the sites you can vote for us on. It also shows a live count of how many people are currently playing, which we get by pinging our own game server. Every page on this site is readable without an account and without signing in.

The game server is a survival multiplayer world with lifesteal mechanics and an in-game economy. Running it means keeping records of who is connected, what they own and what they have done, in the same way any multiplayer game server does.

Signing in on the website is optional. It exists so that a player can prove which Minecraft account is theirs, and so that purchases, ranks and support requests can be attached to the right person. You can use every informational part of this site without ever signing in.

3. Signing in with Google

If you choose to sign in with Google, we use Google’s standard OAuth sign-in. We ask Google for the minimum needed to identify you:

Your name as it appears on your Google account, so we have something to call you.
Your email address, which is how we tell one account from another and how we can contact you about your account.

We use this for one purpose only: to create and identify your account on this website, and to link it to the Minecraft username you play on. That link is what lets us apply a rank you purchased to the right player, restore access if you lose it, and answer a support request without having to take your word for who you are.

To be explicit about what we do not do:

We do not request access to Gmail, Google Drive, your contacts, your calendar, your photos or any other Google service.
We do not request or store your Google profile picture.
We never receive or store your Google password. Authentication happens on Google’s own pages.
We do not use anything obtained through Google sign-in for advertising, profiling or any form of automated decision-making.
We do not sell, rent or trade this information, and we do not transfer it to anyone for their own independent use.

You can withdraw our access at any time from your Google account’s third-party access page. Doing so stops future sign-ins; to also have the data we already hold deleted, email us and we will remove it (see section 9).

Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

4. Information we collect

When you visit this website

Standard web server logs: your IP address, the page you asked for, the time, the response code, your browser’s user-agent string and the referring page. These are written by our web server and are used for security and for diagnosing faults.
Nothing else. This site runs no analytics product, no advertising network, no social media pixels and no third-party trackers.

If you sign in with Google

Your name and email address, as described in section 3.
The Minecraft username and account identifier (UUID) you link to it.

When you play on the Minecraft server

Your Minecraft username and UUID.
Your IP address. Game servers receive this by necessity, and we keep a record of it so that bans on cheaters and ban evaders actually hold.
A password you set with the in-game /register command, stored only as a salted cryptographic hash. We cannot read it and we will never ask you for it.
Gameplay data: playtime, login and logout times, in-game balance, inventory and statistics, and which world you were in.
Public chat messages and the commands you run, kept as a moderation record so that reports and appeals can be checked against what actually happened.
Moderation history: warnings, mutes, kicks and bans, along with the reason and the staff member who issued them.
Your approximate country, derived from your IP address, used to spot ban evasion and account sharing.

If you buy something

Purchases are handled entirely by Tebex, our store provider. Your card or payment details are entered on Tebex’s systems and are never sent to us or stored by us.
We receive only what we need to deliver the purchase: the Minecraft username, the package bought, the amount, and a transaction reference.

5. Why we use it

Purpose	What it covers
Running the game	Loading your inventory, balance, hearts and statistics, and putting you back where you left off.
Identifying you	Making sure the person logging in as your username is you, and linking a website account to a Minecraft account.
Moderation and safety	Investigating reports, enforcing the rules, and stopping cheaters, ban evaders and people abusing other players.
Delivering purchases	Applying a rank or package to the account that paid for it, and resolving billing disputes.
Support	Answering your emails and Discord tickets about your account.
Keeping things working	Diagnosing crashes, lag, exploits and abuse of our infrastructure.

Where the law requires a legal basis for this processing, we rely on our legitimate interest in operating a secure and functioning game server, on performance of our terms with you when you play or buy something, and on your consent where you have given it — such as when you choose to sign in with Google.

6. Cookies

This website sets no advertising cookies and no analytics cookies. If you sign in, a single session cookie is set so that the site remembers you are signed in for the length of your session; it contains a random identifier and nothing about you. Clearing your browser cookies signs you out and has no other effect.

Our web fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means your browser requests those font files from Google’s servers and Google sees the request. This is used to serve the fonts, and Google states it does not use it to build advertising profiles.

We do not sell your data. We share it only with the services we need to run CheeseSMP:

Our hosting provider, who operates the physical servers our game server and website run on.
Google, if you use Google sign-in, for the authentication itself.
Tebex, for store purchases and payment processing.
Discord, if you join our Discord server or link your Discord account. Your use of Discord is governed by Discord’s own privacy policy.
Server list and voting sites, if you choose to vote for us. Those sites collect data under their own policies; we receive only your username and the fact that you voted.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to, or where it is necessary to protect players from harm, threats or serious abuse.

8. How long we keep it

Web server logs — up to 30 days, then overwritten.
Gameplay and account data — for as long as your account exists on the server, so your progress is there when you come back.
Chat and command logs — typically up to 90 days, so recent reports can still be checked.
Moderation records — kept while a punishment is active, and afterwards as a history so repeat offences can be seen. Permanent bans are kept indefinitely, because a ban you can delete is not a ban.
Purchase records — kept as long as we need them for accounting, refunds and chargebacks.
Website account data — until you ask us to delete it.

9. Your choices and your rights

Whatever country you are in, you can ask us to:

Tell you what data we hold about you.
Give you a copy of it.
Correct anything that is wrong.
Delete your account and the data attached to it.
Stop a particular use of your data, or withdraw a consent you gave.

Email cheesesmp.help@gmail.com from the address on your account, or open a ticket in our Discord, and tell us your Minecraft username. We aim to respond within 30 days and we do not charge for this.

Two honest limits. We will keep a record of an active ban even if you ask for deletion, because otherwise a banned player could erase the ban by asking; and we may keep purchase records where accounting rules require it. Everything else goes.

If you are in the UK, the EEA or another region with a data protection regulator, you also have the right to complain to that regulator. We would rather you came to us first.

10. Children

CheeseSMP is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. In the EEA, the minimum age is 16 unless local law sets it lower. If you believe a child has given us their information, email us and we will delete the account and the data.

11. Security

Access to the game server and its files is limited to the staff who need it and is protected by strong credentials. Player passwords set with /register are stored only as salted hashes. Payments never touch our systems. That said, no online service can promise perfect security, and we do not pretend otherwise — use a password here that you do not use anywhere else.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of the page, and for anything significant we will announce it in our Discord. Continuing to use the website or the server after a change means you accept the updated policy.

13. Contact us

Questions, requests or complaints about this policy or about your data go to cheesesmp.help@gmail.com. We read everything sent there.