LEGAL
Privacy Policy
What personal data SkillCity collects, why, who can see it, which services we use, how long we keep it, and your rights under Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).
1. Who is responsible for your data
CodeDevPay, a business based in Ghana, runs SkillCity and is responsible for your personal data (the "data controller"). We follow Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and, where they apply to you, other laws such as Nigeria's Data Protection Act, 2023. Contact us at nyamekye@codedevpay.com.
2. What we collect
If you play without an account, your progress (player name, avatar, XP, coins, badges, applications you track, predictions) and settings (sound, radio station, whether you've seen the intro) are saved only in your browser. They are not sent to us.
If you create an account, we collect:
- Account details: your email address and player name. Your password is handled by our login provider and stored in scrambled (hashed) form; we never see it.
- Your game save: your progress, avatar and settings, so you can continue on any device.
- Tech Market stalls: the item details, price, city, stall photo and the contact details you choose (WhatsApp, phone or email). These are public. Reports you send about a stall are seen only by our team.
- Notifications: an in-game inbox of things that happen to you (challenges, invites, team updates, mentor sessions). If you turn on phone notifications, your browser gives us a push address for this device, which we use only to send you SkillCity notifications. Turn them off any time in the Inbox, or in your browser settings.
- Private messages and group chats: the messages you send, who is in each chat and when you last read it. Only the people in a chat can see its messages. We don't read private messages, except to investigate a serious report or when the law requires it. Deleted messages are removed from the chat.
- Payments: what you bought, the amount, the date, the status and the payment reference. Stripe processes the payment; we never see your card number. Mentors who charge for sessions, and verified sellers, give us their Mobile Money or bank details, which only they and our team can see, so we can pay them. When you use Buy now, your name, phone number and delivery address are shared with that seller only, so they can get the item to you.
- Mentor Lounge: if you apply to mentor, your profile (name, headline, about, fields, languages), office hours, session count and average rating are public. Bookings, notes and reviews are seen only by the mentor and the player who booked. Video-call links are shown only to booked players.
- Talent Centre: whether you let employers find you (off unless you turn it on) and whether you're open to work. If you turn it on, recruiters at companies verified by SkillCity can see your player name, level, headline, verified results (verified XP, team projects and ratings, certificates, live events, 1v1 wins, streak) and the skills on your player card. They never see your email. Invites they send you, and your replies, are seen only by you and that company.
- Certificates and portfolio: your certificates and your public portfolio page (/p/your-id) are public, so anyone with the link, like an employer, can check them. They show your player name and verified results, never your email.
- Project Hub: your team, role, the work you submit and your team chat. While a project is running, the work and chat are visible only to your team. When a project is finished, the work, team names and each member's average peer rating become public as a portfolio. Individual peer reviews are only shown to the person reviewed.
- City Hall elections: if you stand for Governor, your player name, slogan and manifesto (public); your vote (private: other players see only vote totals); and announcements you post as Governor (public).
- Reports you send about other players (for example from voice chat). Only our team sees them.
- Things you create or do: chat messages and voice notes (city chat and match rooms), events you host, RSVPs and check-ins, companies you create or join, job posts, job applications and task submissions, billboards and broadcasts, videos you add to a venue, faith centre membership and uploads, saved courses and arcade scores.
- Live presence: while you're signed in and online, your player name, avatar, level, which building you're in and your position in the plaza are shared live with other online players so you can see each other. This isn't stored.
We also receive technical information when you use the site: your IP address, browser and device type, and error and access logs, collected by our hosting and database providers for security and to keep the service working.
Voice chat is optional and only for signed-in players. When you join a voice room, your voice goes directly to the other players in that room (peer to peer). If a direct connection isn't possible, it passes through an encrypted relay server (TURN). We don't record or store voice chat. Other players in the room see your player name and whether your mic is on.
Voice notes you send in chat are stored and can be heard by anyone who can read that chat, like text messages.
Voice commands are optional. When you use the microphone, your browser's own speech recognition turns your words into text. Some browsers, such as Chrome, send the audio to their provider (for example Google) to do this. We don't record or keep audio. Read-aloud uses your device's built-in voice.
We don't collect payment details, your precise GPS location or your contacts.
3. How we use it and why
- To run SkillCity and your account, save your progress and show your public player card. We need this to provide the service you asked for.
- To run shared features (chat, events, companies, jobs, venues, match rooms) and show your contributions to other players.
- To keep players safe: moderating content, preventing cheating, spam and abuse, and securing accounts. This is in our legitimate interest and yours.
- To send service emails, such as confirming your email address or resetting your password. We don't send marketing emails without your permission.
- To fix problems and improve the game, using technical information.
- Where we rely on your consent (for example, using the microphone), you can withdraw it at any time.
We don't sell your personal data, and we don't show advertising based on your data.
4. What other people can see
- Your public player card: player name, avatar, level, tier and skills, and Skill Passport evidence such as completed tasks and badges. Anyone using SkillCity can see these.
- Messages you post in city chat and match rooms, events you host, companies, job posts, billboards, broadcasts and videos you add, each shown with your player name.
- Your Tech Market stalls, including the photo and the contact details you entered, shown with your player name.
- If you stand for Governor: your player name, slogan, manifesto and vote total. Announcements a Governor posts.
- When you apply for a job or submit a task, the company receives your application, your player name, your public card and your Skill Passport evidence.
Your email address and your full game save are private and are not shown to other players.
6. Data outside Ghana
Our providers may store or process data in other countries, for example in Europe or the United States. When data leaves Ghana, we use providers that protect it with security measures and contractual safeguards, as Act 843 requires.
7. How long we keep it
- Your account and game save: while your account exists.
- Things you post: until you or a moderator delete them, or until your account is deleted.
- After you ask us to delete your account, we delete your personal data within 30 days. Copies in backups are removed within 90 days.
- Technical logs: usually up to 30 days, longer only if needed to investigate abuse or security issues.
- Data saved in your browser stays there until you clear it.
8. Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask what personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
- correct data that is wrong (you can change your player name yourself in Account);
- ask us to delete your data and account;
- object to or limit some uses of your data;
- withdraw consent you gave (for example, by turning off the microphone);
- complain to Ghana's Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.org.gh) or the data protection authority where you live.
To use these rights, email nyamekye@codedevpay.com from the email address on your account. We'll reply within 30 days. You can also ask us to remove specific chat messages or posts.
9. Children
SkillCity is for people aged 13 and over. Players under 18 need a parent's or guardian's permission. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact nyamekye@codedevpay.com and we'll delete it.
10. Security
We protect your data with encrypted connections (HTTPS), database rules that only let each player change their own data, rate limits on chat and posts, and secret keys that never reach players' devices. No system is perfectly secure, so use a strong password and don't reuse it elsewhere. If we discover a breach that puts you at risk, we'll tell you and the Data Protection Commission as the law requires.
11. Cookies and storage on your device
We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, and we don't use analytics tools.
- Your browser's storage keeps your game save (if you're not signed in), your settings and, if you sign in, your login session.
- Your settings (language and low-data mode) are saved only in this browser on your device.
- If you install SkillCity as an app, a service worker keeps copies of the game's files on your device so it loads faster and works offline. It never stores live scores, chat or other live data.
- YouTube and Spotify may set their own cookies when you use their players.
You can clear this storage in your browser settings at any time; you'll be signed out and any progress not saved to an account will be lost.
12. Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy when SkillCity changes, change the date at the top, and tell you in the game or by email about important changes.
13. Contact
CodeDevPay, Ghana · nyamekye@codedevpay.com
See also: Terms of Service