Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 8, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what information The Emberlands ("we," "us," "our") collects through its Discord bot, Discord community, and Vintage Story server (together, the "Service"), how we use it, and the choices you have. We collect as little as we need to run the community and nothing more.
01Introduction
The Emberlands is a community-run hobby project. The Emberlands Discord bot handles whitelisting and account linking, role assignment, support tickets, and moderation. Operating those features requires processing some data from Discord and from our game server, as described below.
02Data we collect
Depending on how you interact with the Service, we may collect and store:
Discord account data
- Discord user ID, username, display name, and avatar — to identify you within the community and the bot's systems.
- Server (guild) and channel IDs, and your roles — to assign roles, gate access, and run features correctly.
- Server join/leave events — for moderation and whitelist management.
Whitelist & game-linking data
- Your Vintage Story player name and/or player ID, and the link between it and your Discord account — so we can whitelist you and connect in-game activity to your community identity.
Message & command data
- The content of commands you send to the bot, and the parameters you provide — to carry out the action you requested.
- Support ticket contents — messages in a ticket you open are stored so staff can help you and keep a record of the request.
- Limited message content for moderation — where a feature requires it (for example, logging deleted/edited messages or automated moderation), the relevant message content and metadata may be processed and stored. We do not read or store your private messages, and we do not monitor general chat beyond what a feature needs.
Moderation records
- Warnings, mutes, kicks, bans, and related notes tied to your Discord user ID — to enforce the rules consistently and keep a history of actions.
Game server data
- The Vintage Story server itself stores standard gameplay data such as your player name/ID, in-game character and world data, and connection logs (including IP address) as part of normal server operation.
We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information, and we do not sell your data.
03How we use your data
- To whitelist you and link your Discord and Vintage Story accounts;
- To assign roles and grant or restrict access to channels and features;
- To operate support tickets and respond to your requests;
- To moderate the community, enforce our rules, and keep members safe;
- To operate, maintain, back up, and improve the Service;
- To comply with legal obligations where applicable.
04Why we're allowed to
Where laws such as the GDPR apply, we process your data based on our legitimate interests in running and securing the community, on your consent (which you give by choosing to join and use the bot's features), and, where relevant, to comply with legal obligations. You can withdraw consent at any time by leaving the community and requesting deletion (see Your rights).
05Sharing & disclosure
We do not sell or rent your data. We only share it:
- With our staff and moderators, who use it to run and moderate the community;
- With service providers that host the bot, database, and game server on our behalf;
- With Discord, which necessarily processes data as the platform the bot runs on (see Discord's Privacy Policy);
- When required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of the community, our members, or others.
06Data retention
We keep data only as long as needed for the purposes above. Whitelist and account-link records are kept while you are a member of the community. Moderation records may be kept longer so that bans and past actions remain enforceable. When data is no longer needed — or when you request deletion and we have no overriding reason to keep it — we delete or anonymize it. Some data may persist temporarily in backups before being cycled out.
07Your rights & choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete the personal data we hold about you, and to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise any of these rights, contact us through our Discord (see Contact). We will respond within a reasonable time.
You can also stop most data collection at any time by removing the bot's access, leaving the Discord server, and no longer connecting to the game server. Note that certain records (such as ban entries) may be retained where we have a legitimate need to keep them.
08Security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including restricting access to authorized staff. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
09Children's privacy
The Service is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age of digital consent in your country). We do not knowingly collect data from anyone below that age. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will remove it.
10Third-party services
The Service relies on Discord and Vintage Story, each of which has its own privacy practices that we do not control. Please review Discord's Privacy Policy and Vintage Story's policies to understand how they handle your data.
11Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will update the "Last updated" date above and may announce significant changes in our Discord. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.
12Contact
Questions or requests about your data? Reach us in our Discord community: discord.gg/eE86x8cFKG — open a ticket or contact a staff member.