Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 6, 2026 · Last updated: November 11, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Coffee Breach ("Coffee Breach", "we", "us") collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you use the Coffee Breach game (formerly called PATCH PANIC), the websites at coffeebreach.com and app.coffeebreach.com and related services (the "Service"). Coffee Breach is operated by Launch Texas LLC ("Launch Texas") and was developed by Vishva Patel.

1. Summary

• We collect only what the game needs: your email address, your first and last name, your username, an optional profile photo and your gameplay results.
• Your email and your name are never shown publicly. Your username, profile photo (if you add one), scores, level and badges are public.
• We do not sell your personal information, we do not use advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not use third-party analytics.
• You can download your data or close your account yourself at any time in Settings → Account, or ask us to access, correct or delete your data.
• If you close your account, we keep its record for 90 days and then erase it. You can ask us to erase it sooner.
• If you send an idea with "Suggest an idea", we email it to the developer with your username and email address, so they can reply.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Email address: to create your account and send you one-time sign-in codes. We do not use passwords.
• First and last name: collected when you create your profile, so we know who is playing and can address you in the game. Your name is private: it is never shown on leaderboards, share pages or event screens.
• Username: the public name shown on leaderboards, share pages and event screens.
• Profile photo (optional): if you upload one, we keep only a 256×256 copy that we re-create from the image's pixels. The original file, and any metadata in it such as location, camera details or names, is not stored. The photo is shown next to your username on leaderboards and event screens, and you can remove it at any time from your profile. To fit the photo into a circle, we automatically crop it around its most visually prominent area; we do not use facial recognition, and we do not create or store face geometry, faceprints or any other biometric identifiers from photos.
• Event names: if you host an event, the name you give it.
• Suggestions (optional): if you use "Suggest an idea" in the game, the text you write. We email it to the developer together with your username and email address, so they can reply.
• Teams: if you create or join a team, the team's name, who owns it, who is in it and when they joined, its weekly goal, and whether it appears in the public team ranking.

Information created when you play

• Game results: scores, number of correct answers, game mode and the categories you picked, date and time, experience points (XP), level, badges, daily challenge attempts and streaks, and the events you host or play in. For normal games we also keep the round's question-order number, so a friend you challenge can replay the same questions. Practice rounds are not saved.
• Account activity: when your account was created, how many times you have signed in and when you last signed in (used to tell new and returning players apart and to protect accounts).
• Your agreement: which version of the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy you accepted, when, and your confirmation that you are 18 or older. We keep this as a record of your consent.
• If you close your account, the date you closed it.
• We do not store which individual answers you chose.

Information collected automatically

• Session cookie (pp_session): keeps you signed in for up to 7 days. If you tick "This is a shared or public computer" when signing in, it ends when you close the browser and expires on our side after 12 hours at most. It is strictly necessary for the Service to work.
• Sign-in cookie (pp_login): a random value set when you ask for a sign-in code, so that the code and the emailed link work only in the browser that asked for them. It expires after 15 minutes and is strictly necessary.
• IP address and request data: processed by our servers, and by our network provider Cloudflare (see section 5), to deliver the Service, limit abuse (for example, rate-limiting sign-in attempts) and keep the Service secure. Rate-limiting data is held in memory only and is not used to identify you for any other purpose. If an IP address triggers our automated abuse protection (for example by scanning for files, putting attack code in a web address, calling administrator functions without access, or repeatedly entering wrong codes), we store that address (encrypted; for an IPv6 address, only its /64 network, the part that identifies the connection rather than the device) with the reason (which may include the web address requested), when it was blocked, until when, and how many times. It is blocked for 1 hour, or 1 day and then 7 days if it happens again within 30 days, and the record is deleted 30 days after the block ends. Our administrators can see these records and lift a block. A block applies to everyone sharing that address, such as an office or event network, or, for IPv6, that /64 network. Requests your browser marks as sent by another website (current browsers do this, for example for hidden images on a page) do not count toward a block. Our hosting infrastructure may keep standard server logs for a limited period.
• Browser storage: your sound settings (pp_audio), your theme choice, Arcade or Corporate (pp_theme), whether you've seen the welcome tour (pp_tour) an event join link you opened before signing in (pp_join, removed once you join) a challenge link you opened (pp_challenge, removed once you accept or dismiss it) a team invite link you opened (pp_team, removed once you join or dismiss it) and a join code you opened as a link, like app.coffeebreach.com/K7Q2M (pp_code, removed once you join or dismiss it) are stored in your browser's local storage. They stay in your browser, except that the event, challenge and team links and join codes are sent to our server when you use them. Older versions also stored the music on/off setting as pp_music (moved into pp_audio), the on-screen music player's corner as pp_dock and the last music link as pp_ext_link; they are removed automatically.
• Photo processing: if you pick a large photo, your browser shrinks it on your device before it is uploaded.

We do not collect payment information, precise location, contacts, biometric identifiers, or sensitive personal information (as defined by applicable law).

3. How we use information

• To provide the Service: create and secure your account, check that the username you type is available, run games, calculate scores, XP, levels and badges, run daily challenges and events, and show your profile photo if you add one.
• To show leaderboards, event screens, share pages and share posters.
• To read and answer the ideas you send with "Suggest an idea", and to decide what to add to the game.
• To keep records of tips that Buy Me a Coffee reports to the developer.
• To send transactional emails: sign-in codes, and verification codes when you ask to download or delete your data. We do not send marketing email.
• To protect the Service and its users: prevent cheating, abuse, fraud and security incidents, and enforce our Terms of Use.
• To keep a record of a closed account for 90 days, so we can handle abuse reports, disputes, mistakes and legal claims about it, before erasing it.
• To comply with legal obligations.

Legal bases (EEA/UK users): performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) to provide the game and your account; our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) in keeping the Service secure, fair and working, including keeping a closed account's record for 90 days, reading and answering suggestions you choose to send, and keeping records of tips; and compliance with legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)).

4. What is public

Your username, profile photo (if any), scores, rank, level, badges and number of games appear on public leaderboards and event screens. Your first and last name do not. If you're in a team, its other members see your username, profile photo and this week's results (points, games and progress toward the team's goal), never your email or name. If the team's owner turns on the public team ranking, everyone can see the team's name, how many members it has and its points this week, but not who the members are. We also show two public totals that never identify anyone: how many players have signed up, and how many signed-in players are online now (had the site open in the last 2 minutes). To count who is online, our server keeps the time of each signed-in player's most recent request in memory only; it is not stored, and we never show who is online. When a game ends, a public share page (/s/<number>) and poster image are available for that score; anyone with the link can view them. If you send a challenge link (/?challenge=<number>), whoever opens it sees the same username, score and topics as the share page, and can play the same questions. Your email address and name are never shown publicly.

5. How we share information

We do not sell personal information, and we do not "share" it for cross-context behavioral advertising (as those terms are defined by California law). We disclose personal information only:

• With our staff: authorized Launch Texas staff can view account information, including your email and name, to run, secure and support the Service and to handle requests like yours. Staff access is limited to approved admin accounts and requires a fresh email verification each time.
• With service providers that process it on our behalf under contract, such as our hosting provider and our email delivery provider, Zoho Mail (which receives your email address and the emails we send you, such as sign-in and verification codes).
• With Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc.), our network and security provider: all traffic between your browser and the Service passes through Cloudflare, which runs the encrypted (HTTPS) connection and filters attacks. To do that it processes your IP address and the content of your requests and our replies, such as your email address when you ask for a sign-in code. If it checks a browser for automated traffic, it may set a short-lived security cookie of its own (see section 6). Cloudflare's own privacy policy covers how it handles this data.
• When you send a suggestion: it is emailed through Zoho Mail to the developer's Launch Texas mailbox, which is hosted by Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Corporation), together with your username and email address.
• Tips: "Support the cause" links to Buy Me a Coffee (buymeacoffee.com), a separate service. We don't send it any of your information. If you tip, you do so on its site under its own terms and privacy policy, and it may share the details you give it with the developer, such as your name, your email address and any message you add.
• When you choose to share: if you click "Share on LinkedIn", you leave the Service and LinkedIn's own privacy policy applies.
• Links to other websites: the Service links to other sites (for example the developer's LinkedIn profile on the About the developer page, linked from the footer, and official security advisories). Those sites have their own privacy policies; we do not send them your personal information when you click a link.
• For legal reasons: to comply with law, legal process or lawful requests by public authorities, or to protect the rights, safety and security of users, the public or the Service.
• In a business transfer: if the Service is transferred to another operator, subject to this Policy.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. We do not track you across other websites and we do not sell or share personal information for advertising, so there is nothing for these browser signals to switch off. We treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a valid request to opt out of any such sale or sharing.

We use two strictly necessary cookies: pp_session (HttpOnly; expires after 7 days, when you sign out, or, on a shared computer, when you close the browser) and pp_login (HttpOnly; ties a sign-in code to the browser that asked for it and expires after 15 minutes) and the local-storage settings listed in section 2 (pp_audio, pp_theme, pp_tour, pp_join, pp_challenge, pp_team, pp_code), which stay in your browser. Our network provider, Cloudflare, may also set a short-lived, strictly necessary security cookie (such as __cf_bm or cf_clearance) if it checks your browser for automated traffic. We do not use advertising, analytics or cross-site tracking cookies. Fonts and other assets come from our own servers, through Cloudflare like all traffic, not from other sites.

6A. Your own music

The sound settings let you play a music or audio file from your device. It plays directly in your browser, with nothing shown on the game screen, and it is never uploaded to us or anyone else. Stop in the sound settings ends it. No outside music service is used.

6B. "In the News" questions

Some questions are created from public security advisories (the GitHub Advisory Database and the U.S. CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog). Our server downloads those public advisories and sends their text, with our drafting instructions, to an AI service that drafts and checks the questions: Google's Gemini API, or Anthropic's Claude API if we switch to it. No personal information about you or any player is sent to GitHub, CISA, Google or Anthropic for this; only public advisory text and our instructions are used. Google's and Anthropic's own terms cover how they handle that text. These questions are removed automatically after 30 days.

7. How long we keep information

• Account details (email, name, username, profile photo), your consent record, sign-in activity and game results: while your account is open, and for 90 days after you close it. After that they are erased automatically, or sooner if you ask us. A removed profile photo is deleted from our servers right away; a copy someone's browser already loaded may stay in that browser's cache, but the Service no longer shows or links to it. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we must keep it to comply with law or resolve disputes.
• Sign-in and verification codes and links: stored only as one-way hashes and deleted after use or within 15 minutes.
• Sessions: up to 7 days (12 hours on a shared computer), or until you sign out. "Sign out of all devices" in Settings → Account ends all of them at once.
• Teams: until the team's owner deletes it, we delete it, or the owner's account is closed. Your membership ends when you leave, are removed, or close your account. This week's team results are worked out from your game results, which are kept as described above.
• Suggestions: kept in the developer's mailbox while they help plan the game. They aren't stored in the game's database, so they aren't part of "Download my data"; you can ask us to delete yours (see section 8).
• Tip details that Buy Me a Coffee shares with the developer: kept in the developer's Buy Me a Coffee account and email for record-keeping.
• Backups may contain your information for a limited period after deletion until they are overwritten.

8. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, UK GDPR, or the California Consumer Privacy Act and other U.S. state privacy laws), you may have the right to:

• know and access the personal information we hold about you, and receive a copy in a portable format;
• correct inaccurate information, including your username (you can add, change or remove your profile photo yourself at any time);
• delete your account and personal information;
• object to or restrict certain processing; and
• not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

Do it yourself, instantly: while signed in, open Settings (the gear icon) → Account. To protect your data, we first email you a 6-digit code to confirm it's you; once confirmed, these options stay unlocked for 10 minutes. Download my data gives you a copy of everything the game stores about you in a portable file (JSON); suggestions you sent aren't included (see section 7). Close my account signs you out everywhere and removes your username, photo and scores from leaderboards, event screens and share pages right away, and you can no longer sign in. We keep the account's record (email, name, username, photo, game history and consent record) for 90 days after you close it, then erase it automatically. Events you hosted stay visible to their players.

To have your data erased sooner, or to reopen a closed account, email us as described below.

For anything else, or if you can't sign in, email us at the address listed on our Security Policy page with the subject "Privacy request" from the email address on your account, so we can verify it is you. We respond within one month (GDPR) or 45 days (California), and will tell you if we need an extension permitted by law. You may use an authorized agent where the law allows. If you are in the EEA or UK, you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Appeals. If we decline your request, in whole or in part, you can appeal by replying to our decision with the subject "Privacy appeal". We will respond to your appeal in writing within 60 days and explain our decision. If you are not satisfied, you may contact your state attorney general (for example, the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division).

9. Security

We protect your information with measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS); encryption of your email address, first and last name and profile photo, and of IP addresses recorded for blocking, in our database (AES-256-GCM, with the key kept separately from the database and its backups); keyed hashing (HMAC-SHA-256) of sign-in codes, verification codes and session tokens, so they are never stored in readable form; sign-in codes and links that work only in the browser that requested them, HttpOnly session cookies, shorter sessions for shared computers, a fresh emailed code before your data can be downloaded or deleted, the option to sign out of all devices, rate limiting, automatic blocking of addresses that scan, attack or guess codes, a strict Content Security Policy, keeping game answers on the server, and checking every uploaded photo (only real JPG, PNG or WebP images up to 2 MB are accepted, and each one is rebuilt from its pixels so hidden content and metadata are discarded). No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. See our Security Policy to report a vulnerability.

10. Children

The Service is for adults and is not directed to anyone under 18. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

11. International users

The Service is operated from the United States, and your information may be processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, for international transfers.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and change the "Last updated" date. If changes are material, you will be shown the update and asked to accept it before you continue playing.

13. Contact

Questions about this Policy or our privacy practices: contact us at the address listed on our Security Policy page.