Privacy Policy

Last updated 4 October 2026

Cartridge helps you keep track of the games you play, rate and review them, and share collections of games called Stacks. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. It covers the Cartridge app, the insertcartridge.app website and any other service that links to this policy (together, "Cartridge").

The short version

• We collect information you give us, information about how you use Cartridge, and information from services you connect.
• We use it to run Cartridge, personalise it, keep it safe and make it better.
• Your reviews, ratings and public profile can be seen by anyone. Your settings let you control parts of what others see.
• We share information with service providers that help us run Cartridge, including third-party AI services that power some features. We require them to protect it, and we don't sell your personal data.
• You can see, correct or delete your information, and you can delete your account in the app at any time.

Who runs Cartridge

Cartridge is run by Onyeka Nwamba, an individual developer; it is not run by a company. Onyeka Nwamba is the controller of your personal data under UK and EU data protection law: the person who decides how and why it is used and who is responsible for it. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean Onyeka Nwamba. If you have questions about this policy or your data, write to hello@insertcartridge.app.

Information you give us

• Account details. Your email address, your password if you use one, your handle and your date of birth. We use your date of birth to check that you are old enough to use Cartridge, and we keep only the year.
• Profile. Your display name, bio, profile picture, banner and anything else you add to your profile.
• Your Library and what you post. The games you add and how you track them, such as statuses, ratings, favourites, notes and play details, plus your reviews, Stacks, comments, likes, follows and anything else you create or share in Cartridge.
• Things you scan, share or upload. Camera images when you scan games, barcodes, links you share and the content behind them (such as captions, page text, video and audio), and photos you choose to upload. We only receive the photos you pick, and we only save images to your photo library, such as a share card, if you allow it. Scan images are used to identify games; they are not saved to your photo library or added to your account.
• Choices and settings. Your privacy, notification, advertising and other preferences.
• Messages and reports. What you send us when you contact us, report content, block someone, or take part in a survey, test or promotion.

Information collected automatically

• Usage and interactions. The features and screens you use, the actions you take, such as adding a game or opening a notification, and when and how often you use Cartridge. This includes session recordings that show a simplified view of the screen, with what you type and images hidden, which help us find and fix problems.
• Device and technical information. Your device model, operating system, app version, settings such as language, IP address, and identifiers for your device, app installation and notifications. An IP address can indicate your approximate location.
• Diagnostics and performance. Crash reports, error logs and measurements of how quickly things load and whether they work.
• Website visits. When you visit our website, our servers and hosting providers receive standard technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you request.

When you are signed in, we link this information to your account so we can understand how Cartridge is used and look into problems you run into. You have choices about analytics (see Your rights and choices).

The app and website may use device storage, identifiers and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your choices, and support the analytics, diagnostics and advertising described in this policy.

Information from others

• Sign-in providers. If you sign in with Apple or Google, they share basic details with us, such as your email address (or an Apple private relay address) and an account identifier. We never see your Apple or Google password.
• Gaming platforms you connect. If you connect an account such as Steam, Xbox or PlayStation, we receive information from that platform, such as your account name and ID, your games, play time, play history, achievements and what you are playing now, along with any access credentials needed to keep the connection working, which we store securely. While an account is connected, we may check it regularly in the background, including when the app is closed, to keep your Library, play time and live activity up to date. You can disconnect an account in the app at any time.
• App stores and payment providers. When you buy a subscription or make another purchase, we receive information about it, such as your plan, trial and renewal status. The App Store or another payment provider handles the payment, and we never see your full payment details.
• Other people. Other users may give us information about you, for example when they follow you, comment on your Stacks or report content.
• Advertising partners. They may tell us how ads performed.

How we use information

• To provide Cartridge. Create and manage your account, keep your Library saved and in sync, import games from accounts you connect, identify games from scans and links, show your profile and Stacks, provide subscriptions and run promotions you take part in.
• To personalise Cartridge. Show you relevant games, Stacks, people and activity, suggest what to play, and create personalised features such as Lore.
• For social features. Let you follow people, see activity, like, comment and share, and let others find and see your public profile.
• To communicate with you. Send service messages such as sign-in codes and account or subscription notices, and send notifications, reminders, in-app messages and emails about your activity, what is new and offers. You can control these (see Your rights and choices).
• To understand and improve Cartridge. Measure how features are used, test new ideas, fix problems and develop new features.
• For safety, security and moderation. Check ages, prevent spam, fraud and abuse, enforce our Terms of Use, and review and act on reports, using automated tools and human review.
• For advertising. Show ads in the free version of Cartridge, measure how they perform, apply age-appropriate settings and limit how often you see the same ad.
• For legal reasons. Comply with the law, respond to lawful requests, protect rights and safety, and resolve disputes.
• With your permission. For other purposes we describe when we ask.

We may also create aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably identify you, and use or share it, for example to describe how many games players have logged.

Features that use third-party AI services

Some Cartridge features use third-party AI services, for example to identify games from images, barcodes, links and videos, to transcribe speech in a video, to suggest a game to play, and to write personalised Lore. To do this, we send the service the information the feature needs, such as the image, link or related content you submit, or information about the games in your Library and how you play them. These services use it to provide the feature, and some may keep it for a limited time under their own terms, for example to prevent abuse.

Before you use these features, the app tells you which services are involved and asks for your agreement. We store results with your account where that is part of the feature, such as Lore you can read again and choose to publish. We may keep a temporary record of a request, such as the result and a preview of what was analysed, for a short time so you can check it and try again.

If you no longer want your information used this way, you can stop using these features (for features included in a subscription, by ending the subscription) or delete your account.

What others can see

Cartridge is social. Your handle, profile details and the reviews and ratings you post are public. Other parts of your profile and activity can also be public, such as your Stacks, favourite games, counts and statistics, what you are playing, recent game activity and Lore you publish. Some of these are visible by default. Your settings let you control parts of what others can see.

Anyone can see public content, including people without a Cartridge account, on our website, and it can appear in search engine results. Things you keep private, such as private notes and private Stacks, are visible only to you. If you report content, we don't tell the person you reported who made the report.

If you delete public content or your account, we remove it from Cartridge, but copies may remain for a while where others have shared it or in search engine results.

How we share information

We don't sell your personal data. We share information only as described here.

• Service providers. Companies that process information for us to help run Cartridge, including providers of:
  • hosting, databases, storage, sign-in and content delivery;
  • analytics, session recording and diagnostics;
  • notifications, in-app messages and email;
  • payments and subscriptions;
  • advertising and ad measurement;
  • third-party AI services that power features described above;
  • game information and product databases.
• Gaming platforms you connect. We exchange information with them as needed to link your account and keep it up to date.
• Other users and the public. As described in What others can see.
• For legal reasons. When we believe it is necessary to comply with the law or a legal request, enforce our terms, or protect the rights, property or safety of our users, the public or Cartridge.
• Business transfers. If Cartridge is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that deal, and this policy will continue to apply to it.
• With your permission or at your direction. For example, when you share a Stack or your profile to another app.

We require service providers to protect personal information to the same or an equal standard as this policy, and to use it only to provide their services to us. Some providers may keep limited information for their own security, abuse-prevention or legal purposes under their own terms.

We don't track you across apps and websites owned by other companies unless you have given permission through your device.

International transfers

We and our service providers process information in countries other than the one you live in, including the United States, whose data protection laws may differ from yours. When we transfer personal information out of the UK or the European Economic Area, we rely on safeguards recognised by law, such as adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses in our providers' data processing terms.

How long we keep information

We keep information while your account is active and for as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy. Some information is kept only briefly, such as temporary records created when we identify a game.

When you delete content or your account, we delete or de-identify the related information, unless we need to keep some of it to comply with the law, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, or keep Cartridge secure. Copies in backups are removed over time. Records held separately by our providers, such as analytics, diagnostics and session recordings, may not be removed automatically; you can ask us to delete them. App stores and payment providers may keep purchase records to meet their own legal obligations.

Your rights and choices

• See and correct your information. You can view and edit your profile and Library in the app, and you can ask us for a copy of your information.
• Delete your information. You can delete things you have posted, and you can delete your account at any time in the app's settings. Deleting your account deletes your account and the content and information linked to it, as described above. To ask us to delete records that are not removed automatically, email us.
• Control what others see. Use the privacy and profile settings in the app.
• Notifications and emails. Manage notifications and emails in the app's settings and push permission in your device settings. Emails that are not essential to your account include an unsubscribe link.
• Analytics. You can object to our use of your information for analytics by contacting us, or turn analytics off in the app's settings where that option is available.
• Advertising. Where required, we ask for your consent before showing ads, and you can review your choices in the app's settings when that option is available.
• Connected accounts. You can disconnect a gaming account in the app at any time.
• Withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This does not affect what we did before you withdrew it.

UK and EEA. You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict and move your information, to object to how we use it (including for direct marketing), and to withdraw consent. We rely on these legal bases: performing our contract with you when we provide Cartridge and the features you ask for; our legitimate interests in understanding, improving, securing and supporting Cartridge, which we balance against your rights; your consent, where we ask for it; and complying with legal obligations. You can also complain to your local data protection authority; in the UK, that is the Information Commissioner's Office.

US states. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know about, access, correct and delete your personal information, get a copy of it, opt out of certain uses, and appeal if we decline your request. We don't sell your personal information. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.

To make a request, email hello@insertcartridge.app. We may need to confirm your identity, and we will respond within the time the law requires.

Children

You must be 13 or older to use Cartridge, and we check your age when you sign up. If we learn that someone under 13 has given us personal information, we will delete it. If you believe a child under 13 is using Cartridge, please contact us.

Security

We use technical and organisational measures to protect your information, such as encryption in transit, encryption of sensitive information and limits on who can access it. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Keep your sign-in details safe, and tell us if you think your account has been compromised.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page and change the date at the top. If we make material changes, we will let you know in the app or by email, and ask for your agreement where the law requires it.

Contact

Questions, requests about your data, or anything else: hello@insertcartridge.app.