Privacy
Last updated 1 October 2026
3D Game of Life runs in your browser. There are no accounts, no payments, no advertising, and nothing about you is sold or shared for marketing. This page explains the little that is processed and why.
Who is responsible
3dgameoflife.com is run by Matteo He, a private individual in Italy, who is the data controller under the GDPR. Contact: support@3dgameoflife.com.
What stays on your device
- The simulation runs entirely in your browser.
- Your settings, layout and saved patterns are kept in your browser's local storage. They are never sent to us, and clearing your browser's site data removes them.
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A share link contains the world itself after the
#in the address. Browsers never send that part to a server, so a shared world only reaches the people you give the link to, unless you choose to create a short link (below). - Screenshots, videos and 3D exports are created on your device and downloaded straight to it (unless you attach a screenshot to a problem report, or create a short link, which carries a picture of the world: both below).
Hosting
The site is served by Firebase Hosting, a service of Google. To deliver the pages, Google necessarily receives technical request data such as your IP address, browser type and the page requested. Google processes it on our behalf under its data processing terms; it may be processed outside the EU under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in running and securing the site (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Anonymous usage statistics
We count visits with Umami, stored on servers in the EU. It sets no cookies, stores nothing on your device and does not store your IP address. It records the page, the referring site, browser, operating system, device type, screen size, language and country, and these in-app actions: starting a world, switching to Advanced mode, entering 4D mode, which 4D preset you open, starting or finishing the 4D tour and whether a 4D ship or oscillator you found is new, entering 2D mode, which 2D preset you open, opening a pasted 2D pattern, opening a 2D board in 3D, picking a theme, opening or copying a share link or embed code, creating a short link, sharing one through your device's share menu, opening the app from a shared link (and which kind of link), opening Find rules or running a rule from it, starting ambient mode, saving a screenshot, starting a video, saving a pattern, entering VR or AR, which features you use that are planned for members (for example a large world or a longer video), whether a world has run for a minute, which graphics mode your browser started in or that it has no 3D graphics, the first line of any error that stops the app (without web addresses), opening the membership plans (and which member feature led there), pressing the account button, starting and finishing a sign-in (and with which provider: Google, GitHub, Apple or email), opening or sending feedback, which 3D rule you pick, and which sculpture and surface you download from the 3D printing page. None of this identifies you. If your browser sends Do Not Track, nothing is counted. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in understanding which features are used (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Short links
When sharing, you can choose Create short link for a short address instead of the long one. The world and its settings (exactly what the long link contains) and a picture of the world (the one the share dialog shows, at most 1200 × 630 pixels) are then stored in Google Cloud Firestore in the EU, so that the short address can open the world and chat apps and social networks can show the picture, the rule and the world's size beside it. They contain no personal data, and nothing about who created or opened the link is stored with them. Anyone with the short address can open the world and see its picture. Both are deleted a year after the link was last opened. Your IP address is not stored: only a one-way hash of it, kept for about a day, to limit how many short links can be created per hour. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in offering short links and preventing their abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
Problem reports, ideas and crash reports
While you use the app, your browser keeps a short log of what happens in it: the controls you use, the world's generation, error messages, and what the app told you. It stays on your device unless a report is sent.
- When you send a problem report or an idea, we receive your message and, if you give it, your email address. With a problem report you can also include diagnostics (the world and its settings, the camera, the log above, and your browser, operating system, screen size, language and graphics card) and a screenshot of the 3D view. The dialog shows exactly what is sent before you send it.
- When the app breaks, it sends a crash report on its own: the error, the log above, the world and its settings, and the same browser and device details. It never includes a screenshot, your email or anything you typed. You can turn this off in Settings → Feedback, and it is always off if your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control.
Reports are stored in Google Cloud Firestore in the EU and deleted after 90 days. So that the problem can be fixed, a summary (your message, the error, the log and the device details, but never your email address) is also copied into a private issue tracker on GitHub, a service of GitHub, Inc. (Microsoft) that may process it in the United States under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework; it stays there as the record of the fix unless you ask us to delete it. Your IP address is not stored with the report: only a one-way hash of it, kept for at most a day, to limit how many reports can be sent per hour. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in finding and fixing faults in the app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); for an email address you give, answering you.
If you write to support@3dgameoflife.com, we use your address and message only to reply, and delete them when they are no longer needed. The address is forwarded by Cloudflare to a mailbox hosted by Google.
Your rights
You can ask for access to, correction or erasure of your personal data, restrict or object to its processing, and ask for a copy in a portable format, by writing to the address above. You can also complain to the Italian data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, or to the authority where you live.
Changes
If accounts or paid memberships are added, this page will be updated before they go live, and the date above will change.