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FACEPUNCH TERMS OF SERVICE
Last updated on 18 July 2022
A quick summary:
These are the (legally binding) terms and conditions for Facepunch’s games and services (which we call the Facepunch Services – see section 1.2 below for how we define this). In particular please note the following:
* Rules. There are rules (and consequences) regarding what you can and cannot do with the Facepunch Services(please see section 3 and 9 below). In particular, if you are banned for cheating then you will lose access to the relevant game and any in-game purchases.
* Beta / Early Access. Some products and services we may release on a ‘alpha’, ‘beta’ or ‘Early Access’ basis – these may contain bugs and require server / progress resets – please see section 2.4 for more details.
* Liability and Disputes. There are rules and limits on liability and rules on dispute resolution (including mandatory arbitration and waiver of jury trial if you live in the USA) – see sections 9 and 12.
* Contact. You can contact us on [email protected] if you’ve got questions about this Agreement or general legal matters at Facepunch (polite note that email is only for legal matters, not general enquiries). For anything else, please contact our support team at https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us.
This Terms of Service (“Agreement”) explains what you can and cannot do with Facepunch games, products and services (which we explain below). We know legal wording is not much fun, so there’s also a quick summary of each section (but the full version is the legally binding one). Please also read our Code of Conduct (https://facepunch.com/legal/code-of-conduct).
6.2 Who owns the SDKs? The SDKs, including any improvements or updates to them, belong to Facepunch. Any mods made using the SDKs belong to you, subject to our Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding).
6.3 Are there any additional requirements you should know about? Yes, some SDKs may be subject to additional terms (such as an open source licence). Any additional legal terms will be detailed in the SDK’s description. If you are not sure, please contact us at [email protected] before you use our SDKs.
7. VIRTUAL GOODS
SUMMARY. You may be able to buy and/or otherwise obtain things like cosmetics or in-game enhancements or and there are some additional legal rules for them. They do not have any “real world” monetary value and you cannot buy, sell or trade these with other users.
7.1. Do the Facepunch Services offer virtual goods? Certain Facepunch Services may let you purchase and/or otherwise obtain virtual, in-game digital items and content including cosmetic and in-game enhancements and other downloadable content (“Virtual Goods”).
7.2. Are there any additional payment requirements you should know about? If you buy Virtual Goods, you agree to the pricing, payment and billing policies applicable to them, as notified to you at the time of purchase. You are responsible for applicable fees and taxes. All payments are non-refundable and non-transferable except as expressly provided in this Agreement.
7.3. What are the legal requirements regarding Virtual Goods? Virtual Goods are digital items only with no cash-value or real world existence and they generally cannot be ‘bought’, ‘sold’, gifted, transferred, traded or redeemed in any way. There may be some platforms where the Virtual Goods do have some limited transfer rights, which will be explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform (e.g. via the Steam marketplace). In legal terms, you receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, revocable licence to use Virtual Goods solely for your personal entertainment and non-commercial use in the relevant Facepunch Service (except where explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform), but Facepunch remains the legal owner of Virtual Goods at all times.
7.4. Will these Virtual Goods expire, change or be revoked? Virtual Goods do not generally expire (unless they’re stated to expire or are consumables). Facepunch is entitled to revoke from users (without notice or compensation) any Virtual Goods that have been obtained by way of (e.g.) bug, hack, breach, or exploitation of the Facepunch Services. We are entitled to manage, regulate, control, discontinue, vary, modify and/or remove Virtual Goods at our discretion if we consider (acting reasonably) that this is necessary for the ongoing operation or protection of the Facepunch Services or for other legitimate business, legal or technical reasons. We will try to give you reasonable advance notice of any such changes where appropriate and discuss any appropriate next steps with you.
7.5. Can you refund purchases of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods?
Your refund rights will depend on the terms of any applicable device/platform via which you access the Facepunch Services on, in relation to Facepunch itself:
If you are resident in the United Kingdom or the European Union: By law you have the right to withdraw from a purchase of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason. HOWEVER, when you make a purchase of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods, the relevant platform (e.g. Steam) will obtain your consent to the immediate supply of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods and your acknowledgement that you will lose your withdrawal right as soon as that supply begins. This means that you lose your right of withdrawal as soon as your account is provided with access to the relevant Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods (which is typically straight away). You may also have statutory refund (and other) rights if we supply you Facepunch Services which are in breach of our statutory obligations (e.g. it’s not fit for purpose or not as described).
If you are resident elsewhere in the world outside the United Kingdom or European Union (including the USA): All purchases are final and no refunds will be made or returns accepted (except where you have a legal entitlement to this, if applicable).
8. FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS
SUMMARY. Feedback and suggestions are great (thank you!) but at our discretion without responsibility/liability.
We always welcome and appreciate feedback and suggestions (you can send these to [email protected]) but we may choose not to use or accept them at our discretion. In any event the feedback/suggestions will be received by us without any credit, compensation, obligations or liability to you. If you provide Facepunch with any feedback or suggestions, you hereby grant Facepunch a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, and transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, publicly perform, publicly display, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise exploit any and all feedback and / or suggestions for any purposes, for all current and future methods and forms of exploitation.
9. LIABILITY
SUMMARY. Here we explain a bit further how you and we are legally responsible to each other. We ask for certain legal protections from you.
9.1. Limitation of liability (UK, EU).
This section applies to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union. If you are resident in the United States of America or other non-UK/EU territory, please see section 9.3 below.
1. We do not exclude or limit (or seek to exclude or limit) our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes our liability for:
* death or personal injury caused by our negligence (or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors);
* fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
* breach of your statutory rights as a consumer; or
* other liability which may not be excluded by applicable law.
2. We only supply the Facepunch Services for domestic and private use. If you use the Facepunch Services for any commercial, business or re-sale purposes we will have no liability to you for any loss of profits, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
3. If we fail to comply with this Agreement, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this Agreement, or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the Agreement was agreed to, both we and you knew it might happen. We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
4. If the Facepunch Services damage a device or digital content belonging to you, and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill, we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation. However, we will not be liable for damage which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply an update offered to you free of charge or for damage which was caused by you failing to correctly follow installation instructions or have in place the advised minimum technical requirements.
9.2 Subject always to 9.1. above: (i) the total liability of Facepunch (and its group companies) arising out of or in connection with this Agreement will not exceed the total amount you have paid to us under this Agreement during the twelve (12) months immediately prior to the event which caused the liability; and (ii) the Facepunch Services are provided on an “as is” basis and we make no specific warranty or representation in relation to the quality, completeness or accuracy of the Facepunch Services.
9.3. Limitation of liability (USA).
The following section does not apply to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union or countries whose laws specifically prohibit the following liability limitations, but it does apply to you if you are resident in the USA.
(I) OUR DISCLAIMERS. THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES (INCLUDING ANY UPDATES) ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN "AS IS", “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE GAME WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE OR ‘LOSS’ RELATING TO THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES.
(II) OUR LIABILITY CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID US (IF ANY) IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTERS UNDERLYING ANY CLAIM(S).
(III) YOUR INDEMNITY TO US. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS ON DEMAND FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS FROM ALL LIABILITIES, CLAIMS AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING LEGAL FEES, IN CONNECTION WITH ANY ALLEGED OR ACTUAL BREACH BY YOU OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF CLAIMS ARE BROUGHT AGAINST US, THEN YOU WILL COOPERATE FULLY WITH US AND WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE OVER THEIR DEFENCE. YOU WILL NOT SETTLE ANY SUCH CLAIMS WITHOUT OUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.
(IV) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. YOU AGREE THAT ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM YOU SUFFER ARE NOT IRREPARABLE OR SUFFICIENT, AND OTHER REMEDIES WILL BE ADEQUATE, SUCH THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST US.
(V) Residents of California. If you reside in the state of California you are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information: you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 400 R St., Suite 1080, Sacramento, California, 95814, or by telephone at 916.445.1254. California residents expressly agree to waive California Civil Code Sec. 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend the claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”
10. TERMINATION
SUMMARY. You can terminate this Agreement by stopping use of all Facepunch Services. We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services if you seriously breach this Agreement (including cheating in our games).
10.1. When and how can you terminate this Agreement? You can terminate this Agreement at any time by permanently stopping use of all Facepunch Services. Termination will not affect already existing rights or obligations of us or you.
10.2. When can we suspend or terminate your access to the Facepunch Services?
- We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services (including access to Virtual Goods) if you materially breach this Agreement (e.g. the rules in section 3 above, our Code of Conduct or any other breach which is serious and/or which could cause real harm to Facepunch, the Facepunch Services or other Facepunch Services users. If we cancel or suspend your account in this way we will not have any obligations or liabilities to you at all. Regarding bans:
- If you have questions about any game ban or suspension we have issued, then you can contact our support team (https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us) and we will use reasonable efforts to explain why we have done this (though we will not be obliged to do so) and what (if anything) you can do as a result.
- If your ban has been issued by Easy Anti-Cheat and you would like to appeal, please visit: https://www.easy.ac/en-us/support/game/contact/appeal/.
- If your ban has been issued by Valve (VAC), please visit: https://steamproxy.com/steamhelp/en/faqs/view/571A-97DA-70E9-FF74.
10.3. If Facepunch decides itself to stop providing any Facepunch Services permanently, we will try to give you at least sixty (60) days’ notice.
11. GOVERNING LAW
SUMMARY. Any legal questions / complaints / claims regarding this Agreement are under English law and jurisdiction for users all around the world except users resident in the USA, who are under California law and jurisdiction.
11.1. If you are resident in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of England and any dispute regarding it will be under the jurisdiction of the courts of England. This does not exclude any mandatorily applicable rules or remedies which would be available to you in a legal claim brought under the law of your country of residence.
11.2. If you are resident in the USA:
To the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, you and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be deemed to be entered into in San Francisco, California and governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of California, USA (and, if applicable, US Federal law) without regard to choice of law principles. Any legal claim by you against Facepunch, to the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, will be made exclusively in state or federal court located in San Francisco, California, which will have subject matter jurisdiction regarding the dispute between you and us and therefore we both consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts. Moreover, you waive any rights to argue that the state and federal courts in San Francisco, California are an improper venue. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side who wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses.
12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND BINDING ARBITRATION
SUMMARY. If you have any concerns or issues you can contact us at [email protected]. We hope we can resolve any complaints with you through informal dispute resolution. If we can't resolve a dispute with you informally, if you are in the UK or EU you can bring formal proceedings against us and if you are in the US, in most cases you can commence arbitration through the American Arbitration Association.
12.1. Informal dispute resolution:
We and you both agree to make reasonable and good faith efforts to resolve any dispute between us informally - you can contact us at [email protected]. Normally we would suggest that this dispute resolution period lasts 30 days unless exceptional circumstances exist. If it is not resolved during this time, the next steps depend on where you live.
12.2. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we have the legal right to commence legal claims against each other if we consider it necessary. If you bring a claim against Facepunch, you should address it to [email protected].
IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY (I.E. THE REST OF SECTION 11) AS IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES BETWEEN US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
12.3. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the USA (only):
(a) Agreement to Arbitrate:
We and you agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us on an individual basis through binding arbitration, including without limitation any claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, any part of the relationship between you and us, or your use of the Facepunch Services, except as set forth under “Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate” below. The US Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law applies to this agreement.
"Arbitration" is a consensual dispute resolution process where both sides present their case to a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge or jury. Arbitration is less formal than court litigation and review of an arbitrator’s decision by a court is limited. To be clear: by choosing arbitration you and we give up the right to have any dispute between us heard in court before a judge and/or jury.
Individual Arbitration Only: You and we agree that arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated or representative arbitration.
(b) How to start an arbitration:
Either of us can commence arbitration by filing an arbitration demand with the AAA that describes the claim and desired remedy. Notice sent to Facepunch should be sent by mail and by email. You or Facepunch may bring an arbitration at the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) located in San Francisco, California.
(c) The rules for the arbitration:
The arbitration will be governed by the AAA under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.adr.org), as modified by this Agreement. The arbitrator will be bound by this Agreement.
The arbitration shall be conducted in English by a single arbitrator with substantial experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, selected pursuant to AAA rules. The arbitration hearing may be conducted through the submission of documents, by phone, or in person, and must commence within thirty (30) days from the appointment of the arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by you and Facepunch. Judgment upon an award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as appropriate.
If you seek US $10,000 or less, Facepunch will reimburse your filing fee and your share of the arbitration costs (but not your attorney’s fees or expert witness fees), at the end of the arbitration, unless the arbitrator decides your claims are without merit or your costs are unreasonable. Facepunch will only seek its legal fees and costs if it prevails and the arbitrator determines your claims are meritless. If you seek more than US $10,000, then the arbitration costs, including arbitrator compensation, will be split between you and Facepunch per the applicable AAA rules.
12.4. Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate
The dispute resolution and arbitration requirements do not apply to claims or disputes that relate to claims of intellectual property rights infringement or claims of unauthorised use, piracy, theft or misappropriation.
12.5. Limitation on Claims
You and Facepunch agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim arising out of or related to the Facepunch Services must be made within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, such claim is permanently barred. You agree that these dispute resolution and binding arbitration provisions will survive any termination of your account or the Facepunch Services.
SUMMARY. If you live in the USA or the rest of the world (but not the UK or EU), you and we agree not to bring any class action or similar collective legal action against each other. We will resolve legal disputes with each other through the process outlined above.
12.6. Waiver of class action and collective action remedies:
To the maximum extent permitted by the national or state law applicable, you and we agree not under any circumstances to bring or participate in a class or representative action, private attorney general action or collective arbitration in relation to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement. That means, to the full extent permitted by law, (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-wide basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (3) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
If the previous paragraph is found illegal or unenforceable for any reason, you and Facepunch agree that any class, representative private attorney general action claim or dispute will be resolved in court.
13. OTHER LEGAL MATTERS
SUMMARY. This section sets out a few additional, hopefully self-explanatory rules about how this Agreement works legally. For example, this Agreement is just between you and us, we might be required to comply with law enforcement requests etc.
i. If any part of this Agreement is found not to be legally enforceable, this will not affect any other part of it;
ii. This Agreement does not create any rights for anyone else;
iii. Please remember that we are subject to various laws and we may be required to comply with law enforcement or other legal requirements, including import/export controls;
iv. You and we agree that the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement;
v. We can assign, subcontract or transfer this Agreement to a third party or another member of our group if necessary for the support of the Facepunch Services, as part of any reorganisation or merger, or for other business reasons provided that this does not negatively affect your rights under this Agreement (or alternatively with your consent).
vi. No failure or delay by us or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Agreement or by law will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy by us or you will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy; and
vii. This Agreement does not create any exclusive relationship between us nor any partnership, joint venture, employment or agency.
FACEPUNCH PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated on 25 October 2022
Tl;dr
- This policy tells you what you need to know about what information we collect about you, as well as how, when, and why we collect it, what we do with it and how long we keep it for (this information is known as personal data).
- Basically, we collect personal data to provide our games and other services to you, improve those services, and protect our games and our players from cheating and other inappropriate behaviour.
- We collect personal data when you play our games or sign up for our other services, when you use our chat features (although we normally delete this data after 30 days) and when you send us messages.
- We don’t sell your personal data to anyone, but we do have to share it with some other companies so that they can help us run our business.
- We only keep your data for as long as we need it, and you have rights to ask us to do things like delete it, give you a copy of it, or correct it where it’s wrong.- You can contact us on [email protected] if you’ve got questions about data protection or general legal matters at Facepunch - please note we will ignore any emails unrelated to these topics. If you have game or other general queries, please contact our support team at https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us.
- We also collect personal data of those that apply to work at Facepunch. If you apply for a job at Facepunch please read the final section of this privacy policy (personal data of job applicants) to understand how we will use your personal data.
Who are we?
We are Facepunch Studios Ltd (incorporated and registered in England with company number 06848626) of Concept House, Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands, WS3 2QW, United Kingdom as well as the Facepunch group of companies ('Facepunch'). We are the creators of Garry’s Mod, Rust and other games. Because of how we collect personal and data, and the fact that we don’t do this under anyone else’s instructions, we are the controller for your personal data. This means that we decide how we process the personal data we hold about you. We are registered as a controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office and our registration number is: ZA443931.
What / who is this policy for?
This policy applies to all of our games (except Rust on console – more on that below), apps, websites (including this one), forum, support services, software development kits, online tools, blogs, social media accounts, and any other products and services we offer. We may collect some personal data about you when you use or interact with any of these services, so the policy applies to you whenever this is the case. Personal data means any information about you or that identifies you.
If you’d like to know more about your personal data for the Xbox and PlayStation versions of Rust, the publisher (and controller) of those versions is Double Eleven (please see their privacy policy here: https://rust.double11.com/privacy-policy).
What about children?
If you’re under 18 (or a parent or guardian), then this section is especially important. We recognise that we have a special obligation to protect personal data obtained from children. Legally, you must be at least 13 to use our games and services (although some of our games may have a higher age rating). However, we don’t collect or store your age or date of birth. If you don’t understand something on this page, then please ask your parent or guardian to help.
We do not knowingly collect personal data of anyone under the age of 13 without parental or guardian consent. If you’re a parent or guardian and are concerned about how we process your child’s personal data, please do get in touch at [email protected].
What data do we collect and how do we collect it?
- Email address – if you email customer service or sign up to one of our services using your email address, we will hold this data so that we can help and respond to you.
- Real name – this may be provided voluntarily by you if you contact us or use it to sign up to one of our services.
- SteamID64 and Steam username – if you access some of our services.
- Forum username – created when you sign up to our forum.
- IP address – your computer’s internet address, which is collected when you sign up to our forum or use some of our services.
- Device push token – collected from Rust+ and deleted after 40 days.
- Push notification history – collected from Rust+ and deleted after 7 days.
- Information about servers that you have enabled push notifications from, and which channels you’ve opted out from – collected from Rust+ and retained indefinitely.
- Chat logs from in-game – for example, in Rust, we have an open chat feature where you can say anything you like (within a few rules that are there for safety). If you write anything in the chat that is your personal data, we have this on our servers for 30 days.
In most of the above situations, we’re collecting personal data because it’s necessary. However, personal data you provide voluntarily is handled differently: where you contact us with any questions or use our chat functionality, this will be processed on the basis of our legitimate interests; and where you subscribe to our marketing and newsletters this will be processed on the basis of your consent.
If you contact us via social media platforms, we may process personal data that you provide. This will also be made available to the social media platform so you should also check their privacy policies before reaching out.
We don’t deal with any payment information, which is handled by the platforms we use, such as Steam, the Apple App Store, and Google Play. Even if you make an in-game purchase, we just get a notification from our platform partner – we don’t see your payment details.
We also use some cookies in order to maintain and improve our website and services. Please do have a read of our cookie policy (www.facepunch.com/legal/cookie) for more information and to see how to manage your cookie preferences.
What do we do with your personal data?
We only process your personal data in accordance with the law in the UK, where we are based – this includes the GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Age Appropriate Design Code (aka The Children’s Code).
- We use your personal data to run, maintain, and improve our services, as well as to communicate with you (e.g. by email). The most obvious way we use your personal data is to make our games available for you to play. Secondly, we also use your personal data to provide our other related services to you, such as support services and our forum. Additionally, we use it to monitor the performance of our services so that our games and other things work for you and your device, allow us to monitor for bugs, enforce our policies, notify you about changes, protect our services, deal with cheats and hacks, and protect you and our other users.
- We share it with some other companies on a strictly necessary basis so that they can provide services to us, like Steam information about how people are playing our games, or handling cheaters. We never sell your personal data, and you can find out more about who we share data with in the ‘Who do we share your data with?’ section below.
- We also sometimes need to use your personal data to comply with our legal obligations, including complying with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the E-Commerce Directive.
- If you give us your consent, we’ll also use your personal data to give you marketing updates from time to time. We’ll also never share your data with other companies to do their own marketing unless you give us consent to do so.
More about in-game chat
Whilst things like log in details, email addresses, and Steam information are more obvious, we want to draw your attention to our chat feature in Rust, Garry’s Mod and other games. We want our chat to be open and fun, so we won’t stop you from sharing your personal data there if you want to. We encourage you to be careful and not share anything too personal, like your phone number, home address, email address, or other social media information (we also suggest the same if you post on our forum).
We keep chat logs for 30 days and use some tools to analyse it to help keep everyone safe. These tools include an automated system to flag offensive language as well as manual review when necessary. We take the protection of children in particular seriously and will keep the safety tools we use under review to ensure they are adequate. If you have any concerns about the chat feature, or something you see in the chat, then please get in touch and we can look into it.
Who do we share your personal data with?
Bear in mind that Steam also collects personal data about people who play our games, but they don’t share this with us. Steam is a controller for the personal data it collects, and if you have concerns about this, head over to the Steam website and review their privacy policy (https://steamproxy.com/steamstore/privacy_agreement/). Similarly, if you share any content of your gameplay with any social media platform (such as Twitter, Twitch, YouTube or Discord) then these platforms will be controllers of any personal data you choose to share.
We also have some processors who collect personal data from our customers in order to carry out their services for us. This isn’t data we collect and share with them – they collect it directly from you. These processors include our server provider, our anti-cheating provider, our stats provider, our error-tracking provider, our customer support provider and our mass-mailing provider.
In the event of a reorganisation or merger of Facepunch we may transfer personal data to an involved third party who will protect this to at least the same level as we do in this policy.
Finally, we may share personal data with law enforcement if we believe there is a good reason to do so and if it will assist in any investigation.
How long do we keep personal data for?
We only keep personal data for as long as we need to, depending on the purpose for which it was collected. For example, we’ll need to keep your email address for as long as you want to remain subscribed to marketing emails. However, sometimes we have a legal obligation to keep personal data for longer, or we may need to keep it to resolve a dispute, or to prevent cheating or other inappropriate activities.
How do we keep personal data safe?
We have robust security arrangements in place to guard against your personal data being lost or stolen.
When we use third-party organisations to process your personal data, they must comply with contractual requirements and instructions.
If any of our processors are based outside of the UK or EEA we will ensure there is a secure and legal transfer system in place.
What rights do you have?
Data protection means that you have certain rights over the information we hold about you. This means that you can contact us and ask us to do certain things with your information, such as provide it to you or delete it. You can learn more about these rights here: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/. In particular, we’d like to remind you that you can:
- ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- ask us to change any information about you that is inaccurate;
- object to decisions about you being taken by automated means (i.e. where a computer makes a decision about you with no human involvement);
- where we have asked for your consent, you can change your mind and withdraw your consent at any time;
- ask us to stop using your information;
- ask us to share your personal data with another company;
- ask us to delete the information we hold about you; and
- ask us to stop sending you direct marketing.
If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at [email protected]. You can exercise these rights whether you’re an adult or a child.
Please be aware that each of these rights are qualified rights, meaning that there may be circumstances where we are unable to comply with your request. Once you make a request, and where we can comply, we will do so within one calendar month although we may have to extend this for more complex requests or where we have received a high volume.
You also have the right to complain to your data protection supervisory authority (this is the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK), although we would ask that you try and settle any issues with us in the first instance.
What if I’m in California?
California residents who have an established business relationship with us have the right to request certain information with respect to the types of personal data we have shared with third parties for their direct marketing purposes, and the identities of those third parties, within the immediately preceding calendar year, subject to certain exceptions. All requests for such information must be in writing and sent to: 'Facepunch Studios Ltd at Concept House, Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands, WS3 2QW, United Kingdom’. This same California law permits us to provide you, in response to your written request, with a cost-free means to choose not to have your personal data shared rather than providing the above described information. If you want to do this, you can contact us at the address above.
Can this policy change?
Yes, as our business and the law develop, we will need to keep this policy up to date. We’ll make reasonable efforts to let you know if this happens, and you can decide whether you agree with the new policy or not. Unfortunately, if you don’t agree, then we won’t be able to provide our games or services to you. We'd also like to remind you that our Terms of Service has more information about how we operate the Facepunch services and you can find these here: www.facepunch.com/legal/tos.
Personal data of job applicants
Facepunch will also advertise jobs from time-to-time and invite people to apply. If you apply for a position at Facepunch then we will process your personal data and this section applies to you.
The personal data we collect when you apply for a job will be limited to that information you submit to us. This will include your name, previous employment history, CV, referees, and any supplementary information that you provide. We do not collect any special categories of personal data save that we will request you to provide any relevant health data where this is necessary for us to facilitate any interviews.
All personal data of job applicants will be processed solely for the purpose of assessing the merits of the candidates and suitability for the role for which they have applied. This will be processed in accordance with Facepunch’s legitimate interests. Where we process health data (as mentioned above) this will be processed for the purpose of complying with employment requirements.
Where candidates are successful and accept a job with Facepunch, their personal data will be held in as part of their HR file and retained in line with Facepunch’s staff privacy policy. Where candidates are unsuccessful, personal data will be held for a period of 12 months.
Job applicants should also review the above sections of this privacy policy which will be relevant to Facepunch’s processing of their personal data:
- Who are we?
- How do we keep personal data safe?
- What rights do you have?
- Can this policy change?
Last updated on 18 July 2022
A quick summary:
These are the (legally binding) terms and conditions for Facepunch’s games and services (which we call the Facepunch Services – see section 1.2 below for how we define this). In particular please note the following:
* Rules. There are rules (and consequences) regarding what you can and cannot do with the Facepunch Services(please see section 3 and 9 below). In particular, if you are banned for cheating then you will lose access to the relevant game and any in-game purchases.
* Beta / Early Access. Some products and services we may release on a ‘alpha’, ‘beta’ or ‘Early Access’ basis – these may contain bugs and require server / progress resets – please see section 2.4 for more details.
* Liability and Disputes. There are rules and limits on liability and rules on dispute resolution (including mandatory arbitration and waiver of jury trial if you live in the USA) – see sections 9 and 12.
* Contact. You can contact us on [email protected] if you’ve got questions about this Agreement or general legal matters at Facepunch (polite note that email is only for legal matters, not general enquiries). For anything else, please contact our support team at https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us.
This Terms of Service (“Agreement”) explains what you can and cannot do with Facepunch games, products and services (which we explain below). We know legal wording is not much fun, so there’s also a quick summary of each section (but the full version is the legally binding one). Please also read our Code of Conduct (https://facepunch.com/legal/code-of-conduct).
6.2 Who owns the SDKs? The SDKs, including any improvements or updates to them, belong to Facepunch. Any mods made using the SDKs belong to you, subject to our Modding Guidelines (www.facepunch.com/legal/modding).
6.3 Are there any additional requirements you should know about? Yes, some SDKs may be subject to additional terms (such as an open source licence). Any additional legal terms will be detailed in the SDK’s description. If you are not sure, please contact us at [email protected] before you use our SDKs.
7. VIRTUAL GOODS
SUMMARY. You may be able to buy and/or otherwise obtain things like cosmetics or in-game enhancements or and there are some additional legal rules for them. They do not have any “real world” monetary value and you cannot buy, sell or trade these with other users.
7.1. Do the Facepunch Services offer virtual goods? Certain Facepunch Services may let you purchase and/or otherwise obtain virtual, in-game digital items and content including cosmetic and in-game enhancements and other downloadable content (“Virtual Goods”).
7.2. Are there any additional payment requirements you should know about? If you buy Virtual Goods, you agree to the pricing, payment and billing policies applicable to them, as notified to you at the time of purchase. You are responsible for applicable fees and taxes. All payments are non-refundable and non-transferable except as expressly provided in this Agreement.
7.3. What are the legal requirements regarding Virtual Goods? Virtual Goods are digital items only with no cash-value or real world existence and they generally cannot be ‘bought’, ‘sold’, gifted, transferred, traded or redeemed in any way. There may be some platforms where the Virtual Goods do have some limited transfer rights, which will be explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform (e.g. via the Steam marketplace). In legal terms, you receive a limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, revocable licence to use Virtual Goods solely for your personal entertainment and non-commercial use in the relevant Facepunch Service (except where explicitly authorised and permitted by Facepunch and the relevant platform), but Facepunch remains the legal owner of Virtual Goods at all times.
7.4. Will these Virtual Goods expire, change or be revoked? Virtual Goods do not generally expire (unless they’re stated to expire or are consumables). Facepunch is entitled to revoke from users (without notice or compensation) any Virtual Goods that have been obtained by way of (e.g.) bug, hack, breach, or exploitation of the Facepunch Services. We are entitled to manage, regulate, control, discontinue, vary, modify and/or remove Virtual Goods at our discretion if we consider (acting reasonably) that this is necessary for the ongoing operation or protection of the Facepunch Services or for other legitimate business, legal or technical reasons. We will try to give you reasonable advance notice of any such changes where appropriate and discuss any appropriate next steps with you.
7.5. Can you refund purchases of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods?
Your refund rights will depend on the terms of any applicable device/platform via which you access the Facepunch Services on, in relation to Facepunch itself:
If you are resident in the United Kingdom or the European Union: By law you have the right to withdraw from a purchase of the Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason. HOWEVER, when you make a purchase of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods, the relevant platform (e.g. Steam) will obtain your consent to the immediate supply of Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods and your acknowledgement that you will lose your withdrawal right as soon as that supply begins. This means that you lose your right of withdrawal as soon as your account is provided with access to the relevant Facepunch Services and/or Virtual Goods (which is typically straight away). You may also have statutory refund (and other) rights if we supply you Facepunch Services which are in breach of our statutory obligations (e.g. it’s not fit for purpose or not as described).
If you are resident elsewhere in the world outside the United Kingdom or European Union (including the USA): All purchases are final and no refunds will be made or returns accepted (except where you have a legal entitlement to this, if applicable).
8. FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS
SUMMARY. Feedback and suggestions are great (thank you!) but at our discretion without responsibility/liability.
We always welcome and appreciate feedback and suggestions (you can send these to [email protected]) but we may choose not to use or accept them at our discretion. In any event the feedback/suggestions will be received by us without any credit, compensation, obligations or liability to you. If you provide Facepunch with any feedback or suggestions, you hereby grant Facepunch a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, and transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, publicly perform, publicly display, make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, import, and otherwise exploit any and all feedback and / or suggestions for any purposes, for all current and future methods and forms of exploitation.
9. LIABILITY
SUMMARY. Here we explain a bit further how you and we are legally responsible to each other. We ask for certain legal protections from you.
9.1. Limitation of liability (UK, EU).
This section applies to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union. If you are resident in the United States of America or other non-UK/EU territory, please see section 9.3 below.
1. We do not exclude or limit (or seek to exclude or limit) our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes our liability for:
* death or personal injury caused by our negligence (or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors);
* fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
* breach of your statutory rights as a consumer; or
* other liability which may not be excluded by applicable law.
2. We only supply the Facepunch Services for domestic and private use. If you use the Facepunch Services for any commercial, business or re-sale purposes we will have no liability to you for any loss of profits, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
3. If we fail to comply with this Agreement, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this Agreement, or our failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the Agreement was agreed to, both we and you knew it might happen. We are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
4. If the Facepunch Services damage a device or digital content belonging to you, and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill, we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation. However, we will not be liable for damage which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply an update offered to you free of charge or for damage which was caused by you failing to correctly follow installation instructions or have in place the advised minimum technical requirements.
9.2 Subject always to 9.1. above: (i) the total liability of Facepunch (and its group companies) arising out of or in connection with this Agreement will not exceed the total amount you have paid to us under this Agreement during the twelve (12) months immediately prior to the event which caused the liability; and (ii) the Facepunch Services are provided on an “as is” basis and we make no specific warranty or representation in relation to the quality, completeness or accuracy of the Facepunch Services.
9.3. Limitation of liability (USA).
The following section does not apply to you if you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Union or countries whose laws specifically prohibit the following liability limitations, but it does apply to you if you are resident in the USA.
(I) OUR DISCLAIMERS. THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES (INCLUDING ANY UPDATES) ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN "AS IS", “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE GAME WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE OR ‘LOSS’ RELATING TO THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES.
(II) OUR LIABILITY CAP. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH THE FACEPUNCH SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY PAID US (IF ANY) IN CONNECTION WITH THE MATTERS UNDERLYING ANY CLAIM(S).
(III) YOUR INDEMNITY TO US. YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS ON DEMAND FACEPUNCH, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS AND PARTNERS FROM ALL LIABILITIES, CLAIMS AND EXPENSES, INCLUDING LEGAL FEES, IN CONNECTION WITH ANY ALLEGED OR ACTUAL BREACH BY YOU OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF CLAIMS ARE BROUGHT AGAINST US, THEN YOU WILL COOPERATE FULLY WITH US AND WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE OVER THEIR DEFENCE. YOU WILL NOT SETTLE ANY SUCH CLAIMS WITHOUT OUR PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.
(IV) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. YOU AGREE THAT ANY LOSS, DAMAGE OR HARM YOU SUFFER ARE NOT IRREPARABLE OR SUFFICIENT, AND OTHER REMEDIES WILL BE ADEQUATE, SUCH THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO INJUNCTIVE OR OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF AGAINST US.
(V) Residents of California. If you reside in the state of California you are entitled to the following specific consumer rights information: you may contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 400 R St., Suite 1080, Sacramento, California, 95814, or by telephone at 916.445.1254. California residents expressly agree to waive California Civil Code Sec. 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend the claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.”
10. TERMINATION
SUMMARY. You can terminate this Agreement by stopping use of all Facepunch Services. We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services if you seriously breach this Agreement (including cheating in our games).
10.1. When and how can you terminate this Agreement? You can terminate this Agreement at any time by permanently stopping use of all Facepunch Services. Termination will not affect already existing rights or obligations of us or you.
10.2. When can we suspend or terminate your access to the Facepunch Services?
- We may cancel or suspend (temporarily or permanently) your access to any and/or all of the Facepunch Services (including access to Virtual Goods) if you materially breach this Agreement (e.g. the rules in section 3 above, our Code of Conduct or any other breach which is serious and/or which could cause real harm to Facepunch, the Facepunch Services or other Facepunch Services users. If we cancel or suspend your account in this way we will not have any obligations or liabilities to you at all. Regarding bans:
- If you have questions about any game ban or suspension we have issued, then you can contact our support team (https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us) and we will use reasonable efforts to explain why we have done this (though we will not be obliged to do so) and what (if anything) you can do as a result.
- If your ban has been issued by Easy Anti-Cheat and you would like to appeal, please visit: https://www.easy.ac/en-us/support/game/contact/appeal/.
- If your ban has been issued by Valve (VAC), please visit: https://steamproxy.com/steamhelp/en/faqs/view/571A-97DA-70E9-FF74.
10.3. If Facepunch decides itself to stop providing any Facepunch Services permanently, we will try to give you at least sixty (60) days’ notice.
11. GOVERNING LAW
SUMMARY. Any legal questions / complaints / claims regarding this Agreement are under English law and jurisdiction for users all around the world except users resident in the USA, who are under California law and jurisdiction.
11.1. If you are resident in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of England and any dispute regarding it will be under the jurisdiction of the courts of England. This does not exclude any mandatorily applicable rules or remedies which would be available to you in a legal claim brought under the law of your country of residence.
11.2. If you are resident in the USA:
To the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, you and we agree that your use of the Facepunch Services, and this Agreement, and any issues arising out of them, will be deemed to be entered into in San Francisco, California and governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of California, USA (and, if applicable, US Federal law) without regard to choice of law principles. Any legal claim by you against Facepunch, to the extent not covered by the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration language below, will be made exclusively in state or federal court located in San Francisco, California, which will have subject matter jurisdiction regarding the dispute between you and us and therefore we both consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of those courts. Moreover, you waive any rights to argue that the state and federal courts in San Francisco, California are an improper venue. In any legal claim under this Agreement, the side who wins will be entitled to its legal fees and expenses.
12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND BINDING ARBITRATION
SUMMARY. If you have any concerns or issues you can contact us at [email protected]. We hope we can resolve any complaints with you through informal dispute resolution. If we can't resolve a dispute with you informally, if you are in the UK or EU you can bring formal proceedings against us and if you are in the US, in most cases you can commence arbitration through the American Arbitration Association.
12.1. Informal dispute resolution:
We and you both agree to make reasonable and good faith efforts to resolve any dispute between us informally - you can contact us at [email protected]. Normally we would suggest that this dispute resolution period lasts 30 days unless exceptional circumstances exist. If it is not resolved during this time, the next steps depend on where you live.
12.2. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the United Kingdom, European Union or elsewhere in the world (but not the USA):
You and we have the legal right to commence legal claims against each other if we consider it necessary. If you bring a claim against Facepunch, you should address it to [email protected].
IMPORTANT: IF YOU LIVE IN THE USA, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS CAREFULLY (I.E. THE REST OF SECTION 11) AS IT REQUIRES YOU TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES BETWEEN US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS.
12.3. Dispute resolution next steps: if you live in the USA (only):
(a) Agreement to Arbitrate:
We and you agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us on an individual basis through binding arbitration, including without limitation any claims arising from or relating to this Agreement, any part of the relationship between you and us, or your use of the Facepunch Services, except as set forth under “Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate” below. The US Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law applies to this agreement.
"Arbitration" is a consensual dispute resolution process where both sides present their case to a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge or jury. Arbitration is less formal than court litigation and review of an arbitrator’s decision by a court is limited. To be clear: by choosing arbitration you and we give up the right to have any dispute between us heard in court before a judge and/or jury.
Individual Arbitration Only: You and we agree that arbitration will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated or representative arbitration.
(b) How to start an arbitration:
Either of us can commence arbitration by filing an arbitration demand with the AAA that describes the claim and desired remedy. Notice sent to Facepunch should be sent by mail and by email. You or Facepunch may bring an arbitration at the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) located in San Francisco, California.
(c) The rules for the arbitration:
The arbitration will be governed by the AAA under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and, where applicable, its Consumer Arbitration Rules (available at http://www.adr.org), as modified by this Agreement. The arbitrator will be bound by this Agreement.
The arbitration shall be conducted in English by a single arbitrator with substantial experience in intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, selected pursuant to AAA rules. The arbitration hearing may be conducted through the submission of documents, by phone, or in person, and must commence within thirty (30) days from the appointment of the arbitrator, unless otherwise agreed by you and Facepunch. Judgment upon an award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as appropriate.
If you seek US $10,000 or less, Facepunch will reimburse your filing fee and your share of the arbitration costs (but not your attorney’s fees or expert witness fees), at the end of the arbitration, unless the arbitrator decides your claims are without merit or your costs are unreasonable. Facepunch will only seek its legal fees and costs if it prevails and the arbitrator determines your claims are meritless. If you seek more than US $10,000, then the arbitration costs, including arbitrator compensation, will be split between you and Facepunch per the applicable AAA rules.
12.4. Exceptions to Informal Dispute Resolution and Agreement to Arbitrate
The dispute resolution and arbitration requirements do not apply to claims or disputes that relate to claims of intellectual property rights infringement or claims of unauthorised use, piracy, theft or misappropriation.
12.5. Limitation on Claims
You and Facepunch agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim arising out of or related to the Facepunch Services must be made within one (1) year after the claim arose; otherwise, such claim is permanently barred. You agree that these dispute resolution and binding arbitration provisions will survive any termination of your account or the Facepunch Services.
SUMMARY. If you live in the USA or the rest of the world (but not the UK or EU), you and we agree not to bring any class action or similar collective legal action against each other. We will resolve legal disputes with each other through the process outlined above.
12.6. Waiver of class action and collective action remedies:
To the maximum extent permitted by the national or state law applicable, you and we agree not under any circumstances to bring or participate in a class or representative action, private attorney general action or collective arbitration in relation to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement. That means, to the full extent permitted by law, (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-wide basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (3) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
If the previous paragraph is found illegal or unenforceable for any reason, you and Facepunch agree that any class, representative private attorney general action claim or dispute will be resolved in court.
13. OTHER LEGAL MATTERS
SUMMARY. This section sets out a few additional, hopefully self-explanatory rules about how this Agreement works legally. For example, this Agreement is just between you and us, we might be required to comply with law enforcement requests etc.
i. If any part of this Agreement is found not to be legally enforceable, this will not affect any other part of it;
ii. This Agreement does not create any rights for anyone else;
iii. Please remember that we are subject to various laws and we may be required to comply with law enforcement or other legal requirements, including import/export controls;
iv. You and we agree that the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to the Facepunch Services or this Agreement;
v. We can assign, subcontract or transfer this Agreement to a third party or another member of our group if necessary for the support of the Facepunch Services, as part of any reorganisation or merger, or for other business reasons provided that this does not negatively affect your rights under this Agreement (or alternatively with your consent).
vi. No failure or delay by us or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under this Agreement or by law will constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor will it preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy by us or you will preclude or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy; and
vii. This Agreement does not create any exclusive relationship between us nor any partnership, joint venture, employment or agency.
FACEPUNCH PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated on 25 October 2022
Tl;dr
- This policy tells you what you need to know about what information we collect about you, as well as how, when, and why we collect it, what we do with it and how long we keep it for (this information is known as personal data).
- Basically, we collect personal data to provide our games and other services to you, improve those services, and protect our games and our players from cheating and other inappropriate behaviour.
- We collect personal data when you play our games or sign up for our other services, when you use our chat features (although we normally delete this data after 30 days) and when you send us messages.
- We don’t sell your personal data to anyone, but we do have to share it with some other companies so that they can help us run our business.
- We only keep your data for as long as we need it, and you have rights to ask us to do things like delete it, give you a copy of it, or correct it where it’s wrong.- You can contact us on [email protected] if you’ve got questions about data protection or general legal matters at Facepunch - please note we will ignore any emails unrelated to these topics. If you have game or other general queries, please contact our support team at https://support.facepunchstudios.com/hc/en-us.
- We also collect personal data of those that apply to work at Facepunch. If you apply for a job at Facepunch please read the final section of this privacy policy (personal data of job applicants) to understand how we will use your personal data.
Who are we?
We are Facepunch Studios Ltd (incorporated and registered in England with company number 06848626) of Concept House, Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands, WS3 2QW, United Kingdom as well as the Facepunch group of companies ('Facepunch'). We are the creators of Garry’s Mod, Rust and other games. Because of how we collect personal and data, and the fact that we don’t do this under anyone else’s instructions, we are the controller for your personal data. This means that we decide how we process the personal data we hold about you. We are registered as a controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office and our registration number is: ZA443931.
What / who is this policy for?
This policy applies to all of our games (except Rust on console – more on that below), apps, websites (including this one), forum, support services, software development kits, online tools, blogs, social media accounts, and any other products and services we offer. We may collect some personal data about you when you use or interact with any of these services, so the policy applies to you whenever this is the case. Personal data means any information about you or that identifies you.
If you’d like to know more about your personal data for the Xbox and PlayStation versions of Rust, the publisher (and controller) of those versions is Double Eleven (please see their privacy policy here: https://rust.double11.com/privacy-policy).
What about children?
If you’re under 18 (or a parent or guardian), then this section is especially important. We recognise that we have a special obligation to protect personal data obtained from children. Legally, you must be at least 13 to use our games and services (although some of our games may have a higher age rating). However, we don’t collect or store your age or date of birth. If you don’t understand something on this page, then please ask your parent or guardian to help.
We do not knowingly collect personal data of anyone under the age of 13 without parental or guardian consent. If you’re a parent or guardian and are concerned about how we process your child’s personal data, please do get in touch at [email protected].
What data do we collect and how do we collect it?
- Email address – if you email customer service or sign up to one of our services using your email address, we will hold this data so that we can help and respond to you.
- Real name – this may be provided voluntarily by you if you contact us or use it to sign up to one of our services.
- SteamID64 and Steam username – if you access some of our services.
- Forum username – created when you sign up to our forum.
- IP address – your computer’s internet address, which is collected when you sign up to our forum or use some of our services.
- Device push token – collected from Rust+ and deleted after 40 days.
- Push notification history – collected from Rust+ and deleted after 7 days.
- Information about servers that you have enabled push notifications from, and which channels you’ve opted out from – collected from Rust+ and retained indefinitely.
- Chat logs from in-game – for example, in Rust, we have an open chat feature where you can say anything you like (within a few rules that are there for safety). If you write anything in the chat that is your personal data, we have this on our servers for 30 days.
In most of the above situations, we’re collecting personal data because it’s necessary. However, personal data you provide voluntarily is handled differently: where you contact us with any questions or use our chat functionality, this will be processed on the basis of our legitimate interests; and where you subscribe to our marketing and newsletters this will be processed on the basis of your consent.
If you contact us via social media platforms, we may process personal data that you provide. This will also be made available to the social media platform so you should also check their privacy policies before reaching out.
We don’t deal with any payment information, which is handled by the platforms we use, such as Steam, the Apple App Store, and Google Play. Even if you make an in-game purchase, we just get a notification from our platform partner – we don’t see your payment details.
We also use some cookies in order to maintain and improve our website and services. Please do have a read of our cookie policy (www.facepunch.com/legal/cookie) for more information and to see how to manage your cookie preferences.
What do we do with your personal data?
We only process your personal data in accordance with the law in the UK, where we are based – this includes the GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Age Appropriate Design Code (aka The Children’s Code).
- We use your personal data to run, maintain, and improve our services, as well as to communicate with you (e.g. by email). The most obvious way we use your personal data is to make our games available for you to play. Secondly, we also use your personal data to provide our other related services to you, such as support services and our forum. Additionally, we use it to monitor the performance of our services so that our games and other things work for you and your device, allow us to monitor for bugs, enforce our policies, notify you about changes, protect our services, deal with cheats and hacks, and protect you and our other users.
- We share it with some other companies on a strictly necessary basis so that they can provide services to us, like Steam information about how people are playing our games, or handling cheaters. We never sell your personal data, and you can find out more about who we share data with in the ‘Who do we share your data with?’ section below.
- We also sometimes need to use your personal data to comply with our legal obligations, including complying with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the E-Commerce Directive.
- If you give us your consent, we’ll also use your personal data to give you marketing updates from time to time. We’ll also never share your data with other companies to do their own marketing unless you give us consent to do so.
More about in-game chat
Whilst things like log in details, email addresses, and Steam information are more obvious, we want to draw your attention to our chat feature in Rust, Garry’s Mod and other games. We want our chat to be open and fun, so we won’t stop you from sharing your personal data there if you want to. We encourage you to be careful and not share anything too personal, like your phone number, home address, email address, or other social media information (we also suggest the same if you post on our forum).
We keep chat logs for 30 days and use some tools to analyse it to help keep everyone safe. These tools include an automated system to flag offensive language as well as manual review when necessary. We take the protection of children in particular seriously and will keep the safety tools we use under review to ensure they are adequate. If you have any concerns about the chat feature, or something you see in the chat, then please get in touch and we can look into it.
Who do we share your personal data with?
Bear in mind that Steam also collects personal data about people who play our games, but they don’t share this with us. Steam is a controller for the personal data it collects, and if you have concerns about this, head over to the Steam website and review their privacy policy (https://steamproxy.com/steamstore/privacy_agreement/). Similarly, if you share any content of your gameplay with any social media platform (such as Twitter, Twitch, YouTube or Discord) then these platforms will be controllers of any personal data you choose to share.
We also have some processors who collect personal data from our customers in order to carry out their services for us. This isn’t data we collect and share with them – they collect it directly from you. These processors include our server provider, our anti-cheating provider, our stats provider, our error-tracking provider, our customer support provider and our mass-mailing provider.
In the event of a reorganisation or merger of Facepunch we may transfer personal data to an involved third party who will protect this to at least the same level as we do in this policy.
Finally, we may share personal data with law enforcement if we believe there is a good reason to do so and if it will assist in any investigation.
How long do we keep personal data for?
We only keep personal data for as long as we need to, depending on the purpose for which it was collected. For example, we’ll need to keep your email address for as long as you want to remain subscribed to marketing emails. However, sometimes we have a legal obligation to keep personal data for longer, or we may need to keep it to resolve a dispute, or to prevent cheating or other inappropriate activities.
How do we keep personal data safe?
We have robust security arrangements in place to guard against your personal data being lost or stolen.
When we use third-party organisations to process your personal data, they must comply with contractual requirements and instructions.
If any of our processors are based outside of the UK or EEA we will ensure there is a secure and legal transfer system in place.
What rights do you have?
Data protection means that you have certain rights over the information we hold about you. This means that you can contact us and ask us to do certain things with your information, such as provide it to you or delete it. You can learn more about these rights here: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/. In particular, we’d like to remind you that you can:
- ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- ask us to change any information about you that is inaccurate;
- object to decisions about you being taken by automated means (i.e. where a computer makes a decision about you with no human involvement);
- where we have asked for your consent, you can change your mind and withdraw your consent at any time;
- ask us to stop using your information;
- ask us to share your personal data with another company;
- ask us to delete the information we hold about you; and
- ask us to stop sending you direct marketing.
If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at [email protected]. You can exercise these rights whether you’re an adult or a child.
Please be aware that each of these rights are qualified rights, meaning that there may be circumstances where we are unable to comply with your request. Once you make a request, and where we can comply, we will do so within one calendar month although we may have to extend this for more complex requests or where we have received a high volume.
You also have the right to complain to your data protection supervisory authority (this is the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK), although we would ask that you try and settle any issues with us in the first instance.
What if I’m in California?
California residents who have an established business relationship with us have the right to request certain information with respect to the types of personal data we have shared with third parties for their direct marketing purposes, and the identities of those third parties, within the immediately preceding calendar year, subject to certain exceptions. All requests for such information must be in writing and sent to: 'Facepunch Studios Ltd at Concept House, Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich, Walsall, West Midlands, WS3 2QW, United Kingdom’. This same California law permits us to provide you, in response to your written request, with a cost-free means to choose not to have your personal data shared rather than providing the above described information. If you want to do this, you can contact us at the address above.
Can this policy change?
Yes, as our business and the law develop, we will need to keep this policy up to date. We’ll make reasonable efforts to let you know if this happens, and you can decide whether you agree with the new policy or not. Unfortunately, if you don’t agree, then we won’t be able to provide our games or services to you. We'd also like to remind you that our Terms of Service has more information about how we operate the Facepunch services and you can find these here: www.facepunch.com/legal/tos.
Personal data of job applicants
Facepunch will also advertise jobs from time-to-time and invite people to apply. If you apply for a position at Facepunch then we will process your personal data and this section applies to you.
The personal data we collect when you apply for a job will be limited to that information you submit to us. This will include your name, previous employment history, CV, referees, and any supplementary information that you provide. We do not collect any special categories of personal data save that we will request you to provide any relevant health data where this is necessary for us to facilitate any interviews.
All personal data of job applicants will be processed solely for the purpose of assessing the merits of the candidates and suitability for the role for which they have applied. This will be processed in accordance with Facepunch’s legitimate interests. Where we process health data (as mentioned above) this will be processed for the purpose of complying with employment requirements.
Where candidates are successful and accept a job with Facepunch, their personal data will be held in as part of their HR file and retained in line with Facepunch’s staff privacy policy. Where candidates are unsuccessful, personal data will be held for a period of 12 months.
Job applicants should also review the above sections of this privacy policy which will be relevant to Facepunch’s processing of their personal data:
- Who are we?
- How do we keep personal data safe?
- What rights do you have?
- Can this policy change?