Privacy policy

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Who we are

Bokdle is run by Gary Kahn (sole proprietor), trading as GOAT Sports ("we"), the responsible party under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Our Information Officer is Gary Kahn (sole proprietor), trading as GOAT Sports, contactable at [email protected].

The short version

• You don't need an account, and we don't ask for your name or email to play.
• Your game progress stays on your own device.
• Ads are provided by Google, which uses cookies and similar technology. That is the main personal information processed when you visit.

What we collect and why

• Game progress, statistics and streaks are kept in your browser's local storage so you can pick up where you left off. They aren't sent to us. Clearing your browser data deletes them.
• Your guesses are sent to our server to work out the clues. We don't link them to you or keep them after answering.
• Server logs: like any website, our server and hosting provider briefly record technical details of each request (IP address, browser type, time and page) to keep the site running and secure. Logs are deleted automatically after a short period.
• Visit statistics: we use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count page views and see which pages and countries visits come from. It uses no cookies, doesn't track you across sites and doesn't build a profile of you. We only see totals.
• Advertising: Google AdSense shows ads on the site. Google and its partners may use cookies, device identifiers and your IP address to show ads, limit how often you see them, measure them and detect fraud. Where allowed, ads may be personalised based on your visits to this and other websites.

We process this information because it's needed to provide the game, and because we have a legitimate interest in funding the free game through advertising. Where the law requires your consent (for example personalised ads for visitors in the EU, UK and Switzerland), we ask for it first.

Your choices about ads

• Turn off personalised ads at Google Ads Settings or aboutads.info.
• Visitors in the EU, UK and Switzerland see a consent message and can change their choice at any time.
• You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The game still works without them.
• Read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Who we share information with

• Google (advertising), which processes data in the United States and other countries.
• Cloudflare, which delivers the site, protects it from attacks and provides our visit statistics. It processes visitors' IP addresses, including outside South Africa.
• Our hosting provider, which runs the server the site lives on.
• Authorities, if the law requires it.

We don't sell your personal information. Some of these providers process information outside South Africa. Where they do, we rely on them being bound by data protection laws or agreements that give protection comparable to POPIA (section 72).

Photos and player data

Player facts come from public sources (Wikidata and Wikipedia). Photos load from Wikimedia Commons, which receives your IP address when your browser fetches them, under the Wikimedia privacy policy.

Security and retention

The site is served over HTTPS, and the server is kept patched and firewalled. We keep the little information we hold only as long as needed for the purposes above.

Children

Bokdle is a general-audience game and is not aimed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask whether we hold personal information about you, ask for a copy, and ask us to correct or delete it. You may also object to processing, including for direct marketing. Email [email protected]. Our PAIA manual explains how to request records formally.

If you're unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za, [email protected]. Visitors in the EU or UK may also contact their local data protection authority.

Changes

We'll update this page when the site changes, for example when we add an ad-free subscription. The date at the top shows the latest version.