Privacy policy

Last updated: 10 April 2025

1. Who We Are

Absolute Gaming ("we", "us", "our") operates the website absolutegaming.co.uk and its associated community forum at absolutegaming.co.uk/community. We are the data controller for the personal data you provide to us.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at: admin@absolutegaming.co.uk

2. What Data We Collect

When you register and use this Service, we collect the following personal data:

• Username — your chosen display name on the forum
• Email address — used for account management and communications
• Date of birth — collected at registration to verify you meet the minimum age requirement (21+)
• IP address — recorded when you register and perform certain actions on the site

Additional data may be collected if you choose to provide it, such as optional profile fields (e.g. location, about me). We also collect non-personally identifiable technical data such as browser type and device information for analytics purposes.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we rely on the following lawful bases for processing your personal data:

• Contractual necessity — processing your username, email address, and date of birth is necessary to provide you with a registered account and allow you to use the Service.
• Legitimate interests — recording IP addresses is necessary for the security and integrity of the Service, including investigating misuse and illegal activity.
• Legal obligation — we may be required to process and disclose your data to comply with applicable laws or respond to lawful requests from law enforcement authorities.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your registered account
• To verify that you meet the minimum age requirement for the Service (21+)
• To send you notifications about activity on the site relevant to you. You can manage notification preferences in your account settings.
• To send important announcements or administrative communications to all members where necessary
• To investigate reports of misuse, policy violations, or illegal activity on the Service
• To comply with our obligations under the Online Safety Act 2023
• For analytics purposes, using non-personally identifiable technical data to understand site usage

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

We may share your data in the following limited circumstances:

• Law enforcement and legal obligations — we may disclose your email address, date of birth, and IP address to law enforcement authorities (including the National Crime Agency, Internet Watch Foundation, or local police) where required by law or in response to a lawful request, or where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to prevent illegal activity or protect the safety of users.
• Third-party service providers — content you submit may be processed by third-party spam prevention and content moderation services used solely to operate and protect the Service.
• hCaptcha — this site uses hCaptcha for spam prevention. hCaptcha's privacy policy and terms of service apply to data processed by that service.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we will retain your data for a reasonable period thereafter (typically up to 12 months) to allow for the resolution of any outstanding disputes, investigations, or legal obligations.

IP address logs may be retained for up to 12 months for security and investigation purposes.

If you request erasure of your data, we will action this promptly unless we are required to retain it by law or for the purposes of an ongoing investigation.

7. Data Security

We are committed to keeping your personal data secure. We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, but we take all reasonable steps to protect your data.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — you can request deletion of your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain it
• Right to restrict processing — you can ask us to restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances
• Right to object — you can object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests
• Right to data portability — you can request a copy of your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at admin@absolutegaming.co.uk. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe we have not handled your personal data correctly. You can contact the ICO at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

9. Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device that allow us to provide certain functionality, such as keeping you logged in and remembering your preferences. We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — required for the forum to function correctly, including session management and login
• Preference cookies — used to remember your settings and preferences on the site
• Analytics cookies — used to collect non-personally identifiable information about how the site is used

By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies. You can control cookie settings through your browser settings, though disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the site.

10. Online Safety Act 2023

Absolute Gaming is a regulated user-to-user service under the Online Safety Act 2023, overseen by Ofcom. We maintain records of how we process data in connection with our obligations under the Act. Our Illegal Content Risk Assessment and Children's Access Assessment are published on the community forum. Our designated OSA contact is admin@absolutegaming.co.uk.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Where changes are material, we will notify members via a forum announcement. Continued use of the Service following notification of a change constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy. The current version is always available on the site with the date of the most recent update shown at the top.

CAPTCHA privacy policy

This site is protected by hCaptcha and its privacy policy and terms of service apply.