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Nertz!

Privacy Policy

Last updated October 5, 2026

Who we are

Nertz! ("the game", available at https://nertz.app) is operated by Sthetic Creative Group, LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company. For the EU and UK data protection laws (the GDPR and UK GDPR) and the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, Sthetic Creative Group, LLC is the controller of your personal data: the company that decides why and how it is used.

Controller: Sthetic Creative Group, LLC, 7533 S Center View Ct #6340, West Jordan, UT 84084, United States.

Questions about this policy, and any request to use your rights: hello@sthetic.org. Player support, including support tickets and help centre questions, is handled at support@nertz.app.

What we collect

  • Account details — your email address and name when you register with email and password , sign in with Google or use Sign in with Apple. With Google sign-in we receive only your basic profile (name, email address and profile picture) through the openid, email and profile permissions. We never see your Google password, and we do not request access to your Gmail, Drive, contacts or any other Google data. With Sign in with Apple we receive your name and email address, which may be an Apple private relay address if you choose to hide your email; we never see your Apple Account password.
  • Gameplay — the display name you type at the table, your match results (points, rounds, Nertz calls, King captures, cards played, table size, game mode) and the room codes you create or join.
  • Support messages — what you write when you contact us through the help centre ticket form or by email: your name, the email address we reply to, the topic you chose, your subject and message, the page you were on, your device and browser, and any screenshot you attach. Screenshots are stored privately: there is no public link to them, and only you and the support team can open one.
  • Help assistant and Coach helper conversations — when you ask the help assistant in the corner of the page, or one of the Coach helpers, the text of your question is processed to write the answer, together with the help articles needed to answer it. The floating help assistant keeps nothing. The Coach helpers (Strategy coach, Table finder, Score explainer) keep their conversation against your account while it is active, so the helper can pick up where you left off. Neither is used for advertising or profiling, neither is used to train AI models, and a conversation only becomes a support ticket if you choose to send it as one. See "Help assistant and the Coach helpers" for how to have a conversation deleted.
  • Usage analytics — only if you click "Accept analytics" in the cookie banner, we use Google Analytics 4 to measure how the game is used: pages viewed, game events such as choosing a mode, starting a game, finishing a round, calling Nertz and creating or joining a room (with non-personal details like game mode, table size and round number), referring site, approximate location (country/region/city, derived from your IP address; Google Analytics 4 does not store IP addresses), device and browser type, screen size, and session timing. We do not send your name, email address, display name, room codes, account ID or anything you type to Google Analytics, and page addresses are sent without their query string. Until you accept, the Google Analytics script is not loaded at all. See "Google Analytics" below.
  • Platform analytics — our app platform, Base44 (Wix.com Ltd.), also counts visits for us, but only for visitors who clicked "Accept analytics": when a visit starts and the page you came from, the page path you are on, a "still here" signal once a minute, how long the visit lasts, and your account ID when you are signed in, together with a random visit ID kept in your browser ("base44_analytics_session_id"). It starts from your next page load after you accept, and it stops when you click Reject in "Cookie settings" or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal. We do not use it for advertising, and we never send your name or email address to it. It is not anonymous: a signed-in visit is linked to your account. See "Platform analytics (Base44)" below.
  • Platform logs — our hosting platform, Base44 (operated by Wix.com Ltd.), keeps server-side technical logs of requests to the app's backend, as our service provider, to operate and secure it. Those server-side logs are separate from the analytics described above, and are not used for advertising.
  • Technical data — basic logs our hosting provider keeps to run and secure the service (for example IP address, browser type and error reports).

Cookies and similar storage

We use a small number of cookies and browser storage items:

  • Google Analytics cookies — "_ga" and "_ga_QX0WY4R572" distinguish visitors and sessions. They are set by nertz.app for Google Analytics only after you click "Accept analytics" in the cookie banner, and expire after up to 2 years. Full details are in our Cookie Policy (https://nertz.app/cookies).
  • Your cookie choice — whether you accepted or declined analytics is remembered in your browser's local storage ("sthetic_analytics_consent", with the date of your choice and whether a Global Privacy Control signal was present) for up to 12 months so we don't ask on every visit.
  • Base44 platform visits — a random visit ID in your browser's local storage ("base44_analytics_session_id"), kept only while you have accepted analytics so one visit is not counted twice. It is deleted when you reject or withdraw analytics, and when you clear your browser storage.
  • Sign-in — a session token kept in your browser so you stay signed in. It is removed when you sign out.
  • Preferences — your display name, difficulty level, number of computer players and sound setting are remembered in your browser's local storage so they are ready next time. This saved copy stays on your device.
  • Live rooms — a temporary connection ID in session storage so a page refresh keeps your seat. It is cleared when you close the tab.
  • Help centre — "nertz_help_votes" in local storage remembers which help articles you marked as helpful, so we do not ask again on this device, and "nertz_help_assistant_closed" remembers that you hid the floating help button. A note you hand from the help assistant to the ticket form is kept in this tab's session storage and cleared when you close it.

We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not enable Google Analytics advertising features or Google Signals. See our Cookie Policy (https://nertz.app/cookies). You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of the home screen and these pages, or block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the game works the same either way.

How we use it

  • To sign you in, keep your seat at a live table, and run online games.
  • To show the leaderboard. Your display name and match scores are visible to other signed-in players there. Your email address is never shown.
  • To understand how many people play, which modes and levels are popular, and where players get stuck, so we can improve the game and fix problems.
  • To send account emails you ask for, such as sign-up codes and password resets.
  • To send game emails and in-game notifications to signed-in players: a weekly winners announcement (Sundays), and an invite when a signed-in player opens an online table and you haven't played in the last hour. Only players with an account get these; guests never do.
  • To answer your support messages, keep a record of the request so we can reply in one thread, and find the parts of the help centre that people get stuck on so we can improve them. Screenshots you attach help us see the problem, and are only opened by the support team.

The legal bases we rely on

In the EU, the UK and Switzerland we need a legal reason (a "legal basis") for every use of your data. Here is the reason for each one:

  • Contract (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)) — creating and running your account, signing you in, keeping your seat at a live table, saving your scores and showing you your own stats and history. This is the account and the game you asked for; without it we cannot give you either.
  • Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — keeping the game working and safe for everyone: the rate limits and abuse controls that keep public pages and tables open for real players, the automatic display-name filter, hiding a name you have blocked, keeping the leaderboard honest, server logs and troubleshooting, answering your support messages, and reviewing a report another player sends us. We weigh this against your rights, and you can object at any time (see "Your privacy rights").
  • Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) — the three optional things: analytics (Google Analytics and our platform's visit counts), game emails (the weekly winners note and table invites), and the AI helpers (the help assistant and the Coach helpers). All three are off until you say yes, they are never needed to play, and you can withdraw at any time.
  • Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) — keeping records where the law requires it, and answering lawful requests from a court or an authority.

Nothing about your game depends on consent: playing, your scores, the leaderboard and support all work the same whether you agree or refuse.

Google Analytics

  • We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google LLC (and Google Ireland Limited for visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland), only if you consent. Advertising features, Google signals and ad personalization are turned off, and we do not sell your data or share it for targeted advertising.
  • Cookies: "_ga" and "_ga_QX0WY4R572", kept for up to 2 years. We set Google Analytics data retention to 2 months.
  • Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland): your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time with "Cookie settings"; when you do, we turn Google Analytics off and delete its cookies on nertz.app.
  • International transfers: Google LLC is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) and also relies on Standard Contractual Clauses.
  • We honor Global Privacy Control: if your browser sends the signal, analytics stays off unless you later turn it on yourself in "Cookie settings". You can also use the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
  • How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Platform analytics (Base44)

  • Our app platform, Base44 (Wix.com Ltd.), counts visits for us as well, and again only for visitors who clicked "Accept analytics". It records when a visit starts and the page you arrived from, the page path you are on, a "still here" signal once a minute, how long the visit lasts, and your account ID when you are signed in, with a random visit ID kept in your browser ("base44_analytics_session_id").
  • It starts from your next page load after you accept, and it stops as soon as you click Reject in "Cookie settings", or when your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal: rejecting also deletes the stored visit ID.
  • We do not use it for advertising, we do not sell it, and we never send your name or email address to it. Because a signed-in visit is linked to your account, we do not describe these counts as anonymous.
  • Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland): your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time with "Cookie settings".

Google user data

Nertz!'s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy (https://developers.google.com/terms/api-services-user-data-policy), including the Limited Use requirements.

We use your Google name, email address and profile picture only to create and sign in to your Nertz! account. We do not use Google user data for advertising, we do not sell it, we do not use it to train AI or machine-learning models, and we do not let humans read it except with your permission, for security, or where the law requires.

If you choose to sign in with Google, Google handles that sign-in under its own privacy policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy) and receives your name and email address for it. If you choose to sign in with Apple, Apple handles that sign-in under its own privacy policy (https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/) and, if you hide your email, passes us a private relay address instead of your real one.

What we do not do

  • We do not sell your personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral (targeted) advertising.
  • We do not currently show ads in the game. If that changes, we will update this policy before any ads appear.

Help assistant and the Coach helpers

  • The help assistant answers questions about the game from our own help articles, and the Coach helpers explain your scores and suggest tactics. They run on an AI model service provided through our app platform.
  • Your question is processed to write the answer together with the help articles needed for it. We do not send your email address, your account details, your cards, other players' data or any secret with it.
  • A Coach helper keeps its conversation against your account, so it can pick up where you left off: the questions you type, the answers written back, and anything you attach. It is kept while your account is active. The floating help assistant saves nothing: its conversation lives in the panel until you leave the page.
  • Legal basis: your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)). These helpers are optional, so you can simply not use them, and you can withdraw by asking us to delete a stored conversation.
  • We do not use those conversations for advertising or profiling, and we do not use them to train AI models. If you choose "Talk to a person", the note from that conversation is used to fill in a support ticket, and from then on it is handled like any other support message.
  • To delete a stored conversation: "Delete my account and data" in Settings removes your account and the records attached to it, and you can ask us to delete your helper conversations on their own, keeping your account, by opening a ticket under "Privacy & data" or by emailing hello@sthetic.org. We action deletion requests within one month.
  • The helpers can only read the help articles, the list of tables that are open at that moment, and your own saved match and round scores. They cannot change anything on your account.

Service providers

  • Base44 (Wix.com Ltd.) — hosts the app, its database, sign-in and realtime game rooms, keeps server-side technical logs of requests to the backend (servers in the United States), and provides the AI model service used by the help assistant and the Coach helpers, and — only with your consent — counts visits as described under "Platform analytics (Base44)".
  • Google LLC — Google Sign-In (only if you choose to sign in with Google).
  • Apple Inc. — Sign in with Apple (only if you choose to sign in with Apple).
  • Google LLC — Google Analytics 4 — website analytics (consent-based) — United States. Ads features disabled. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
  • Google Fonts (Google LLC) — the game's typefaces are loaded from Google's font servers, so your browser sends your IP address and basic browser information to Google when a page loads. Google Fonts does not set cookies. Details: https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq/privacy
  • Twilio SendGrid — delivers our emails: account emails such as sign-up codes and password resets, game emails such as weekly winners and table invites, alerts to our support inbox when a ticket is opened, and support confirmations and replies to the address you gave us.

These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy terms. We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or as part of a sale or transfer of the game, in which case this policy continues to apply.

Your choices

  • Use any display name you like at the table — it does not need to be your real name.
  • Google Analytics and the Base44 platform analytics stay off unless you click "Accept analytics" in the cookie banner, and neither counts anything until your next page load after you accept. To withdraw, use "Cookie settings" at the bottom of the home screen or these pages and choose Reject: Google Analytics is turned off, its cookies are deleted, the platform analytics stops and the stored visit ID ("base44_analytics_session_id") is removed. You can also block cookies, use the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout), or turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser — when we detect a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as declining: we don't ask, never load Google Analytics, never run the platform analytics, and send no game events unless you later opt in yourself through "Cookie settings".
  • Choose your own game emails with the "Game emails" switch in Settings. In the EU, the UK and Switzerland those emails are only ever sent while that switch is on; everywhere else you can switch them off the same way. Every game email also carries an unsubscribe link that works without signing in, and it switches off the same thing. Account emails you request, like password resets, still go out.
  • Take a copy of your data whenever you like: "Download my data" in Settings gives you one file with your account, scores, round history, support tickets and stored helper conversations. You can also ask us for it by emailing hello@sthetic.org.
  • Delete your account yourself, at any time, from Settings inside the game: it removes the account, leaderboard rows, match history and saved games immediately. To use any other right, such as access, correction, restriction or objection, email hello@sthetic.org: we answer within one month.
  • If you signed in with Google, you can also remove Nertz!'s access at any time at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions. If you used Sign in with Apple, you can review or stop using Sign in with Apple for Nertz! in your Apple Account settings at https://appleid.apple.com.

Your privacy rights

These rights come from the GDPR and the UK GDPR if you are in the EU or the UK, from the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection if you are in Switzerland, and from the state privacy laws (including California, Colorado, Utah and Virginia) if you are in the United States. We give them to everyone, wherever you play.

  • Access — ask what we hold about you, and get a copy of it.
  • Correction — have anything that is wrong put right.
  • Erasure — have your account and the data attached to it deleted.
  • Restriction — ask us to pause using your data while something is being checked.
  • Portability — get your data in a file you can keep or move: "Download my data" in Settings does that straight away, and it is the same data either way.
  • Objection — object to a use of your data based on our legitimate interests, such as the leaderboard or a security measure. We stop unless we have a good overriding reason, and we tell you which.
  • Withdraw consent — change your mind about analytics, game emails or the AI helpers at any time, in Settings. Withdrawing never costs you your account and never affects anything you have already used.
  • No automated decisions — we do not make automated decisions about you that have a legal or similarly significant effect, and we do not profile you for advertising. We do not sell your data.

To use any of these rights, use the controls in Settings or email hello@sthetic.org. We answer within one month (30 days) and never charge you for it. If a request is unusually complex we tell you why and may take up to two more months. We may need to check that the account is yours before we act, and we will not treat you differently for asking.

Complaining about us

If you think we have handled your data badly, please tell us first at hello@sthetic.org, so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority, and you do not have to come to us first.

How long we keep it

We keep personal data only as long as we need it. Here is each kind, and when it goes:

  • Account details (email address, name, sign-in) — while your account is active. Deleted immediately when you delete the account in Settings, or ask us to. Everything tied to the account goes with it.
  • Scores, stats and leaderboard rows — while your account is active. A match older than 30 days is folded into your lifetime totals and moved into an archive record; the detail goes when you delete your account.
  • Round-by-round history — the same as your scores: kept while the account is active, deleted with it.
  • Saved preferences on your device (display name, level, sound, table size) — never sent to us, so they go when you clear your browser storage.
  • Live rooms — temporary. A table record is cleared shortly after the game ends, and your connection details last only as long as the browser tab is open.
  • Support tickets, replies and screenshots — while your account is active, then deleted with it. A ticket you sent without signing in is not linked to an account, so we keep it while it is needed to help you and to keep a record of the request, and delete it when you ask.
  • Helper conversations — the Coach helpers keep their conversation while your account is active, then it is deleted with the account. The floating help assistant saves nothing at all.
  • Blocked-player lists and in-game notifications — while your account is active, then deleted with it.
  • Rate-limit counters — short-lived, keyed by an address or an account, and holding only a count and a time window; a signed-in player's counters are deleted with the account.
  • Google Analytics event data — kept for 2 months, then deleted automatically.
  • Platform visit counts (Base44) — the visit ID stays in your browser only while you have accepted analytics: it is removed when you reject or withdraw, and your browser clears it at any time.
  • Server logs — kept by our platform for a short period for security and troubleshooting, then rotated out.

You can delete the account and everything tied to it yourself, at any time, in Settings. If you would like us to delete something else, or you would like help doing it, email hello@sthetic.org.

Children

Nertz! is a family game, but accounts are for people 13 and older, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Younger players can join a family member's game on that adult's device. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

In the EU, the UK and Switzerland a player under 16 needs a parent or guardian's approval before we can use their data on the basis of consent. So for a player we know to be under 16 in those places, the consent-based features stay off until that approval arrives: no analytics, no game emails and no AI helpers. Everything else works as normal: playing, scores, the leaderboard and support. A parent or guardian can write to hello@sthetic.org or support@nertz.app. Before offering analytics we ask for a birth year. We keep only the band that comes out of it (16 or older, under 16, under 13) and never the year itself, and for a signed-in player we keep the band on the account so the same rules apply on every device they use.

Transferring data internationally

Nertz! is run from the United States, and your information is processed and stored there, where data-protection laws may differ from those where you live. When personal data moves out of the EU, the UK or Switzerland, we protect it in one of these ways:

  • A provider certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (which the UK and Switzerland have extended to their own rules): Google LLC (sign-in, analytics, fonts) and Twilio SendGrid (our emails). Certifications can be checked at https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/list.
  • The European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, with the UK Addendum for the UK and the safeguards recognised under the Swiss FADP, written into our agreement with a provider that is not certified under the framework. That covers our app platform Base44 (Wix.com Ltd.), which hosts the game and its database, and the AI model services behind the help assistant and the Coach helpers. Ask us for a copy: hello@sthetic.org.
  • Where neither applies, we only transfer with your consent, or for a one-off reason the law allows, such as answering a legal request.

Security

Data is sent over HTTPS. Score records can only be written by our server, and each player can only see their own private records. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be highlighted in the game.