gamelab-policies

Privacy Policy — Hestia Game Lab

Last updated: 2026-11-02

Hestia Game Lab (“the tool”) is a personal, non-commercial research tool run by one individual developer. It is not a public service: it runs on the operator’s own computer, has no user accounts, and has no users other than the operator.

YouTube API Services

The tool uses YouTube API Services. By using the tool, the operator agrees to the YouTube Terms of Service. YouTube data is also subject to the Google Privacy Policy.

What data the tool accesses

The tool retrieves public data only, about videos related to recently released PC games:

• video metadata: video ID, title, channel name, publish date;
• public video statistics: view, like and comment counts.

The tool does not use OAuth, does not sign in to any YouTube or Google account, and does not access any private or user-specific data. It collects no personal information about YouTube users or viewers. It sets no cookies and has no visitors.

How the data is used

The data is shown to the operator next to other public information about each game, to help the operator study which new games are drawing attention from video creators. The data is not sold, shared, licensed or published.

Any metric the tool calculates itself is clearly labelled in the interface as independently calculated, and is never presented as data from YouTube.

Storage, refresh and deletion

• The data is stored only on the operator’s own computer.
• Video metadata (titles, channel names, descriptions) is refreshed or deleted within 30 days of retrieval.
• Video statistics are deleted within 30 days of retrieval. If YouTube approves the tool’s analytics use case, statistics may be kept for up to 36 months, as the YouTube API Services Developer Policies allow.
• Deletion is automatic, on schedule.
• If the tool stops using YouTube API Services, all stored YouTube data is deleted.

Contact

Questions or deletion requests: open an issue in this site’s GitHub repository.