Official Privacy Policy

HookBang Privacy Policy

The following Privacy Policy outlines the information and data that HookBang, LLC ("HookBang") may collect, how we may collect that data, and how HookBang may use that information to better serve visitors and members of HookBang.com, PlayPackRat.com, or HookBang's Facebook offerings (the "Site") and the games and related services provided through or accessed on those Sites (collectively, the "HookBang Services").

1. Children Under the Age of 13.

HookBang does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information or non-personally-identifiable information on the Site from persons under 13 years of age, and no part of the Site is directed to persons under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use or access the Site or the HookBang Services at any time or in any manner. If HookBang learns that personally identifiable information of persons under 13 years of age has been collected on the Site without verified parental consent, then HookBang will take the appropriate steps to delete this information.

2. Information HookBang Collects

Information Submitted by You

HookBang collects personal information when you register or request information from us. Through Facebook, we collect the following personal information: login name (e.g. user ID), email address (if you give this permission when you sign up), and name (first and last).

Personally Identifiable Information Collected by HookBang

HookBang collects personally identifiable information related to your use of the HookBang Services: your specific game play history, settings and preferences, interactions with other players and our markets, etc. If you make a purchase via the app or website, our payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, Apple, Google Play) share specific purchase and transaction information with us, which varies depending on the payment processor but includes things like first and last name, billing address, shipping address, last four digits and expiration date of credit/debit card, past purchases, etc. This information is then collected and stored in our database for legal and tax purposes. 

User-generated content.

UGC is content that users contribute to an app, and which is visible to or accessible by at least a subset of the app's users. Things like usernames, status messages, public messages (“shout outs,”) forum posts, and forum comments (any text that other users can see) are subject to our rules and terms of service and are regularly monitored.

By interacting with us through customer service channels (ZenDesk or Facebook), you also generate user content that while not visible to others, is maintained by HookBang.

Consenting to this privacy policy also means consenting to our policy on user-generated content, outlined in our terms of service. 

General Information Collected by HookBang

HookBang may also collect non-personal information not associated with your identity. HookBang collects this data to improve the Site and the HookBang Services. Some of the non-submitted information HookBang collects is: IP address, file type, data transferred, browser type and version, and cookies.

HookBang uses a third party analytics service called Mixpanel that uses data and information passed from HookBang’s servers and databases to display and analyze data, show trends, chart game activity, etc. Mixpanel also collects the following non-personally identifiable information about users: city, state, device model, operating system of device and version of OS, screen resolution, wifi on/off, etc. Mixpanel does not collect email addresses nor first or last names to attach to these other data fields. Mixpanel will provide the same or equal protection of user data as HookBang and is in full compliance with Apple and Google’s new developer guidelines. 

For specific details on this data compliance, and what data Mixpanel collects, please consult the following information page on Mixpanel: https://mixpanel.com/legal/app-store-privacy-details/

We also recommend that you consult Mixpanel’s general Privacy policy, available here:

https://mixpanel.com/legal/terms-of-use/

3. How HookBang Uses Your Information.

Among HookBang's primary goals in collecting information is to provide you with a customized experience when visiting the Site and to make the HookBang Services more valuable to you. HookBang uses this information to closely monitor which areas of the Site are used most and to determine which areas HookBang needs to focus on improving. This information is used exclusively by HookBang in aggregate form so that HookBang may continue to improve the value of the HookBang Services and information on the Site for our members as a whole.

HookBang uses your personally identifiable information so it can offer you items meant to enhance your experience on the Site. HookBang will offer you such items through your use of the HookBang Services (i.e., during your game play).

As a valued customer of HookBang, HookBang may occasionally contact you, typically by email (or any other way you prefer) in order to notify you of special promotions, and up-to-date news, custom-tailored to your personal interests. Of course, if you do not wish to receive this personalized information, you can remove yourself from receiving such information by unsubscribing from such emails.

HookBang uses your Internet Protocol (IP) address to help diagnose problems with HookBang's computer servers, and to administer the Site. Your IP address is used to help identify you, and to gather broad demographic data. Your IP address contains no personal information about you.

Please note that, once you've logged on to HookBang's servers through your HookBang Account, HookBang uses cookies to keep track of your application states and log in status. Cookies are small files that take up minimal room on your computer and cannot, by itself, damage your computer's files. Cookies work by assigning a number to a user that has no meaning outside of the assigning web site, in this case, the Site. If you do not want information to be collected through the use of cookies, your browser allows you to deny or accept the use of cookies. There may, however, be some features on the Site which requires the use of cookies in order to customize the delivery of information and content to you.

Except as described above, HookBang will not monitor edit or disclose any personal information about you or your account, without your prior consent unless we have a belief that such action is necessary to: (i) comply with legal process or other legal requirements of any governmental authority; (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of HookBang; (iii) enforce HookBang's Terms of Service; (iv) protect the interests of users of the HookBang Services other than you or any other person; or (v) operate or conduct maintenance and repair of the HookBang Services or equipment as authorized by law.

4. Disclosure of Your Information.

In the future, HookBang may share non-personally identifiable information (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third parties to help them understand the usage patterns for certain HookBang Services. In the future, HookBang may allow other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements on the Site. These third-party ad servers or ad networks may use technology to send, directly to your browser, the advertisements and links that appear on the Site. They automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content. If we do start such advertising, we will accordingly update this privacy policy.

HookBang does not currently, and will not in the future, provide any personally identifiable information to these third-party ad servers or ad networks without your consent. However, please note if an advertiser asks HookBang to show an advertisement to a certain audience (for example, men ages 18-24) or audience segment (for example, women ages 32-40 who have viewed certain channels of content) and you respond to that advertisement, the advertiser or ad-server may conclude that you fit the description of the audience they are trying to reach.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers or ad networks. The HookBang Privacy Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such advertisers.

HookBang may also provide links to third-party websites, advertisers, and others. The HookBang Privacy Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, third-party websites. You should consult the privacy policy of any other website you visit from links on the Site.

HookBang cooperates with all law enforcement inquires and with all third parties to enforce their intellectual property or other rights.

You should be aware if you voluntarily disclose personal information in chat areas, on bulletin boards, or in classified areas within the Site, that information might be collected and disseminated by third-parties, and result in, among other things, unsolicited inquiries, messages, and offers from third-parties. Please understand any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and this third-party conduct is out of the control of HookBang. Please exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.

The Site also contains links to other web sites. HookBang is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites.

If the ownership of all or substantially all of HookBang's business, or substantial portions of the business owned by HookBang, were to change, your information may be transferred to the new owner so the new owner can continue providing services to you. In any such case, your information would remain subject to the protections provided in our Privacy Policy.

5. Deleting Your Account and Data.

You can delete your PackRat account and all associated data collected and maintained by HookBang, directly from within the game. Click/tap the gear icon at the top right of the screen, and then select “Delete Account,” and follow the prompts. Your account and associated data will be removed from our databases; if you had an auto-renewing subscription purchased via the web, it will be canceled upon account deletion. Due to the thoroughness of the account deletion process, once you have elected to delete your account, HookBang will not be able to restore it.  Please note that some data, like financial records and transactions, cannot be deleted because a) this information is retained by the payment processors we use and interface with and b) we are legally required to keep records of transactions for tax and other legal purposes.

6. Security.

The personally identifiable information HookBang collects is securely stored within HookBang's databases, and HookBang uses standard, industry-wide practices such as encryption, firewalls and (in some certain areas) SSL (Secure Socket Layers) for protecting your information. However, as effective as encryption technology is, no security system is impenetrable. HookBang cannot guarantee the security of our database, nor can we guarantee that information you supply won't be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet. In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of a breach of security, HookBang will promptly notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this Privacy Policy, or as otherwise required by applicable law. It is the policy of HookBang to provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to our customers or web site users, via E-mail notice, written or hard copy notice, or through conspicuous posting of such notice on our web site page, as determined by HookBang in its sole discretion. Notwithstanding the foregoing, HookBang reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to our customers or web site users.

7. Revisions and Amendments.

If you have further privacy concerns please do not hesitate contact HookBang at [e-mail]. This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 22, 2007 and was last updated on June 13, 2022. This Privacy Policy is not intended to and does not create any contractual or other legal rights in or on behalf of any party. HookBang reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to add to, modify, change or update this Privacy Policy, simply by posting such change, update or modification on www.HookBang.com. Any such change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on the Site.