Privacy
Last updated 29 October 2026
This notice explains what information Bunklore uses, where it is kept and what choices you have. Bunklore is a social game played in hostel common rooms. It comes in two parts: the game itself, which runs on the hostel's own computer, and the optional Bunklore network, which connects hostels on a shared world map.
Who we are
Bunklore is an independent product made and run in Great Britain. For anything about your information, contact us at tonyrbrown.2014@gmail.com.
1. The game on the hostel's computer
Everything you add while playing stays on the hostel's computer: your name and country, your answers, votes, words you teach, photos, clips, postcards, letters kept in this hostel, and any star rating you give your stay. Ratings are seen only by hostel staff, as an average. It is stored in a folder the hostel chooses, or inside the browser. None of it is sent to us.
The hostel is responsible for that information, including who can see the computer and how long the book is kept. Photos and clips are only saved when the person adding them confirms that everyone shown has agreed. Staff can remove any photo or clip from the book at any time. If you would like something removed, ask the hostel's reception.
2. The Bunklore network
The network is switched on by the hostel. When it is on, the game sends the following to our server.
About the hostel: its name, town or city, a map position for the town centre, and a random identifier with a secret key (we store only a scrambled form of the key). While the game is open it also sends whether anyone is playing, how many people are in the room, and how many pages and countries the hostel's book holds. These are counts only, never names. If the hostel adds offers for its guests, the offer text it writes is sent too, so travellers who send postcards from the road can see them.
Letters across the map: when a player chooses to send a letter across the map, we receive the first name they type, their country, who the letter is for, the message itself, the time it was sent, and which hostel sent it. When it is delivered, we record which hostel received it. If a hostel reports a letter, we keep the report.
When someone joins a game: only their country is sent, to check whether a letter is waiting for them. Their name is not sent and nothing is stored.
Finding a hostel's town: the town and country a hostel types are passed to OpenStreetMap's place finder to find it on the map. Our server keeps the results in temporary memory, and briefly notes the sender's internet address to prevent overuse. Neither is saved to disk.
3. Joining from a mobile device
If the hostel turns on device joining, guests can scan a code and play from their own phone, tablet or other mobile device. What they type on it (their first name and country, answers, votes, words they teach, quiz choices, letters, and which notice-board events they say they're going to, any star rating they give the hostel, and which recommended places they say they recommend) passes through our server on its way to the hostel's screen. If a guest opens their Traveller's Page on their device, the words on that page pass through our server the same way. Photos and clips never do.
This information is only held in the server's working memory while the game is open. It is never saved to disk, and it is deleted when the hostel closes the game or after 12 hours without activity. Once it reaches the hostel's screen, it becomes part of the hostel's book, as described in section 1.
The joining page keeps a small code in your browser so that you stay joined if you refresh the page. It is removed when the game closes.
4. Postcards from the road
If a guest taps "Keep in touch" on their device while at a hostel, our server keeps a road pass: their first name, their country and which hostel it is for. A random code is saved in their browser so they can use it later.
When they send a postcard from the road, we hold their words and the place they say they are until the hostel collects them, and then we delete them. The hostel reads every postcard and decides whether it goes into its book.
Why we use it
- To show hostels on the world map and light them up when they are playing.
- To deliver letters that players choose to send to another hostel.
- To pass what guests type on their own devices to their hostel's screen, when device joining is on.
- To carry postcards from the road back to the hostel a traveller stayed at.
- To keep the network safe: blocking contact details and abusive words, limiting how many letters each hostel sends, and acting on reports.
We rely on our legitimate interest in running the network for the hostels that join it, and in delivering letters at the request of the people who write them. We never sell information, use it for advertising or build profiles of anyone.
How long we keep it
- Delivered letters are deleted 30 days after delivery.
- Letters that are never delivered are deleted one year after they were sent.
- Reported or removed letters are kept for up to 90 days so we can review them, then deleted.
- Postcards from the road are deleted as soon as the hostel collects them, or after 60 days if it never does.
- Road passes that are not used for a year are deleted.
- A hostel that has not connected for a year is removed from the network, along with its details.
Who else is involved
- Railway hosts our server and stores the network's data on our behalf. Like any host it keeps short-lived technical logs, including internet addresses. Its servers may be outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States, under appropriate safeguards.
- OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) receives only the town and country a hostel types when joining the map.
- MET Norway (the Norwegian Meteorological Institute) receives the hostel's map position (its town centre) from our server, so the game can show the local weather. Nothing about guests is sent.
We share information with no one else, unless the law requires it.
Free gifts
A gift's QR code or link takes you to a separate website where the gift is hosted. Bunklore does not learn who scans a code or opens a gift. That website has its own privacy terms.
Age
Sending letters across the map is for players aged 18 and over.
Your rights
You can ask us for a copy of information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it. Because the network does not use accounts, tell us the hostel, roughly when you wrote, and what the letter said, so we can find it. You also have the right to object to how we use your information.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes
If we change this notice, we will update the date at the top.