Terms of use and privacy policy
The rules for using our servers and website, and how we handle your data.
Terms of use
Effective Date: 22 May 2025
Last Revised: 5 October 2026
Version: 2.1
1. About these terms
These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the game servers, website, and related services ("Services") operated by Usual Shenanigans Collective ("we," "us," "our"), a private unregistered association based in England, United Kingdom.
By accessing or using our Services — whether free or paid — you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.
If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use our Services.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years of age to use our Services. By using the Services, you confirm that you meet this requirement.
We do not knowingly provide Services to anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that a user is under 18, we will terminate their access immediately without notice or refund.
3. Our services — free and paid tiers
3.1 Free community access
We operate a number of game servers that are free to join ("Free Services"). Access to Free Services is provided as a courtesy to the gaming community and is subject to availability. We make no warranties regarding uptime, availability, or continuity of Free Services.
3.2 Paid subscription plans
We offer optional paid subscription plans ("Subscriptions") that provide additional features, benefits, and access as described on our Pricing page at the time of purchase. Current plans are:
- Supporter — £3.00/month
- Plus — £8.00/month
- Squad — £14.00/month
Subscription benefits, features, and pricing are as described on our Pricing page and may be updated from time to time in accordance with Section 10 of these Terms.
3.3 Subscriptions are not donations
Paid Subscriptions constitute a contract for digital services under UK consumer law. They are distinct from voluntary donations (see Section 6) and are subject to the consumer rights described in these Terms.
4. Subscriptions — billing, cancellation, and refunds
4.1 Billing
Subscriptions are billed on a recurring monthly basis from the date of your first payment. Payment is processed via our third-party payment processor. By subscribing, you authorise us to charge your payment method on a recurring basis until you cancel.
4.2 Cancellation
You may cancel your Subscription at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period. You will retain access to Subscription benefits until that date. We do not offer prorated refunds for partial months unless required by law.
4.3 Your right to cancel — cooling-off period
Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have the right to cancel a new Subscription within 14 days of purchase without giving a reason ("cooling-off period").
However, by completing your purchase and accessing your Subscription benefits immediately, you expressly request that we begin providing the digital service before the cooling-off period expires. You acknowledge that by exercising this right and accessing benefits, you may lose your right to a full refund for the portion of the service already delivered.
If you cancel within the 14-day period without having accessed any Subscription benefits, you are entitled to a full refund, processed within 14 days of your cancellation request.
To exercise your right to cancel, contact us at douglasbett63@gmail.com.
4.4 Refunds outside the cooling-off period
Outside the 14-day cooling-off period, Subscription payments are non-refundable, except where required by applicable law or where we have materially failed to deliver the services described.
4.5 Refunds and account termination
If your account is suspended or terminated due to a breach of these Terms, no refund will be issued for any remaining subscription period. This does not affect your statutory rights.
5. Access, suspension, and termination
5.1 Access is a privilege
Access to our Services is a revocable privilege. We reserve the right to suspend, restrict, or terminate access for any user at our discretion, including but not limited to conduct that:
- Violates these Terms or our Community Guidelines
- Is disruptive, abusive, or harmful to other users
- Constitutes harassment, discrimination, or illegal activity
- Compromises the integrity, security, or performance of the Services
5.2 Free service users
For users of Free Services, suspension and termination decisions are final. We are under no obligation to provide prior notice, explanation, or an appeal process, though we will endeavour to act reasonably.
5.3 Paid subscription users
For active paying Subscribers, where suspension or termination is not the result of a breach of these Terms, we will provide reasonable notice where practicable. Where a Subscriber's access is terminated by us without cause, we will provide a prorated refund for any unused portion of the current billing period.
Where termination results from a breach of these Terms, no refund will be issued. You retain any statutory rights you may have under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
5.4 No right to specific servers or features
No user has a vested right to access any specific game server, game mode, map, or feature. We reserve the right to modify, reconfigure, or discontinue any server or feature at any time. Where such changes materially affect a paid Subscription, we will provide notice in accordance with Section 10.
6. Voluntary donations
In addition to Subscriptions, we may accept voluntary donations to support operational costs.
Voluntary donations:
- Are entirely optional
- Are non-refundable under any circumstances
- Do not constitute a purchase of services or a contract
- Do not entitle the donor to preferential treatment, administrative access, or any guarantee of service availability
- Do not exempt the donor from suspension or termination under these Terms
7. User conduct
By using our Services, you agree not to:
- Cheat, exploit, or use unauthorised modifications in any game server
- Harass, threaten, or abuse other users
- Attempt to disrupt, overload, or compromise the security of our Services
- Impersonate staff, moderators, or other users
- Use our Services for any unlawful purpose
- Attempt to circumvent a ban or suspension using an alternate account
- Vote more than once, use more than one account, or use automated tools to take part in a community vote, or otherwise try to manipulate its result
To keep community votes fair, we may hold back, remove or void any vote that we reasonably believe is not genuine, and may stop an account from voting. We use automatic checks to help us do this, as explained in our Privacy Policy.
We reserve the right to update our Community Guidelines separately from these Terms. Current Community Guidelines are available on our Discord server.
8. Intellectual property
All content, software, design, and materials we create and publish as part of the Services remain our property or that of our licensors. You may not reproduce, distribute, or exploit any part of the Services without our express written permission.
User-generated content (such as in-game builds, player data, and similar) remains yours, but you grant us a non-exclusive licence to store and display it as necessary to operate the Services. We are under no obligation to preserve or return user-generated content upon account termination.
9. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Usual Shenanigans Collective shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the Services.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:
- Death or personal injury caused by our negligence
- Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
- Any liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015
Our total aggregate liability to any user shall not exceed the total amount paid by that user to us in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
10. Amendments to these terms
We reserve the right to amend these Terms at any time.
For changes that do not materially affect your rights, we will update the "Last Revised" date at the top of this document.
For material changes — including changes to pricing, subscription benefits, or user rights — we will provide a minimum of 30 days' notice via email and/or a prominent notice on our website before the changes take effect.
If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must cancel your Subscription before the effective date of the change. Continued use of the Services after that date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
11. Privacy and data protection
Your use of our Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, and store your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
By using our Services, you confirm that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.
12. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
If you have a complaint or dispute, please contact us in the first instance at douglasbett63@gmail.com. We will endeavour to resolve disputes informally wherever possible.
Nothing in these Terms affects your right to bring a claim before the courts of England and Wales, or your statutory rights as a consumer.
13. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
14. Entire agreement
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any Community Guidelines published by us, constitute the entire agreement between you and Usual Shenanigans Collective regarding your use of the Services, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
Usual Shenanigans Collective
England, United Kingdom
Contact: douglasbett63@gmail.com
Website: usual-shenanigans.com
Privacy policy
Effective Date: 22 May 2025
Last Updated: 10 October 2026
Version: 2.2
What changed in version 2.2: we now encrypt sign-in sessions and vote records in our database, and store a scrambled code instead of your Discord ID next to your vote (sections 2.6, 2.7 and 7). This protects your data further. It does not change what we collect or why.
What changed in version 2.1: we added sign-in with Discord and voting on our website (sections 2.6 and 2.7), described the two cookies that keep you signed in (section 3.2), added Upstash to the services we use (section 4), added how long we keep this data (section 5), and removed Google Fonts, because our pages no longer load anything from Google.
1. Who we are
This website and associated game servers are operated by Usual Shenanigans Collective ("we," "us," "our"), a private unregistered association based in England, United Kingdom.
We are the data controller for personal data collected through our Services. This means we determine how and why your personal data is processed.
Contact for data protection queries:
Email: douglasbett63@gmail.com
Website: usual-shenanigans.com
2. What data we collect and why
We collect different categories of personal data depending on how you use our Services.
2.1 Account and identity data
When you create an account or join our community, we may collect:
- Your username or display name
- Email address
- Discord username or ID (where you connect via Discord)
- Age confirmation (we verify you are 18 or over)
- IP address (collected automatically on connection)
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to operate a safe community) and, where applicable, performance of a contract.
2.2 Payment and subscription data
When you purchase a Subscription, we collect:
- Name and billing details as provided during checkout
- Subscription tier and billing history
- Payment method details
Important: We do not store your full card details. Payment processing is handled by our third-party processor, Stripe. We only retain records of transaction amounts, dates, and subscription status. Stripe's privacy policy is available at stripe.com/gb/privacy.
Legal basis: Performance of a contract (your Subscription agreement with us).
2.3 Usage and technical data
When you use our website or connect to our game servers, we automatically collect:
- IP address and approximate location (country/region)
- Browser type and version
- Pages visited and time spent on site
- Game server connection data (connection times, session duration, in-game activity relevant to moderation)
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to maintain and improve our Services, and to enforce our Terms of Use).
2.4 Communications data
If you contact us via Discord tickets or email, we retain records of that correspondence, including:
- Your name and contact details
- The content of your message
- Any support or moderation history
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to manage our community and respond to enquiries).
2.5 Moderation and ban records
Where a user is warned, suspended, or banned, we retain a record of that action, including the reason and any evidence collected.
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to maintain the safety and integrity of our Services and to prevent circumvention of bans).
2.6 Signing in with Discord
You can use most of this website without signing in. If you choose to sign in with Discord, for example to cast a vote, Discord sends us the following, with your permission. We ask for two Discord permissions, called "identify" and "guilds.members.read":
- Your Discord user ID, your username or display name, and your profile picture
- Whether you are a member of our Discord server, when you joined it, which roles you hold in it, and whether you have finished the server's membership screening
We only ask Discord about our own server. We do not receive your email address, your password, your messages, or the list of other servers you belong to.
While you are signed in we keep a sign-in session record, which contains the information above and the access token that Discord gives us. The token is kept on our server only and is never sent to your browser. It lets us check that you are in our server at the moment you vote. The whole session record is encrypted in our database, so it cannot be read without our secret key. When you log out, we delete the session and ask Discord to cancel the token. You can also remove our access yourself at any time in your Discord settings, under Authorised Apps.
While you are signed in, your browser also loads your profile picture directly from Discord's servers, so Discord receives your IP address in the usual way.
Signing in is optional, but you cannot vote without it, because we need to know who you are to count one vote per person.
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to let you take part in our community vote, and to check that people who vote are members of our server).
2.7 Voting and vote checks
When you cast a vote, we record:
- A scrambled code made from your Discord user ID, linked to the game you voted for, so that each person can vote only once. We can work out your code from your ID when we look up your vote, but nobody can turn the code back into your ID without our secret key.
- The date and time of your vote
- A scrambled (hashed) version of the network address your vote came from. We scramble it with a secret key, so it cannot be turned back into your IP address from the record alone. We use it only to spot many votes coming from one connection. We do not store your IP address for this.
- The reason, if a vote was held back for review (see below)
We can see which game each Discord account voted for, but we never show that publicly. The website shows only the totals, and shows you your own choice when you are signed in. Our vote records are encrypted in our database.
Automated checks. To keep the vote fair, our systems automatically check each vote before it is counted. They look at how old your Discord account is, how long you have been in our server, whether you hold a required role, and whether a sudden surge of votes for one game, or many votes from one connection, looks unusual. A vote that fails a check is held back from the totals and reviewed by a person, who decides whether to count it or to void it. A held vote is stored encrypted, including your Discord ID, so that the person reviewing it can see whose it is. We do not tell the voter that a vote is being held, so that the checks cannot be worked around. A held or voided vote does not affect your access to the rest of our Services. If you think a vote of yours has been wrongly held or voided, contact us and a person will review it.
We may stop an account that we reasonably believe is not genuine, or that has tried to manipulate the vote, from voting again, and we keep a record of that (see 2.5).
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (to run a fair vote and to prevent cheating and abuse).
3. Cookies
3.1 What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and understand how you use the site.
3.2 Cookies we use
Essential cookies only — We only use cookies that are strictly necessary for the website to work. We do not use analytics cookies or any other tracking. If you sign in with Discord, we set two:
- usc_oauth — a random code that makes sure the person returning from Discord is the same person who left. It lasts 10 minutes.
- usc_session — a random code that keeps you signed in. It contains no personal details; it only points to your session record on our server. It lasts up to 7 days, or until you log out.
Because these are strictly necessary for the sign-in you asked for, we do not need to ask for your consent to set them.
Our fonts are served from our own website, so your browser does not contact Google or any other font provider.
We do not use advertising cookies or sell your data to advertisers. We do not display third-party advertisements.
3.3 Your cookie choices
Because we only use essential cookies, we do not show a cookie consent banner. If we ever introduce non-essential cookies, such as analytics, we will ask for your consent before setting them.
You can clear or block cookies at any time in your browser settings, although some parts of the site may then not work.
4. Who we share your data with
We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with the following third parties where necessary to operate our Services:
| Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Payment processing | stripe.com/gb/privacy |
| Vercel | Website hosting | vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| Discord | Community platform, sign-in, and delivery of your profile picture | discord.com/privacy |
| Upstash | Database that holds sign-in sessions and votes | upstash.com/static/trust/privacy.pdf |
All third-party processors are required to handle your data in accordance with applicable data protection law. Where these providers are based outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR requirements for international transfers.
We may also disclose your data where required to do so by law, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our community.
5. How long we keep your data
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law.
| Data Type | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Account data (active users) | For the duration of your account |
| Account data (inactive/deleted) | 12 months after last activity, then deleted |
| Payment and subscription records | 7 years (required for tax/accounting purposes) |
| Game server connection logs | 90 days |
| Moderation and ban records | Indefinitely (to prevent ban circumvention) |
| Support correspondence | 2 years from last contact |
| Essential cookies | Until you sign out or they expire (10 minutes for the sign-in check, up to 7 days for staying signed in) |
| Sign-in sessions, including the Discord access token | Up to 7 days, or until you log out |
| Votes (a scrambled code made from your Discord ID, and the game you voted for) | Until 90 days after the vote closes, then deleted. We may keep the anonymous totals |
| Vote records (time of vote, scrambled network address, reason a vote was held) | 90 days |
| Temporary counters that limit how fast people can sign in or vote | A few minutes up to 24 hours |
When data is no longer required, we delete or anonymise it securely.
6. Your rights under UK GDPR
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification — You may request that inaccurate or incomplete data is corrected.
- Right to erasure — You may request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances. Note that we may be required to retain some data (such as payment records) for legal reasons, and ban records may be retained in our legitimate interests.
- Right to restrict processing — You may request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
- Right to data portability — Where processing is based on your consent or a contract, you may request a machine-readable copy of the data you provided to us.
- Right to object — You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds.
- Right to withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at douglasbett63@gmail.com. We will respond within one calendar month.
Your sign-in and your vote. You can end your sign-in at any time with the Log out option in the navigation bar, which deletes your session. If you ask us, we can tell you exactly what we hold about your vote, and delete it. Deleting your vote removes it from the totals, and you could then vote again while the vote is still open. We keep a record of accounts we have blocked from voting for abuse (see 2.5). You may also object to the automatic vote checks, in which case a person will review your vote.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
7. Data security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include:
- HTTPS encryption on all web traffic
- Access controls limiting who can view user data
- Use of reputable third-party processors with their own security standards
- Sign-in cookies that scripts on the page cannot read, and that are only sent over HTTPS
- Discord access tokens kept on our server only, and cancelled when you log out
- Sign-in sessions and vote records encrypted in our database, so that your name, Discord ID, picture and access token cannot be read from it
- Your Discord ID replaced by a scrambled code in our vote data, so that the database does not say who voted for what
- Network addresses scrambled with a secret key before they are used for vote checks
No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and affected users without undue delay, as required by UK GDPR.
8. Children
Our Services are not directed at anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, please contact us immediately and we will delete it promptly.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent revision.
For material changes — particularly changes that affect how we use your data or your rights — we will notify active users by email where we hold your address, and post a notice on our website, before the changes take effect.
10. Contact us
For any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data:
Email: douglasbett63@gmail.com
Discord: Open a ticket in our Discord server
Website: usual-shenanigans.com
For complaints or concerns you can also contact the ICO directly at ico.org.uk.