Privacy Policy

Who we are and how to contact us

Viking MUD is an unregistered, informal, volunteer, non-profit organisation consisting of current and former players of the game. Viking MUD is an Internet-based text-mode multi-user role-playing game operating in Norway under Norwegian jurisdiction. Contact information is on our community page. MUD players can also contact us in-game via mudmail to admin, or by chatting directly with an Administrator.

Personal data we collect

Player character registration data

When you register a Viking MUD player character, you provide:

• A character name — does not need to relate to your real name or other identities.
• A password — we recommend it be unique to this character and not reused elsewhere.
• An e-mail address — your choice of public, secret, or none.
• Your character's gender identity — does not need to relate to your personal gender identity.

Volunteered information

At a later stage you may volunteer additional information — for example, requesting an in-MUD marriage with another player. Any personal data that you or others voluntarily submit (free-text forms like "plan", bulletin board posts, MUD-mail, tells, chat messages, files, or code) is outside the scope of this Privacy Policy. Information given in confidence to the administration will be treated as such.

System account user data

Some persons may be granted system access, and thereby a system user account. We may store:

• User name and password (cryptographically hashed)
• Person name (optional) and other contact information (optional)
• Connected IP address and other connection data
• E-mail account data and metadata
• Files, code, and content stored in the account's home directory or other accessible locations

Automatically collected data

In-MUD collected data may include:

• Access, activity, and event logs
• Command history
• Bulletin board, chat, mail, and message metadata
• Connected IP address and connection status
• Area, item, guild/club membership information and metadata
• Player-generated character information and metadata

Other collected data:

• Web server access logs
• E-mail server logs
• Other automatically generated system logs

Logs may include timestamps, IP addresses, e-mail addresses, e-mail headers, names, user names, character names, aliases, HTTP request headers, and other data. Our webpages may use cookies to ensure the proper operation of web areas that require a login session and for related user preferences.

All connections to the Viking MUD game use the telnet protocol, which is unencrypted — all information you send and receive is transmitted in cleartext.

How we use your data

Any data we collect may be used to maintain, protect, and improve our services, and to detect, investigate, prevent, or otherwise address rules violations, disputes, fraud or other criminal activities, security issues, or technical issues. As one of the oldest MUDs in existence, your data is also used for archival and historical purposes.

Backups are automatically and regularly processed, both locally and by a remote backup service hosted by our colocation provider Domeneshop AS, subject to their Data Processing Agreement.

How you can access, update, or delete your data

• MUD players need to log in to prove ownership of the character. People with other kinds of access who have a verified email address may also contact us by email.
• MUD players can at any time log in and modify their data, except their character name.
• Character name changes may be requested from the administration and can be either public (preserving the old name link) or discreet (discarding it).
• Regular player characters may erase their character data by "entering the pit". The character is then moved to a deleted character file. Contact the administration before doing so if you want this erased as well.
• Contributors and players with other special privileges cannot "enter the pit" and must contact the administration directly.
• System account users may update their password via SSH and delete personal files via SSH. Account information changes and account deletion must be handled by a privileged system user on authorised request.

How we share your data

• Your character name, selected gender, marriage status, and (if set to public) email address may be publicly listed to other logged-in characters. Your connection status, connecting IP address, and/or the IP address's registered geolocation may also be visible while logged in.
• If you have a system user account, your account information (except the password digest) is available to anyone else with a system user account.
• We may share personal data with third parties with a legitimate interest, to investigate technical problems, potential copyright or trademark infringement, or fraud and other criminal activities. We may also share data with Norwegian police or other public authorities if presented with a court order or equivalent request.

Other provisions

Transfer of data outside EU/EEA

There is no systematic transfer of personal data to parties outside the EU/EEA.

Automatic processing and decision-making

Viking MUD may use any and all supplied data for automatic and dynamic processing, content, and decision-making. Data may be subject to automated checks for syntax and correctness, and be flagged for manual inspection.

Data portability

On request, a representative of the administration may provide you with your personal data in a standardised format (e.g. CSV).

How long we keep your data

Personal data stored with the character object is kept for as long as the character is registered, and for deleted characters until the player requests destruction of the deleted character file. Character creation and name change logs are stored indefinitely. System logs (e-mail and web) are stored for up to one year. Local backups are stored for up to 25 years. Remote backups are subject to Domeneshop AS's backup retention policy.

Why we store some data for a long time

Viking MUD is one of the first multi-player networked roleplaying games to exist and has a rich history. Most information we store is archival and historical, and not actively used. Very little data is directly usable for identifying real persons, living or dead.

Your right to complain

If you are a natural person residing in the EU or EEA and believe that our use of your personal data is not in compliance with GDPR or other applicable legislation, you have the right to complain to the Supervisory Authority in either Norway (Datatilsynet) or in your country of domicile.