Privacy

Last updated October 11, 2026. This is a plain-language summary of what the site actually does.

The short version

• Solo games, the daily puzzles and games against the computer need no account. Friends, parties and games with other people need a saved player. A saved player is a username and a PIN or password: no email address, no phone number, no real name.
• Knockout is for people 13 and older, and making a player asks you to confirm it. We do not knowingly keep anything about children under 13.
• No ads, no third-party analytics, and no tracking pixels or third-party scripts. We keep our own simple usage counts (which days people play, which games, how they found us) so we can make the games better. They never leave our server and are deleted after about six months.
• The site sets no cookies.
• Game rooms, including their chat, are deleted automatically, at most 48 hours after the last activity. A turn-a-day game (one you play a turn a day) is kept up to 14 days, so a slow game is not lost.
• Voice chat in a game room or a party is off until you tap Join voice. It goes directly between the players’ devices and is never recorded or stored; our server only passes along the connection setup between devices (which includes their network addresses) and deletes it within two minutes.
• A party keeps its members’ names, which game each one is in, and the party chat (text and voice messages), shown only to the party, and is deleted 12 hours after the last activity, or when the last member leaves.

What your browser keeps

These live in your browser’s local storage for this site, not on our servers:

• A random player token. Made up by your browser the first time you play. It is how a room knows that you are the same player when you come back. It is not tied to your name, email, or device, and it is the only identity the site has for you.
• Your display name. The last name you typed, so you do not have to type it again.
• Your guest token, while you are signed in. Signing in on a device swaps in your account’s player token and keeps the device’s own guest token beside it, so signing out gives the device its guest games back.
• Favorites and recently played. The games you starred and the last games you played on this device, with when, for the rows at the top of the home page. Just the games: no scores or results.
• Daily puzzles. Which days you finished each daily puzzle and the result of the latest one (a time, a score, 3/6), for the Today row on the home page and your streaks.
• Preferences. Things like a dismissed install tip, a game’s move-confirmation setting, or sandbox settings in Dummy Derby.

What our servers keep

• Room state. For each room: the seats, the display names and avatars people chose, the moves, and the room chat. It is stored in a Redis database and deleted automatically, at most 48 hours after the last move or message (sooner once a game is over). A turn-a-day game is kept up to 14 days after the last move while it is being played, and 3 days once it is over. Anyone in a room can see its chat, so do not post anything private there.
• Voice messages. A voice message you send in a game’s chat or a party’s chat is stored with that room or party, with who sent it, for 24 hours at most, and deleted sooner when the room or party goes; only people in the room or party can play it. Live voice chat is never recorded (see above).
• Party chat. Messages in a party’s chat, who sent each one and when, and an unread count per member, kept with the party and deleted 12 hours after the party’s last activity. Only the party’s members can read it.
• Leaderboards. If you put your name on a game’s leaderboard, everyone can see that name and your result (a saved player shows its username). A day’s board is deleted after 3 days and a week’s after 15; the all-time boards are kept, and deleting your account takes you off them.
• Turn alerts, only if you turn them on. When you tap the bell and allow notifications, your browser gives us a push subscription: an address at your browser maker’s push service (Apple, Google, or Mozilla, for example) and the keys to encrypt messages to it. We store it with an ID derived from your player token for up to 120 days, refreshed when you visit, and use it only to tell you it is your turn. Alerts are delivered through that push service. We also keep a few markers for under a minute so we do not buzz you while you are already looking at the game. In the Knockout iPhone app, the subscription is instead an Apple Push Notification service device token (alerts are delivered through Apple), stored the same way and for the same 120 days.
• Live Activities in the iPhone app. While you play a room game in the app, your lock screen and Dynamic Island show its status (whose turn, scores, the result), so anyone who can see your phone can see it too; turn them off in iPhone Settings, Knockout, Live Activities. To keep it current while the app is closed we store its Apple push token with the room and an ID derived from your player token, and delete it when the game ends or you leave (8 hours at most). On iOS 17.2 and later the app shows one combined card for all your games and invites: for that we store, per device, the Apple push tokens that start and update the card, whether the app is open, and the games and invites on it, under an ID derived from your player token. A device’s record is deleted 60 days after it last reported, and the app’s own sign-in token for it expires after 30 days.
• Play counts. One running total per game per day of how many games were started and finished, so we can tell which games people actually play. The totals hold nothing about who played: no player ID, IP address or device. The same request also feeds the usage insights below, where the player is filed under a one-way hash of their player ID. To stop scripts inflating the totals, each network’s posts are counted for 10 minutes under a one-way hash of its IP address.
• Error and speed measurements. When a page hits an error, and on about one in four page loads, the site itself sends us a short technical note (the error and where in our code it happened, or how quickly the page loaded, with the page, whether it is a phone, tablet or computer, and whether it is the app) that holds no personal data and goes to no third party, and we keep only daily totals and a few sample errors, for 14 days. A note about an error in a game also carries what happened in the game in the 30 seconds before it (the same kind of game events as a bug report, below).
• Usage insights. So we can see whether people come back, which games they actually play, and how Knockout spreads between friends, we keep a small record per day: which players opened a page or started a game that day (signed-in players, and guests by their random player token, so a guest’s play is recorded too, without any name), how many sessions they had, which games they started and finished and roughly how long they played, and whether they came from a web browser, the installed web app, the iPhone app, a TV browser or the Apple TV app. Each player is filed under a one-way hash of their player ID, never their username, token, IP address or device. We also count, with nothing about who: games with two or more people at the table, friend invites sent and joined, invite links opened, TV screens and phone controllers. Sign-ups come from the invite records we already keep (who invited whom). A marker that a friend invited you to a room lasts 24 hours, a “still in a session” marker lasts 30 minutes, and each day’s record is deleted automatically about six months later. Only the site’s owner sees these numbers, and only as totals and percentages. They are never sold or shared, and no outside analytics or advertising service is involved. Deleting your account does not reach back into these daily records (they never held your username); they expire on the same schedule.
• Feedback you send. When you use Send feedback, we store what you wrote, the kind you picked, the game and page it came from, and the time. If “Include my device info” is ticked (it is by default), we also store your browser’s user agent, screen and window size, whether you use touch or a mouse, whether the page is on a TV, and whether a phone controller is paired; the sheet shows exactly what before you send. Each note carries a one-way hash of your player ID, so notes from one browser can be grouped without saying whose they are, and your username only if you are signed in and tick the box for it. We keep the newest 5,000 notes; older ones are deleted as new ones arrive. Each note also appears once in our hosting provider’s server logs, which are kept for a short time. To stop floods, each network’s notes are counted for 15 minutes under a one-way hash of its IP address. Please do not put contact details or anything private in a note.
• Bug reports, only if you send one. Report a problem (in a game’s pause menu, or F8) sends a screenshot of the game itself (the game’s picture only, not the page around it, so never chat or menus), the last 90 seconds of game events (which game controls were pressed, stance and pause changes, frame rate hitches, connection events such as a friend joining or the connection dropping), the game, page and room code, the site version, your browser and device details (user agent, screen and window size, touch or mouse, graphics chip, language), and a note if you write one. It never includes chat, anything you type into a text box, names, your player ID or token, or your IP address. The panel shows the screenshot before you send, and you can leave it out. Screenshots are kept in our hosting provider’s private file storage (never at a public address) and the rest in our database. We keep the newest 1,000 reports for at most 30 days, then delete them with their screenshots, and only the site’s owner sees them. To stop floods, each network’s reports are counted for a day under a one-way hash of its IP address.
• Move codes, only if you make one. Knockout is also at knockoutcrm.com, for networks that block knockoutonlinegames.com, and each address keeps its own browser storage. “Move my games” in the account menu stores what it moves under a one-time code: a guest’s player token and display name, and a copy of the stats, streaks, favorites and saved games kept in your browser. It is deleted the moment the code is used, or after 10 minutes if it is not. To stop code guessing, each network’s tries are counted for 10 minutes under a one-way hash of its IP address.
• Reports you send. When you report a chat message or a player, we store the reason you picked, your note if you wrote one, the game and room, the time, the reported message as the room stored it (or the player’s newest few messages in that room), their display name, and their username if they saved their player. You and the player you reported are each recorded only as a one-way hash of your player IDs, so reports can be grouped without saying who sent them. We keep the newest 5,000 reports. When three different players at a table report the same message, it is hidden for everyone in that room; to count them, the hashed IDs of the players who reported it are kept with the room for 48 hours. To stop floods, reports are counted for 15 minutes under a one-way hash of your IP address and of your player ID. If the reported player deletes their account, the report stays (we need it to keep the games safe), but their username is removed, their name is replaced with “Deleted player”, and their username and display name are blanked in the note and the quoted messages.

If you save your player

Solo games, the dailies and games against the computer work without a saved player; friends, parties and games with other people need one. If you save yours, our servers keep:

• Your account. The username you picked, your display name, your avatar if you built one (a short code for the parts you picked), the date you made it, and that you confirmed you are 13 or older (a yes, never a birth date). Your PIN or password is never stored: we keep a scrypt hash of it with a random salt, which is enough to check it but not to recover it. There is no email, so there is no password recovery yet; a forgotten PIN or password means making a new username, unless the player is still signed in on another device (sign in with that phone, then change it).
• Pictures of your avatar. When you save a 3D avatar, your own device draws two pictures of it (head, and full body) and uploads them, so pages without the 3D avatar can show your look. They are made from the parts you picked, never a photo or a file from your device. Each is stored with who uploaded it and is deleted 180 days after it was last uploaded, or with your account.
• How you joined. Your personal invite link, and who invited you (their username), or how you got in otherwise (for example, from the app). The person who invited you can see that you joined through them. Kept until you delete the account; then your line goes, and on the players you invited your name is replaced with “deleted”.
• Cloud saves. For games that save your progress to your account (for example Kinbound), the save itself, the one before it (one step of undo), and when it was saved, so your progress follows you to every device. Kept 400 days after your last save, or until you delete the account. Guests’ progress stays in the browser only.
• Home screen widgets in the iPhone app. A token that lets the widgets read your games list, stored as a one-way hash with your player ID, for 7 days (a new one replaces it), and deleted when you sign out.
• Your player token. The account is tied to the random token your browser already had, and we store that token so signing in on another device can hand it over. It is kept private and only returned after a correct username and PIN or password. It keeps your seats and turn alerts working on every device you sign in on.
• Friends. Who you are friends with and any friend requests waiting to be answered, until you or they remove them. Under People you may know, we suggest friends of your friends, with the names of the friends you share; so your friends’ other friends may see you suggested to them, next to the friends you have in common. No one sees when a suggested player is online. If you hide a suggestion we keep that (the last 200 you hid) for 180 days after your latest one.
• Game invites. Invites friends send you (who sent it, which game and room, when). The last 20 are kept, each for 24 hours. If you have turn alerts on, an invite also arrives as a notification.
• Daily puzzle results, for friends only. With a username, each daily you finish goes to our server as numbers only: which game, which day, whether you solved it, and its time, score or guess count. Never your answers, and nothing you typed. Your accepted friends see today’s (unfriending or blocking ends that), and you can hide yours from them under Today on the home page. A day’s results are deleted after 3 days. Which days you finished each daily is kept so your streaks follow you to every device, until you delete the account.
• Presence, for friends only. While a page is open we note that you are online, and which room you are looking at, for about 90 seconds after your last visit to a page; plus when you were last seen, for 7 days. Only your accepted friends can see any of it. Turn on Appear offline (in Settings) and they see you as offline, except in a party or a game you are in together; the person who runs the site still sees it, for support.
• Your devices. Each device signed in to your username (a browser, the app, a TV): a random device ID, its kind, a name like “iPhone” or one you give it, what it can do (play, show a game, be a controller), which of your turn-alert registrations is its own, and when it was last seen. Only you see the list. A device not seen for 180 days drops off, and you can forget one any time. Requests you send between your own devices (show this game on the TV, use this phone as a controller, approve a sign-in) wait up to 5 minutes. A sign-in code lives 10 minutes and works once. When you sign in, the games this device played as a guest move into your account’s stats.
• Blocked players. The players you blocked (their player ID, the name they had, and when), up to 500, so your blocks follow you to every device you sign in on and they cannot send you friend requests or invites. Deleted with your account. As a guest, the list stays in your browser only.
• Favorite games. The games you starred (up to 100) and when, so your favorites follow you to every device you sign in on. The first time you sign in on a device, its favorites are added to your account’s.
• Settings that follow you. Bogmoor’s Settings, and whether you have seen the How Knockout works tour, so they carry to every device you sign in on. Deleted with your account.
• Safety counters. Counts of wrong PINs or passwords per username (a day) and of its lockouts (a week), and of sign-in attempts (15 minutes), wrong tries (a day) and new usernames (1 hour) per network, used to block guessing and spam. Networks are counted under a one-way hash of the IP address, never the address itself.

Your games, the list of recent rooms in the games menu, is kept for everyone, guests included: the last 15 rooms you sat down in, stored against your player ID for 7 days. The rooms themselves still delete within 48 hours.

Game history and stats are kept for everyone too, against your player ID. When a game you played to the end finishes we note which game and room, when it ended, whether you won, lost or drew (a game you leave early is not noted or counted), the display names of the winners and of the others at the table, and how many people and computer players there were. The last 30 finished games are kept, and running totals (games played, wins, losses, draws, streaks, games per title), your record against the people you played most (their player ID, the name they had, and wins and losses between you, for the last 60 people) and the achievements you unlocked make up the stats in the person menu and the line under a result. For a saved player these are kept until you delete the account; for a guest they expire 180 days after the last finished game.

The ranked ladder (Bogmoor) is for saved players only. When you play a ranked game we keep a rating against your player ID: a number, how many ranked games you have played and won, the highest it has been and when it last changed. Your rating is shown to you and to your friends, next to your display name, your username and your number of ranked games. Nobody else can see it: there is no public ladder, and a guest is shown no ratings at all. For each ranked game we also keep, for 7 days, which saved players started it, which of them left before the end (only so that the game is not rated for them: leaving early changes no rating and is not counted as a ranked game), and what the game did to the rating of each player who finished it. A game the host restarts is not rated, and what was kept for it is deleted then. The rating is kept until you delete the account, which removes it.

Share result makes a picture of a finished game only when someone at the table taps it: the game, the result line, and each player’s display name, avatar and whether they won (no IDs, usernames or scores). It is kept for 90 days, then the link stops showing it.

Recent parties and game nights, for saved players: the last 5 parties you were in and who was in them (their player IDs, names and avatars), kept 60 days after the latest, so you can start again with the same people; and a game night you schedule (its time, your display name, and the IDs of people who asked for a reminder), deleted 12 hours after its time or when you cancel it.

The streak reminder, only if you turn it on in Settings, Notifications: we keep that choice and your device’s time zone with your account, and a marker for each day a reminder went out (36 hours).

Hosting

The site runs on Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel handles each request, including your IP address and browser details, to serve pages and keep the service running, and may keep short-lived request logs under its own privacy policy. Fonts are served from this site, so loading a page does not contact Google or any other font service.

Deleting your data

• Everything in your browser: clear site data for knockoutonlinegames.com (and knockoutcrm.com, if you use it) in your browser settings. You will get a new random token next time, and the old one no longer points to anything.
• Turn alerts: tap the bell and turn alerts off. That deletes your subscription from our server and unsubscribes your browser. Blocking notifications for the site in your browser settings also stops them.
• Rooms and chat: these delete themselves at most 48 hours after the last activity (14 days for a turn-a-day game, 12 hours for a party). There is nothing to request.
• Your account: open the person icon, then Delete account, and enter your PIN or password. That removes your username, the PIN or password hash, stored token, friends and requests (on both sides), suggestions you hid, invites you sent and received, presence, your recent-rooms list, your favorite games, your device list, your game history and stats (head to head and achievements too), your ranked rating (and with it your line on your friends' ladders), your recent parties, the game nights you host and your streak reminder setting, your daily puzzle results and streak days, your cloud saves, the pictures of your avatar, your invite link and your line in the invite records (on the players you invited, your name becomes “deleted”), your turn-alert subscriptions, your Live Activity and widget records, and any feedback you sent with your username on it. Reports other players made about you are kept for safety, without your username or names. What stays: the daily usage insights (filed under a one-way hash, never your username) expire on their own after about six months; a suspension set by moderation stays with the player ID for its set time; and anything in a room or party (your messages, voice messages) goes with the room or party, within 48 hours (14 days for a turn-a-day game). The device keeps playing as a guest.

Children

Knockout is for people 13 and older. The only age question is the 13-or-older box when you save a player: we never ask for a birth date, so we cannot tell a 13-to-17-year-old from an adult, and we keep the same things for everyone, as listed above. In short, for a saved player: the username, display name and avatar (the parts picked, and the pictures drawn from them), the PIN or password hash, game history, stats and the ranked rating, friends, presence and the other items under If you save your player. For everyone, saved or not: chat and voice messages sent in a room or party (deleted with it), and, only if someone taps Join voice, live voice chat, which goes between devices and is never recorded. We never ask for an email address, phone number, real name, birth date, location or photo. Please do not use a real full name, or share contact details, in usernames, display names or chat.

Changes

If what the site stores changes, this page changes with it, and the date at the top moves. Questions go through the contact page.