Privacy & your data

Your Zoo data, explained

Last updated: 2026-09-30. This notice covers the Elysian Zoo Discord bot and its companion store, wiki and Zoo landing pages. It does not describe unrelated Team Elysian apps.

The Zoo needs account identifiers and game records to save your collection and provide its features. Discord identifiers are personal data even though we do not ask for your real name.

The short version: we save your Zoo progress, not an archive of your conversations. Stripe handles card entry; we still handle your order-to-Discord linkage. You can ask for your data, correct it, object to processing or request deletion. Playing is not consent to unrelated uses of your information.

In Discord, /privacy and /mydata open the same private information hub. Opening it does not delete or reset anything.

Who is responsible & how to contact us

Project: Team Elysian.

Privacy and store support: johnelysiann@gmail.com.

You can also contact the keepers through the official Zoo support server. Ask for a private support conversation; do not put sensitive information in public chat. We will never ask for your Discord password or login token.

What we receive and keep

• Discord identity and game context: user, server, channel and relevant message IDs; usernames, display names and avatars when needed for display, interaction responses and selected-message images. These come from Discord when you use the bot or sign in.
• Your game account: inventories, packs, rain minutes, achievements, Battlepass and Glow progress, Territory/faction progress, trades, game results, vote times and streaks, reminders and other settings. Some records are per-server and some are global.
• Information you choose to submit: custom animal/display settings can include a chosen name, image reference or emoji. Support correspondence and privacy-request text are stored when you send them. These are separate from ordinary channel chat; do not include sensitive information.
• Gameplay and support records: catch times and animal types, transaction/reward metadata, Black Market/rain activity, error and operational logs, and the identifiers needed to investigate bugs, prevent abuse and reconcile rewards. Necessary records are stored in our hosted PostgreSQL database and backups.
• Store sign-in: Discord OAuth identify provides your account ID, username and avatar. We do not request your Discord password, friend list or full list of servers through store login.
• Purchases: Discord account linkage, product and reward details, payment status and payment/event references necessary for delivery, support, accounting and disputes. Stripe collects payment/contact details at checkout and makes relevant transaction details available to us through its dashboard and payment notifications. We process those notifications to deliver rewards; our application database does not store full card numbers or card security codes.
• Privacy/support requests: your verified account ID, display name, request text, timestamps, status and staff handling notes. Do not include unnecessary sensitive information.
• Erasure and future-play controls: a minimal protected suppression record based on a keyed code (HMAC) of the Discord account ID, the erasure time, and whether the owner has explicitly chosen a fresh start. This remains account-related personal data; it is not an anonymous code.
• Website delivery: hosting and network providers receive technical information such as IP addresses and request metadata when serving pages. Google Fonts and Discord's image CDN receive requests when your browser loads their resources.

Sources include your Discord interactions and permitted messages, Discord's API, the players you trade or play with, Stripe's payment notifications, Top.gg's vote notifications, and information you submit directly. Receiving another player's interaction can include your account details even if you did not issue that command.

Game records can appear to other players through inventories, leaderboards, catches and trade/game messages. Global features such as the Black Market can show game identifiers or usernames across servers. A private deletion request is not published to other players.

Message Content: processing is not a chat archive

The bot receives permitted Discord messages and processes their text for typed animal catches, message-triggered achievements and bot commands. Some phrase triggers are checked outside designated spawn channels wherever Discord gives the bot access. This can include messages from people who have not deliberately started playing. Direct messages to the bot are also processed for bot replies and reminder controls.

Message text is processed on our server in runtime memory. The Discord library may cache recent messages until they are evicted or the process restarts. We do not maintain a persistent general-chat or direct-message archive, and ordinary catches store game metadata rather than the text you typed.

The Apps → catch context-menu feature renders a selected message's text (or an attachment filename), author/display name, avatar and timestamp into an image in memory, then uploads the image back to Discord. A player can select another person's message; other users in that channel can see the result. We do not keep a separate on-disk screenshot archive. Deleting the original message does not automatically delete this separate image. Contact us or the server's moderators about an unwanted capture; copies held by other people are outside the game database.

We do not use Discord message content to train machine-learning or AI models, sell it, or use it for advertising or relationship profiling. The bot does not request the Guild Presences or Guild Members privileged intents.

Why we use data

We use the records above to provide the game you request, save progress, deliver purchases, operate chosen reminders, respond to support/data requests, protect transactions and investigate technical problems. We do not collect unrelated conversation history for analytics.

• Requested gameplay, store login and reward delivery: necessary performance of the service or purchase agreement with you, or steps you request before buying. This covers the account linkage and game records needed for those features, not unrelated collection.
• Fair play, account security, technical diagnosis and support: legitimate interests in preventing duplicate or abusive claims, keeping the service working and investigating specific problems. Only relevant data should be used.
• Ambient phrase detection and selected-message images involving other people: our intended basis is legitimate interests in providing the shared game, not the command user's consent on someone else's behalf. This is subject to necessity and balancing against the rights of people affected, especially non-players and younger users. Installing the bot is not everyone else's consent.
• Privacy requests and legally required records: compliance with data-protection, accounting and other applicable obligations. A legal exception applies only to the information actually needed for that obligation.
• Optional notifications: your request or enabled reminder setting governs the feature. Where consent is the applicable basis, it can be withdrawn using the feature controls or by contacting us. We do not use a purchase or server membership as consent to unrelated marketing.

The review of this processing, including children's interests and the absence of a personal message-processing switch, is not yet complete. This notice describes current practices; it is not a claim that publishing a policy establishes a lawful basis. You can raise an objection through the contact above without deleting your collection.

You are not required by law to play, provide custom text or buy anything. Account identifiers and progress are needed to save a game; Discord sign-in and payment linkage are needed to deliver a purchase. If you do not provide necessary information, we cannot provide that feature. Optional support explanations and customization are not required to keep a game account.

Game rules automatically decide catch winners, rewards, cooldowns and some anti-abuse restrictions using gameplay events. We do not use this information for credit, employment or similar real-world eligibility decisions. Contact support to ask a person to review a mistaken gameplay or purchase restriction.

Who receives data

• Discord: game messages, responses, selected-message screenshots, requested notifications and operational/game logs are sent through Discord. Necessary diagnostics and economy events can be copied to configured log channels. See Discord's privacy policy.
• Hosting: the Contabo-hosted VPS, associated infrastructure providers and operator-controlled backup locations process data to run and recover the service.
• Payments: Stripe processes checkout, including the Discord account reference necessary to connect a payment to delivery. See Stripe's privacy policy. That policy covers Stripe's processing, not the store's own Discord sign-in, order-linkage records, reward delivery or support handling, which are covered by this notice.
• Voting: Top.gg sends the voting identifiers/times needed to apply votes and rewards; the bot also reports an aggregate server count to Top.gg. Visiting a voting link is subject to Top.gg's privacy policy.
• Email support and web resources: our published Gmail inbox uses Google's email infrastructure to receive and reply to correspondence. Website font requests use Google Fonts, and avatars/images may use Discord's CDN. These providers receive the information needed to deliver the requested resource. See Google's privacy policy.
• Authorized keepers: whitelisted staff can access necessary records for operations, purchases and support. Disclosure may also be required by law.

We do not sell personal data or disclose it to advertising networks or data brokers.

International processing

The service uses Contabo hosting, operator-managed backups and the third-party services listed above. Those providers may process information outside the UK. We have not yet verified a complete list of processing countries and transfer arrangements for every provider and backup location; we do not claim that all data stays in the UK. Contact us for the information available about where your data is processed and any applicable safeguards.

Retention, backups and security

Core inventory and progression remain while needed to maintain your Zoo account. Leaving a Discord server does not currently erase its game profile automatically, and there is no confirmed inactivity-expiry rule. Request deletion if you no longer want us to retain it. API data must also be deleted when it is no longer needed for the permitted feature or when the service ends, unless specific retention is required by law.

Temporary content: ordinary message text remains in memory until cache eviction or process restart; there is no promised time-based cache expiry.

Retired features: the custom-text reminder command no longer accepts or delivers reminders in this version. Previously submitted text, account IDs and scheduled times may still exist in legacy database rows or backups until the retirement cleanup is verified. Removing a command does not erase these copies. Ask for deletion using the same contact route below.

Gameplay/support logs: Gameplay and support records can remain in the database and configured Discord log channels until manually removed. There is currently no single automatic expiry covering all these records. They support saved progress, reward reconciliation, technical investigations and request handling. Contact us to request deletion or a review of whether particular records are still needed.

Backups: Routine VPS backups are configured to expire after roughly 30 days. Separate manual and downloaded backups do not currently share a common automatic expiry. Removing a live account does not instantly erase backup copies. When handling an erasure request, we must account for those copies, explain any necessary retention, and prevent erased information being returned to active use by a restore.

After account erasure: the staff workflow removes reviewed live account records and scrubs identifiers from shared records where needed. Necessary payment references and a minimal request/erasure audit can remain separately. Protected recovery backups are not instantly rewritten; they still need the stated retention controls and suppression of erased data before any restore returns to active use. Completing a live deletion does not certify that every historical or external copy has disappeared.

Purchases and privacy-request records: Purchase references are retained for reward delivery, refunds, disputes and any applicable accounting duties. Request records are retained to handle the request and demonstrate its outcome. These records do not currently have a single automatic deletion period. A specific legal retention requirement applies only to the information needed for that requirement, not to an entire game profile or unnecessary support text.

Website traffic uses HTTPS in production and admin pages require Discord sign-in plus an allowlist. Database and backup access is restricted to operators. Our storage and backup security review is ongoing; we do not claim that encryption at rest has been verified across every copy.

Cookies and browser storage

Signing in sets a signed, HTTP-only session cookie lasting up to 24 hours. It contains basic Discord identity/session information (account ID, username and avatar reference); it is signed to detect tampering, not encrypted, and is not merely an anonymous session ID. Temporary OAuth/form-verification values can also be included. Sign out to clear the store session.

The Zoo pages remember your chosen Forma or Classic theme using browser local storage (elysian-zoo-theme) and a preference cookie (ez_theme, up to one year) shared across the Zoo's Team Elysian subdomains. The Classic wiki also remembers its light/dark setting as wikiTheme. These settings only control appearance. We do not add advertising or cross-site analytics cookies. External payment, login, voting and CDN providers operate their own services under their policies.

The store session cookies are used for the login and security functions you request. Blocking required cookies can prevent sign-in or form submission, but the privacy notice is readable without signing in. You can change your theme using the palette icon in the bottom corner, or remove remembered preferences in your browser's site-data controls.

Your choices and rights

You can also request access/a copy, correction, deletion or restriction. Portability applies to eligible information processed automatically on a consent or contract basis. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it; this does not undo earlier lawful processing. No purchase or subscription is needed to exercise your rights.

Deletion: open the verified deletion-request form, sign in with Discord and submit a request. It enters a private staff queue. Submitting it is not an instant reset. Email or a clear private support request is also valid; the form is an optional way to verify the relevant account, not the only way to exercise a right. We ask only for proportionate information needed to identify the account and clarify scope. We do not routinely need a passport or home address for a game-data request.

Response times: we must deal with requests without undue delay and normally within one calendar month. Where the law allows extra time for a complex request or several requests, we will explain the reason and revised deadline within the initial period; the extension can be up to two further months. Necessary identity clarification will be requested promptly, not used to add an avoidable approval hurdle. Requests are normally free; any lawful exception will be explained.

After verifying the account, staff use a reviewed deletion plan covering live account-linked game records across servers. The workflow checks its scope, retained records and recovery backup, then requires an explicit staff confirmation. Completion evidence is recorded after the live deletion; the request form itself only records a request. Staff must still explain retained records, backup handling and any external copies outside that live database procedure.

Opt-out is not deletion: the existing game has no dedicated personal switch that stops all automatic message-trigger processing. Channel moderators can disable spawns with /forget or restrict/remove the bot, but those controls do not erase saved data. Ask us privately about restricting your processing; we must not describe the deletion form as an automatic opt-out.

You can disable vote reminders in the Battlepass controls; built-in quest reminder DMs also explain how to disable reminders. Choosing not to use Apps → catch does not prevent someone else selecting your message; report an unwanted capture to us or your server moderators.

Deleting a Zoo profile does not automatically remove Discord messages or records Stripe must independently retain. We will explain what we erase, any specific lawful exception, what happens to backup copies and which separate provider controls apply. After completed account erasure, gameplay remains disabled until you sign in as the account owner and explicitly choose a new blank game. Sending a message, returning to a server or making a purchase does not restore old progress or make that choice for you. The suppression record keeps the earlier erasure time even after a fresh start. Choosing future gameplay allows new game data to be created; it does not recover old rewards or cancel your earlier request.

If you are dissatisfied with our handling, you may complain to the data-protection authority where you live. In the UK, contact the Information Commissioner's Office. You do not have to contact us first to exercise that right.

Age and policy updates

The Zoo is for users eligible to use Discord: at least 13 and any higher minimum age required in their country. Under-18 users still have privacy rights. Please do not send a real name, home/school address, passwords, health information or other sensitive details in custom content or public support messages. You can ask a trusted adult to help with a privacy request.

We do not ask players for an identity document as part of ordinary gameplay or use their data to target advertising. If you believe we hold information about a child below the permitted age, contact us privately so we can investigate and remove data as required. Discord's age rules do not replace our own obligations towards younger users.

Material changes to these practices will be explained through the app/website, with an updated date. This policy does not override Discord's privacy controls or developer rules.