Shelf-Life Beta

Privacy notice

Last updated 19 October 2026

This explains what happens to the details you give us when you join the Shelf-Life waitlist, and what happens when you use the rest of the site. The short version: we only collect your email address and the platforms you tick, and we don't track you.

Who we are

Shelf-Life is an independent project run by one person, a sole trader based in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom. We decide how your data is used, which makes us the data controller. You can contact us about anything in this notice at shelflifelogs@gmail.com.

What we collect

When you join the waitlist (the Shutdown Watch email is covered below):

That's all. We don't set cookies or use analytics or any other tracking, and there are no accounts yet. If you keep a shelf, it stays in your own browser (see Your shelf). If you play a trailer, YouTube may set its own cookies (see below).

With each form you send (the waitlist, Shutdown Watch or a report), our host Netlify also stores the IP address, the type of browser and the page you sent it from. This helps spot spam sign-ups, and we don't use it for anything else. We rely on our legitimate interest in keeping spam out for this, and these details are kept with your sign-up and deleted with it.

Like any website, our host Netlify briefly logs basic technical details of each visit, such as your IP address and browser, to keep the site running and secure. We rely on our legitimate interest in running a safe website for this, and we don't use these logs to identify or profile anyone.

Why we use it

To email you about Shelf-Life's launch and early access, and to count which platforms people want most so we know where to start. Our legal basis is your consent, which you give with the tick box on the form.

You don't have to give us your email address. It's only needed if you want our emails, and the rest of the site works without it. We don't make any automated decisions about you.

The Shutdown Watch email

If you sign up to the weekly Shutdown Watch email, we keep your email address and the fact that you agreed, and when, along with the technical details Netlify stores with every form (see What we collect). We use it only to send you that email. Our legal basis is your consent, given with the tick box, and you can withdraw it at any time with the unsubscribe link in every email or by emailing us. Sign-ups are stored by Netlify. When we start sending, we'll use an email service to deliver it and share your address with that service for that purpose only. We keep your address until you unsubscribe. Signing up to Shutdown Watch doesn't put you on the launch waitlist, and joining the waitlist doesn't sign you up to Shutdown Watch.

Reporting a date or suggesting a shutdown

If you use the report form, we keep what you write (the game, what you think is wrong or missing, and a source link if you add one), plus your email address if you choose to give it. We use it to check the ledger against the source and correct it, and to reply to you if you left an address. Your email address is optional and we use it only for that reply. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in keeping the ledger accurate. We don't add you to any mailing list because you sent a report. Netlify stores the technical details described in What we collect with the report, as it does with every form.

Using search, game pages and news

If you use the game search, the text you type is sent from our server to IGDB, a game database owned by Twitch, to find matching games. It isn't linked to your email or anything else about you.

When you open a game's page, our server looks the game up on IGDB, Wikidata, Steam and, if switched on, IsThereAnyDeal. Only the game is sent, never anything about you. Covers, key art and screenshots are loaded through our server too, so your browser doesn't connect to IGDB.

The News page shows headlines our server collects every hour from gaming news sites' public feeds. Nothing about you is sent to those sites unless you click a headline, which takes you to the original story on that site.

Trailers play from YouTube. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Once you do, YouTube's own privacy policy applies, and YouTube may set cookies.

Links to shops take you to that shop's own site, which has its own privacy policy. Price links from IsThereAnyDeal pass through its own link service first, which may earn it a commission.

If you support Shelf-Life, the support platform and its payment provider handle your payment and card details under their own privacy policies. We only receive what they share with us, usually a name or nickname and any message you add.

Your shelf and Steam import

Your shelf is saved in your own browser's storage on your device, and we don't keep a copy of it. It holds the games you add and when you last opened your shelf, so we can show you what's changed since. To show covers, your browser asks our server for each game's cover, just as a game page does. We don't record those requests against you or keep a list of anyone's games. We only store this because you asked to keep a shelf, so it's strictly necessary for that feature and we don't ask for separate consent. You can remove it at any time with "Empty your shelf", or by clearing your browser's data for this site. To show news about your games, your browser downloads the latest headlines from our server and does the matching itself.

Steam import: if you paste your Steam profile, our server sends it to Steam, run by Valve, to get your list of games, and passes the list straight back to your browser. We don't keep your Steam profile or the list, or link them to anything else about you. Like any request to the site, our host may briefly log your IP address with it (see What we collect). Steam's own privacy policy applies to what Steam does.

Offline copies: once you have games on your shelf, your browser keeps a copy of a few of our main pages, such as your shelf and the news page, and our fonts, so they open without a connection. These copies hold nothing about you, and they're deleted when you empty your shelf.

Who else handles it

Netlify hosts this site and stores the waitlist and Shutdown Watch sign-ups for us. Netlify is based in the United States. Your data is protected there by the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which Netlify has joined, and, as a backup, by the UK's International Data Transfer Addendum in Netlify's data processing agreement. If we use an email service to send the launch email, we'll share your address with it for that purpose only. We never sell your data.

How long we keep it

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, ask us to limit how we use it, ask for it in a format you can take elsewhere, object to us using it for our legitimate interests, or withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect anything we did before you withdrew it. To do any of these, email us. It's free, and we'll reply within one month. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Age

The waitlist and Shutdown Watch are for people aged 16 and over.

Changes to this notice

If we change how we use your data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If the change affects people already on the waitlist, we'll email them before it applies.