Data Handling & Privacy Policy

FSQuest (“FSQuest”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) operates the website at fsquest.com and associated services, including cooperative flight-simulation game modes and a Discord bot used for pilot registration and in-game interaction (together, the “Service”).

FSQuest is a non-commercial, community flight-simulation project. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by VATSIM, Discord, or any airline or aircraft manufacturer.

Data controller / contact: Derek Frelow

Contact email: email us

If you have questions about this policy or how your data is handled, contact us at the address above.

This policy covers personal data we process when you:

• visit fsquest.com;
• authenticate or register using VATSIM Connect (VATSIM’s single sign-on service);
• interact with the FSQuest Discord bot; or
• participate in any FSQuest game mode.

It does not cover the data practices of third parties whose services you also use, such as VATSIM, Discord, or your simulator. Those services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read.

Data received from VATSIM Connect (SSO)

When you sign in with VATSIM Connect, VATSIM shares certain account information with us based on the scopes you authorize. your VATSIM CID, name, email address, country, VATSIM ratings and division/region.

Data actualy retained from VATSIM Connect (SSO)

We request only the scopes needed to operate the Service.

• your VATSIM CID (your unique VATSIM member ID);

We do not receive or store your VATSIM password. Authentication is handled entirely by VATSIM.

Data received from Discord

When you interact with the FSQuest Discord bot or link your Discord account, we may process:

• your Discord user ID;
• your Discord username / display name;
• the server (guild) and channel context in which you interact with the bot;
• the contents of commands you send to the bot (for example, registration commands).

Data you provide directly

• registration details you submit (for example, a preferred callsign or in-game pilot name);
• preferences and settings you configure.

Data generated through use of the Service

• gameplay data for example, in-game actions, participation records, scores, session history, and generated in-game messages such as simulated ACARS traffic associated with your pilot identity;
• technical data such as IP address, browser/user-agent, and timestamps, collected automatically by our servers and standard web infrastructure for security and reliability.

Cookies and analytics

fsquest.com does not use cookies or tracking technologies. We do not run analytics, advertising, or third-party tracking on the website.

Specific game modes, however, may require cookies and local browser storage to function — for example, to keep you signed in or to preserve game state while you play. Where a game mode uses them, this is detailed in the privacy policy specific to that game mode.

We process the data above to:

• authenticate you and verify your VATSIM membership;
• register you for the duration of a single game and link your VATSIM CID, Discord ID, and display name for that game only, so the Service can identify you while the game is in progress;
• operate the game you choose to play;
• generate and deliver in-game content associated with your pilot (SitReps, ACARS messages, game events) through the website and/or our SubProcessors;
• operate, secure, debug, and improve the Service;
• enforce our rules and prevent abuse;
• communicate with you about the Service where necessary.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Where the EU or UK GDPR applies to you, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent — for optional processing, such as linking your Discord account or receiving non-essential communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Performance of a request / service you asked for — to register you and let you participate in game modes.
• Legitimate interests — to secure the Service, prevent abuse, and maintain fair gameplay, balanced against your rights.

We share personal data with our sub-processors only as follows:

• Discord — where the Service delivers content to, or receives commands from, Discord, the relevant data passes through Discord’s platform under Discord’s own privacy policy.
• Hosting (Fly.io) — the Service runs on infrastructure provided by Fly.io, in data centers located in the United States. Fly.io processes and stores data on our behalf solely to operate the Service. It is our only hosting and infrastructure subprocessor.
• ACARS delivery (Hoppie) — where a game mode’s ACARS feature is enabled, your callsign and the message text may be transmitted through the Hoppie network (hoppie.nl) to deliver in-game messages to your simulator, under Hoppie’s own terms.
• Legal requirements — where we are required to disclose data by law or to protect the rights, safety, or property of FSQuest, our users, or others.

We do not share your data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

We do not maintain persistent user accounts. Your personal data is retained only for the duration of a single game generaly less than 1 month and is deleted when that game ends.

• Registration and gameplay data — your VATSIM CID, Discord ID, display name, and any gameplay data (in-game actions, generated SitReps and ACARS messages, and similar) exist only while a game is in progress. When the game ends, this data is deleted. There is no persistence between games: to play again, you register anew through VATSIM Connect.
• OAuth tokens issued by VATSIM Connect are held only as long as needed to authenticate you for the current game, and are discarded no later than the end of that game.
• Technical logs and backups — the Service keeps an operational log of server and game events used for debugging, abuse prevention, security, and reliability, we also log IP addresses together with request timestamps; these logs are stored with your game data and are likewise deleted when the game ends.

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights over your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Rectification — correct inaccurate data. (Note: VATSIM-sourced fields such as your name or CID should be corrected at VATSIM; changes there will flow through on your next sign-in.)
• Erasure — request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Restriction / objection — limit or object to certain processing.
• Portability — receive your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent.

Because we retain your data only for the duration of a single game and delete it when that game ends (see the Data retention section), the data available to access, correct, export, or erase is limited to a game currently in progress. Once a game has ended, we no longer hold personal data to act on.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at email us. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (generally within one month under the GDPR). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

You can remove the FSQuest Discord bot’s access at any time through Discord, and you can revoke FSQuest’s access to your VATSIM account through your VATSIM Connect account settings.

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encrypted connections. All traffic to the Service is served over HTTPS/TLS, and secure connections are enforced — insecure requests are redirected. Communication between our servers takes place over a private, encrypted network.
• Secrets kept out of the codebase. Passwords, API keys, and other secrets are never stored in our source code. They are held outside the codebase and, in production, kept in our hosting provider’s encrypted secrets store and injected only at deploy time.
• Data minimization. We request only the VATSIM scopes we need and retain only your VATSIM CID from sign-in (see “What data we collect”). Retaining data only for the duration of a game and deleting it at game end also limits the amount of personal data exposed at any time.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

VATSIM permits members below the age of 18, and some members may be children under the age of digital consent in their jurisdiction (for example, under 16 in parts of the EU, or under 13 in the US). FSQuest is intended for players who meet the minimum age required to hold a VATSIM account and to use Discord in their jurisdiction. If you believe a child has provided us personal data without appropriate consent, contact us and we will address it.

FSQuest and its providers process data exclusively in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States — including from the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom — your data will be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have data protection laws that differ from those in your country. Where required for such transfers, we rely on appropriate safeguards.

We may update this policy from time to time. This policy will not change during a game that is already in progress: the version in effect when a game begins governs that game through to its end. Any changes take effect only for games started afterward.

When we make material changes, we will notify you by a notice shown when you next log in to fsquest.com and by an announcement in our Discord server, and the “Last updated” date above will reflect the change. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Questions, requests, or complaints:

Derek Frelow

email us

fsquest.com