Privacy Policy

Privacy done right.

Last updated: January 2026

Nodal is built to help you discover games. It is not an ad network. This policy explains what data is processed, why it is processed, and the choices you have.

Summary

Nodal does not ask for your Steam password (ever).
Steam IDs are only used if you type/paste them in voluntarily.
When you enter a Steam ID, you are requesting a library lookup based on your Steam privacy settings.
Short-term caching may be used to make repeat visits faster.
Basic analytics may be used to understand performance and fix issues.
Nodal does not sell personal data.

Information Nodal processes

Nodal processes a few categories of information:

Steam IDs you submit: only when you paste or type a Steam ID to generate library-based recommendations.
Public Steam profile and library data: fetched from Steam sources only when you request it by entering a Steam ID, and only to the extent your Steam privacy settings allow.
Usage and diagnostics data: things like page views, load times, and error events. This helps keep the site stable and fast.
Cookies and local storage: used to remember UI preferences (theme, dismissed panels, last used filters). These are convenience features.

How Nodal uses this information

Nodal uses this information for:

To generate recommendations: Steam ID and public library data are used to compute similarity signals and rankings.
To improve speed: derived results (like computed vectors or recommendation bundles) may be cached so you do not pay the full compute cost on every visit.
To improve recommendation quality: derived recommendation data may be used to tune or refresh Nodal's recommendation models. This is done to improve the recommender, not to advertise to you.
To maintain reliability: diagnostics data helps identify broken pages, slow queries, and infrastructure issues.
To prevent abuse: rate limiting and security logs help protect the service from scraping and automated misuse.

Cookies

Nodal may use cookies and local storage for site functionality. Examples include remembering your theme, keeping help panels from reappearing, and saving the last used filters. These are not ad cookies.

You can clear cookies in your browser at any time. Some preferences may reset if you do.

Analytics

Nodal may use a privacy-minded analytics setup to understand which pages are used and whether the site is working correctly. Analytics data is used to improve the product, not to build advertising profiles.

Third parties and infrastructure

Nodal runs on third-party infrastructure providers (for example, hosting and storage). These providers may process limited technical data as part of delivering the service (like server logs and request metadata).

Nodal also relies on Steam sources to fetch publicly available data. Steam and Valve are not affiliated with Nodal.

Where data is stored: Nodal stores processed/cached data and logs in the United States.

Security

No website can promise perfect security, but reasonable safeguards are used to protect the service. Nodal does not store Steam passwords. If you believe a security issue exists, please report it by email.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as Nodal changes. The "Last updated" date will reflect the most recent revision. Continued use of the service after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions or deletion requests can be sent to [email protected]. Include the Steam ID you entered so I can locate any cached/derived data tied to it.