Privacy Policy

The short version

• We collect what online play needs: the basics of your Discord account, the Steam account you link, and your game data.
• We never ask Discord for your email address. We have no ads and no third-party analytics or trackers, and we never sell your data.
• Signed-in members see your profile (names, stats, builds). Staff (Operations, the team that runs Archive Network) see more, to run the service and keep it fair.
• To enforce bans, the launcher sends scrambled identifiers of your PC, never the identifiers themselves. A ban also bans the PCs the account played on.
• If you were invited through the Creator Program, the same scrambled identifiers help check that you are a new player.
• While you play, the launcher checks for cheat tools and sends only what it finds and a fingerprint of your game's exe, never a list of your programs.
• You can ask us to delete your account at any time. We do it within 30 days.

What we collect

From Discord, when you sign in

Your Discord user ID, username, display name (your server nickname or global name), avatar, the roles you hold in the Archive Network Discord server, and whether two-factor authentication is on (staff sign-ins need it). On the website we ask Discord for permission to identify you and to add you to our Discord server; the launcher asks only to identify you. We never receive your Discord password or email address.

From Steam, when you link it

Your SteamID64 and Steam name, confirmed through Steam's own sign-in. We never see your Steam password. We keep a list of every Steam account ever linked to your account, even after an unlink, so that one Steam account isn't counted as a new player twice in the Creator Program. The launcher reads the Steam accounts saved on your PC so you can pick one; only the one you pick is sent to us as itself. The others are sent only as scrambled codes (see "your PC, to enforce bans and check invites").

From the game, while you play

Your MyCAREER builds and saves (we keep a copy on our servers), attributes, badges, stats and park record, VC, rep, XP, items, boosts, bounties and event results, your in-game name, the MyPLAYER pictures the game creates, the settings stored in your game profile (including controller settings), when you were last online, and your Steam friends list as the game sends it (your friends' SteamIDs), which we use to place you near friends.

From the launcher: setup, failed starts and crashes

The launcher tells us how far its setup has got: which of its four steps (Discord, Steam, game files, Steam library) you reached or finished, and when a step stops you, a short code for why (for example, that Steam was not found, or which game file is not the same as every member's copy, named as it is in the game folder). It also tells us which kinds of controller it sees while you use it (for example Xbox, PS4 or PS5), the kinds of controller Steam has seen on your Steam account, and whether Steam Input is on for the game. After a game, it also tells us how your controllers did in it: whether a controller the game does not read by itself (for example a PS5 or Switch Pro controller) played as an Xbox controller, whether a court game followed the controller in your hands, and how many controllers your PC had connected. These are kinds, counts and short codes only (for example, that it worked); never a controller's name, serial number or id. After each game, it also tells us whether our logos showed in it: whether the launcher's logo script loaded and hooked the game, why it switched itself off if it did, how many logos, signs and player panels it changed, how many errors it had with the first one's message (never a folder), and the script's version. If the game fails to start on your PC, it tells us what went wrong: a short code and the cause of the failure (for example, that a file Windows needs to run the game is missing). If the game crashes, freezes or is closed from outside while you play, it tells us how it ended: the exit code Windows gives, how long the game ran, where in the game's code it crashed, and the names of the last 30 things the game did (for example, that it read data from our server), without their contents. Each report comes with the launcher's version, your Windows version for a failed start or a crash, and your account. It never sends files, folder paths, your Windows user name or your PC's name. We use it to fix problems that stop members from setting up and playing.

Technical information

Your IP address, which we need to connect you and use to stop abuse, such as spotting second sessions or several accounts working together. Addresses never appear on profiles or on the staff dashboard (staff only see that two accounts shared an address). In the Creator Program, an invited player sharing an address with anyone in the same chain of invites, or with an opponent in the games that count for them, is one of the things staff look at.

From the launcher: your PC, to enforce bans and check invites

When you sign in, and each time the launcher checks your sign-in while it runs, it uses three identifiers of your PC, read from Windows: the ID Windows gives its installation, the ID your PC's maker writes into its firmware, and the serial number of the disk Windows is on. It scrambles each one on your PC (a one-way hash) before sending it, and we scramble them again with our own secret key, so we never receive or keep the identifiers themselves, and what we keep can't be matched to your PC without that key. We use them for two things only. To enforce bans: when an account is banned, the PCs it played on are banned for as long as the ban lasts, so a new account can't play on them. And in the Creator Program: to check that a player someone invited is on a PC we have not seen on another account. From launcher 2.7.10, it also uses three more hardware codes from your PC, read from Windows the same way and each scrambled on your PC (a one-way hash) before it is sent, so we never receive or keep the values themselves: the serial numbers your monitors report (with each monitor's maker and model codes), the ID Windows gives your graphics card when the card carries its own serial number, and your system disk's serial number with its last four characters hidden. It also sends whether Windows' installation ID is written the way Windows itself writes it. We use these only to enforce bans and look into possible ban evasion, never in the Creator Program, and none of them bans a PC or an account on its own. The launcher also tells us which Archive Network accounts used it on this PC before (their Steam account IDs and profile IDs, from the launcher's own files: the accounts signed in there and the Steam accounts whose saves it kept), so the PCs a banned account played on are covered even if it never signs in again; an ID that isn't one of our members is ignored and never kept. Nothing else about your PC is sent.

The launcher also goes through the Steam accounts saved on your PC (Steam's own loginusers.vdf file). It turns each account's SteamID64 into a scrambled code on your PC (a one-way hash) and sends only the codes, never the IDs or account names, and we scramble them again with our own secret key before we keep them. We use them for two things. To spot someone playing again after a ban: if a code matches one from a banned account, staff get an alert to look at. And in the Creator Program: if you were invited and a code from your PC matches a Steam account of the person who invited you, or of someone else in their invite tree, your count waits until staff have looked. A match alone never bans you, gives you a strike or stops you playing, and someone who shares your PC can cause one.

From the launcher: the fair-play check, while you play

From launcher 2.0.0, once we switch it on, the launcher checks for cheat tools while NBA 2K20 runs: when the game starts, then every minute, and within seconds when a cheat tool starts or a new file is loaded into the game. It looks at the names of the programs running on your PC for trainers and memory editors (such as WeMod or Cheat Engine), at the files loaded into the game, at whether the game's NBA2K20.exe or the launcher's own game files changed while you played, and at whether a program changed the game's clock (a speed hack). It sends us only what it finds: for a trainer or memory editor running beside the game, its file name, its folder, its size and a fingerprint of the file (its SHA-256 hash); for a file loaded into the game that isn't part of Windows, the game, Archive Network or a common overlay (Steam, Discord, OBS, RivaTuner or your graphics driver), the same four facts and whether it belongs to a cheat tool; for a game file that changed or went missing, its name and its fingerprint now; for a changed game clock, the clock function's name and the file name of the program part it was changed to run (never its folder). From launcher 2.4.3, when the game starts it also sends the fingerprint and size of your NBA2K20.exe; we keep them only if that file is not a copy we know. From launcher 2.7.5, for a cheat tool it also sends the name and maker its own file gives (its version information), whether it ran under another Windows account on your PC, and whether the launcher closed the game or held Play for it; and when the launcher's own check stops during a game, why it stopped. From launcher 2.7.9, it also looks for traces some cheat tools leave on the PC (the address of a known auto-shooting tool's server in Windows' own list of recent look-ups, and the drivers a cheat tool or a hardware-ID spoofer loads into Windows) and sends only the names it matches. From launcher 2.7.10, it also sends, after each game, how long each shot button was held and how each release was timed (the same numbers every player's game already works out), so we can spot release timing no person can produce; and once we switch it on, it compares NBA 2K20's code in memory with the game's own file and sends only what differs. In each folder, your own folders are replaced with placeholders such as %USERPROFILE%, and any other location keeps only its drive and last folder, so your Windows user name is never sent. Each report comes with when it was made, the launcher's version and your account. It never sends the list of programs you run, window titles, your files or anything else on your PC. The check itself never slows your game. While a cheat tool is open (such as Cheat Engine or WeMod), the launcher does not start the game, and it closes the game if one opens or is loaded into it while you play; closing your game is not a strike by itself. Staff review what it finds; only a memory editor's own files loaded inside the game, or the game's files changed while it runs, give a strike on their own (see the Terms of Service), and a strike closes your game. Everything else it finds is a person's decision. When you read the fair-play notice or a strike notice in the launcher, we keep that you saw it, and when.

From the launcher: the Friends tab

So the Friends tab can show which of your Steam friends are on Archive Network, the launcher reads your Steam friends list from Steam on your PC (for the Steam account linked to your account) and sends us your friends' SteamIDs. We keep only which of them are Archive Network members, never the others, and we show you a member only when their own friends list names you too. While it runs, the launcher also tells us whether the game is open, what it is doing (for example MyCAREER or the Neighborhood) and which Neighborhood you are in; we keep that in memory for a few minutes only, to show it to those friends. Your friend code, and whether you let members add you on Steam (a setting in the launcher, off unless you turn it on), are kept with your account.

The Creator Program

If you ask for a Creator Program link, we keep your link and code, how many visits it brought (totals, nothing about the visitor), who joined through it or entered your code, and what you earned. If you were invited, we keep who invited you, and we check your Steam account, your PC's scrambled identifiers and Steam account codes, and your finished games to see whether you count as a new player. If you submit a video, we keep its address, and we read what the platform shows publicly about it: its title and description or text, the channel or account, when it was published, and its views, likes and comments where the platform gives them. Staff can also enter a video's view count, and we keep who entered it and when.

Cookies and browser storage

The website sets only a few cookies of its own: __Host-archive_session keeps you signed in (up to 30 days), and __Host-archive_oauth and __Host-archive_steam protect the Discord and Steam sign-in steps (10 minutes). __Host-archive_ref remembers which of our links brought you to the website (30 days). If you arrive through one of our links, we keep which link it was with your account: staff can see it, and if it was a member's Creator Program link, that member can see that you joined through it. Your browser also keeps a few small preferences, such as the page to return to after signing in. There are no advertising cookies and no third-party analytics or tracking cookies. The security service that protects the website may set its own security cookies.

What you send us

Reports you file (a category and your text), messages to support, and any logs you choose to send us. Launcher logs contain technical details of the game's network traffic. The launcher keeps the logs of your last three crashed games on your PC, so you can send them when you ask for help; it never sends them itself.

Payments

Network Pass payments are handled by Stripe. Network Pass is sold through Stripe's Managed Payments, which handles the payment and tax. We receive your subscription status, never your full card number.

How we use it

• Your account: signing you in, linking Discord and Steam, and giving you the right Discord roles (Network Player when you link Steam, Network Pass when you have it).
• Online play: Neighborhoods, matches, your saves, VC, rewards and events.
• Profiles and leaderboards for signed-in members.
• Fair play and safety: checking saves and results, spotting cheating and account abuse, and enforcing our rules, including bans on the PCs banned accounts played on. Some protections act on their own (refusing a tampered save, for example); strikes and bans are decided by a person, except the ones the Terms of Service name (an automatic strike on proof of cheating no honest player can produce (ratings above the game's own maximum, a memory editor's own files loaded inside the game, or the game's files changed while it runs), and a chargeback on a Network Pass payment).
• Support, and keeping the servers healthy (our server measurements contain no personal data).
• Getting you playing: when setup stops you, or the game fails to start or crashes on your PC, finding out why and fixing it.
• Payments for the Network Pass.
• The Creator Program: counting the players you invite and the views on your videos, paying what you earn, showing the public list, and stopping accounts or views that are not real.

We don't sell or rent your data, we don't show ads, and we don't build marketing profiles.

Who can see what

Hiding your profile (on your profile page) removes you from member search, leaderboards and profile pages for other members. Staff can still see you. Your roles in our Discord server are visible there, as on any Discord server.

Services we rely on

We use these services to run Archive Network. Each gets only what its job needs:

• Discord (sign-in, our server, roles) and Steam / Valve (Steam sign-in, your public Steam profile).
• A website security and delivery service: protects and delivers the website, runs our domain, and forwards email sent to support.
• Hosting providers: the servers that hold your account record and run the games.
• A backup provider: stores our encrypted backups.
• Stripe: Network Pass payments.
• YouTube (Google), X and TikTok: when you submit a video to the Creator Program, our server asks the platform about that video. It sends the video's address or ID, and nothing about you.
• Uptime monitors, which receive no personal data.

If you press play on a video, it loads from YouTube (youtube-nocookie.com), under Google's privacy policy.

Your data is stored and processed in the United States. We also share information if the law requires it, or when it's needed to protect our players or the service. If Archive Network ever changes hands, your data would move with it and this policy would still apply.

How long we keep it

• Your account and game data: while your account exists. When you ask us to delete it, within 30 days.
• IP addresses: 30 days in our security store after we last saw them; server logs 30 days (details of failed requests, 7 days).
• Your PC's scrambled identifiers and scrambled Steam account codes: while your account exists. If your account is banned, as long as the ban lasts, even after a deletion.
• What the launcher sends about setup, failed starts and crashes: 30 days.
• What the fair-play check finds: a cheat tool, a changed game file, or a file in the game folder that is not the game's and was loaded into the game, while your account exists; anything else, 30 days after it was last seen. That you saw the fair-play notice: while your account exists.
• The Friends tab: which members are on your Steam friends list, until the launcher sends your list again (it replaces the last one); whether you are online or in the game, a few minutes; your friend code while your account exists, and a code you replaced, so it is never given to anyone else.
• The Creator Program: your link, who you invited, your videos and what you earned, while your account exists. The list of every Steam account linked to your account, and that your account was invited, are kept so the same person is not counted twice, as long as your account exists and, in the short form below, after a deletion.
• Website sign-in: a session lasts up to 30 days (12 hours for staff).
• Backups: encrypted copies are kept up to about 13 months, then deleted. Data you had deleted disappears from backups as those copies expire; we only restore backups to recover from a failure.
• After a deletion we keep only what's needed to enforce a ban (your Discord and Steam IDs and your PCs' scrambled identifiers and Steam account codes, if you were banned), which Steam accounts your account had and that it was invited (so a rejoining player isn't counted as new in the Creator Program), payment records the law requires, and our security audit trail.

How we protect it

• The website, sign-in and our account services use encrypted connections (HTTPS).
• Sign-in tokens are stored only in scrambled (hashed) form; game passes are signed and expire after 10 minutes.
• Backups are encrypted before they leave our servers.
• Our servers accept only key-based logins, staff need Discord two-factor authentication, and every staff action is logged.

Game traffic between the game and our game servers uses the game's original protocols, and not all of it is encrypted. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.

Your choices and rights

• Hide your profile from other members on your profile page.
• Leave the Creator Program's top list on your Creator Program page.
• Delete your account: email support@archivenetwork.app or ask in our Discord server. We confirm the request comes from you through your Discord account, then delete your profile, builds, saves and game data within 30 days. Your VC, items and builds are lost for good.
• Get a copy of the personal data we hold about you, or have something corrected: ask the same way.
• Playing on a PC that was banned with someone else's account (a family PC, for example): open a ticket in Archive Desk. Staff can let your account play on it.
• Remove our access in Discord (User Settings, Authorized Apps). This stops new sign-ins but doesn't delete what we hold; ask us for that.
• Cookies: ours are the ones needed to sign in, and the one that remembers which of our links brought you. Blocking them stops sign-in from working.

Depending on where you live (for example California or the European Union), the law may give you more rights over your data. We honor them, we won't treat you differently for using them, and we don't sell or share your data for advertising.

Age

Archive Network is for people 13 and older, the same as Discord. If we learn we hold data from someone under 13, we delete it. Members under 18 need a parent's or guardian's permission to buy the Network Pass.

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, we update the date at the top. Important changes are also announced on the website or in our Discord server before they take effect.

Contact

Archive Network: support@archivenetwork.app, or ask in our Discord server.

Archive Network is not affiliated with 2K, the NBA or any game publisher.