Privacy statement

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Sparqel is a free platform for creating quizzes and playing them live. I think it's important that you know which data is used for this. I collect as little as possible: no advertising, no tracking and no selling of data.

Who is responsible?

Sparqel is made and managed by Joshua van Hoof. Questions about privacy or a request about your data? Get in touch via joshuavanhoof.nl.

What data, and what for?

Creators with an account

• Name and email address, and a password that is stored encrypted by our sign-in service (I can't see it). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and Google ID.
• The quizzes, folders and images you create, and your game settings.
• Purpose: letting you sign in and saving your quizzes. Legal basis: providing the service you use (performance of a contract).

Guests (without an account)

• An anonymous user number and the quizzes you create. These are linked to this browser until you create an account.

Players

• Players don't need an account. During a game we use an anonymous number, the chosen (nick)name, the answers, the answer time and the score.
• Afterwards, the creator of the quiz receives a report with the nicknames, answers and scores. The creator decides what happens to it and can delete reports.
• Tip: use a nickname instead of your full name.

Feedback

• Your message, the page you sent it from and, if you fill it in, your email address so I can reply to you.

Technical data

• As with any website, the hosting provider processes your IP address and browser data in server logs, for security and troubleshooting. These are kept for a short time.

Cookies and storage in your browser

Sparqel doesn't use advertising or tracking cookies and doesn't collect visitor statistics. We do use your browser's local storage to remember that you're signed in, or that you're taking part in a game as a player. This is necessary for the service to work, so no consent is required.

Third-party services

I use these services for Sparqel. Agreements on data protection are in place with these parties.

• Google Firebase: sign-in and storage of quizzes, reports and live games. The databases are located in the EU (the Netherlands and Belgium); sign-in data may also be processed outside the EU.
• Vercel: hosting of the website (United States).
• Cloudflare: storage of images you upload or choose.
• Pixabay: searches in the image library go through our server; no personal data is sent to Pixabay.
• Giphy: GIFs are loaded directly from Giphy, which means Giphy sees your IP address.
• YouTube and Vimeo: videos in a quiz are loaded on the big screen from YouTube (in privacy-enhanced mode) or Vimeo (with 'do not track').
• Buy Me a Coffee: only if you click the coffee button yourself.

When data is processed outside the EU, this is done on the basis of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

How long do we keep data?

• Live games (nicknames, answers, scores): deleted as soon as the host ends the game, and otherwise automatically within 48 hours.
• Account, quizzes and reports: for as long as your account exists. You can delete quizzes and reports yourself; to delete your entire account, get in touch.
• Guest data that isn't linked to an account may be deleted after some time.
• Feedback: for as long as needed to process it, up to a maximum of two years.

Children

Players may also be children. That's why we don't ask players for anything other than a nickname. To create an account you must be 16 or older, or have permission from a parent or guardian.

Security

All connections are encrypted (HTTPS). Access to data is protected by security rules: you only see your own quizzes and reports, and players only see their own results.

Your rights

You may access, correct or delete your data, you can object to or restrict the processing, and you can request a copy of your data to take elsewhere. Send your request via joshuavanhoof.nl; I'll respond within one month. If you don't agree with how I handle your data, you can file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

Changes

If anything changes in how Sparqel handles data, I'll update this statement. The date of the last change is shown at the top.