Last updated: 01 October 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how LGSA (Pty) Ltd ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information. It covers LightVille, GTAMO, our website, our Store, our launcher and our community spaces (the "Services"). We follow South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).
The short version
- We collect what we need to run your account, the game server, the Store and our community.
- We never sell your personal information.
- Our game server is hosted in France. Some of the services we use, such as Google and Discord, store data in other countries.
- If you are under 18, we need your parent or guardian's consent.
- Events and voice sessions may be recorded and published. You can ask to be left out.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your information at any time by emailing privacy@lightvillegames.com.
This summary is for convenience only. The full policy below is what counts.
Contents
- Who is responsible for your information
- What we collect
- Why we use it
- Children and parental consent
- What you must give us
- Recordings
- Who we share it with
- Information sent outside South Africa
- How long we keep it
- How we protect it
- Automated detection
- Your rights
- Emails and marketing
- Cookies
- Changes to this policy
- Complaints
1. Who is responsible for your information
LGSA (Pty) Ltd is the "responsible party" for your personal information under POPIA.
- Registration number: 2026/791464/07
- Physical address: 139 DE WET STREET, CAPE TOWN, WESTERN CAPE, 7460
- Telephone: +27 79 421 0966
Information Officer: Samuel Thompson
Email: privacy@lightvillegames.com
2. What we collect
When you create an account
- Your username and email address
- Your password. We store it in a scrambled (hashed) form that we cannot read.
- Confirmation that you are at least 13. If you are under 18, we also record confirmation that your parent or guardian consented.
When you play
- Your character information, such as name, appearance, money, property, vehicles, items, faction and progress
- In-game chat and the commands you use
- Your in-game activity, such as login times, playtime and in-game transactions
- Your IP address
- Your SA-MP serial, which is an identifier linked to your device
- Records of warnings, jails, suspensions, bans and appeals
When you use the GTAMO launcher
- Basic technical information, such as your device model, operating system version and launcher version
When you join our community
- Your Discord username and user ID, and messages and voice activity in our Discord server that our bots and staff process
- If you join a WhatsApp group we run, your phone number and WhatsApp display name
- Comments you post on our website, along with the name shown on your Google account
When you buy from the Store
- Your name and email address, and the account you are buying for
- Your order details, the amount paid, the payment method type and payment status
Our payment provider processes your payment. We never see or store your full card number, bank login details or voucher PIN.
When you visit our website
- Your IP address, browser type, device type and the pages you visit
- Information collected through cookies by Google Analytics and Google AdSense. See our Cookie Policy.
When you contact us
- The messages you send us and our replies, including support requests, appeals, complaints and refund requests
3. Why we use it
POPIA only allows us to process your information for a lawful reason. The table below shows what we use your information for and our reason.
| What we do | Our lawful reason |
|---|---|
| Create and run your account, save your progress and provide the game | Needed to provide the Services you signed up for |
| Process Store orders, deliver Sparks, send receipts and handle refunds | Needed to complete your purchase |
| Detect cheating, exploits, fraud, ban evasion and rule breaches, and handle appeals | Our legitimate interest in keeping the game fair and safe |
| Answer your support requests and complaints | Needed to provide the Services, and our legitimate interest |
| Record and publish events and voice sessions | Your consent (and your parent or guardian's, if you are under 18), which you can withdraw at any time |
| Measure how our website and game are used so we can improve them | Our legitimate interest, and your consent for non-essential cookies |
| Show ads on our website | Your consent for advertising cookies |
| Send you news and offers by email | Your consent (see section 13) |
| Keep financial records and respond to lawful requests from authorities | Legal obligation |
4. Children and parental consent
You must be at least 13 to use the Services. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have, we will delete it and close the account.
POPIA treats anyone under 18 as a child. If you are under 18, we only process your information with the consent of your parent or guardian. This is given when you register.
A parent or guardian may contact privacy@lightvillegames.com at any time to:
- See what information we hold about their child
- Correct or delete it
- Withdraw consent and close the account
- Have their child removed from recordings
We will ask for reasonable proof that you are the child's parent or guardian.
5. What you must give us
You must give us a username, an email address, a password and age confirmation to create an account. Without these, we cannot provide an account. Your IP address and SA-MP serial are collected automatically when you connect to the game server. We need them to keep the server secure.
Everything else is voluntary, including joining recorded events, posting in our community and agreeing to non-essential cookies. If you choose not to share it, you can still play.
6. Recordings
We record some gameplay, in-game chat and Discord voice sessions. These include events, the LightVille Gazette and commission hearings. We may publish these recordings on our website, YouTube channel and social media.
We do not use voice recordings to identify people by their voice.
If you do not want to appear in our published content, email privacy@lightvillegames.com. We will leave you out of future content. We will also edit or remove existing content where this is reasonably possible. We always act on a request from a parent or guardian of a player under 18.
7. Who we share it with
We never sell or rent your personal information. We only share it with the following:
- Our hosting provider in France, which hosts our game server and database
- Google, which runs Blogger (our website), Google Analytics, Google AdSense and YouTube
- Discord, where our community server and bots run
- WhatsApp (Meta), if you join a WhatsApp group we run
- Our payment provider, which processes Store payments
- Our volunteer staff team. Staff can access account records, logs and reports only as far as they need to for moderation and support. They must follow our confidentiality rules.
- Professional advisers, such as our accountants and lawyers, where needed
- Authorities, such as the South African Police Service, a court or a regulator, where the law requires it or to protect someone's safety
If our business is sold or restructured, your information may be transferred to the new owner. The new owner must continue to protect it in line with this policy.
8. Information sent outside South Africa
Our game server and database are hosted in France. France is covered by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, which gives protection at least as strong as POPIA.
Google, Discord and Meta may store and process information in the United States and other countries. They follow their own privacy commitments and data protection agreements.
We only send information outside South Africa where POPIA allows it. This means the recipient is bound by adequate protection, or the transfer is needed to provide the Services you asked for, or you have consented.
9. How long we keep it
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account and character information | While your account is open |
| In-game chat and command logs | 12 months |
| Published recordings | While they are published |
| Unpublished raw recordings | 6 months |
| Basic records of closed or banned accounts (username, email, IP address, SA-MP serial and ban reason) | 2 years after closure, to prevent ban evasion and fraud |
| Store orders and payment records | 5 years, as required by South African tax law |
| Support messages and complaints | 2 years after the matter is closed |
Google and Discord keep information under their own retention policies. When the periods above end, we delete the information or make it anonymous.
10. How we protect it
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your information. These include:
- Hashing passwords
- Using encrypted (HTTPS) connections on our website and Store
- Limiting staff access to what each role needs
- Keeping administrative access to our servers restricted
No system is perfectly secure. If a data breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
You can help by using a strong password that you do not use anywhere else.
11. Automated detection
Our server uses automated systems to detect possible cheating, exploits and suspicious activity. These systems may temporarily block an action or flag an account. A staff member always reviews a case before any suspension or ban, and you can appeal the decision.
12. Your rights
Under POPIA, you have the right to:
- Ask whether we hold personal information about you, and ask for a copy of it
- Ask us to correct information that is wrong, incomplete or out of date
- Ask us to delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep
- Object to us processing your information based on our legitimate interests
- Withdraw your consent at any time. This does not affect what we did before you withdrew it.
- Object to direct marketing at any time
- Complain to the Information Regulator
To use any of these rights, email privacy@lightvillegames.com from the email address linked to your account. We may ask for more proof that the account is yours. We reply within 30 days. We do not charge for these requests.
Some information cannot be deleted immediately. For example, we must keep payment records for tax purposes, and we keep ban records to prevent ban evasion. We will tell you if this applies.
13. Emails and marketing
We send emails you need, such as receipts, security alerts and important account notices. We only send news, event announcements and offers if you have agreed to receive them. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also opt out by emailing privacy@lightvillegames.com.
14. Cookies
Our website uses cookies, including cookies from Google Analytics and Google AdSense. Our Cookie Policy explains what they do and how to change your cookie settings.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed. If we make an important change, we will post a notice on our website and Discord before it takes effect.
16. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact our Information Officer first at privacy@lightvillegames.com. We will try to resolve it.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa:
- Website: inforegulator.org.za
- Complaints email: POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
Related pages: Terms of Service, Cookie Policy and Corporate.
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