Player Data

Privacy Policy

Short version: your controller never leaves your browser. Nothing about your gamepad is ever sent anywhere, and the tester needs no account. The only account on the site is optional: signing in with Google in the Cade Arcade so your game scores are saved. I also use two standard analytics tools to see which pages get used and where people get stuck — that's it. The formal version is below, because it should be written down properly.

Last updated: 6 August 2026

What we collect

Nothing about your controller. All gamepad detection and testing happens locally on your device through your browser's standard Gamepad API. Button presses, stick positions, trigger values and controller identifiers are processed in memory to draw the screen and are never stored, recorded, or transmitted to us or anyone else.

Standard usage analytics, yes. Like most sites, we measure how the site is used — which pages are visited, roughly where visitors come from, and which device and browser they're on — so we can fix what's confusing and improve the tester. This is described in the next section.

Analytics

We use two third-party analytics services:

  • Google Analytics 4 — counts page views and visits and reports aggregate figures like page popularity, approximate location (country/region), and device type. Google Analytics 4 does not log or store your IP address. It sets its own cookies to tell repeat visits apart.
  • Microsoft Clarity — builds heatmaps and anonymised session replays of how people move and click through pages, so we can see where the layout trips people up. Clarity masks text input by default and is used to understand usability, not to identify you.

Both process this data on their own systems under their own privacy policies (Google's and Microsoft's). We only ever see aggregate reports — never a name, an email, or anything that identifies you personally. Neither tool receives any controller data — no button press or stick reading is ever part of this.

You can opt out at any time: install Google's Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, or use your browser's Global Privacy Control / "Do Not Track" setting, which Clarity honours. A regional consent banner is planned before any advertising is introduced (see below).

Player accounts & high scores

Entirely optional, and only for the games. The gamepad tester itself never asks you to sign in. In the Cade Arcade you can sign in with Google so your scores are saved between visits and can appear on the high-score board.

If you do sign in, Google tells us three things about you: a stable account identifier, your email address, and your first name and profile picture. We store those, plus the games you finish — the game, score, whether you won, how long the run lasted, and when. That is the whole record.

  • The high-score board shows only your display name and score. Your email address is never shown to other visitors — it is kept so we can find your account if you ever need support.
  • You choose the name on the board. It starts as your Google first name and you can change it at any time with the Rename button.
  • No controller data is ever attached to an account — the same rule as everywhere else on this site.
  • Signing out removes the session from your browser. To have the account and its scores deleted from our side entirely, email us and we'll remove them.

Google's own handling of the sign-in is covered by Google's privacy policy. The sign-in script only loads on the games page, and only when accounts are switched on.

Push notifications

Only if you ask for them. If you accept the notification prompt, your browser creates an anonymous subscription ID — a random token tied to that browser on that device, not to your name or email. We use it to send occasional updates about new guides and tools, and nothing else.

Notifications are delivered by OneSignal, a third-party push service. They handle the subscription token and delivery under their own privacy policy. We never see an email address or any personal detail through it, and no controller data is ever included.

To stop them, either use the unsubscribe option in your browser's site settings for this site, or block notifications for it — no account or request needed. If you never accept the prompt, nothing is created and nothing is sent.

Advertising

There are currently no ads on this site. None are served, and no advertising cookies are set.

Ads may be introduced later to keep the tester free. If that happens this section will be updated before they go live, and visitors in the EU, UK and Switzerland will be asked for consent before any advertising cookie is set. There will also be a paid option to remove ads entirely.

What follows describes how that would work, so nothing is a surprise:

Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve those ads, to limit how often you see the same one, and to measure performance. Depending on your region and your choices, ads may be personalised using data Google holds about your browsing. This happens inside Google's systems — we never receive it.

You can control this directly:

  • Manage or turn off personalised advertising at Google Ads Settings (adssettings.google.com).
  • In the EU, UK and Switzerland you'll see a consent banner before any advertising cookies are set. You can change or withdraw that choice at any time.

Google's own handling of this data is covered by its privacy policy, not ours.

Cookies & local storage

Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity set their own cookies to measure usage, as described under Analytics above. If you accept notifications, OneSignal stores a subscription token in your browser so it can reach that browser. If you sign in to the arcade, Google's sign-in sets its own cookies on google.com and your saved session is kept in your browser's local storage until you sign out. Beyond those, the tester itself sets no advertising cookies. Preferences you toggle (theme, sound) are stored locally on your own device — not on our servers as a profile of you.

Hosting & server logs

Like virtually all websites, the platform that serves this page may automatically process standard technical information (such as your IP address and browser type) to deliver the page and keep the service secure. That data is handled by the hosting provider under their own policies and is not used by us to identify you.

Third parties

We do not sell or rent personal information. The site loads Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity for usage measurement (see Analytics above), OneSignal for push notifications if you opt in (see Push notifications above), Google Sign-In on the games page if you choose to create a player account (see Player accounts above), and no advertising network. If advertising is introduced later, this policy will say so before it happens. There are no social network trackers.

Children

Gamepad Tester is a general-audience utility and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update the date above. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach out through the contact channel listed on the site you accessed this tool from.

Plainly: your controller data never leaves your machine — no button press or stick reading is ever sent anywhere. The only thing measured is ordinary site usage (which pages, which device), through Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity, and only ever as aggregate numbers.