In plain words, what Japa keeps about you, why, for how long, and how to make it go. Updated 14 October 2026. Nothing in the game has real-world value, and we sell nothing: not your data, not your attention.
An account holds a handle (made up, and public: everybody sees it), an email address, and either a password (kept only as a salted argon2 hash: we cannot read it) or a Google sign-in (below). It holds your game: your life, your money, your room, your look. We keep whether you are 18 or over; your birth year is never stored. We use your email to verify it, to send a login link when a new network tries your account, and for the notices you can see in the game. We do not send marketing.
If you use Continue with Google, Google tells us three things: your name, your email address (only when Google has verified it) and your Google account id (a number that is yours and no one else's). We ask for nothing else: not your contacts, your files, your calendar or your photos. We keep the email (it is your account's address, as if you had typed it) and the Google account id (so that next time Google's "yes" signs you in). Your name is shown once, on the sign-up screen, and is deleted from our server when you finish or after 15 minutes. A Google account has no password with us. Your Google account is between you and Google; Google's own privacy policy covers what it knows about you. Japa never loads a Google script on its pages: the sign-in happens by sending your browser to Google and back.
If somebody started an account with your email address and never verified it, then signing in with Google (which proves the address is yours) gives you that account, verified, with its password removed and every session it had ended, so nobody else keeps a way into it.
Nobody sees these per person: the team sees totals only. Per-player rows are kept 13 months, then folded into daily totals. No IP addresses are stored and there are no third-party trackers or ad scripts. We use one cookie, the one that keeps you logged in (and a short-lived one while you sign in with Google).
Every building, except homes, has a chat for the people there. What you say in it, typed or as a voice note, can be read or heard by anyone who comes to that place in the next 24 hours, and is then deleted. It is never in our backups. Only players who said they are 18 or over can read it. A voice note is stored encrypted on our server in the United States, and only players at that place can play it; voice notes are off until you turn them on, and turning them off deletes your voice notes from the last 24 hours. We do not transcribe voice notes, analyse them or recognise voices, and we do not sell or give place-chat messages or voice notes to anyone. They pass through Cloudflare, our network provider, which does not keep them. You can delete your own messages and voice notes at any time.
If someone reports one, a copy, with the messages just before and after it, is kept for up to 14 days (30 for a report about a child's safety) so a moderator can check it, then deleted, unless the law requires us to keep it for the police. We keep a note of who reported whom and what we decided, without the message, for 180 days. Bans and the moderators' log (which account, which action, when; never the message) are kept with your account. The full table of what, why and how long is on the economy page.
Your account and progress are backed up every night: the last 14 nightly and 8 weekly copies on the server, and 60 days of them in a second place. After you delete your account, its data disappears from the backups as they roll over, within about 60 days. Place chats and voice notes are not in them. The server is in the United States. The email that verifies your address is sent by our email provider (Resend), which sees your address and the message.
To delete your account, or to ask for a copy of your data, or to correct something, email support@japa-life.com from the address on the account (or from Google, if you sign in with it) and say what you want. We will answer within 30 days; deleting takes your account, your life, your room and your messages with it. You can also start a new life any time without deleting anything, and Me → Log out everywhere ends every session. If you think a decision about you was wrong, email the same address.
Japa is for people aged 18 and over. When you start a life we ask the year you were born, keep only whether you are 18, and refuse the account if you are not. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18 we close its place chat, betting and casino access, and delete the account on request. Everyone, of any age, can take the Japa score quiz. If you are thinking of hurting yourself, or a child is at risk: where to get help.
Your sound settings (on or off, and the volumes) stay on your device; we never see them. Sounds are downloaded from our server the first time the game plays them, and nothing at all while sound is off. Every sound and track is free to use (CC0 or public domain): who made them, and their licences.
Terms · The economy, in public · Sound credits · support@japa-life.com