Privacy Policy Agreement

Privacy Policy

Valve respects the privacy of our online visitors and users of our products and services and complies with applicable privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and the UK GDPR.Valve and its subsidiary, TR Technical Inc., comply with the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (“EU-US DPF”), the UK Extension to the EU-US DPF, and the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework (“Swiss-US DPF”) as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Valve has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework Principles (“EU-US DPF Principles”) for its processing of Personal Data received from the European Union in reliance on the EU-US DPF and from the United Kingdom (and Gibraltar) in reliance on the UK Extension to the EU-US DPF, respectively. Valve has also certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (“Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles”) for its processing of personal data received from Switzerland relying on the Swiss-U.S. DPF. If there is any conflict between the provisions of this Privacy Policy and the EU-U.S. DPF Principles and/or the Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles, the Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Data Privacy Framework (“DPF”) and to view our certification, please visit 

https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/ .

1. Definitions. When we refer to personal data (“Personal Data”) below, we mean information that, on its own, identifies you as an individual (“Personally Identifiable Information”) or that can be linked to an individual indirectly. In addition to Personal Data, Valve processes anonymous data, aggregated or not, to analyze and develop trends, usage patterns, and demographic information about our customers as a whole and as individual customers. Such anonymous data does not identify our customers to whom it relates. Valve may share anonymous data, aggregated or not, with third parties.Other key terms in this Privacy Policy are defined in 

the Steam Subscriber Agreement (“SSA”).

2. Why Valve Collects/Processes Data:Valve collects and processes personal information:a) where it is necessary for the performance of our contract with you to provide you with a fully featured game service and related Content and Services;b) where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which Valve is subject (for example, tax law obligations to retain certain information);c) where it is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate or legal interests of Valve or a third party (for example, other customers), except where these interests are overridden by your legitimate interests or rights; ord) where you have provided your prior consent.The reason for collecting and processing personal information determines and limits what personal information is collected and how it is used (section 3), how long it is stored (section 4), who has access to it (section 5), and what rights and other control mechanisms are available to you (section 6).

3. Types of Information Collected and Sources3.1Basic Account DataWhenyou set up your Account, Valve collects your email address and country of residence. You will also be asked to choose a username and password. This information is required to register a Steam User Account. When setting up your Account, your Account is automatically assigned a number (“Steam ID”). This number is used to reference your User Account and does not directly reveal any Personally Identifiable Information. You do not need toprovide or use your real name when setting up a Steam User Account.3.2 Transaction and Payment DataTomake transactions on Steam (e.g., purchasing Content and Services Subscriptions or funding your Steam Wallet), you must provide Valve with payment data to enable the transaction. If you pay by credit card, you must provide Valve with standard credit card information (name, address, credit card number, expiration date, and security code), which Valve will then process and transmit to your chosen payment service provider to enable the transaction and perform anti-fraud checks. Similarly, Valve receives data from your payment service provider for the same reasons.3.3 Other Data You Expressly Submit: Wecollect and process personal information when you explicitly submit it to us or send it as part of communications with other users on Steam, for example in Steam community forums, chats, when you provide feedback, or in other user-generated content. This information includes:

• Information you post, comment on or follow our content and services
• Information sent through chat
• Information you provide when requesting information or support from us or purchasing content or services, including information necessary for the relevant payment processor or shipping provider (for physical goods) to process your order;
• Information you provide to us when you enter a competition, contest, tournament, or respond to a survey (such as your contact information)

3.4 Steam Client and Website Usage:We collect a variety of information through your general interaction with websites, Content, and Services offered through Steam. This information may include, but is not limited to, browser and device information, data collected through automated electronic communications, and application usage data. Similarly, wetrack your interactions with websites and applications to identify bots and optimize our Services.3.5 Games and Other Subscription Usage: We collect, store, and use a variety of information about your activities with our Content and Services to provide you with the Services. “Content-related information” may include your Steam ID and information commonly referred to as “game statistics.” Game statistics include your gaming preferences, game progress, playtime, and device information, such as your operating system, device settings, device identifiers, and crash data.3.6 Tracking Data and Cookies: We use “cookies,” text files stored on your computer, and similar technologies (such as web beacons, pixels, ad tags, and device identifiers) to analyze your use of our Services, improve our Services, and for marketing, analytics, and website functionality. Cookies are widely used on the Internet. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can decide whether to accept them or not. You can adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being sent. You can manage theuse of non-essential cookies by clicking on the Cookie Settings page, which you can access from the cookie banner that appears when you first visit our website, or at any time by clicking 

here. When you visit our site, our servers record your IP address, which is a number automatically assigned to the network your computer is connected to.3.7 Content Recommendations .We may process the information collected pursuant to this section 3 to tailor the content, products, and services displayed on Steam store pages and in update messages displayed when you start the Steam client to your needs and to provide you with relevant recommendations and offers. This is intended to improve your customer experience. You can prevent the processing of your data by disabling the automatic loading of Steam store pages and Steam notifications in the “Interface” section of your Steam client settings.Valve may send marketing messages to your email address about products and services similar to those you have previously requested from Valve or where you have expressly consented to doing so. We may use the information collected from you to customize these marketing messages and to collect information about whether you open such messages and which links in the text you follow. You can opt out of

receiving marketing emails at any time by withdrawing your consent to receive them. To do so, please withdraw your consent on the same page you previously provided consent or by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in each marketing email. You can also choose which emails you receive by visiting 

your email preferences page. 3.8 Information Necessary for Detecting Violations .We collect data necessary for the detection, investigation, and prevention of fraud and violations of the SSA and applicable law (“Violations”). In such cases, the data will be used solely for the purposes of detection, investigation, and prevention of Violations. If necessary, we may retain the data for the minimum period necessary to address the Violation. If the data indicates that a Violation has occurred, we will retain the data for the period permitted by applicable law or until any related legal proceedings are resolved, in order to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. Note: Where data is stored for this purpose, it may not be disclosed to you if disclosure would compromise breach detection, investigation and prevention mechanisms.

4. Storage PeriodWe will store your information only for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and processed, or, if applicable law requires a longer storage/retention period, for the period required by law. After the expiration of the storage period, your personal information will be deleted, blocked or anonymised in accordance with applicable law.Specifically, we will:

• We will only store your information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and processed, or for the period required by law if longer storage/retention periods are required by applicable law. After expiry of the storage period, your personal information will be deleted, blocked or anonymised in accordance with applicable law.
• Specifically, we will implement the following:
• If you deactivate your Steam User Account, your Personal Data will be marked for deletion, unless legal requirements or other prevailing legitimate purposes require a longer storage period.
• If you withdraw your consent on which we are relying on the processing of your personal data or the personal data of your child, we will delete your personal data and the personal data of your child without undue delay to the extent that the collection and processing of the personal data was based on the withdrawn consent.
• If you exercise your right to object to the processing of your personal information, we will consider your objection and delete the personal information to which you objected without undue delay, unless we have a legal basis to process/retain such information or are required to retain it by applicable law.

5. Scope of Access.Valve does not sell Personal Information. However, we may provide access to or share each category of Personal Information we collect as necessary for the following business purposes:5.1 Valve and its subsidiaries may share your Personal Data with each other and use it to the extent necessary to fulfill the purposes listed in Section 2. In the event of a reorganization, sale, or merger, Personal Information may be transferred to the relevant third party, subject to applicable law, the Principles, and liability requirements under the DPF.5.2 Your Personal Information will also be shared with third-party service providers who provide customer support services in connection with our goods, Content, and Services sold through Steam. Your Personal Information will be used to the extent necessary to perform such services in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Valve complies with the Principles when transferring Personal Data from the EU, Switzerland, and the UK, including the provisions governing onward transfer liability.5.3 In accordance with Internet standards, we may also share certain personal information (including your IP address and the ID of the Steam content you wish to access) with third-party network providers that provide content delivery network and/or game server services in connection with Steam. Our content delivery network providers deliver the digital content you request (depending on your location) through Steam or by using a distributed server system that delivers that content to you.5.4 We make certain data related to your Steam User Account available to other players and our partners via the Steamworks API. This information is accessible to anyone who queries your Steam ID. A search will provide access to, at a minimum, the persona name and avatar picture you choose to make public on Steam, as well as whether you have been banned for cheating in a multiplayer game. You can control access to this additional information through your Steam Community user profile page. Public data on your profile page is automatically accessible through the Steamworks API. In addition to public information, game developers and publishers can also access information related to users of their games directly through the Steamworks API. This information includes, at a minimum, your ownership rights in the game. Depending on which Steamworks services a game has implemented, this information may also include leaderboard information, your game progress, achievements, multiplayer match information, in-game items, and other information necessary to operate and support the game. Please visit the store page for more information about the Steamworks services a specific game has implemented.While we do not knowingly share your personally identifiable information through the Steamworks API, such as your real name, email address, or other personal information, the Steamworks API can access information you choose to share in your public Steam profile, some of which may contain information that could identify you.5.5 The Steam community offers message boards, forums, and chat areas, where users can exchange ideas and interact with each other. Please be aware that when you post messages to boards, forums, or chat areas, this information becomes publicly available online and you do so at your own risk. If your personal information has been posted on one of our community forums against your will, you can request its removal using the reporting features or the Steam Help site.5.6 Valve may enable you to link your Steam User Account with accounts provided by third parties. If you consent to account linking, Valve will collect and combine information with your consent and, to the extent you have consented, receive information about your Steam User Account from third parties. If linking your accounts requires Valve to transfer your personal information to a third party, you will be notified and given the opportunity to consent to the linking and information transfer before the linking takes place. The third party’s use of your information will be subject to that third party’s privacy policy, which we encourage you to review.5.7 Valve may also disclose personal information if required to do so by court order or other legal regulation.

6. Your Rights and Control Mechanisms.The data protection laws of the European Economic Area, the UK, California, and other jurisdictions provide their residents with certain rights over their personal information. While other jurisdictions may provide fewer legal rights, we provide tools designed to enable our customers worldwide to exercise these rights (and, when we refer to the GDPR in this section, we mean the version of the GDPR that applies to you in the EU or UK).To make it easier for you to exercise your data protection rights, we have provided a dedicated section on the Steam support page (the “Privacy Dashboard”). Via this dashboard, you can access your personal information and, if necessary, correct or delete it or object to its use. To access the dashboard, log in to the Steam support page at 

http://help.steampowered.com and select the menu items 

My Account -> Data Related to Your Steam Account . Generally, you can access, manage, and delete your personal information via the privacy dashboard, but you can also contact Valve with your inquiries/requests via the contact methods described in sections 8 and 10.If you access the Steam website without logging in, you can manage cookies via the procedures set out in Section 3.6 above. You can also exercise your rights by contacting Valve or its European representative using the details set out in Section 8 below, or by using 

thisweb form. If you are a resident of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights with respect to your personal information:6.1 Right of AccessYou have the right to access the personal information we hold about you. You can request (i) information whether your personal information is stored, (ii) access to your personal information stored, and (iii) a copy of your stored personal information, free of charge. You can exercise your right to access your personal information by visiting the Privacy Dashboard. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee (taking into account the administrative costs of providing the information and the communication and response costs) if your request affects the rights and freedoms of others or is manifestly unfounded or excessive.6.2 Right of RectificationWe aim to process your personal information by taking appropriate measures to keep it accurate and up-to-date for the purposes for which it was collected. If your Personal Information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can edit the information you provided via the Privacy Dashboard.6.3 Right of Erasure:You have the right to request the deletion of Personal Information concerning you, if the reason why we were able to collect it (see Section 2) no longer exists or if another legal ground for deletion exists. You can edit individual items of Personal Information in the Privacy Dashboard or request their deletion via the Steam support page. You can also request the deletion of your Steam User Account via the Steam support page.If you delete your Steam User Account, you will no longer have access to the Steam service, and therefore you will lose access to your Steam User Account, your Subscriptions, game-related information linked to your Steam User Account, and the possibility of accessing other services that you used through yourSteam User Account. You have a grace period of 30 days after requesting deletion of your Steam User Account, during which you can restore your Steam User Account. This feature ensures that you do not accidentally lose your account if your account credentials are lost or hacked. During this grace period, we can finalize financial and other activities that you began before your request for deletion of your Steam User Account was sent. Once the grace period has expired, your Personal Information from your account will be deleted in accordance with Section 4.In some cases, deleting your Steam User Account and Personal Information may be difficult. For example, if your account is related to a Valve business (e.g., you work as a game developer), you may be able to delete your Steam User Account after transferring this role to another user or after the business relationship has ended. Depending on the complexity and number of requests, the erasure of your Personal Information may take some time, but will be completed within two months.6.4 Right to Object:If our processing of your Personal Information is based on legitimate interests pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR / Section 2(c) of this Privacy Policy, you have the right to object to such processing. After you object, we will no longer process your Personal Information, unless there are compelling and prevailing legitimate grounds for the processing under Article 21 of the GDPR, in particular where the information is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.6.5 Right to Restriction of ProcessingYou have the right to request the restriction of processing of your Personal Information under the conditions set out in Article 18 of the GDPR.6.6 Right to Portability of Personal InformationYou have the right to receive your Personal Information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller under the conditions set out in Article 20 of the GDPR. Valve makes your Personal Information available to you in a structured HTML format via the Privacy Dashboard as described above.6.7 Right to Control of Personal Data After DeathIf you are subject to French data protection law, you have the right to establish guidelines for the storage, deletion and transmission of your Personal Information after your death pursuant to Article 40-1 of Law 78-17 of 6 January 1978 on Information Processing, Files and Freedoms.6.8 Arbitration. If Valve has not resolved an alleged breach of these Principles through any of the other DPF mechanisms or your rights under this Section, you may invoke binding arbitration before an EU-US Data Privacy Framework panel, pursuant to the requirements of Annex I of the DPF.

7. ChildSteam User Accounts are available only to those aged 13 or older. Valve does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under this age. As some countries require an older age of consent for the collection of Personal Information, Valve always obtains parental consent before creating a Steam User Account and collecting any associated Personal Information. We encourage parents to instruct their children not to provide personal information online.

8. Contact Information. Valve’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at the address below.While we review requests sent by email, please note that the best way to combat fraud, harassment, and identity theft is to access, correct, or delete your data by logging into your Steam User Account ( 

http://help.steampowered.com ) and selecting the menu items 

-> My Account -> View Account Data. Valve will resolve any complaints related to our collection and use of your personal information under the DPF Principles in accordance with the EU-US DPF, the UK extension of the EU-US DPF, and the Swiss-US DPF. EU, UK, or Swiss residents with inquiries or complaints about Valve regarding our processing of personal information received in reliance on the EU-US DPF, the UK extension of the EU-US DPF, and the Swiss-US DPF should first contact Valve, who can be reached at:Valve CorporationAtt. Data Protection officerPO Box 1688Bellevue, WA 98009For EU and Swiss data protection inquiries please contact:Valve GmbHAtt. LegalAlstertwiete 3D-20099 HamburgGermanyFor UK data protection inquiries please contact:RIVACY Ltd.71, Warriner Gardens, Unit G1/G2London, SW11 4DXUnited Kingdom

9. Additional Information for European Economic Area, UK and Swiss UsersAs a US-based company operating a global gaming service, we may transfer your Personal Data outside the European Economic Area or the UK. When we do so, we take additional steps to ensure that your Personal Data is protected by appropriate legal safeguards and treated securely in accordance with this Privacy Policy. In this regard, Valve has implemented appropriate contractual and organizational measures to ensure the confidentiality, security and integrity of user data in connection with the collection, processing and transfer of such data. These measures include, in particular:

• Minimizing data collection, especially the possibility of setting up and operating anonymous accounts
• Data Pseudonymization
• Industry-standard encryption
• Only those with a need to know have access to the data
• Use valid versions of the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission and the UK Data Protection Authority to protect transfers
• DPF Certification and Participation. A list of DPF participants is available at https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search.

In the event of an unresolved complaint about our processing of Personal Data received in reliance on the EU-US DPF, the UK Extension of the EU-US DPF, and the Swiss-US DPF, Valve commits to cooperate with and comply with the recommendations of the panels established by the EU Data Protection Authorities (DPAs), the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA), and the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC), respectively, in accordance with the EU-US DPF, the UK Extension of the EU-US DPF, and the Swiss-US DPF, without charge to affected customers. Links to their websites are provided below.

• EU DPA: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en
• UK ICO: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/
• GRA: https://www.gra.gi/data-protection
• FDPIC: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/home.html

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over Valve’s compliance with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“EU-U.S. DPF”), the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“Swiss-U.S. DPF”).

10. Additional Information for California Users: The CCPA provides California residents with certain privacy rights regarding the personal information we collect. We are committed to respecting these rights and complying with the CCPA. The following describes these rights and Valve’s practices with respect to them.

Right to Know: Under the CCPA, you have the right to request that we disclose to you what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell.

Right to Request Deletion: You have the right to request that we delete personal information we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions. Please note that your deletion request may impact your use of the Steam service in some cases. We may also refuse to delete information for reasons described in this Privacy Policy or permitted by the CCPA.

Other Rights: The CCPA also grants California residents the right to opt out of the sale of their personal data. We do not sell personal information, and have not done so in the past 12 months, as described in Section 5. You also have the right to be informed of our practices at or before the time your personal information is collected. Finally, you have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of your rights under the CCPA.

Exercising Your Rights. The primary way to access, manage, or delete your personal information is through the Privacy Policy Dashboard, as described in Section 6 of this Policy. You may also delete your account and associated personal information as described in Section 3 of this Privacy Policy. If you are unable to access or delete your information through the Privacy Dashboard, you may also contact us and request to exercise these rights using the form available at 

https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpAccountDataQuestion . To use the form, you will need to be logged in to your Steam User Account to verify your identity. You may also contact us at questions@valvesoftware.com with a request; however, before we can provide access to or delete your personal data based on a request received via email, we will need to verify your identity using the “Proof of Ownership” process (described at 

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2268-EAFZ-9762). You may designate an authorized agent, in writing or by power of attorney, to make requests to exercise your CCPA rights on your behalf. Before responding to a request from an agent, we will require the agent to provide evidence that they are authorized to act on your behalf. We may also require you to directly or indirectly verify your identity with us.

Categories, Sources, Purposes, and Recipients of the Information We Collect: Over the past 12 months, we have collected the categories of personal data set out in Section 3 of this Privacy Policy. The sources of personal data and the purposes for which it is collected and processed are described in Sections 2 and 3. Over the past 12 months, we have disclosed for a business purpose each category of personal information to the categories of third parties described in Section 5.

Updated: February 14, 2024

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