Privacy Policy
Last updated:
The Possession Game is a free, independently operated basketball publication based in Ohio, USA. This policy explains how information is handled when you read the site or get in touch.
Information you provide
When Contact messaging is available, the form asks for your name, email address, and message. This information is used to read and respond to your inquiry. Please avoid including sensitive personal information.
Messages are delivered through Resend to the publication's email inbox; your email address allows a reply. The application does not separately store Contact messages in Postgres or intentionally log their contents. Copies may remain in the inbox, replies, and email providers' records. Resend publishes a standard 30-day retention period for email and log data on its Free, Pro, and Scale plans, and describes seven-day backups on its security page. These are provider-published practices, not verified settings for this account or a deletion schedule for the recipient’s mailbox. Correspondence may remain in Resend systems and the recipient’s mailbox; mailbox settings and provider retention requirements determine how long those copies remain.
Email subscriptions
When you subscribe, we store your name, email address, selected Film Room and Coaches' Corner categories, confirmation time, and subscription status in Neon. Kit manages confirmed newsletter subscribers, category tags, native preferences, delivery suppression, and article announcement delivery. Resend delivers the individually requested confirmation and welcome messages; those messages do not use Kit’s mailing address. We send a confirmation message before activating your choices, a welcome message after confirmation, and announcements for the categories you choose. Previously unsubscribed readers also confirm through Kit before delivery resumes. See Kit’s privacy policy. Email consent is separate from optional website analytics consent.
Every publication email includes a secure unsubscribe/preferences link. You can opt out of either category or all publication updates without an account. Use Contact to request deletion or assistance. Contact and consent records are retained while needed to deliver your subscription and honor opt-outs; minimal suppression information may be retained to avoid accidental reactivation. Expired confirmation requests and short-lived abuse counters are periodically removed. Provider logs and backups follow the providers' retention practices. We do not sell subscriber lists or expose them publicly.
Website operation and security
Vercel hosts the site and its images. Requests necessarily involve technical information such as your IP address, requested URL, browser information, and request time, which hosting and delivery services may process for delivery, diagnostics, and security.
Contact spam protection uses Upstash to store a coded identifier derived from your IP address and an attempt counter for ten minutes, rather than your raw IP address or message. Search also uses a short-lived request counter and sends your search terms to the site's database provider, Neon, to find published articles. Avoid entering personal information in searches or URLs.
Analytics and performance
The site uses Vercel Web Analytics for cookie-free, aggregated readership statistics, including page and article views, referral sources such as X, approximate location, device and browser type, and visit times. Vercel estimates visitors using a request-derived identifier discarded after 24 hours; counts are estimates, not a permanent record of individual readers. We use these statistics to understand readership and improve the publication.
Vercel Speed Insights measures loading speed and responsiveness for aggregate performance reports. The site strips query values from the page URLs sent to these tools and excludes administrative visits. These tools do not receive Contact messages or subscriber details, and we do not use them for advertising or cross-site profiling.
Optional Analytics
Readership and performance measurement is automatic for visitors located in the United States unless they opt out. Elsewhere, or when the location is unknown, it stays off unless you enable it. Reading the site never requires analytics.
Optional analytics: disabled.
Your choice is saved in this browser until you change it or clear site storage. Other browsers and devices have separate choices.
Video players, cookies, and browser storage
Articles may embed video players from Bunny. Players initialize when a video enters the viewport, before you press play, so their own controls work with one click. Video preloading and autoplay are disabled. Bunny receives technical request information, including your IP address and browser information, to deliver the player, thumbnails, and video, and processes playback statistics such as watch time, current playback position, and performance, with temporary playback session identifiers where applicable. Disabling optional Vercel analytics does not disable Bunny’s playback telemetry.
Vercel Web Analytics does not use analytics cookies. The site uses cookies for administrative sign-in and browser storage to exclude administrative visits from analytics. The Optional Analytics control stores only your enabled/disabled choice in local storage. Bunny is configured with rememberSettings=false and rememberPosition=false to prevent saving or restoring player preferences and playback position. Chrome and WebKit checks with this configuration found no new player cookies, local storage, or session storage during loading, playback, and control changes. Temporary playback identifiers can still be used for playback statistics. This does not disable server-side engagement telemetry or erase player storage from earlier visits. Provider behavior and browser restrictions may vary; this is not a guarantee that third-party delivery never uses cookies or storage. Your browser settings can restrict cookies and third-party storage, which may affect video playback.
Service providers and information sharing
Information is processed by the services described above as needed to deliver the site, handle inquiries, measure readership, and prevent abuse, and by the email provider handling correspondence. Those providers have their own privacy and retention practices and may process information in other countries. This site has no advertising trackers or visitor-data sales features.
Privacy questions and requests
Use the Contact page to ask about information you have submitted, request a correction, or request its deletion. Include enough detail to identify the correspondence. Verification may be needed before information is disclosed or deleted; copies held by providers or in backups may be subject to their own retention requirements.
Policy changes
This policy may be updated as the site or its services change. The date above will reflect the latest revision.