Terms and Conditions

1. Who we are

"Think About Rust" (the "Site", "we", "us", or "our") is an independent, community-driven survey and feedback project. The Site is operated on a non-commercial basis and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Facepunch Studios Ltd, Valve Corporation, or any other third party. All trademarks, including "Rust" and "Steam", remain the property of their respective owners and are used here only for descriptive, nominative reference.

2. Acceptance of these Terms

These Terms and Conditions, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, the "Terms"), form a binding legal agreement between you and the operators of Think About Rust. You accept the Terms by doing any of the following:

• Clicking "Sign in with Steam", "Sign in with Google", or any equivalent button;
• Creating, accessing, or using an account on the Site;
• Submitting any answer, vote, comment, or other content; or
• Continuing to browse or otherwise use the Site after these Terms are posted.

If you do not agree to any part of these Terms, you must immediately stop using the Site, must not sign in, and must not submit any data.

3. Eligibility

You represent and warrant that you are at least 16 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher), that you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement, and that you are not prohibited from using the Site under applicable law. If you are using the Site on behalf of another person or entity, you represent that you have authority to bind them to these Terms.

4. The service

The Site provides an online survey about the design of the video game Rust and a related "blueprint" view that aggregates community responses. The Site is provided "as is" and "as available", free of charge, for informational and community-feedback purposes only. We may add, change, suspend, restrict, or remove any feature, question, category, response, or account at any time, with or without notice, and without liability to you.

5. Accounts and authentication

To submit survey answers we require you to authenticate using either Steam or Google. You acknowledge and agree that:

• We rely on the chosen identity provider's verification of your identity (Steam or Google). We do not independently verify it and are not responsible for the accuracy of any information returned by that provider.
• Steam and Google sign-ins are treated as separate accounts on the Site and are not automatically linked, even if they belong to the same person.
• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your Steam or Google account and any device used to access the Site, and for all activity that occurs under your account on the Site.
• You must not share your account, impersonate any person or entity, create accounts using automated means, or attempt to circumvent measures designed to prevent duplicate or fraudulent submissions.
• We may suspend, lock, or delete your account at any time, with or without notice, including (without limitation) where we suspect violation of these Terms, abuse, fraud, or misuse of the Site.

6. Information we collect — your express consent

By signing in or using the Site, you expressly consent to our collection, storage, processing, and use of the following information about you for the purposes described in these Terms. We collect only what we need to operate the survey, prevent abuse, and produce aggregated community feedback. Specifically, we collect and process:

• Identity data from Steam. When you sign in with Steam, we receive your 64-bit SteamID and we generate an internal synthetic email of the formsteam_<steamid64>@steam.thinkaboutrust.local for internal account linking only — this synthetic email is never displayed publicly.
• Identity data from Google. When you sign in with Google, we receive a unique Google account identifier, your email address, your name, and (where provided) your profile picture URL. Email addresses are stored for account identification only and are never displayed publicly on the Site.
• Account profile data. A row in our profiles table recording your internal user ID, sign-in provider (Steam or Google), SteamID (where applicable), display name, role (e.g. respondent or admin), creation timestamps, and account status.
• Survey responses. Every answer, selection, vote, skip, edit, and the time you spent on each question. Responses are associated with your internal user ID so that you can resume the survey, so we can produce aggregated results, and so we can detect duplicate or abusive submissions.
• Technical and usage data. IP address, approximate geolocation derived from IP, user-agent string, browser and device information, referring page, pages visited, timestamps, error logs, and similar diagnostic information collected automatically when you interact with the Site.
• Cookies and similar technologies. Strictly-necessary cookies and local storage entries used to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, and maintain session security. By using the Site you consent to these.
• Communications. Any message you send us (for example, by email or feedback form), including its contents and metadata.

Do not submit any data you are not authorised to share. Do not enter sensitive personal information (for example, government identifiers, financial data, health data, or information about other identifiable individuals) anywhere on the Site. Free-text fields are not designed for sensitive content and you submit such content at your own risk.

7. How we use your information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To create and maintain your account and let you sign in;
• To record, store, and display your survey responses;
• To produce aggregated, anonymised statistics and "blueprint" outputs derived from community responses;
• To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, duplicate submissions, spam, and security incidents;
• To operate, maintain, debug, secure, and improve the Site;
• To communicate with you about the Site, account issues, or material changes to these Terms;
• To comply with legal obligations and to enforce these Terms.

Aggregated and anonymised survey results may be published, shared, used to inform server design and community communications, and otherwise made public. Aggregated data, by definition, cannot reasonably be used to identify you individually.

8. Legal bases for processing (where applicable)

Where the GDPR, UK GDPR, or similar laws apply, we rely on the following legal bases: (a) your consent, given expressly when you sign in and accept these Terms, for the processing of your account data and survey responses; (b) our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the Site and in preventing abuse; and (c) compliance with legal obligations where applicable.

9. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as follows:

• Service providers. With infrastructure providers that host the Site, the database, authentication, file storage, and related backend services (collectively referred to in these Terms as our "backend"). These providers process data on our behalf under contractual confidentiality and security obligations.
• Identity providers. With Steam and Google, only as necessary to authenticate you. Each provider's handling of your data is governed by its own terms and privacy policy.
• Aggregated, non-identifying data. Publicly, in the form of charts, percentages, blueprint outputs, and similar aggregated statistics.
• Legal and safety. Where we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, legal process, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our users, or the public.
• Business transfers. In connection with any merger, sale, transfer, or reorganisation of the Site, in which case we will require the receiving party to honour these Terms with respect to your information.

10. International transfers

Your information may be processed and stored in countries outside your own, including in the United States and the European Union, where data protection laws may differ. By using the Site you consent to such international transfers.

11. Data retention

We retain your account data and survey responses for as long as your account exists or as long as needed to operate the Site, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce these Terms. Aggregated and anonymised data may be retained indefinitely. You may request deletion of your account at any time using the contact details below; on deletion, your identifiable data will be removed or irreversibly anonymised, while previously-aggregated outputs may remain.

12. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of your personal information, to data portability, and to withdraw your consent at any time (without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing). To exercise these rights, contact us at the address in Section 21. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

13. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures, including row-level-security policies, encrypted transport (TLS), and access controls, to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. You acknowledge that you provide your information at your own risk and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

14. User content and acceptable use

You are solely responsible for any content you submit, including survey answers and free-text input ("User Content"). You represent and warrant that your User Content does not infringe any third-party rights, is not unlawful, and complies with these Terms. You must not:

• Use the Site for any unlawful, harmful, harassing, defamatory, fraudulent, or abusive purpose;
• Submit content that is hateful, threatening, sexually explicit involving minors, or otherwise prohibited by law;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, other accounts, the backend, or any related systems;
• Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site, or breach any security or authentication measure;
• Interfere with, disrupt, or impose unreasonable load on the Site;
• Use bots, scrapers, automated tools, or any means to submit responses or extract data without our prior written permission;
• Submit duplicate or fraudulent responses, or manipulate results;
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Site, except to the extent that applicable law expressly prohibits such restriction.

We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to review, moderate, edit, or remove any User Content at our sole discretion.

15. Licence to your User Content

You retain ownership of your User Content. By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable licence to host, store, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display such User Content in connection with operating, promoting, and improving the Site, including in aggregated and anonymised form, and to inform server design and related community outputs. You waive any moral rights in the User Content to the maximum extent permitted by law.

16. Intellectual property

The Site, including its design, code, text, graphics, logos, surveys, questions, categories, and aggregated outputs (excluding User Content), is owned by or licensed to us and is protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or create derivative works of any part of the Site.

17. Third-party services

The Site relies on third-party services including, without limitation, Steam OpenID, Google OAuth, hosting and database providers, and analytics providers. We are not responsible for the content, policies, availability, or practices of any third-party service. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

18. Disclaimers

THE SITE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, OR THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE. We make no warranty regarding any results obtained through use of the Site, including the accuracy or completeness of survey results, blueprint outputs, or any aggregated data.

19. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL WE, OUR OPERATORS, CONTRIBUTORS, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. To the maximum extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability for any and all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site is limited to one hundred US dollars (US$100). Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages; in those jurisdictions our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted.

20. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Think About Rust and its operators, contributors, and licensors from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your access to or use of the Site; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any law or third-party right.

21. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site, or any feature of it, at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including suspected breach of these Terms. You may stop using the Site at any time and may request deletion of your account by contacting us. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, and 23) will survive.

22. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of the Site after the updated Terms are posted constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Site.

23. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Site will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Site's primary operator resides, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that jurisdiction for the resolution of any such dispute, except where prohibited by mandatory local law. To the extent permitted by law, you and we each waive any right to a jury trial and to participate in any class action or representative proceeding.

24. Miscellaneous

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the Site and supersede any prior agreements. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that provision. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent; we may assign these Terms freely. Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

25. Contact

For questions about these Terms, to exercise your data rights, or to request deletion of your account, contact us via the project's contact channel listed on the homepage.