HLSR Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
HLSR is an independent, free Windows launcher. It installs, verifies, updates and launches supported game builds.
You can write to us at contact@hlsr.pro.
2. What this policy covers
This policy applies to:
- the hlsr.pro website;
- the HLSR application for Windows;
- the technical requests HLSR makes to check for updates and to send minimal statistics.
The website itself sets no cookies and loads no visitor analytics. Your chosen page language is stored in the browser and never leaves your computer.
3. What HLSR collects
| Context | Data | Why |
|---|---|---|
| HLSR installation | a random installation identifier | to tell one installation from another without knowing who uses it |
| Any event | a random event and session identifier, and the time of the event | so the same event is not counted twice |
| Any event | HLSR version, interface language, Windows 10, 11 or unknown, x64 architecture | to see which configurations a problem shows up on |
| Launcher activity | HLSR start and exit, session length, and a flag for an abnormal previous exit | to estimate how many people are online and to spot repeated crashes |
| Install and uninstall | that an HLSR installation finished and that an uninstall began | to see how many installations run to completion |
| Game update | build identifier, version before and after, and the kind of operation: full install, patch, or chain of patches | to check that patches apply |
| File download | download size, duration and average speed, when those are known | to see where downloads break |
| File repair | build identifier, its version, and how long the operation took | to check that repair works |
| HLSR update | version before and after, download size and duration | to see whether updates reach users |
| Errors | a technical code from a predefined list | to tell "Steam is not running" from "no disk space" without the details |
The table scrolls sideways.
The installation identifier is generated at random. It is not derived from a Steam ID, your Windows user name, a hardware serial number or an IP address. While statistics are off, the identifier is not created at all.
4. What HLSR does not collect
- your personal data;
- your email address or phone number;
- passwords, tokens or keys;
- hardware serial numbers;
- paths to your files;
- game launch arguments;
- the contents of configs and save files;
- screenshots;
- arbitrary text from your files.
We call this minimal pseudonymous technical statistics. Pseudonymous means events carry a random identifier: it shows that several events came from the same installation, but it cannot tell anyone who you are.
5. What is not tracked right now
The current version of HLSR sends no statistics about maps, chapters, speedruns, restarts or personal bests. All of that happens inside the game, and the launcher knows nothing about it.
Event types for those exist in the code, but the launcher never creates them and the server rejects them. They will appear only with a separate update, and this page will be updated then.
Game sessions, however, are counted from version 0.3.14 onwards, and that deserves a plain statement. When you launch a build from HLSR, the launcher reports which build started, its version, how the launch ended and how long the session lasted. The "playing now" counter on the site and in the launcher is built from those events.
The launcher works this out by watching the game process; nothing is built into the game itself. These events carry the same random installation identifier as the rest of the statistics, and no Steam ID. While the "Technical statistics" switch is off, none of this is sent and the counter simply does not include you.
Steam IDs still belong on this list: they are not in the statistics. The launcher does know your account number and shows it in your profile, but the number never leaves your computer. The next section covers that.
5a. Discord: what your friends see
HLSR can show in Discord that you are playing. This is Rich Presence, the same "Playing…" line any game shows in Steam or Discord. It carries the build name, the map name, the frame rate and how long the launcher has been open.
The feature is on by default and is turned off by a single switch in HLSR settings, "General" section. The data goes to the Discord app on your computer and onwards by Discord's own rules, that is, to people already on your friends list. None of it is sent to HLSR servers and none of it enters the statistics.
Rich Presence carries no Steam name, no account number and no file paths.
6. Your Steam profile in the launcher
HLSR shows your Steam account: the avatar and name in the sidebar, and in the profile window your Steam ID, the date of your first launch, hours played and achievements as well. All of it is read on your computer and none of it is sent to our server.
The name, the avatar and the number come from Steam's own files: the list of accounts that have signed in on this computer, and the avatar cache. No password is asked for, no Steam Web API key is needed, and there is no network request here at all, because the files are already on the disk.
"With HLSR since" is the date of your first launch. It is kept in a profile file next to the launcher settings. For people who have used HLSR for a long time and have no such file yet, the date is recovered from the age of the settings folder rather than set to today.
Hours and achievements are counted by the launcher itself from a local statistics file. Achievements are not stored even on your side: they are derived from the hours every time.
Steam IDs play no part in the technical statistics. Telemetry events carry a random installation identifier that cannot be matched to a Steam number; everything that reaches the server is listed in section 3.
The launcher reads the friends list from local Steam files: no Steam Web API key is needed for it, and the list is never uploaded to our server.
Friend avatars also come from the local Steam cache. It usually holds only a few, so
for the rest the launcher asks the public Steam profile page:
steamcommunity.com/profiles/<number>?xml=1. Only the profile number
leaves your computer, and it goes to Valve, not to us. The downloaded picture is kept
locally, and the launcher does not ask for it a second time.
This version of the launcher has no badges, no account linking and sends no profile to the server. The feature was being prepared for 0.3.14 and did not make the release, while earlier editions of this page already described it. Should it come back, this page will be updated before the launcher starts sending anything.
7. What the statistics are used for
- checking the stability of HLSR;
- finding recurring errors;
- improving installs and updates;
- checking that patches and file repair work;
- checking compatibility with Windows versions;
- estimating how many users with statistics enabled are online.
We do not sell technical data, do not use it for advertising and do not build advertising profiles of users.
8. How to turn telemetry off
The "Technical statistics" switch sits in HLSR settings, in the "General" section. It is on by default.
Once you turn it off:
- no new events are created or sent;
- the local event queue is deleted;
- installing, updating and launching games keep working as before.
One network request does remain, and we name it plainly: once a minute, while the launcher window is open, HLSR asks api.hlsr.pro for the "playing now" number shown on the game card. The request has no body: the launcher receives a number and tells nothing about you. Statistics being off means HLSR collects and sends nothing about you; it does not mean no network requests remain at all.
Next to it there is a "Reset statistics identifier" button. It deletes the installation identifier along with the queue. If you switch statistics back on later, the launcher creates a new identifier with no link to the old one.
9. IP address and diagnostics
HLSR does not put your IP address into the telemetry packet and does not use it as an identifier. As with any internet connection, the IP is technically handled by network services while the request travels. It is not stored alongside the events.
Diagnostic ZIP archives and crash dumps are created only when you ask for them. HLSR never sends them on its own.
10. Storage and deletion
- raw technical events are kept for a limited time;
- after that only aggregated, de-identified figures remain;
- you can stop further sending in the launcher settings;
- for questions about data, write to contact@hlsr.pro.
For the technical statistics there is no "delete my server data" button today, and there cannot be one. Events carry a random identifier and are not tied to an account, so we could not find one person's records even if we wanted to.
The profile has no such button for a different reason: there is nothing to delete. Your hours, your first launch date and your achievements sit on your computer, not with us. When HLSR is uninstalled, the installer asks separately whether to keep the profile statistics and whether to keep the settings and logs.
11. Security and changes
- data travels over a secure HTTPS connection;
- access to the statistics is restricted;
- only the minimum necessary set of fields is collected;
- if the set of telemetry changes, this policy will be updated;
- the current version always lives at hlsr.pro/privacy/.
12. Contacts
contact@hlsr.pro
https://hlsr.pro