Legal • Lotus Net

Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 16, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Lotus Net, also called Battle Realms Net, collects, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and the choices you have. Lotus Net is run by BenLotus (“we”, “us”). It covers the Lotus Net Windows app, your account, the lobby and chat, game connections, BenLotusAI, the optional BenLotus VPN, and this website at battlerealms.benlotus.com (together, the “Service”).

The short version: we collect what we need to run a free game lobby, we do not sell your information, we do not show ads, and this website does not use analytics or tracking tools. If you have questions, email email us.

1. What we collect

Information you give us

Account details: your username, display name, and email address. You log in with your email.
Password: we store only a scrambled (bcrypt-hashed) version of your password, never the password itself. Game room passwords are stored the same way.
Profile and settings: an optional short bio, your name and chat colors, text size, and whether to hide your username on your profile.
Messages: what you write in the lobby chat, in game room chat, and in private messages, plus emoji reactions.
Game rooms: the name, description, and settings of rooms you create, and who is in them.
Blocks: the list of users you have blocked.
Emails you send us: if you contact us, we keep your message and email address to answer you.

Information created when you use the Service

Account records: when your account was created and last updated, the last time you were online, your member group (for example admin), and whether your account is disabled.
Presence: while you are connected, the server keeps track of your online status (Online, Away, Busy, Sleep, or Invisible), your short status message, whether you are away from keyboard, whether you are in a game, which room you are in, whether you are using the BenLotus VPN, and which app version you run. This is held in memory and cleared when you disconnect.
Login sessions: a login token that stays valid for up to 30 days. Changing or resetting your password signs out your other sessions.
Password reset links: a one-time code that expires after about 1 hour. We store only a hashed version of it.
IP address and technical data: your IP address is used to connect you, to limit abuse (for example, too many login attempts), and to tell when two players are on the same home network. It also appears in normal server logs (see below) and in diagnostic logs.
Server logs: our web server and Lotus Net server keep standard logs, such as IP address, date and time, the page or address requested, browser or app details (user agent), connection events, and errors.
Diagnostic logs from the app. See section 3.

What we do not collect

We do not ask for your real name, address, phone number, or payment details. Lotus Net is free.
We do not record the contents of your game traffic or of your internet traffic while you use the VPN.
We do not use advertising or analytics trackers in the app or on this website.

2. What other people can see

Other Lotus Net users can see your display name, profile (bio, colors, member group, and the date you joined), your username unless you hide it, your status and status message, whether you are in a game or using the VPN, the rooms you are in, when you were last online, and your lobby and room chat messages. Private messages are seen only by you and the person you are talking to. Your email address is never shown to other users.
Anyone on the internet can see the live status on our homepage. It shows the display name, name color, status, short status message, and VPN, in-game, and Live badges of each user who is online, plus the open game rooms (name, description, player count, and times). The Live badge means they are streaming. Watching a stream still requires a signed-in account. It does not show chat messages, usernames, or emails. If you set your status to Invisible in the app, you are left out of the public status.
Players in your game may see your IP address, because games connect directly between players when possible (see section 4).

3. Diagnostic logs

To find and fix connection problems, the Lotus Net app automatically sends diagnostic logs to our server while you are signed in. You can also send them yourself from Settings. These logs can include:

app events such as connecting, joining or hosting a room, starting a game, warnings, and errors;
your app version, Windows version, and computer type (for example 64-bit);
whether Battle Realms is set up and running, the name of the game program, and the network ports it uses;
your computer’s local network (LAN) IP addresses, whether a game connection is active, and whether the VPN is on and which VPN location you picked;
your user ID, display name, and the IP address the upload came from.

Diagnostic logs are designed not to include your password or your chat messages. They are deleted automatically after 14 days.

4. Game connections

Lotus Net connects the players in a room over the internet so Battle Realms can see them the way it would on a local network.
To set that up, the players’ computers share the addresses they need, including IP addresses. Other players in your game can see your IP address, the same as in most online games.
Our servers help make that connection. We do not record the game itself. The services that carry the connection may keep basic records, such as IP addresses, times, and amounts of data.

5. The BenLotus VPN

The VPN is optional and off unless you turn it on.
When you turn it on, the app downloads a VPN (WireGuard) configuration from this website and connects your computer to a VPN server run by a third-party commercial VPN provider in the location you pick. While it is on, all of your computer’s internet traffic, including website lookups (DNS), goes through that provider, not just Lotus Net.
BenLotus does not see or record that traffic. The VPN provider handles it under its own policies.
Our server knows whether you have the VPN on, and other users and the public status page show a VPN badge next to your name while it is on.

6. BenLotusAI

BenLotusAI is an automated chat helper. It is powered by various AI models, such as models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others. It answers when someone starts a message with /ai or !ai in a public lobby, a game room, or a private message, and only while the feature is turned on.
To write a public answer, chat from the public lobbies and from game rooms may be sent to the company that provides the model, along with join and leave notices and the display names of people who are online. Some models receive a recent portion of that chat each time. Some keep a conversation and then receive only the new lines. Times in that copy are Pacific time. Each company handles that text under its own privacy policy, and it may be processed outside the United States.
We may keep a copy of what was sent so the conversation can continue. The reply is posted in the same chat like any other message.
A private /ai or !ai sends only that private chat, not the public lobbies or game rooms. Please do not post private or sensitive information in a public chat.

7. Email

We use your email address to log you in, to send a welcome email when you create an account, to send password reset links when you ask for one, and to contact you about your account, a report, or important changes to the Service.
Emails are sent through Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES), from email us.
We do not send marketing emails or newsletters, and we never show your email to other users.

8. This website, cookies, and local storage

This website does not use analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies, and it does not set cookies for normal visitors.
The only cookies it uses are sign-in and security cookies for Lotus Net administrators who sign in to the admin tools.
When you create an account or reset your password on the Create account page, what you type is sent securely (HTTPS) to our Lotus Net server.
Our web server keeps standard access logs (IP address, time, page requested, referring page, and browser details) to keep the site running and secure.
The Downloads page has an optional Google Drive download link. If you use it, Google receives your request under Google’s own privacy policy.
The Lotus Net app stores some information on your own computer: your login token, your settings (such as theme, sounds, window sizes, your status, and where Battle Realms is installed), and, if you use the VPN, the VPN configuration. You can remove these by signing out and uninstalling the app.

9. Why we use your information

To create and run your account, log you in, and reset your password.
To run the lobby, chat, private messages, game rooms, presence, and the public live status.
To connect your games to other players, and for the optional VPN.
To answer !ai and /ai requests in the lobby.
To find and fix bugs and connection problems.
To keep the Service safe: prevent spam, cheating, abuse, and attacks; enforce our Terms of Use; and handle reports.
To contact you about your account and the Service.
To follow the law and respond to valid legal requests.

We do not sell your personal information, we do not share it for advertising, and we do not use it to build advertising profiles.

11. How long we keep it

Account details, profile, and settings: kept until you ask us to delete your account. We do not delete accounts because of inactivity.
Lobby messages and private messages: kept while the accounts involved exist, as part of the chat history, unless an administrator clears them. There is no automatic deletion.
Game room chat: deleted together with the room when the room is closed.
Presence information: held in memory only while you are connected.
Diagnostic logs: deleted automatically after 14 days.
Password reset links: expire after about 1 hour and can only be used once.
Server and web logs: kept as long as needed to run and secure the Service, then deleted as logs are rotated.
Deleting your account: to delete your account, email email us from the email address on the account (or otherwise show us the account is yours) and ask, and we will delete it for you. When an account is deleted, its profile, messages, private message conversations, reactions, and block list are deleted with it. Copies may stay in server backups for a while until they are replaced, and we may keep limited information when needed to enforce a ban, resolve a dispute, or follow the law.

12. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information: passwords and reset codes are stored only as hashes, the website and the app talk to our server over encrypted connections, login attempts are rate-limited, and only administrators can use the admin tools. Administrators can see account details such as usernames, emails, and last-online times in order to run the Service. People with access to the server could technically access the stored data, including messages; we look at stored messages only when needed, for example to investigate a report of abuse or to follow the law.

No system is perfectly secure. Use a password you do not use anywhere else. If you think your account has been compromised, change your password and email us.

13. Children

Lotus Net is not for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, email email us and we will delete the account and its information. Users from 13 to 17 should use Lotus Net only with a parent’s or guardian’s permission.

14. Your choices and rights

In the app, you can change your display name, bio, colors, email, and password, hide your username, set yourself to Invisible, block users, and choose whether to use the VPN.
By email, you can ask us to give you a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete your account and its information. Email email us from the email address on your account (or otherwise show us the account is yours) so we can confirm it is you. If you ask us to delete your account, we will delete it for you, together with its messages. Your account stays until you ask; we do not delete accounts because of inactivity. We will respond as soon as we reasonably can, and within any time limit the law requires.
Depending on where you live, such as California, the European Union, or the United Kingdom, you may have more rights, for example to object to or limit how we use your information, or to complain to your local data protection authority. We will honor these rights as the law requires. We will not treat you differently for using them.
We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are used in California law.

15. Where your data is stored

Our servers are in the United States. If you use Lotus Net from another country, your information is sent to and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may be different from those in your country. Some service providers listed above may process information in other countries, as described in this policy. By using the Service, you understand that your information will be handled this way.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the new version on this page and change the effective date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also try to give notice, for example in the app, on this website, or by email.

17. Contact

Questions or requests about your privacy:
BenLotus — email us