Last updated: October 2, 2026
Yako by the Sea (“Yako by the Sea,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a free, ad‑free educational game for young children, created by Jacob “Yako” Tanzer in Carmel‑by‑the‑Sea, California, and available at yakobythesea.com (the “Service”). We care deeply about the privacy of the children and families who use it. This Privacy Policy explains what information the Service handles, how it is stored, the third parties involved, our use of artificial intelligence, and your choices. Please read it together with our Terms of Use.
Information you provide. To personalize the game, a child (with a parent’s help) may enter a first name or nickname. You are not required to enter a real name — a nickname works fine, and we ask you not to enter full names, contact details, or other identifying information.
Gameplay information stored on your device. The game saves the following in your browser’s local storage so progress isn’t lost: the chosen name/nickname, stars and level progress, lesson statistics (such as best times and play counts), stickers earned, daily‑streak information, and preferences (language, narrator voice, sound settings, and reading‑help options). This information stays on your device unless you choose to sign in for cross‑device sync (below).
Optional account and cloud sync — not currently available. The game contains an optional “Continue with Google” / “Continue with Facebook” sign‑in for saving progress across devices, but it is switched off in the published version: no sign‑in provider is configured, nothing is sent to Google or Meta, and no cloud database is used. Everything stays on your own device. If this feature is ever switched on it will remain optional, it will be something a parent or guardian sets up rather than a child, and we will update this policy before enabling it.
Information collected automatically. Our hosting provider (GitHub Pages) automatically receives basic technical information (such as IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, and pages viewed) to deliver and secure the Service and understand general, aggregate usage. The game itself includes no analytics, no trackers and no advertising code of any kind. If we ever add analytics, we will use privacy‑friendly, cookieless tools that do not build advertising profiles, and we will update this policy first.
The core game does not use advertising or tracking cookies. It uses your browser’s local storage (a place on your own device) to save your progress and settings, and a service worker so the game can load quickly and work offline. Third‑party services listed below may set their own cookies or receive technical data as described in their policies. You can clear local storage and offline data at any time through your browser settings.
The game loads everything from our own domain — including its fonts, artwork, audio and video — so simply playing it does not contact any third party other than the host that serves the page. We use a small number of third parties to run the Service. Each processes only the limited data needed for its function and under its own privacy policy:
We may add, remove, or change providers over time and will update this list. We do not sell your personal information to these or any other parties.
Spoken narration. Most narration is pre‑recorded audio served from our own domain. Where a line has no recording, the game falls back to your device’s own built‑in speech voice. The game selects on‑device voices only and will not use a browser voice that synthesises speech on a vendor’s servers, so the text being read is not sent anywhere. No microphone is ever accessed and no child’s name is included in any spoken line.
We want to be transparent about AI. Some of the game’s artwork, background scenes, decorative images, and voice narration were generated with AI tools (for example, image‑ and audio‑generation services) as part of creating the game. This means certain characters, scenes, and spoken lines you see and hear were produced with AI assistance. To be clear: this AI generation happened during development to make the game’s content, and the game does not transmit your personal information, voice, image, or gameplay to AI systems while you play. AI‑generated content may occasionally contain imperfections; it is provided for learning and entertainment.
The Service is intended for young children and is meant to be used with the involvement of a parent or guardian. We designed it to collect as little information as possible and to keep data on the device by default. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child beyond the optional name/nickname used to personalize play, and we do not condition participation on disclosing more information than is reasonably necessary.
Consistent with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the EU/UK GDPR provisions for children, any optional account creation or cloud sync is intended to be performed by a parent or guardian using their own account. Parents and guardians can review and delete the information stored for their child (see below). If you believe a child has provided us personal information without appropriate consent, please contact us and we will delete it.
For users in the EEA and the UK. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests in providing a game that works, which is a low‑impact basis here because the information never leaves your device. We do not rely on consent for any tracking, because there is none. Under Article 8 GDPR the age at which a child can consent for themselves varies by country (between 13 and 16); because this game is intended for children well below that threshold, it is designed to need no consent at all — nothing is collected or transmitted. If the optional sign‑in is ever switched on, it is intended to be set up by a parent or guardian using their own adult account, and we will update this policy before enabling it. We are a very small operator based in California and have not appointed an Article 27 representative in the EU or UK; the Service is offered worldwide but is not specifically targeted at the EEA or UK market. You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data‑protection supervisory authority.
We do not use personal information for targeted advertising, and we do not sell or rent it.
Data stored on your device remains until you clear it (for example, by clearing your browser’s site data for this website, or uninstalling the app). If you use the optional cloud‑sync feature, saved progress is retained until you delete it or ask us to delete it.
The Service is served over HTTPS, and we take reasonable measures to protect information. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
The Service is operated from the United States. If you access it from other regions, you understand that information may be processed in the United States and other countries where our providers operate.
The Service may link to third‑party sites or services that we do not control. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will revise the “Last updated” date above, and significant changes will be reflected on this page. Your continued use of the Service after changes means you accept the updated policy.
Questions or requests about privacy — including a request to review or delete information held about your child — can be sent to any of the following. We are the operator of this Service:
Yako by the SeaWe aim to respond to parental requests promptly. If you believe a child has provided personal information without a parent’s consent, contact us and we will delete it.
Yako by the Sea is a free, ad‑free educational game made with love for kids and families. If anything here is unclear, please reach out.