Steam Privacy Policy

This document explains what data Steam collects about you, who it shares that data with, and how long it keeps it. Game developers can access information about your use of their games, and some of your account data is publicly accessible to anyone who queries your Steam ID. Valve states it does not sell your Personal Data, but deleting your account permanently removes your access to your games and subscriptions.

The Steam Privacy Policy establishes how Valve collects, processes, retains, and shares users' Personal Data in connection with Steam services. Key obligations include sharing user data with game developers and publishers via the Steamworks API, transmitting credit card data to payment service providers for transaction processing and anti-fraud purposes, and making certain account data publicly queryable by Steam ID. Data retention is governed by account termination triggers, statutory commercial and tax law requirements of up to ten years for transactional data, and a minimum-necessary standard for fraud-detection data. Users hold a conditional right to erasure, cross-border transfers are subject to additional legal safeguards, and in any conflict between the policy and the EU-U.S. or Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles, the DPF Principles govern.

As a Steam user, your credit card data passes through Valve before reaching your payment provider, your account data is accessible to anyone with your Steam ID, and developers of games you own can access information about you via the Steamworks API. If you delete your account, you permanently lose access to your Subscriptions and game-related information. You have the right to request deletion of your Personal Data when the legal basis for its collection no longer exists, though Valve may retain certain data for up to ten years under statutory commercial and tax law. If Valve does not resolve a claimed DPF Principles violation through other available mechanisms, you may invoke binding arbitration before the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Panel.