Steam · Steam Privacy Policy

Anonymous Data Sharing Without Retention Limit

Medium severity
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What it is

Steam processes anonymous data about your habits, usage patterns, and demographics — both individually and in groups — and can share this with third parties indefinitely, with no stated limit on who receives it or what they do with it.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Your usage patterns and demographic data are shared with unspecified third parties in allegedly anonymous form, with no stated deletion schedule or restriction on recipients — and modern re-identification techniques mean 'anonymous' data from a platform this large carries real re-identification risk.

Cross-platform context

See how other platforms handle Anonymous Data Sharing Without Retention Limit and similar clauses.

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

The policy claims this data 'does not allow identification' but provides no technical description of the anonymization method, and there is no stated retention limit or restriction on which third parties can receive it — creating risk of re-identification and indefinite data retention.

View original clause language
Valve also processes anonymous data, aggregated or not, to analyze and produce statistics related to the habits, usage patterns, and demographics of customers as a group or as individuals. Such anonymous data does not allow the identification of the customers to which it relates. Valve may share anonymous data, aggregated or not, with third parties.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: GDPR Recital 26 and Article 29 WP Opinion 05/2014 on anonymization techniques establish that data is only truly anonymous if re-identification is not 'reasonably likely' — a standard that is increasingly difficult to meet with large-scale behavioral datasets. CCPA §1798.145(a)(5) requires that deidentified data must be protected by reasonable safeguards and contractual prohibitions on re-identification. FTC Act Section 5 applies to deceptive anonymization claims that cannot withstand technical scrutiny.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has enforcement authority over deceptive anonymization claims and unfair data sharing with third parties where re-identification risk exists, under FTC Act Section 5.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Steam Privacy Policy
Entity
Steam
Document last updated
April 29, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 18, 2026
Last verified
April 18, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002935
Document ID
CA-D-00182
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
63210b28892392d9dae07097221e6ab8458f850d4edd68ce4be0bc540f120bb5
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Steam | Document: Steam Privacy Policy | Record: CA-P-002935
Captured: 2026-04-18 10:57:26 UTC | SHA-256: 63210b28892392d9…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/steam/steam-privacy-policy/anonymous-data-sharing-without-retention-limit/
Accessed: May 2, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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