The Sift Minecraft Privacy Policy: Analytics & Local Data

Scope of this privacy notice

This privacy notice describes the privacy aspects of the public reading experience and local tools in the first edition of this independent fan wiki. It covers article navigation, site search, the version checker, locally saved guide markers, and links to external sources. It is dated September 27, 2026 and should be read alongside the terms of use and editorial explanation.

You can read the wiki and use the version checker without creating an account, purchasing a subscription, or providing a game username. The public guide does not ask for a Minecraft password or access to your installation. It cannot inspect your saved worlds or identify the mod files on your computer simply because you select a game version.

This privacy notice describes the public features currently offered. The wiki has no public accounts, payment forms, advertising or customer-support widgets. Its Google Analytics configuration and Cloudflare hosting are described below. If these features change, the privacy notice must be reviewed to reflect the new behavior and any additional information involved.

Privacy when using site search

For search privacy, opening the dialog downloads a public index of article titles, descriptions, section headings and body text. The browser caches that index in memory for the current session and compares your typed words locally. Typing a query does not send its text to our index endpoint or to a search company. Results can link directly to a relevant article section. The index request itself is an ordinary website request, so local matching is not a claim that opening the dialog causes no network traffic.

For privacy, avoid entering personal information into a field intended for article discovery. A privacy-conscious query might be “Bedrock,” “portal,” or a mod name. The search feature does not need an email address, a password, a private server address, or the contents of a crash log. Longer personal messages do not improve its results.

Following a search result is ordinary navigation to the selected article. Like other page requests, that navigation may be visible to the infrastructure serving the website. The local handling of search text should not be interpreted as a claim that every network request made while browsing is anonymous or that hosting systems retain no operational information.

Version-checker privacy and inputs

The version checker uses your selections to compare against a small, reviewed data table. Those inputs include the game, environment, game version, and mod loader when applicable. The form evaluates the result locally. It does not upload a diagnostic report, scan installed software, connect to a game account, or submit the chosen combination to a mod author.

This privacy design also limits what the result can establish. Because the tool does not inspect your computer, it cannot verify that the file on your device matches the listed release. It cannot check every dependency, system requirement, or interaction with another modification. For privacy, the result is an evidence reference, not a remote compatibility examination.

Selections are kept in the current component state and are not intentionally stored as a permanent installation profile by this feature. Navigating away or reloading may reset them. If you need a record, use the visible result or the copy action and decide yourself where to keep it.

Clipboard privacy and the copy action

When you choose to copy a version-checker result, the page asks the browser to write the result text to your clipboard. The copied text includes the result, relevant qualification, review date, and guide link. The action does not read the existing contents of your clipboard or upload them to the site.

Browser privacy permissions and security settings can affect whether clipboard writing succeeds. If it does not, the result remains visible so you can select the text manually. The absence of a copied confirmation should not be interpreted as proof that a remote report was sent; there is no such submission step in this feature.

Your privacy choices continue after copying. If you paste the text into a public discussion, the destination can store or display it under its own rules. Add only the context needed for the discussion. Avoid appending passwords, private account identifiers, or unrelated personal information to a technical question about game versions.

Local-storage privacy and saved guides

The save-guide button stores a simple marker in your browser’s local storage for the selected article. The marker records the guide identifier and whether you marked it as saved. It does not create an online account, synchronize a reading list between devices, or tell the game which content you have explored.

For privacy and accuracy, the interface describes this as saved on the current device. Another browser profile or device will not automatically share the marker. Private-browsing settings, storage restrictions, or clearing site data can remove it. Reading the guide remains possible if local storage is unavailable.

You can toggle the button again to change its state, or use the browser’s site-data controls to remove local storage for the site. Clearing site data may also remove other local preferences stored by the application. This privacy notice does not promise recovery of a local marker after you or the browser delete it.

Cookie privacy and browser preferences

The application may store a theme preference in local browser storage. The public wiki uses a consistent reading theme, while underlying application pages may also use their existing preference behavior. Such preferences do not contain the text of your article search or a scanned inventory of your game installation.

The server also supports a referral-source cookie when a visited URL contains a utm_source parameter. The implemented cookie is named utm_source and has a configured lifetime of thirty days. Its purpose is to retain the sanitized referral label. The public wiki does not require you to supply that parameter to read articles or use its tool.

A practical privacy step is to review the site’s stored data in your browser if you want to see or remove preferences and cookies. Browser privacy interfaces differ, so use the controls provided by your browser. Deleting a local record does not necessarily remove operational records held by a separately configured hosting service.

Hosting privacy and external services

This website is hosted on Cloudflare Workers, with its images, fonts and other static assets also served through Cloudflare. Serving pages involves processing request paths, request times, network addresses and browser-related headers. Operational logging is enabled to investigate delivery errors. See Cloudflare’s privacy information for its practices; this privacy notice does not promise a separate fixed retention period for infrastructure records.

Google Analytics 4 is configured in this edition and loads Google’s analytics script. When the browser permits it, analytics may process page views, interactions, device information and cookie identifiers. Local search and version matching do not intentionally send their input values as custom analytics events, but ordinary page navigation can still be measured. See Google’s privacy information for its practices.

Advertising and third-party support widgets are not enabled on the public wiki. If either is introduced, its privacy behavior and any associated choices will need to be described here before the feature becomes part of the reading experience.

This privacy notice does not invent a named data controller, contact inbox, retention schedule, or consent process that has not been configured. Those operational details need to match the actual deployment. If you need information about the live host or an enabled service, use a contact channel explicitly published by the site operator when one is available.

External-link privacy and source verification

The guide links to official game pages, mod-author listings, and other relevant references. Following such a link leaves the wiki for a site with its own privacy practices. The destination may receive ordinary connection information and may use its own cookies, accounts, analytics, or download services. This wiki does not control those systems.

You do not need to sign in to an external game account merely to use our local version-checking form. If you choose to download a mod or purchase a game through a source page, review that destination’s identity, privacy notice and terms directly. The wiki’s evidence link is not a promise about every data practice of the external service.

The landscape image and fonts used by the public guide are served as site assets. The guide does not embed a third-party gameplay player merely to show decorative artwork. This keeps the reading experience focused and avoids treating an illustrative image as a reason to load an unrelated media account session.

Privacy changes and practical questions

Privacy information should change when the actual public behavior changes. A future account feature, submission form, newsletter, analytics configuration, or hosting change may require more specific disclosure. A new date should reflect a meaningful review rather than an automatic timestamp added whenever the page is visited.

For the present reading tools, the practical summary is simple: search and version matching run locally, a saved-guide marker stays in the browser, and external links lead to separately operated services. Hosting and configured integrations must be evaluated in their real deployment context. Read the about page for the editorial scope and return to the version checker when you want to see exactly what information its form requests.