What Name That Dead stores

Name That Dead is currently a beta with no account, login, advertising profile, or third-party advertising analytics.

On your device

• Your scores, streaks, per-song history and Five From the Vault results.
• Which audio sources have worked for you, so a known-good source can be tried first next time.
• Your one-tap clip feedback (Audio issue, Trim, or Gem) is also kept locally so the beta remains usable if the backend is offline.
• If you use Challenge a Head, the optional display name you choose is kept on this browser so you do not have to enter it every time. Before creating another challenge, the Sharing as line shows that name and lets you change it.
• A random anonymous browser ID. It is generated locally and is not based on your name, email, device fingerprint, or network address. The ID is normally kept in browser storage. If that script-writable storage is unavailable, the same ID may be kept temporarily in a first-party fallback cookie named ntd_pid; that fallback cookie can be read by page scripts and exists so core beta state such as the one-play-per-day Vault lock can survive a reload. Separately, the current beta also keeps a signed copy of that same anonymous ID in a secure first-party cookie named ntd_identity_v1 so Challenge ownership can be restored if script-writable browser storage is automatically cleaned up. The signed restore cookie is HttpOnly, cannot be read by page scripts, is not an account or a device fingerprint, and is sent only to Name That Dead. Clearing all site data removes both cookie fallbacks and creates a new anonymous identity.

Sent to the Name That Dead backend

• Five From the Vault ranking: anonymous browser ID, run date, number correct and total score time. The current beta also uses a short-lived server-signed run token to reduce forged leaderboard submissions.
• Playback health: anonymous browser ID, challenge/source identifier, whether audio succeeded/timed out/errored, and startup latency. Shared source promotion requires successful reports from at least two different anonymous browser IDs.
• Background history sync: when the backend is reachable, challenge/result information is associated with the same anonymous browser ID. For a completed Challenge, you may optionally attach the display name saved on this browser; skipping the name stores no display name for that play and the board shows A HEAD. For answered rounds, history may also include the matched canonical song title from the game’s fixed answer list; unmatched or free-text input is discarded rather than stored as an answer.
• First-party product analytics: anonymous browser/session ID plus coarse gameplay events such as opening a mode, starting/completing a round, pressing I Know It, submitting an answer, opening Snapshot, sharing, or sending clip feedback. Answer text or the canonical guessed song title is not sent in this event stream.
• Beta clip feedback: when you tap a clip-feedback button, Name That Dead sends the anonymous browser ID, challenge/song/show identifiers, feedback type, game mode, and the audio source actually used (including whether a backup recovered it). This lets us find bad cues and bad recordings without asking you to type a report.
• Challenge a Head: when you create a challenge, Name That Dead stores your optional display name, anonymous browser ID, result, and an immutable snapshot of the exact performance, recording, and resolved cue you heard. Challenge links also store which challenge produced them, a root challenge identifier, and their 1-based generation within that anonymous challenge chain. Other browsers initially receive only spoiler-free comparison information; the performance details are sent when a recipient starts. After a browser completes that Challenge, the same unlisted link can show a bounded result board made from each anonymous browser’s first valid completed attempt. Board responses include the optional display name (or A HEAD when none was provided), result, time, and board rank, but do not include anonymous browser IDs or raw call timestamps. Anyone who has the shared link and completes the Challenge can view that board. For a challenge you created, the service also keeps the last board head count and best correct time seen when you checked that link so a later return can say that new Heads arrived or that the lead changed. The private Challenge Scorecard still aggregates first completed matchups associated with your anonymous browser ID.

One-time domain migration: if you move from the old Netlify address to namethatdead.com, the old browser sends a temporary transfer package containing the local game data listed above, audio-source preferences, the same anonymous browser ID, and, when a Vault run is still being finalized, its short-lived signed run ticket. The package is available only through a random one-time handoff token. Its gameplay payload is purged as soon as the old browser confirms the new domain received it; an interrupted handoff becomes invalid after 24 hours and is removed by backend cleanup.

Audio source

Audio is streamed directly from the Internet Archive’s Live Music Archive. Name That Dead does not copy or rehost audio files. Availability and permitted uses remain subject to Archive.org, artist, and recording-specific policies.

Netlify and the Internet Archive receive ordinary network request information as part of serving the site/audio. Name That Dead uses the connection address transiently for burst abuse throttling in its serverless functions, but does not write that address into its Supabase gameplay tables.

If the backend is unavailable

Free-play modes still work if the backend is unavailable. Five From the Vault requires a short-lived server-signed run ticket at the moment you press Start so a one-shot result is not accidentally consumed without a valid live-rank run. Ranking refreshes, history sync, clip feedback, and shared audio-health reporting otherwise fail softly rather than blocking free-play audio.

Reset

RESET MY SNAPSHOT clears the stats/history display, local clip feedback, and local cue overrides on this browser. It intentionally preserves the anonymous integrity ID, exposure ledger, and completed Five From the Vault lock so a reset cannot create a fresh scored run or a false first exposure.

Updated September 6, 2026 · v0.8.6.3 RC5.0.7.17 public beta.

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