Privacy Policy
Last updated October 19, 2026
The short version. StreamSurf has no accounts and no ads, uses no outside analytics, and sets no cookies of its own. It counts visits only as daily totals that can't be traced to anyone. Your settings, favorites and blocked channels are saved in your own browser. Our server sees your IP address, what you search for and the channels you favorite, and keeps that only briefly in memory to answer you and to stop abuse. When you watch a stream, it plays in Twitch's, YouTube's or Kick's own player, and those companies' privacy policies apply to it.
StreamSurf (“we”, “us”) is an independent guide to live streams on Twitch, YouTube and Kick, run from New York, United States. You can reach us at hello@streamsurf.tv. This policy explains what information StreamSurf handles when you use it at streamsurf.tv, and why. By using StreamSurf, you agree to this policy and to our Terms of Use.
StreamSurf uses YouTube API Services
StreamSurf uses YouTube API Services to find live streams on YouTube and show their titles, channel names, viewer counts and thumbnails, and to check whether YouTube channels you've favorited are live. YouTube streams play in YouTube's own embedded player. Google's handling of information is described in the Google Privacy Policy, and YouTube's terms are in the YouTube Terms of Service.
StreamSurf doesn't ask you to sign in to YouTube (or Twitch or Kick), and never sees or stores your accounts on those services.
Information saved on your device
StreamSurf saves these in your browser's local storage, on your device only:
- your display settings (look, light or dark, CRT effect, auto-scroll) and language;
- your content settings (whether to show mature streams, gambling streams and TV rebroadcasts, and which platforms to show);
- the channels you've favorited or blocked (each channel's platform, ID, handle and name);
- that you've agreed to these terms, so we don't ask again.
None of this is sent to us, except the list of channels you've favorited, as described below. You can remove all of it at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser's settings.
If you use Settings → Other devices to copy your lists to another device, they're packed into the link itself, in the part after “#”, which browsers don't send to our server. Anyone you give that link to can see what's in it.
Information our server receives
With every request
Like any website, our server receives your IP address and basic details your browser sends (such as its type and language) with each request. StreamSurf uses your IP address for one thing: limiting how much any one visitor can make the server do, so nobody can use up the allowances that Twitch and YouTube give us and break the site for everyone else. For that, the server keeps a count of recent requests for each address, in memory only, for up to about 15 minutes after your last request. It doesn't write IP addresses to disk or to its logs.
Our hosting provider, Render, also processes these requests to deliver them, and may keep standard server logs (including IP addresses) for security and troubleshooting, under its own privacy policy.
When you search
What you type in the search box is sent to our server to find matching streams, games and channels. To find channels and games outside the streams we already list, the server may pass your search words to Twitch's API. It sends only the words, nothing that identifies you. Answers are kept in memory for a couple of minutes so that repeated searches don't ask Twitch again, and aren't linked to you.
When you favorite channels
While StreamSurf is open, your browser sends the list of channels you've favorited (their platform and channel ID) to our server about once a minute, to find out which are live. The server answers from the streams it already lists, and asks Twitch's and YouTube's APIs about the rest, sending only the channel IDs. Each channel's answer is kept in memory for a while (up to 24 hours) and isn't linked to you.
To stop one visitor from having us look up thousands of channels, the server also remembers which channels were checked for each IP address, in memory only, for up to 24 hours. After that it's discarded. It isn't written to disk, logged or used for anything else.
Counting visits
To know how many people use StreamSurf, and which features they use, the server keeps daily totals: how many times the page was opened, and how many times a few things were done (picking a stream, searching, adding a favorite, opening multiview, sharing a link, going to a platform to watch, and copying your lists to another device). When you do one of those, your browser tells the server the action's name and nothing else. The totals are just numbers per day: they don't include IP addresses or anything else about you, or what you searched for or watched, and nothing is stored on your device for them.
Shared links
A link you share from StreamSurf contains the stream and filters you were looking at, so whoever opens it sees the same thing. When someone opens a link to a stream, our server looks up that stream to show it, and to fill in the preview that apps like Discord and iMessage display.
What we don't do
- StreamSurf doesn't have accounts and doesn't ask for your name, email address or any other contact details.
- StreamSurf doesn't set cookies of its own, and doesn't use any outside analytics, advertising or tracking services.
- We don't sell or rent information about you, or share it for advertising.
- We don't build a history of what you watch or search for.
Other companies involved when you use StreamSurf
Some parts of StreamSurf load directly from other companies' servers, which receive your IP address and browser details when they do, and handle them under their own privacy policies:
- Embedded players. When a stream plays, it plays in the platform's own player, loaded from Twitch, YouTube or Kick. These players may set cookies or use similar technology on your device, collect information about your device and how you watch, and show ads and other content of their own. YouTube videos marked “Made for Kids” play in YouTube's privacy-enhanced player, which doesn't track viewers. StreamSurf allows them to do this so that streams can play; we don't control it and don't receive that information. See the Twitch Privacy Notice, the Google Privacy Policy (for YouTube) and the Kick Privacy Policy.
- Pictures. Stream thumbnails load from Twitch's, YouTube's and Kick's image servers.
- Platform APIs. To build the guide, our server gets public information about live streams from Twitch, YouTube (YouTube API Services) and Kick. That information is about streams, not about you.
If StreamSurf ever shows ads or uses analytics, we'll update this policy first and say which companies are involved.
Children
StreamSurf isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. Streams on Twitch, YouTube and Kick can include mature content; StreamSurf hides streams the platforms mark as mature unless you choose to show them, and that setting is meant only for adults.
Your choices and rights
- You can clear everything StreamSurf saves on your device by clearing this site's data in your browser.
- You can stop sending your favorites to our server by removing them (Settings → Your channels).
- Because we keep information that relates to you only briefly and only in memory, there's usually nothing stored for us to give you or delete. If you have a question, or want to make a request under privacy laws where you live (such as the GDPR in Europe or the CCPA in California), contact us and we'll respond within 30 days.
Where laws such as the GDPR apply, we rely on our legitimate interest in running StreamSurf and protecting it from abuse to handle the information described here.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we'll ask you to agree again the next time you visit.
Contact
Questions or complaints about StreamSurf's privacy practices: hello@streamsurf.tv.