As a gaming enthusiast, you must have heard about Roms Games. It is a website where you can download hundreds of ROMs and emulators for free.
But is Roms Games safe to use? Will there be any trojans or other malware in the downloaded files? Users have posted similar questions across many gaming forums.
People are divided in their opinions mainly because legal and ethical issues are involved when you download ROMs and emulators from such websites. However, in this article, we are only here to analyse the safety of Roms Games.
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Safety analysis of Roms Games
Let us start with the Trustpilot review of the website romsgames.net.
On Trustpilot, Roms Games scored 3.1 out of 5 based on only three reviews. So, we still are not sure about these reviews.
On Scamadviser, we see a Trustscore of 100/100 and a rating of 3.2 out of 5 based on seven reviews. Only one person rated the website poorly, while three were quite happy with Roms Games.
Yet another website, MyWOT, gave Roms Games a score of 52%. Here, the reviewers expressed their frustration regarding the high number of ads on the website.
One user commented that Roms Games is more suitable for older and lower-end emulator ROMs, while the higher-end ROMs do not work correctly.
Also read: Is Quitt.net safe?
Privacy policy of Roms Games
Now, let us analyse Roms Games’ privacy policy.
Data collection
ROMs Games discloses the collection of user information, including using cookies and logging browser data. However, specifics about the data types and retention duration are somewhat elusive. As a user, understanding what is collected and how long it’s stored is crucial for informed consent.
Involvement of third-parties
The privacy mentions the utilisation of Google Analytics and Yandex Metrika, but it falls short of explaining the extent of the third-party involvement.
Transparency and user control
While emphasising transparency and choice, the policy lacks clarity on how users can effectively exercise their rights. The absence of explicit details on opt-out mechanisms and data control raises many questions.
The company will not “collect or use sensitive information for purposes other than those described in this policy and the specific service notice unless we have obtained your prior consent.”
However, the company should have explained the opt-out mechanisms clearly.
Security measures
Roms Games asserts its commitment to security, detailing measures against unauthorised access such as internal reviews of data collection, storage and processing practices, analysis of the security measures, and sharing information only on a need-to-know-basis.
However, the policy could benefit from providing more insight into these security protocols’ specifics, offering users reassurance.
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Is Roms Games safe to use?
You can visit this website for your ROM and emulator requirements per our analysis.
That being said, it is important to note that assessing a website’s safety is not a cakewalk. Many factors and data points are involved, and it is quite easy to circumvent the security tools used for website analysis, rendering them useless.
To assess the efficacy of ROM, you will have to calculate and compare the hashes post-download. However, it is quite difficult to differentiate between corrupt and authentic hashes.
Moreover, a ROM can be legitimate without a recognised hash from reservation groups like TOSEC, NoIntro, and Redump.
It is safe to assume, however, that safe ROMs can only be obtained from reputable sources with public hashes, guaranteeing both uncorrupted downloads and the originality of the ROM.
Also read: Is RoPro safe?