Are my private messages really private?

No. Moderators and administrators can read any and all private messages. This is a function of the Discourse forum software and, at least for now, cannot be disabled. Be aware that any moderator or administrator can read your private messages at any time.

What information does this site collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site and gather data when you participate in the forum by reading and writing posts.

When registering on this site, you will be asked to enter a name and e-mail address. Your e-mail address will be verified by an e-mail containing a unique link. If that link is visited, we know that you control the e-mail address. If you don’t want to provide an e-mail address, you can read posts without registering.

When registered and posting, we record the IP address that the post originated from. We also may retain separate web server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server.

What does this site use your information for?

Any of the information this site collects may be used in one or more of the following ways:

  • To personalize portions of the site when viewed from your account
  • To send periodic e-mails, such as notifications that you’ve requested about changes to topics or when your username is mentioned
  • To identify sources of abuse

How does this site protect your information?

This site implements a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. Contact the webmaster if you need details.

What is this site’s data retention policy?

We will make a good faith effort to retain as few web server log files as possible. On the other hand, forum posts will be kept for as long as possible.

Does this site use cookies?

Yes. This site use cookies to save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction. The tool this site uses for traffic analysis is Piwik, an open-source alternative to Google Analytics.

Do you disclose my information to outside sources?

No. Bigdinosaur.org (as well as Chroniclesofgeorge.com) and this Discourse instance are self-hosted and self-managed. We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to any outside parties any personally identifiable information. We may release information to law enforcement if legally compelled to do so, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

This site and all content and services are directed to people who are at least 13 years old. If you are under the age of 13, per the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, stop reading this right now and go away because you may not view this web site or any content on this web server.

Applicability and Consent

This privacy policy applies to everything collected through this web site. By using the site, you consent to the policy.

If we decide to change the privacy policy, those changes will appear here.

This document is CC-BY-SA. It was last updated on 26 July 2014.