Privacy Policy

gloam-net keeps only what it needs to run the site. We don't show ads, we don't sell or rent your information, and we don't use tracking or analytics scripts.

What we keep

• Your account: username, email address, and your password (stored only as a secure hash, never as the password itself).
• Your profile: anything you add, such as your avatar, bio, "From" and "Lives in", links, interests, song and status.
• What you post: news, threads, comments, blogs, graffiti, pictures, videos and songs, plus your favorites, friends and notifications.
• Mail: your private chats and chat backgrounds. These are stored on our servers so you can read them later; they aren't end-to-end encrypted.
• Reports and bans: reports you make, and any reports, bans or appeals involving your account.

Who can see it

• Your profile, posts, blogs and graffiti are public.
• Anonymous BBS posts hide your name from other members, but they're still linked to your account so the site team can moderate them.
• Mail is only shown to you and the person you're chatting with.
• The site team can access stored information, including mail, when needed to handle reports, abuse, security problems or a legal request.
• Your email address is never shown on the site.

Pictures and videos

Pictures can contain hidden location (GPS) and camera details. We remove these from pictures when you upload them. Videos are stored as you upload them, so turn off location on your camera, or remove it, before posting a video.

Cookies and your browser

• Login cookies keep you signed in: one lasts 15 minutes and renews itself, the other lasts 30 days or until you log out.
• A short-lived cookie is used while you reset your password.
• Your browser also remembers small preferences, such as whether the news ticker or media player is open.
• We don't use advertising or tracking cookies.

IP addresses

To stop password guessing and spam sign-ups, the site briefly counts attempts from each IP address. These counts only live in the server's memory: they're never saved to the database, and they're wiped whenever the server restarts. Our web host and network providers may keep their own short-term logs, which include IP addresses.

Services we use

These companies store or handle data for us, only to run the site:

• MongoDB Atlas: the database (accounts, posts, mail).
• Amazon Web Services: storing uploaded files, and sending verification and password-reset emails.
• Cloudflare: our domain, and forwarding email sent to @gloamnet.com addresses.
• Our web host: runs the site itself.
• Google Fonts: your browser downloads the site's fonts from Google, which sees your IP address when it does.

Deleting your information

• You can delete your own posts, songs and chats on the site.
• To delete your whole account, email contact@gloamnet.com from the address on your account. We'll delete the account and what you posted within 30 days. Backups are overwritten on their normal schedule after that.
• You can also email us to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.

Children

gloam-net isn't for children under 13. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 13, we'll delete it.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top and post about bigger changes in Announcements. Questions: contact@gloamnet.com