Your privacy, in plain language

The short version: you can use this site under a name that is not your real one. We do not sell your data. We do not run ad trackers. You can take your data with you, and you can delete your account. The rest of this page says the same thing, just with more details.

1. What we collect

An account: a username you choose (it does not have to be your real name), a password, and an email address used only to recover your account and send notifications you turn on.
What you post: forum posts, drafts, direct messages, and anything you submit through a form.
If you use intake or support features: only what you type into them.
Basic technical logs needed to keep the site running and safe. We keep these short.

2. What we do not collect

Your real name, unless you decide to share it.
Advertising or cross-site tracking data. There is none on this site.
More than you give us. We do not buy data about you from anyone.

3. Who can see what

Your profile is private by default. You decide what, if anything, to make visible, and to whom.
Posts go where you send them: a members-only discussion, or a draft only you can see.
Direct messages are visible to you and the person you send them to. Moderators can read a message only if it is reported to them for a safety reason (see Safeguarding).
A small, named set of staff and moderators can see what they need to keep the site safe, and no more.

4. How long we keep things

Your posts and account stay until you delete them or close your account.
Technical logs are kept briefly and then discarded.
If you delete your account, we remove your personal data and detach your posts from your identity within 30 days, except where the law or someone's safety requires us to keep something, and then only that, only as long as needed.

5. Your rights

Export: download your data at any time from your account.
Delete: close your account and remove your personal data at any time.
Correct: fix anything that is wrong.
Ask: contact us with any question about your data and get a real answer from a person.

6. Sharing with others

We never sell your data.
We use a small number of service providers (for example, to send email or host the site). They are bound to protect your data and use it only to provide that service.
We hand data to authorities only when legally compelled, and we will tell you when we are allowed to.

7. The safety exception, stated plainly

There is one situation where we may act on something private you have told us: when we believe there is a real and immediate risk that you or someone else will be seriously harmed. In that narrow case we may contact emergency services or share the minimum needed to help. This is detailed in Safeguarding. We would rather be honest that this line exists than pretend it does not.

8. Security

Passwords are stored hashed, not in readable form. Connections are encrypted. We limit who on the team can see member data and we keep a record of access. No system is perfectly secure, and we will not claim otherwise, but we treat experiencer data as especially sensitive and guard it accordingly.

9. Especially sensitive data

We know that the fact you are here, and what you write here, could be used against you by people who do not understand it. That is exactly why pseudonymity is the default and why we collect as little as we can.

10. Age

This site is for adults. You must be 18 or older to hold an account.

11. International members

We serve members in many countries and aim to honor the data rights that apply to you. Where local data-residency law requires it, we will offer a compliant option as that capability comes online.

12. Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell members plainly and in advance, not bury it.

13. Contact

Reach us at contact@experiencerteam.com. A person will answer.