User Comments
When a visitor leaves comments on our site, we collect the data shown in the comments form and the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect and mitigate spam.
Upon collection, an anonymized string (otherwise known as a hash) created from your email address may be forwarded to the Gravatar service to verify if you are using it. You can review the Gravatar service privacy policy here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture will be made visible to the public solely in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to our website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to our website can download and extract any location data from images on the website, so please upload images with caution.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on any piece of content on our site, you can opt-in to save your name, email address, and/or website in the cookies. These are there for your convenience so that you don’t have to re-submit your details when you leave another comment. Cookies last for one year’s time.
If you visit the login page, we set a temporary cookie to ensure that your browser accepts cookies. This cookie does not hold any personal data and is removed when you close your open browser.
We will set up several cookies when you log in to remember your login information and screen display preferences. Cookies for logins last two days, and screen options cookies last for up to a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login data will remain for two weeks. If you log out of your account, login cookies will be discarded.
An additional browser cookie will be saved when editing or publishing an article to our site. Browser cookies include no personal data and only indicate the post ID of the article you published or edited – which expires after 1 day.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles on our site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites acts exactly as if the visitor has visited the other website directly.
External websites may collect your data, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interactions with embedded content, including the tracking of your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that site.
Do We Share Your Data?
Your IP address will be included in the reset email if you request a password reset.
How Long Do We Keep Your Data?
If you leave a comment on our site, your comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. We do this so we can automatically recognize and approve any follow-up comments rather than holding them in a moderation queue for delayed approval.
We also store the personal information provided by users that register on our website with a unique user profile. All users can view, edit, and/or delete personal information at any time (with the exception of changing their usernames). Website administrators have access to see and edit that information.
What Rights Do You Have Over Your Data?
If you have an account or have left comments on our site, you can request an exported file of the personal data we retain about you, including any data you have provided to us voluntarily. You may also request the removal of any personal data pertaining to you. This does not include data we are required to keep for administrative, legal, and/or security purposes.
Where Is Your Data Sent?
Visitor comments may be verified with automated spam detection services.