Privacy

PG Unspun collects as little as it can while still being able to run a moderated comment section. This page says exactly what that is.

What we collect

• Your account. The name you choose to display, your email address, and your password. The password is stored only as a cryptographic hash, so nobody here can read it.
• What you post. Your comments and any articles you submit, along with the times they were written and moderated.
• Moderation records. If a comment of yours is withheld, we record the reason, the moderator, and the time. The public notice in the thread shows the reason and the date, and does not show your name or the text of the comment.
• Server logs. Our web host records ordinary request information, including IP addresses, as part of running the server.
• Visit counts. When a public page loads, the site records which page it was, when, whether it was opened on a phone, tablet or computer, which website you came from if you followed a link here, and the short tag on that link if it had one. To tell visitors apart without identifying anyone, your IP address and browser details are scrambled together with the date into a short code that cannot be turned back into either. The code changes every day, so a visit today cannot be linked to a visit tomorrow. The count never stores your IP address or your browser details, and sets no cookie.

We do not ask for your real name, your address, or your phone number, and you should not put them in a comment.

Cookies

The site sets a session cookie so you stay logged in, and a token used to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. If you choose to stay signed in, a further cookie remembers you. There are no advertising cookies and no third-party tracking cookies.

Other services

Typefaces are loaded from Google Fonts, which means Google receives your IP address when a page loads. Nothing else on the site calls out to a third party. There is no third-party analytics, no advertising network and no social media tracking. Visits are counted by the site itself, as described above, and that count goes nowhere else.

The site is hosted in Canada, and everything described above is stored on servers in Canada.

How we use it

To let you sign in, to publish what you write, to make and explain moderation decisions, and to keep the site working. We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with anyone except where the law requires it.

How long we keep it

Published comments stay in the archive, because an archive that is edited after the fact is worth nothing. Account details are kept while the account exists. Moderation records are kept as part of the audit trail, since that record is the reason to trust the moderation at all.

Your rights

You can ask us what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, and ask us to delete your account. Write to us through the contact and corrections page.

Deleting your account removes your account details. Where a comment of yours is already published, tell us if you want it removed as well and we will discuss it with you. Withheld-comment notices carry no name, so they are not traceable to you once the account is gone.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle a request, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Changes

If this page changes, the date at the top changes with it.