This notice describes how Boforum collects and uses data about you.

What is Boforum?

Boforum is an independent online discussion forum initiated and maintained by Christoph Haug.

How does Boforum collect data about me?

Boforum collects data about you:

• when you browser Boforum

• when you create and use an account on Boforum

• when you post, send personal messages, and otherwise participate on Boforum

Boforum collects data when you use the forum, whether you use the forum using a web browser on your own computer, a mobile device, or a Discourse app for mobile devices.

Boforum does not buy or otherwise receive data about you from data brokers.

What data does Boforum collect about me, and why?

Boforum collects data about visits to the forum.

When you visit Boforum, whether you have an account or not, the forum uses cookies, server logs, and other methods to collect data about what pages you visit and when.

Boforum uses data about how you use the website to:

• optimize the forum, so that it’s quick and easy to use

• diagnose and debug technical errors

• defend the forum from abuse and technical attacks

• compile statistics on forum and topic popularity

• compile statistics on the kinds of software and computers visitors use

• to conduct academic (non-commercial) research

Boforum usually stores data about how you use the forum in identifiable form for just a few weeks. In special circumstances, like extended investigations about technical attacks, Boforum may preserve log data longer, for analysis. Boforum stores aggregate statistics about use of the forum for as long as Boforum hosts the forum, but those statistics don’t include data identifiable to you personally.

Boforum collects account data.

Many features the Boforum forum require a forum account. For example, it requires an account to post and reply to topics.

To sign up for a forum account, Boforum requires your name, a user name, and an e-mail address.

Boforum uses your account data to identify you on the forum, and to create pages specific to you, like your profile page. The forum is access-restricted and Boforum makes your account data available to everyone who can access the forum, according to the forum administrator’s configuration.

The Boforum forum is public, so some of your account data is published on the internet.

Boforum uses your e-mail address to:

• notify you about posts and other activity on the forum

• reset your password and help keep your account secure

• contact you in special circumstances related to your account

• contact you about legal requests, like DMCA takedown requests

You may provide additional data for your account, like a short biography, your location, or your birthday, on the profile settings page for your account. Boforum makes that data available to others who can access the forum. You don’t have to provide this additional information, and you can erase it at any time.

Boforum stores your account data as long as your account remains open.

Boforum collects data about posts and other activity on the forum.

Boforum collects the content of your posts, plus data about bookmarks, likes, and links you follow in order to share that data with others, through the forum. The forum is access-restricted and additional access restrictions may apply to specific post. Based on these restrictions Boforum makes your activity available only to entitled users.

Boforum also collects data about personal messages that you send through the forum. Boforum makes personal messages available to senders and their recipients, and also to forum administrators.

Boforum stores your posts and other activity as long as your account remains open.

How can I make choices about data collection?

You can make choices about how data about is used on the settings page for your account. When a forum uses access restrictions that vary by category, you can choose who will see your post by choosing the appropriate category.

Boforum does not respond to the Do Not Track HTTP header.

Where does Boforum store data about me?

Boforum stores your data at Aruba Cloud’s data centre in Arezzo, Italy.

Does Boforum comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation?

Boforum respects privacy rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information that GDPR requires Boforum to give can be found throughout this privacy notice. So can information about specific rights, like access, rectification, erasure, data portability, and objection to automated decision-making.

Where can I access data about me?

You can see your account data at any time by visiting your account page on the forum. Your account page also lists your posts and other activity on the forum.

Your account activity page also includes a link to download all of your activity in standard comma-separated values format.

How can I change or erase data about me?

You can change your account data at any time by visiting the profile settings page for your account. The settings for a particular forum may also allow you to close your account, on the settings page for your account. Closing your account starts a process of erasing or anonymizing Boforum’s records of data you provided for your account. Forum administrators can also erase and anonymize accounts.

Depending on the settings for your particular forum, you may also be able to edit, anonymize, or erase your posts. When you edit posts, Boforum will keep all versions of your posts. Forum administrators can view old versions of posts, and optionally make them visible to other forum visitors.

Does Boforum make automated decisions based on data about me?

Boforum classifies posts as spam automatically.

Boforum uses data about your posts and other activity on many forums to make automated decisions about whether your posts to boforum.net are spam. If your post is deemed spam, the forum refuses to accept the post or holds it for moderation.

If you think a post has been wrongly blocked or removed, contact an administrator of your forum. They can override the decision that a post was spam.

Boforum uses data about posts and activity to set trust levels automatically.

Depending on how administrators have configured the forum, the forum may use data about your posts and activity to award you badges and calculate a trust level for your account. Your trust level may affect how you can participate in the forum, such as whether you can upload images, as well as give you access to moderation and management powers in the forum. Your trust level therefore reflects forum administrators’ confidence in you, and their willingness to delegate community management functions, like moderation.

If you think your trust level has been set incorrectly, contact an administrator of your forum. They can manually adjust the trust level of your account.

Does Boforum share data about me with others?

Boforum shares account data with others as mentioned in the section about account data.

Boforum shares data about your posts and other forum activity with others as mentioned in the section about forum data.

Boforum does not sell or give information about you to other companies or services. However, Boforum does use services from other companies. The companies behind those services may collect data about you on their own, for their own purposes. Some of these services may be used to collect information about your online activities across different websites.

Other individuals and companies may also reuse data about you that Boforum publishes, such as your posts to the forum.

How can I contact Boforum about privacy?

You can send questions and complaints to:

Christoph Haug
privacy@boforum.net

For complaints under GDPR more generally, European Union users may lodge complaints with their local data protection supervisory authorities.

How can I find out about changes?

This version of Boforum’s privacy notice took effect 4 August 2020.

Boforum will post the next version at https://boforum.net/privacy. Boforum may change how it announces changes in future versions.

In the meantime, Boforum may update its contact information without announcing a change. Please refer to https://boforum.net/contact for the latest contact information at any time.