Privacy Policy – DTRaleigh Community

Last updated: July 27, 2025

This forum collects basic information to support accounts, enable discussion, and improve the user experience. We don’t sell your data. We collect only what’s necessary and store it responsibly.

What information do we collect?

When you register and participate in the DTRaleigh Community, we may collect:

  • Your email address (for login, notifications, and password recovery)
  • Your IP address (when posting or accessing the site)
  • Cookies (to remember your preferences and login state)
  • Server logs (to monitor performance and prevent abuse)

You may browse the forum without registering, but posting requires an account with a verified email.

How do we use your information?

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide and maintain your account
  • Moderate discussions and improve forum functionality
  • Respond to feedback and support requests
  • Send email notifications you’ve opted into (like topic replies)

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

Cookies and analytics

We use browser cookies to:

  • Keep you logged in
  • Remember your preferences
  • Collect anonymized usage statistics (e.g., traffic and engagement)

We may use third-party analytics tools (like Google Analytics) to understand how the forum is used. These tools collect usage data but not personally identifiable information.

Data retention

We retain:

  • Server logs (including IP addresses) for no more than 90 days
  • Post-associated IP addresses for no more than 5 years

You can contact us if you want to deactivate your account or request removal of content (when possible).

Sharing information

We do not share your personal data with outside parties, except:

  • With trusted providers who help us operate this forum (under confidentiality agreements)
  • If legally required (e.g., court order or law enforcement request)
  • To protect the rights, property, or safety of the community

We may share non-personally identifiable data (such as usage trends) to improve the site.

Quoting external content

When sharing news articles or paywalled content, please follow these guidelines:

  • Quote no more than two short paragraphs
  • Always include a link to the original article
  • Attribute the source (author, publication, date if available)

This protects copyright and ensures fair use.

Children’s privacy

This site is intended for users age 13 or older. If you are under 13, please do not use this site. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Your rights and choices

You can:

  • Update your email or preferences via your profile
  • Request to deactivate your account
  • Request removal of your content (where applicable)

In some cases, removal of your posted content is not possible. Reach out to us and we’ll work with you on a solution.

In rare instances, we can anonymize your account, maintaining the posted content but removing all identifiable information to the account you created. This process changes your username and profile information to anonymous values and the account is closed. Let us know if you’d like to take this route if you choose to “walk away” from the site.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as needed. Major changes will be announced in the forum. You can always find the latest version on this page.

License

This policy is available under Creative Commons BY-SA.
Originally adapted from Discourse and WordPress community policies.

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