Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

• Account information: name, email address, and the invite code used to join.
• Content you provide: forum posts, comments, blog interactions, direct messages, photos and videos, captions, and likes.
• Usage information: basic activity data needed to operate the service, such as when you posted something or which notifications you've read.
• Technical information: standard web request data collected automatically for security and troubleshooting, never used for advertising.

We do not collect precise location data, and we do not use advertising trackers, because Townie doesn't run advertising.

2. How we use it

To operate the Service, to keep the community safe through content moderation, and to communicate with you about your account or material policy changes. We do not use your content or activity to build an advertising profile, and we do not sell your personal information or content to any third party, under any circumstances.

3. Where your data lives, and how it's protected

Data is stored in a PostgreSQL database, with photos and videos stored via cloud object storage. Direct message content is encrypted at rest at the application level. This protects your messages from exposure if the underlying database were ever stolen or improperly accessed outside the application — it does not mean no one can ever read your messages. Authorized administrators can access message content when necessary for the reasons described in Section 5 of our Terms of Service, the same as with most messaging or community platforms. We'd rather describe this plainly than imply a stronger guarantee than the technology actually provides.

4. Third-party services

• Content moderation: certain submitted content may be sent to third-party AI providers (currently OpenAI and Anthropic) solely to screen for content that may violate our Terms of Service.
• Hosting and storage: used only to run and store the Service.
• Email delivery: used only to send account and notification emails.

We do not use third-party analytics or advertising services.

5. Your rights

Regardless of where you live, you can access a copy of your content and account information, correct inaccurate information, delete your account and associated content, and export your own content in a portable format. If you're a Connecticut resident, these rights are also provided under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. To exercise any of these rights, contact us.

6. Data retention

Active account content is retained as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal content is removed from active use within 30 days, except for content that's become part of a public thread others engaged with (which may be anonymized rather than deleted), backups retained for a limited period for disaster recovery, and any records we're legally required to retain.

7. Children's privacy

Townie is intended for adults (18+) and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.

8. Changes to this policy

We'll notify active members of material changes to this policy before they take effect.