GDPR Compliance, Data Protection and use of Cookies
 

The EU (our server is hosted in Germany) and UK (the webmaster resides in the UK) have enacted several pieces of legislation, some of which (GDPR) is not yet in effect but will be soon (May 2018) that puts requirements on "Data Processors" and all websites to disclose what information they collect and store and how they use this information. It also requires they disclose the contents of cookies in use.

Information we collect and hold:

IP Address - used for statistical analytics, abuse monitoring and user session identification. Visit data is retained for a minimum of 1 month and maximum of 120 months for statistical analysis. In reality the majority of such information is removed before 12 months have passed. Where a user posts data (makes a forum post, creates a user profile, uploads an image etc.) their IP address is recorded in our website database for the purposes of abuse detection and monitoring. IP addresses are not uniquely identifiable and can be masked by use of a VPN or proxy. We welcome security conscious users who wish to use such protections but warn that we block bad IP ranges (typically tor exit nodes and other bad IP blocks such as shared proxies that are associated with significant abuse / hacking attempts) through cloudflare and local server firewalls. Where direct server access is attempted on non-standard ports (not http or https) and access is denied, IP addresses are logged for a minimum of 60 minutes and a maximum of 120 months where multiple authentication failures are detected. Where significant authentication failures are detected on non-standard ports or port scans are detected IP addresses will be blocked from all server access and stored for a maximum of 120 months. Records of IP addresses cannot and will not be removed from the forum database as they are not considered uniquely identifiable information as only your ISP can tie the use of an IP address to an individual – as a website operator, we have no access to this information. IP addresses blocked for authentication failures will not be removed without significant justification.

Username - a self-chosen unique identification token. This is not considered personally identifiable information and is not covered by GDPR.

Email address - used for verification that the account owner is a real person. Used for account recovery purposes and unique identification should account removal be requested. Email addresses can only be removed if all associated account information (other than user submitted content) is also removed.

User submitted content - While we will work with an artist who wishes their image uploads removed from the site for any reason, it is impractical to remove all content a user has posted. While a user has a live account, they have the ability to edit any information they have submitted to the site. They are responsible for all information submitted and its removal prior to an administrator removing their account. This information cannot and will not be removed after an account has been deleted and will not be altered by staff prior to an account being deleted. Any user wishing to remove their posted content (other than an artist's gallery folder or fiction writer's uploads) must do so themselves prior to requesting account removal. Due to its nature, user submitted content will be retained for a maximum of the lifetime of copyright law (lifetime of the known author + 70 years, 70 years if the author is unknown, if there are multiple authors life of last surviving author + 70 years) at which point it becomes public domain and may be stored, copied or otherwise dealt with in any fashion desirable.

Information retained and collected will never be sold (other than potentially as a whole package should the site change ownership, in which case all users would be given the option to have all their data removed prior to this occurrence with a notice period of at least 30 days), traded, given away or otherwise disclosed in any way, shape or form. Data which has reached its maximum storage duration will be purged as soon as is practical.

Cookie Information:
We may collect information automatically when you visit our websites, using cookies. The cookies allow us to identify your computer and find out details about your last visit. You can choose, through your browser settings not to allow cookies. If you do, we can’t guarantee that your experience with our websites will be as good as if you do allow cookies. The information collected by cookies does not personally identify you; it includes general information about your computer settings, your connection to the Internet e.g. operating system and platform, IP address, your browsing patterns and timings of browsing on our website and your location. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically, but you can change the settings of your browser to erase cookies or prevent automatic acceptance if you prefer.

These links explain how you can control cookies via your browser – remember that if you turn off cookies in your browser then these settings apply to all websites not just this one:

Internet Explorer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835 (this page links to further information for different versions of IE – the mobile version is at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphon...-settings.aspx).
Chrome: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin...B&answer=95647
Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.h...0/en/9277.html (or http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1677 for mobile versions)
Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/...ling%20cookies
Blackberries: http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartp...1072866_11.jsp
Android: http://support.google.com/mobile/bin...&answer=169022
Opera: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutoria...urity/privacy/

Types of cookie that may be used during your visit to our websites:

The following types of cookie are used on this site. We don’t list every single cookie used by name – but for each type of cookie we tell you how you can control its use.
1. Personalisation cookies (for all users)
These cookies are used to recognise repeat visitors to the Website and in conjunction with other information we hold to attempt to record specific browsing information (that is, about the way you arrive at the Website, pages you view, options you select, information you enter and the path you take through the Website). These can be used to recommend content we think you'll be interested in based on what you've looked at before. These cookies also store information such as website settings, preferred view styles and other formatting choices.

2. Analytics cookies (for all users)
These monitor how visitors move around the Website and how they reached it. This is used so that we can see total (not individual) figures on which types of content users enjoy most, for instance. You can opt out of these if you want:
Google: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
We may also in the future use analytics cookies to measure the effectiveness of advertising on our websites and elsewhere on the internet. These cookies cannot be turned off individually but you could change your browser setting to refuse all if you do not wish to accept them.

3. Site management cookies (for registered users only)
These are used to maintain your identity or session on our websites. For instance, where our websites run on more than one server, we use a cookie to ensure that you are sent information by one specific server (otherwise you may log in or out unexpectedly). Our cookies also contain a tracking number unique to your account to help us prevent abusive users from creating multiple accounts. We may use similar cookies when you vote in opinion polls to ensure that you can only vote once, and to ensure that you can use our commenting functionality when not logged in (to ensure you don’t see comments you’ve reported as abusive, for instance, or don’t vote comments up/down more than once). They are also used to store hashed versions of your username and password if you have ticked "remember me" when logging in.

These cookies cannot be turned off individually but you could change your browser setting to refuse all cookies (see above) if you do not wish to accept them. This will require you to log into the site for every single visit.

4. Cloudflare ID cookies. (for all users)
These are used to store a cloudflare session ID. Cloudflare caches static content such as images and serves these from their servers meaning our website runs much faster and uses around 50% fewer resources that it otherwise would. This cookie is required to ensure you are not served incorrect data and is used to identify an individual client behind a shared IP. More information on this cookie can be seen:
https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en...uid-cookie-do-

Please feel free to reply and ask any questions you feel necessary. Answers shall be given truthfully and in full as we have nothing to hide about the data we hold/collect in the course of running this site and the cookies we use.