Privacy Policy

Effective Date of this Privacy Policy: this policy became effective on May 31, 2023.

WikiForge is committed to preserving your privacy and being transparent about how we use information collected through WikiForge.org (the "Website") and any other applications, functionality, or services offered by WikiForge (collectively with the Website, the "Services"). This Privacy Policy describes how WikiForge uses, collects, and shares information collected through the Services. By using the Services, you agree to and accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

WikiForge may modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. WikiForge will post changes on this page so be sure to check back regularly. We will also notify you by posting an announcement on the Website so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, it is disclosed. Continuing to use our Services after any changes have been posted, constitutes your acceptance of any modifications to the Terms.

1. Contributions
1.1 Public Content. In general, all content (pages, images, files, etc.) on WikiForge is public, including any contributions made by wiki editors. The history of every edit to content made through the Services is publicly displayed and retained indefinitely by WikiForge. Even if an article is "deleted," a website administrator or WikiForge staff member may still see what was removed from public view. Aside from the rare times when WikiForge is required to delete editing-history in response to a court order or legal process, there is no guarantee that permanent deletion will occur.

1.2 Individual Contributions. If you contribute or edit content on through the Services ("Contributions"), your Contributions will be visible to the public and may show up in search results of third-party search engines. If you have registered an account with a wiki hosted by WikiForge, your Contributions will be associated with your username. If you have not registered or are not logged in, your Contributions will be associated with your IP Address.

1.3 Private Wikis. Some wikis may be marked as private, which means that Contributions therein are not normally released to the general public. WikiForge Staff and a small number of vetted individuals have access to content on private wikis as part of their role in assisting to provide our Services. Access to content on private wikis is granted or revoked by the owners and/or administrators of these wikis. Be aware that the wiki administrators can restrict your access to Contributions you have made on a private wiki, or even to make the entire wiki public content.

2. Information Collected by WikiForge
As part of the Services, we may collect the following types of information from you when you use the Services ("User Information"):

2.1 Registration Information. In order to access certain portions of the Services you must complete a registration form. In this registration form, we collect certain personal information, such as your email address, username and password. Your email address will remain private, unless you choose to post it on public facing portions of the Services, such as your profile page or the Contributors Page. Please use discretion on what you choose to post on public facing portions of the Services, as it will be available to the public and may show up in search results of third-party engines.

2.2 Username. You will also be asked to create a username, which will be used to identify when you are logged onto the Services, and to identify your Contributions to the Services. Again, your username will be visible to the public, and may show up in search results of third-party search engines.

2.3 Optional user information: As a registered user, you may choose to share more details publicly. You may provide your name, a personal website, share your email address, and talk about yourself on your profile page. Please use discretion on what you choose to post on public facing portions of the Services, as it will be available to the public and may show up in search results of third-party engines. If provided, your name may be used to identify your Contributions to the Service, and may be used by third parties as a means to attribute your contributions.

2.4 Usage Information. WikiForge may collect certain usage data, such as your IP address, URL request, browser type, and the date and time of a request. WikiForge may use cookies (as further described below) or other automated mechanisms to collect this information and may collect this information on an aggregate or individual basis. WikiForge uses this information for statistical purposes to help administer, manage and improve the Services, prevent abuse, analyse trends, and to tailor your user experience. In addition, WikiForge may use anonymized usage statistics that may be derived from this information for marketing, research or reporting purposes. WikiForge honours the Do Not Track header and does not collect analytics data from users who have enabled this feature on their browser.

2.5 IP Address. Contributions made by unregistered users will be publicly identified by that user’s IP Address.

3. Information Collected by Hosted Wikis
While this policy applies to all wikis hosted by WikiForge, the operators of the Hosted Wikis may collect additional User Information. WikiForge does not retain any of this data. Any additional User Information collected by a Hosted Wiki must be described on the privacy policy page of that wiki and must be collected in compliance with applicable law. If you learn that a wiki is collecting data beyond the scope of this privacy policy or in violation of the law, please discontinue using that wiki and inform WikiForge immediately.

4. Cookies
Cookies are small files that WikiForge can send to your browser for storage on your computer. Cookies make using the Services easier by saving your status and preferences and refreshing them every time you use the Services. For instance, WikiForge may use cookies to recognise you when you return to the Services so that you do not have to resubmit your log-in credentials. In order to clear this logon information, for example if using a public terminal, you should log out of your account. While many browsers allow you to change your settings in order to refuse cookies or to be alerted when cookies are being sent, WikiForge recommends that you leave cookies enabled, as disabling cookies may prevent you from using and may interfere with some functionality of the Services.

Cookies are not required to browse WikiForge, but are technically required for some features. WikiForge uses cookies for:
 * Maintaining logged in status, using an account, and setting preferences; or
 * Ensuring that once you have read the cookie warning required by the GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and other privacy laws, you no longer see this notice; or
 * Gathering Usage Information for statistical purposes. This may be disabled by setting your browser to send a Do Not Track header. Use of this data is subject to the restrictions of Section 7 below.

No personally identifiable information will be disclosed to any third party solely and directly by your use of cookies.

5. Archiving
WikiForge may retain User Information collected through the Services indefinitely for restorative, archival, or research purposes. Your personal information is kept private and stored securely until a time it is no longer required or has no use.

WikiForge retains individual Usage Information for 90 days, after which it is deleted.

6. Email Communications
WikiForge may send you emails containing WikiForge-related news, products, offers, surveys or promotions. You may also receive notification emails from WikiForge to inform you of changes in the Services, new service offerings or other information related to your use of the Services. If you do not want to receive promotional emails from WikiForge, please visit your User Preferences page or follow the opt-out instructions contained in email messages you receive from us. However, please note that, even if you choose not to receive marketing emails from WikiForge, you will continue to receive all emails related to your use of the Services (e.g. those regarding forgotten user passwords) from WikiForge. Controls to set which emails you receive from WikiForge are in the Preferences page.

In addition to automated messages sent by the Services, users with verified email addresses may wish to communicate with each other. By default, if you have a verified email address, other users may use a Special page ("EmailUser") to send messages to you and vice versa. When you use EmailUser to send a message, WikiForge will send an email to the recipient of your choice which includes your email address and the content you chose to send. Your email address is not revealed when others contact you. EmailUser functionality may be enabled or disabled on the Preferences page.

7. Sharing of Information with Third Parties
Generally, WikiForge does not share User Information with third parties without your consent. Nonetheless, in order to maximize your user experience on the Services, the following individuals or entities may have access to User Information:

7.1 WikiForge Personnel. WikiForge personnel and a small number of vetted individuals may have access to User Information as necessary for WikiForge to operate its business and to provide you the Services.

7.2 Third Party Service Providers. WikiForge may share User Information with its third-party service providers as necessary for those third party service providers to provide services to WikiForge.

7.3 Business Transfers. If WikiForge is acquired by or WikiForge otherwise transfers and/or sells substantially all its assets to another company or becomes a subsidiary of another company, WikiForge will transfer any User Information it has in its possession to the other company if required as part of the sale or transfer of the company or assets.

7.4 Protection of WikiForge and Others. We may share User Information when we believe in good faith that release is necessary to comply with a court order; to comply with applicable law; to comply with a subpoena from a third party; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of WikiForge, our employees, our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection.

7.5 Data Analysis. WikiForge may use, transfer, and share aggregated, anonymous data derived from User Information with wiki administrators, researchers, journalists, funders and other third parties that WikiForge may choose to work with. This data will not include any personally identifiable information.

7.6 User investigations.' In order to prevent abuse, WikiForge Staff and The operators of the Hosted Wikis may be allowed access to tools which allow them to identify the IP address, browser information and User Agent of any user. Only users who have a non-disclosure agreement with WikiForge may have access to such tools and the information must not be shared in a way that is contrary to this policy. WikiForge is not responsible for any such actions by operators of Hosted Wikis.

8. Children
WikiForge does not operate Services that are targeted at people under 13 years of age, and does not collect personally identifiable information. If you are a parent or guardian and become aware that your child has been using the Services, please let us know and we will remove your child’s information.

9. Transfer of Information Across Borders
Your information may be transferred to, and maintained on, servers and databases located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as your jurisdiction. Please be advised that we may transfer your information to and from any state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction, and process it in the United States, the United Kingdom, or elsewhere. By using the Services, you consent to any such transfer of your information.

10. Copies, Amendments, and Erasure of Personally Identifiable Information
You have a right to a digital copy of all personally identifiable information (PII) stored about you by WikiForge. You also have the right that we correct any PII that WikiForge has collected or displays on the Service.

Additionally, you have a right to request erasure of PII stored by WikiForge. Wiki Contributions are typically not subject to this clause, as they are governed by the applicable content license contract under which you submitted the data. In particular, you should be aware that most Creative Commons licenses require that attribution the author of the content is provided.

If a wiki that stores your information is not centrally linked to WikiForge by CentralAuth, you must request retrieving or erasure of your personal identifiable information on each individual wiki were you retain seperate accounts.

In order to make any of these requests, please email [mailto:staff@wikiforge.net staff@wikiforge.net ].

11. Security Notifications
You have the right to be notified of any security breach at WikiForge which exposes your personal information. WikiForge will make public disclosures of security breaches that we uncover on the Website. If we determine that a breach of the Services has revealed personally identifiable information of a large number of users, WikiForge will announce the issue by a notice on all wikis. If it is likely that your information has been hacked, and you have provided WikiForge with your email, WikiForge will send email notifications on the breach to you.