PRIVACY.md
# Privacy Policy
It's our policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating Open Synthesis.
## Key Information
- Open Synthesis is hosted on servers located in the United States
- In order to prevent abuse, Open Synthesis collects your IP address and other potentially
personally-identifying information. If you need to protect your IP address, use a tool such as
[Tor Browser](https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en) or a [privacy-protecting VPN](https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-you).
- Open Synthesis uses Cookies to provide its services.
- Open Synthesis does not use any [Third Party Trackers](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/09/online-trackers-and-social-networks).
- We don’t store personal information on our servers unless required for the on-going operation of Open Synthesis.
- We don’t share your information with anyone except to comply with the law, develop our site, or
protect our rights.
## Collection of Non-Personally-Identifying Information
Like most website operators, Open Synthesis collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web
browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the
date and time of each visitor request. Open Synthesis’s uses this information to better understand how Open Synthesis’s
visitors use the website. From time to time, Open Synthesis may release non-personally-identifying information in the
aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.
## Collection of Potentially Personally-Identifying Information
To prevent abuse, Open Synthesis also collects potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses. Open Synthesis only discloses this information under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses
personally-identifying information as described below.
If you need to protect your IP address, use a tool such as [Tor Browser](https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en)
or a [privacy-protecting VPN](https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-you).
## Collection of Personally-Identifying Information
Certain visitors to Open Synthesis choose to interact with the Open Synthesis in ways that require Open Synthesis to
gather personally-identifying information. The amount and type of information that Open Synthesis gathers depends on
the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who sign up for an account to provide a username and email
address. In each case, Open Synthesis collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill
the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with Open Synthesis. Open Synthesis does not disclose personally-identifying
information other than as described below. And visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information,
with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.
## Protection of Personally-Identifying Information
Open Synthesis discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to individuals
and affiliated organizations that (1) need to know that information in order to process it on Open Synthesis’s behalf
or to provide services available at Open Synthesis, and (2) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those
individuals and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using Open Synthesis, you
consent to the transfer of such information to them.
Other than to the individuals and affiliated organizations, as described above, Open Synthesis discloses potentially
personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order, or other
governmental request.
## Third Party Service Providers
To provide its services, Open Synthesis utilizes the following Third Party Service Providers. Their access to and use
of your information is governed by their respective privacy policies (linked here for reference):
- [Heroku](https://www.heroku.com/policy/privacy): website hosting
- [Rollbar](https://rollbar.com/privacy/): error logging
- [Papertrail](https://papertrailapp.com/info/privacy): log management
- [SendGrid](https://sendgrid.com/policies/privacy/): programmatic email communication
- [Gmail](https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/): personal email communication
## Email Communication
If you are a registered user of Open Synthesis and have supplied your email address, Open Synthesis may occasionally
send you email to inform you about updates to boards you have contributed to, new features, or to solicit your feedback.
You can control your email preferences on your account profile page.
Emails you send to an `@opensynthesis.org` address are stored on our email host. To protect the privacy of the content
of an email communication, use [this PGP key](https://keybase.io/tschiller).
## Cookies
A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser
provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Open Synthesis uses cookies to help Open Synthesis identify and
track visitors, their usage of Open Synthesis website, and their website access preferences. Open Synthesis visitors
who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using
Open Synthesis, with the drawback that certain features may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
Open Synthesis does not use any [Third Party Trackers](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/09/online-trackers-and-social-networks).
## Privacy Policy Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, Open Synthesis may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in
Open Synthesis’s sole discretion. For material changes, we will email account holders and alert visitors to the site.
Your continued use of Open Synthesis after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of
such change.
- - -
Adapted from [Automattic's privacy policy](https://automattic.com/privacy/) under a [Creative Commons Sharealike 4.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) license.