Privacy policy
This policy explains what personal data BoardVault ("we") processes to run BoardVault, why, and for how long. It describes what the software actually does; the retention periods below are read from its configuration.
1. What we collect
Your account. Name, username, email address, password (stored only as a one-way hash), and what you choose to add to your profile: bio, specialities, country and interface language. If you turn on two-factor authentication or passkeys, the secrets and public keys needed to verify them.
Your content. Files you upload and their metadata, blog posts, comments and likes, repair cases, forum threads and replies, votes, favourites, "useful" marks, page bookmarks, shares and the reports you send. When you edit a thread, reply, post or repair case, the earlier version is kept; you and the moderators can read it.
Reputation and trust level. A reputation score calculated from how other members react to your content (votes on your replies, your replies accepted as solutions, likes on your posts, "useful" marks on your public files) and the trust level it gives you, which sets daily limits for new members and how much your reports weigh. Both are shown on your profile.
What you follow and your notifications. The threads, boards and members you follow, the notifications the site keeps for you (who did what, and where) and which kinds you also want by email.
Security and moderation log. Sign-ins (including failed attempts), password and security changes, uploads, deletions, sharing, reports and every administrative or moderation action are written to an append-only audit log with the date, the account, the IP address and the browser identification. The log is tamper-evident and cannot be edited.
Download log. Each download records the document, your account if you are signed in, a salted hash of your IP address (not the address itself) and the browser identification. It enforces download limits and detects scraping.
Copyright notices. If you send one, the contact details and statements it contains.
2. Cookies
Only cookies the site needs to work: the session cookie, the anti-forgery token, and your preferences for appearance and the sidebar. There are no advertising or analytics cookies and no third-party trackers.
Public pages and AI. Your public profile (name, username, bio) and what you publish publicly appear in search engines and can be read, cited and used for training by AI services (see the terms of use). Private and shared content, your e-mail address and everything in the logs never are.
3. Why we use it
To provide your account and the features you use, keep the service secure (limits, abuse prevention, malware scanning), moderate content and handle copyright notices, and send you the emails the service needs (verification, invitations, password resets, notices about your content). Activity emails (replies, mentions, news from what you follow) are only sent for the kinds you leave switched on in your notification settings, and each one has a link that switches its kind off without signing in. We do not sell personal data or use it for advertising.
4. Where it is processed
Your data is stored on servers we operate ourselves in the United States. Traffic reaches them through our own edge proxy, which does not store your content. Uploaded files are scanned for malware on our servers; they are not sent to outside scanning services. Email is delivered through our own mail server.
5. How long we keep it
| Data | Kept |
|---|---|
| Account | Until you delete it |
| A document you delete | 30 days (we can restore it on request), then its files are purged |
| A document rejected by the malware scan | 30 days |
| Download log | 180 days |
| Notifications | 180 days |
| Earlier versions of edited content | As long as the content exists |
| Security and moderation log | For the life of the service (it is append-only) |
| Backups | Until they rotate out |
Identical files uploaded by several people are stored once; the stored file is deleted when no document uses it any more.
6. Deleting your account
From your profile settings. When you do, your private and shared documents are deleted with the account and purged after 30 days; documents you made public and the blog posts and repair cases you published stay without your name; draft posts and draft repair cases, your comments and likes, your forum threads (with their replies) and replies, what you follow and your notifications are deleted, and your username is removed from other members' notifications. Entries about your account in the security log are kept, as described above.
7. Your rights
You can see and correct your profile at any time, download your own documents, and delete your account. For anything else — a copy of your data, a correction you cannot make yourself, or a question about this policy — write to boardvault@ragoxcell.com.
The service is meant for people aged 16 or over.
8. Changes
The date below shows the last change to this policy.